"Among the most interesting relics of antiquity which have yet
been discovered are the famous lake-dwellings of Switzerland,
described by Dr. Keller and others. … Dr. Keller … has
arranged them in three groups, according to the character of
their substructure.
[1] Those of the first group, the Pile Dwellings, are, he
tells us, by far the most numerous in the lakes of Switzerland
and Upper Italy. In these the substructure consists of piles
of various kinds of wood, sharpened sometimes by fire,
sometimes by stone hatchets or celts, and in later times by
tools of bronze, and probably of iron, the piles being driven
into the bottom of the lake at various distances from the
shore. …
[2] The Frame Pile-Dwellings are very rare. 'The distinction
between this form and the regular pile-settlement consists in
the fact that the piles, instead of having been driven into
the mud of the lake, had been fixed by a mortise-and-tenon
arrangement into split trunks, lying horizontally on the bed
of the lake.' …
[3] In the Fascine Dwellings, as Dr. Keller terms his third
group of lake-habitations, the substructure consisted of
successive layers of sticks or small stems of trees built up
from the bottom of the lake till they reached above the
lake-level. …
Lake-dwellings have been met with in many other regions of
Europe besides Switzerland and Italy, as in Bavaria, Austria,
Hungary, Mecklenburg, Pomerania, France, Wales, Ireland, and
Scotland. The 'Crannoges' of Ireland and Scotland were rather
artificial islands than dwellings like those described above."
_J. Geikie,
Prehistoric Europe,
pages 369-372._
ALSO IN:
_F. Keller,
Lake Dwellings._
_R. Munro,
Ancient Scottish Lake Dwellings._
_E. P. S.,
Crannoges (in Archaeological Journal, volume 3)._
LAKE GEORGE, Battle of.
See CANADA: A. D. 1755 (SEPTEMBER).
LAMARTINE, and the French Government of 1848.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1848 (FEBRUARY-MAY),
and (APRIL-DECEMBER).
LAMAS.
LAMAISM.
"The development of the Buddhist doctrine which has taken
place in the Panjab, Nepal, and Tibet … has resulted at last
in the complete establishment of Lamaism, a religion not only
in many points different from, but actually antagonistic to,
the primitive system of Buddhism; and this not only in its
doctrine, but also in its church organization." Tibet is "the
only country where the Order has become a hierarchy, and
acquired temporal power. Here, as in so many other countries,
civilization entered and history began with Buddhism. When the
first missionaries went there is not, however, accurately
known; but Nepal was becoming Buddhist in the 6th century, and
the first Buddhist king of Tibet sent to India for the holy
scriptures in 632 A. D. A century afterwards an adherent of
the native devil-worship drove the monks away, destroyed the
monasteries, and burnt the holy books; but the blood of the
martyrs was the seed of the church—it returned triumphant
after his death, and rapidly gained in wealth and influence.
…
{1951}
As the Order became wealthy, rival abbots had contended for
supremacy, and the chiefs had first tried to use the church as
a means of binding the people to themselves, and then,
startled at its progress, had to fight against it for their
own privilege and power. When, in the long run, the crozier
proved stronger than the sword, the Dalai Lama became in 1419
sole temporal sovereign of Tibet."
_T. W. Rhys Davids,
Buddhism,
chapters 8-9._
"Up to the moment of its conversion to Buddhism, a profound
darkness had rested on [Tibet]. The inhabitants were ignorant
and uncultivated, and their indigenous religion, sometimes
called Bon, consisted chiefly of magic based on a kind of
Shamanism. … The word is said to be of Tungusic origin, and
to be used as a name for the earliest religion of Mongolia,
Siberia and other Northern countries. … It is easy to
understand that the chief function of the Shamans, or
wizard-priests, was to exorcise evil demons, or to propitiate
them by sacrifices and various magical practices. … The
various gradations of the Tibetan hierarchy are not easily
described, and only a general idea of them can be given. …
First and lowest in rank comes the novice or junior monk,
called Gethsul (Getzul). … Secondly and higher in rank we
have the rull monk, called Gelong (or Gelon). … Thirdly we
have the superior Gelong or Khanpo (strictly mKhan po), who
has a real right to the further title Lama. … As the chief
monk in a monastery he may be compared to the European Abbot.
… Some of the higher Khanpo Lamas are supposed to be living
re-incarnations or re-embodiments of certain canonized saints
and Bodhi-sattvas who differ in rank. These are called Avatara
Lamas, and of such there are three degrees. … There is also
a whole class of mendicant Lamas. … Examples of the highest
Avataras are the two quasi-Popes, or spiritual Kings, who are
supreme Lamas of the Yellow sect—the one residing at Lhassa,
and the other at Tashi Lunpo (Krashi Lunpo), about 100 miles
distant. … The Grand Lama at Lhassa is the Dalai Lama, that
is, 'the Ocean-Lama, or one whose power and learning are as
great as the ocean. … The other Grand Lama, who resides in
the monastery of Tashi Lunpo, is known in Europe under the
names of the Tashi Lama."
_Sir M. Monier-Williams,
Buddhism,
lecture 11._
"Kublai-Khan, after subduing China [see CHINA: A. D.
1259-1294], adopted the Buddhist doctrines, which had made
considerable progress among the Tartars. In the year 1261 he
raised a Buddhist priest named Mati to the dignity of head of
the Faith in the empire. This priest is better known under the
name of Pakbo Lama, or supreme Lama: he was a native of
Thibet, and had gained the good graces and confidence of
Kublai, who, at the same time that he conferred on him the
supreme sacerdotal office, invested him with the temporal
power in Thibet, with the titles of 'King of the Great and
Precious Law,' and 'Institutor of the Empire.' Such was the
origin of the Grand Lamas of Thibet, and it is not impossible
that the Tartar Emperor, who had had frequent communications
with the Christian missionaries, may have wished to create a
religious organisation after the model of the Romish
hierarchy."
_Abbé Huc,
Christianity in China, Tartary and Thibet,
volume 2, page 10._
ALSO IN:
_Abbé Huc,
Journey through Tartary, Thibet and China,
volume 2._
_W. W. Rockhill,
The Land of the Lamas._
LAMBALLE, Madame de, The death of.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1792 (AUGUST-SEPTEMBER).
LAMBETH, Treaty of.
A treaty of September 11, A. D. 1217, which was, in a certain
sense, the sequel of Magna Carta. The barons who extorted the
Great Charter from King John in 1215 were driven subsequently
to a renewal of war with him. They renounced their allegiance
and offered the crown to a French prince, Louis, husband of
Blanche of Castile, who was John's niece. The pretensions of
Louis were maintained after John's death, against his young
son, Henry III. The cause of the latter triumphed in a
decisive battle fought at Lincoln, May 20, 1217, and the
contest was ended by the treaty named above. "The treaty of
Lambeth is, in practical importance, scarcely inferior to the
Charter itself.
_W. Stubbs,
Constitutional History of England,
chapter 14, section 170 (volume 2)._
LAMEGO, The Cortes of.
See PORTUGAL: A. D. 1095-1325.
LAMIAN WAR, The.
See GREECE: B. C. 323-322.
LAMONE, Battle of (1425).
See ITALY: A. D. 1412-1447.
LAMPADARCHY, The.
See LITURGIES.
LANCASTER, Chancellorship of the Duchy of.
"The Chancellorship of the Duchy of Lancaster is an office
more remarkable for its antiquity than for its present
usefulness. It dates from the time of Henry the Fourth, when
the County of Lancashire was under a government distinct from
the rest of the Kingdom. About the only duty now associated
with the office is the appointment of magistrates for the
county of Lancashire. In the other English and Welsh counties,
these appointments are made by the Lord High Chancellor, who
is the head of the Judicial system. The duties of the
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster are thus exceedingly
light. The holder of the office is often spoken of as 'the
maid of all work to the Cabinet,' from the fact that he is
accorded a place in the Cabinet without being assigned any
special duties likely to occupy the whole of his time. Usually
the office is bestowed upon some statesman whom it is
desirable for special reasons to have in the Cabinet, but for
whom no other office of equal rank or importance is
available."
_E. Porritt,
The Englishman at Home,
chapter 8._
LANCASTER, House of.
See ENGLAND: A. D. 1399-1471.