sport of the United States, popular also throughout Canada and in Japan.
Its origin is obscure. According to some authorities it is derived from the
old English game of rounders (_q.v._), several variations of which were
played in America during the colonial period; according to other
authorities, its resemblance to rounders is merely a coincidence, and it
had its origin in the United States, probably at Cooperstown, New York, in
1839, when it is said, Abner Doubleday (later a general in the U.S. army)
devised a scheme for playing it. About the beginning of the 19th century a
game generally known as "One Old Cat" became popular with schoolboys in the
North Atlantic states; this game was played by three boys, each fielding
and batting in turn, a run being scored by the batsman running to a single
base and back without being put out. Two Old Cat, Three Old Cat, and Four
Old Cat were modifications of this game, having respectively four, six, and
eight players. A development of this game bore the name of town-ball and
the Olympic Town-Ball Club of Philadelphia was organized in 1833. Matches
between organized base-ball clubs were first played in the neighbourhood of
New York, where the Washington Baseball Club was founded in 1843. The first
regular code of rules was drawn up in 1845 by the Knickerbocker Baseball
Club and used in its matches with the Gotham Eagle and Empire clubs of New
York, and the Excelsior, Putnam, Atlantic and Eckford clubs of Brooklyn. In
1858 the first National Association was organized, and, while its few
simple laws were generally similar to the corresponding rules of the
present code, the ball was larger and "livelier," and the pitcher was
compelled to deliver it with a full toss, no approach to a throw being
allowed. The popularity of the game spread rapidly, resulting in the
organization of many famous clubs, such as the Beacon and Lowell of Boston,
the Red Stockings of Cincinnati, the Forest City of Cleveland and the Maple
Leaf of Guelph, but owing to the sharp rivalry between the foremost teams,
semi-professionalism soon crept in, although in those days a man who played
for a financial consideration always had some other means of livelihood, as
the income to be derived from playing ball in the summer time was not
enough to support him throughout the year. In spite of its popularity, the
game acquired certain undesirable adjuncts. The betting and pool selling
evils became prominent, and before long the game was in thorough disrepute.
It was not only generally believed that the matches were not played on
their merits, but it was known that players themselves were not above
selling contests. At that time many of the journals of the day foretold the
speedy downfall of the sport. A convention of those interested financially
and otherwise in the game, was held in 1867 in Philadelphia, and an effort
was made to effect a reformation. That the sport even then was by no means
insignificant can be seen from the fact that in that convention some 500
organizations were represented. While the work done at the convention did
not accomplish all that was expected, it did produce certain reforms, and
the sport grew rapidly thereafter both in the eastern and in the middle
western part of the United States. In the next five years the [v.03 p.0459]
interest in the game became so great that it was decided to send a
representation of American base-ball players to England; and two clubs, the
Bostons, who were the champions that year, and the Athletics, former
champions, crossed the Atlantic and played several exhibition games with
each other. While successful in exciting some interest, the trip did not
succeed in popularizing base-ball in Great Britain. Fifteen years later two
other nines of representative American base-ball players made a general
tour of Australia and various other countries, completing their trip by a
contest in England. This too, however, had little effect, and later
attempts to establish base-ball in England have likewise been unsuccessful.
But in America the game continued to prosper. The first entirely
professional club was the Cincinnati Red Stockings (1868). Two national
associations were formed in 1871, one having jurisdiction over professional
clubs and the other over amateurs. In 1876 was formed the National League,
of eight clubs under the presidency of Nicholas E. Young, which contained
the expert ball-players of the country. There were so many people in the
United States who wanted to see professional base-ball that this
organization proved too small to furnish the desired number of games, and
hence in 1882 the American Association was formed. For a time it seemed
that there would be room for both organizations; but there was considerable
rivalry, and it was not until an agreement was made between the two
organizations that they were able to work together in harmony. They
practically controlled professional base-ball for many years, although
there were occasional attempts to overthrow their authority, the most
notable being the formation in 1890 of a brotherhood of players called the
Players' League, organized for the purpose of securing some of the
financial benefits accruing to the managers, as well as for the purpose of
abolishing black-listing and other supposed abuses. The Players' League
proved not sufficiently strong for the task, and fell to pieces. For some
years the National League consisted of twelve clubs organized as stock
companies, representing cities as far apart as Boston and St Louis, but in
1900 the number was reduced to eight, namely, Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago,
Cincinnati, New York, Pittsburg, Philadelphia and St Louis. Certain
aggressive and dissatisfied elements took advantage of this change to
organize a second great professional association under the presidency of
B. B. Johnson, the "American League," of eight clubs, six of them in cities
where the National League was already represented. Most of the clubs of
both leagues flourish financially, as also do the many minor associations
which control the clubs of the different sections of the country, among
which are the Eastern League, the American Association, Western League,
Southern Association, New England League, Pacific League and the different
state leagues. Professional base-ball has not been free from certain
objectionable elements, of which the unnecessary and rowdyish fault-finding
with the umpires has been the most evident, but the authorities of the
different leagues have lately succeeded, by strenuous legislation, in
abating these. Of authorities on base-ball, Henry Chadwick (d. 1908) is the
best known.
Amateur base-ball, in its organized phase, is played mostly by school and
university clubs as well as those of athletic associations. The first
college league was formed in 1879 and comprised Harvard, Princeton,
Amherst, Brown and Dartmouth, Yale joining a year later. The Eastern
College League, with Columbia, Harvard, Princeton and Yale, followed in
1887. This was afterwards dissolved and at present the most important
universities of the eastern states are members of no league, although such
organizations exist in New England and different parts of the west and
south. Amateur base-ball has progressed along the same lines as
professional, although the college playing rules formerly differed in
certain minor points from those of the professional leagues.
The following is a general description of the field and of the manner in
which the game is played, but as the game has become highly complicated,
situations may arise in playing in which general statements do not strictly
hold. Any smooth, level field about 150 yds. long and 100 yds. broad will
serve for a base-ball ground. Upon this field is marked out with white
chalk a square, commonly called the diamond, smooth, like a cricket pitch,
the sides of which measure 30 yds. each, and the nearest corner of which is
distant about 30 yds. from the limit of the field. This corner is marked
with a white plate, called the home-base or plate, five-sided in shape, two
of the sides being 1 ft. long and that towards the pitcher 17 in. At the
other three corners and attached to pegs are white canvas bags 15 in.
square filled with some soft material, and called, beginning at the right
as one looks towards the field, first-base, second-base and third-base
respectively. The lines from home-base to first, and from home to third are
indefinitely prolonged and called foul-lines. The game is played by two
sides of nine men each, one of these taking its turn at the bat while the
other is in the field endeavouring, as provided by certain rules, to put
out the side at bat. Each side has nine turns, or innings, at bat, unless
the side last at bat does not need its ninth innings in order to win; a tie
at the end of the ninth innings makes additional innings necessary. A full
game usually takes from 1-1/2 to 2 hrs. to play. Three batsmen are put out
in each innings, and the side scoring the greatest number of runs (complete
encircling of the bases without being put out) wins. A runner who is not
put out but fails to reach home-base does not score a run, but is "left on
base."
Implements of the Game.--The ball, which is 9-9-1/4 in. in circumference
and weighs 5-5-1/4 oz., is made of yarn wound upon a small core of
vulcanized rubber and covered with white leather, which may not be
intentionally discoloured. The bat must be round, not over 2-3/4 in. in
diameter at the thickest part, nor more than 42 in. in length. It is
usually made of ash or some other hard wood, and the handle may be wound
with twine. Three-cornered spikes are usually worn on the players' shoes.
The catcher and first-baseman (_v. infra_) may wear a glove of any size on
one hand; the gloves worn by all other players may not measure more than 14
in. round the palm nor weigh more than 10 oz.
The Players.--The fielding side consists of (a) the pitcher and catcher,
called the battery, (b) the first-baseman, second-baseman, third-baseman
and short-stop, called infielders, and (c) the left-fielder, centre-fielder
and right-fielder, called out-fielders.
The pitcher, who delivers the ball to the batsman, is the most important
member of the side. In the act of pitching, which is throwing either over
or underhand, he must keep one foot in contact with a white plate, called
the pitcher's plate, 24 in. long and 6 in. wide, placed 60.5 ft. from the
back of the home-base. Before 1875 the pitcher was obliged to deliver the
ball with a full toss only, but about that time a disguised underhand
throw, which greatly increased the pace, began to be used so generally that
it was soon legalized, and the overhand throw followed as a matter of
course. As long as the arm was held stiff no curve could be imparted to the
flight of the ball in the air, but with the increase of pace came the
possibility of doing this by a movement of the wrist as the ball left the
hand, the twist thus given causing the ball, by the pressure on the air, to
swerve to one side or the other, or downwards, according to the position of
the hand and fingers as the ball is let go. The commonest of these swerving
deliveries, and the first one invented, is the out-curve, the ball coming
straight towards the batsman until almost within reach of his bat, when it
suddenly swerves away from him towards the right, if he be right-handed.
The other important curves are the incurve, shooting sharply to the left,
and the drop, with their many variations, nearly every pitcher using some
favourite curve. Change of pace, disguised as well as possible, is also an
important part of pitching strategy, as well as variation of the delivery
and the play upon the known weaknesses or idiosyncrasies of the batsman.
Good control over the ball is a necessity, as four "balls" called by the
umpire,--that is, balls not over the base, or over the base and not between
the shoulder and knee of the batsman,--entitle the batsman to become a
base-runner and take his first base. If the pitcher disregards the
restrictions placed upon him by the rules (_e.g._ he may not, while in
position, make a motion to deliver the ball to the batsman without actually
[v.03 p.0460] delivering it, or to first-base, while that base is occupied
by a runner, without completing the throw), he is said to have made a balk,
which permits a base runner to advance a base. In fielding batted balls the
pitcher takes all that come directly to him, especially slow ones which the
other fielders cannot reach in time. One of his duties is to "back up" the
first-baseman in order to stop balls thrown wide, and to cover first-base
in place of the baseman whenever that player has to leave his base to field
a ground ball. On occasion he also backs up other positions.
The _catcher_ usually stands about 1 yd. behind the home plate, and he must
never be more than 10 ft. behind the home plate when the pitcher delivers
the ball to the batsman. He generally catches the ball from the pitcher
before it strikes the ground, and, when a man of the opposing side has
succeeded in getting to a base, must be on the alert to head this opponent
off should he endeavour to _steal_ the next base, _i.e._ run to it while
the pitcher is delivering the ball to the batsman. For this reason the
catcher must be a quick, strong and accurate thrower. As the catcher alone
faces the whole field, he is able to warn the pitcher when to throw to a
base in order to catch a runner _napping_ off the base, and by secretly
signalling to the pitcher (usually by means of signs with his fingers) he
directs what kind of a ball is to be pitched, so that he may be in the
proper position to receive the ball, be it high or low, to left or right.
Some pitchers, however, prefer to reserve their choice of balls and
therefore do the signalling themselves. The catcher wears a mask, a
breast-pad, and a large glove, without which the position would be a very
dangerous one.
[Illustration: Diagram of Base-ball Field.]
As every batsman upon hitting the ball must run for the first-base, the
first-baseman must be a sure catch of balls thrown to head runners off,
even those thrown too low, high or wide. A tall man is usually chosen for
this position. The second-baseman usually stands about 30 ft. to the right
of second-base and back of the line between the bases, and attends to balls
batted to his side of the diamond. He also backs up any exposed position
and must be ready to cover second-base whenever a runner tries to steal
down from first-base, or whenever there is a runner on second-base, a duty
which he shares with the short-stop, whose position corresponds to that of
the second-baseman on the left side of the diamond. Short-stop must be a
quick and accurate thrower and a lively fielder, as he is required to back
up second- and third-base. Both he and the second-baseman must field ground
balls cleanly and are often called upon to catch fly balls also. The
requirements of third-baseman are very similar, but he must be an
exceptionally good thrower, as he has the longest distance to throw to the
first-base; and as he plays nearer to the batsman than do the
second-baseman and the short-stop, the balls batted in his direction are
apt to be faster and more difficult to field. One of the third-baseman's
chief duties is to be ready to run in towards the batsman to field "bunts,"
_i.e._ balls blocked by allowing them to rebound from a loosely held bat.
These commonly roll slowly in the direction of third-baseman, who, in order
to get them to first-base in time to put the runner out, must run in, pick
them up, usually with one hand, so as to be in position to throw without
the loss of an instant, and "snap" them to the first-baseman, _i.e._ throw
them underhand without taking time to raise his body to an erect position.
Many of these bunts can be fielded either by the pitcher or, if they drop
dead in front of the home-plate, by the catcher. The positions of the three
outfielders can be seen on the diagram. Their duties consist of catching
all "flies" batted over the heads of the infielders (_i.e._ high batted
balls that have not touched the ground), stopping and returning ground
balls that pass the infield, and backing up the baseman. The accompanying
diagram indicates the territory roughly allotted to the different fielders.
"Backing up" is a very prominent feature in fielding. Even the pitcher, for
example, should run behind the first-baseman when the ball is thrown to the
latter by another, in order to stop a widely thrown or missed ball, which,
if allowed to pass, would enable the runner to gain one or more additional
bases. Bases vacated by their basemen while fielding balls must often,
also, be promptly covered by another player. The general rule of defence
strategy is similar to that in cricket, namely, to have as many men as
possible at the probable point of attack. There is usually an infield and
an outfield captain for the special purpose of calling the name of the
player who is to take a certain fly ball, to prevent collisions.
The batsman stands three-quarters facing the pitcher within a parallelogram
("box") 6 ft. long and 4 ft. wide, the lines of which he may not overstep,
on penalty of being declared out. His object is to get to first-base
without being put out. This he may do in several ways. (1) He may make a
"safe-hit," _i.e._ one that is "fair" but cannot be caught, or fielded in
time to put him out. (2) He is entitled to first-base if the pitcher
pitches four bad balls, at none of which he (the batsman) has struck. (3)
He may be unavoidably struck by a pitched ball, in which case he is given
his base. (4) He may, except in certain specified cases, after a third
strike, if the catcher has failed to catch the third one, earn his base if
he can reach it before the catcher can throw the ball to the first-baseman,
and the first-baseman, with the ball in his possession, touch first-base.
(5) He may reach his base by an error of some fielder, which may be either
a muffed fly, a failure to stop and field a ground ball, a muffed thrown
ball or a bad throw. Only balls batted within the foul-lines (see diagram)
are fair. All others are "fouls," and the batsman cannot run on them. All
foul-struck balls are called strikes until two strikes have been called by
the umpire, after which fouls are not counted.
Batting, as in cricket, is a science by itself, although comparatively more
stress is laid on fielding than in cricket. A good batsman can place the
ball in any part of the field he chooses by meeting the ball at different
angles. He may make a safe hit either by hitting the ball on the ground
directly through the infield out of reach of the fielders, or so hard that
it cannot be [v.03 p.0461] stopped. In the last case a failure to stop and
field it does not count as an "error" (misplay) for the fielder, even
though it came straight at him, the decision as to errors appearing in the
score (_v. infra_) depending upon the official scorer of the home club. The
batsman may also hit safely by placing the ball over the heads of the
infielders, but not far enough to be caught by the outfielders, or over the
heads of the outfielders themselves, or he may bunt successfully. A hit by
which two bases can be made (without errors by opponents) is a
"two-base-hit," one for three bases a "three-base-hit," and one for four
bases a "home-run." The batsman may be put out in various ways. For
example, he is out (1) if he fails to bat in the order named in the
published batting-list; (2) if he fails to take his position within one
minute after the umpire has summoned him; (3) if he makes a foul hit which
is caught before it strikes the ground (a ball barely ticked by the bat
["foul-tip"] does not count); (4) if he oversteps the batting-lines; (5) if
he intentionally obstructs or interferes with the catcher; (6) if he
unsuccessfully attempts the third strike and the ball hits his person or is
caught by the catcher (under certain conditions he is out whether the ball
is so caught or not), or, not being caught, is thrown to first-base and
held there by an opposing player before the batsman can get there; (7) if a
fair ball be caught before striking the ground; (8) if any fair ball is
fielded to first-baseman before he reaches the base. The batsman becomes a
base-runner the moment he starts for first-base. He may, when he first
reaches first-base, overrun his base (provided he turns to his right in
returning to it) without risk of being put out, but thereafter can be put
out by being touched with the ball in the hands of a fielder unless some
part of the runner's person is in contact with the base. When a fair or
foul ball struck by a batsman on his side is caught on the fly, he must
retouch his base, or be put out if the baseman receives the ball before he
can do so. A runner on first-base is forced to run to second as soon as a
fair ball is batted, or, being on second with another runner on first, he
is forced to run to third. This is called being "forced off his base." In
such a situation the forced runner can be put out if the ball is thrown to
the baseman at the next base before the runner gets there. He does not
require to be touched with the ball. The runner on first is entitled,
however, to advance to second without risk of being put out if the batsman
becomes similarly entitled to first-base (_e.g._ on being unavoidably
struck by the ball, or on four balls). Frequently, if the ball is batted to
the infield while a runner is on first-base, the fielder tosses it to
second-baseman, putting out the runner, and the second-baseman has still
time to throw the ball to first-base ahead of the batsman, thus completing
a "double play." Triple plays are sometimes made when there are runners on
two or on all of the bases. Base-running is one of the important arts of
base-ball play. A good base-runner takes as long a lead off the base as he
dares, starts to run the moment the pitcher makes the first movement to
deliver the ball, and if necessary throws himself with a slide, either feet
or head first, on to the objective base, the reason for the slide being to
make it more difficult for the baseman to touch the runner, having to stoop
in order to do so, thus losing time. A base-runner is out if he interferes
with an opponent while the latter is fielding a ball or if he is hit by a
batted ball. An example of modern base-running is offered by the "double
steal," carried out, _e.g._, when there is a runner on first-base and a
runner on third-base. The runner on first starts for second leisurely in
order to draw a throw to second by the catcher. If the catcher throws, the
runner on third runs for the home-plate, the second-baseman returning the
ball to the catcher in order to put the runner out. The play often results
in a score, but the runner is frequently caught if the throws are quick and
accurate, or when the catcher deceives the runner by throwing, not to the
player at second-base, but to a man stationed for the purpose much nearer
the home-plate, this man intercepting the ball and returning it to the
catcher if the runner on third is attempting to score, or letting it pass
to the player on second-base, if the runner on third does not make the
attempt.
Team batting is the co-operation of batsman and base-runner. The commonest
example is the "hit and run" play, _e.g._ when a runner is on first-base.
After the runner has ascertained by a false start which infielder, whether
second-baseman or short-stop, will cover second-base, the batsman signals
to the runner that he will hit the next ball. As soon as the pitcher
delivers the ball the runner starts for second and the batsman hits the
ball to that part of the infield vacated by the fielder who has gone to
receive the ball at second from the catcher. If successful this play
results in a safe hit, while the runner not infrequently makes, not only
second, but third-base as well. Another instance of team batting is when a
runner is on third-base and the batsman signals that he will hit the next
ball. This enables the runner to get a long start, making his scoring
nearly certain if the batsman succeeds in hitting the ball fairly. If the
ball is hit without the signal and consequent long start by the runner, the
latter is frequently put out at the plate, as the infielder who fields the
ball will ignore the batsman and throw the ball to the catcher to head off
the runner and prevent a run being scored. In close games the
"sacrifice-hit," a part of team batting, is an important element. It
consists, when a runner is on base, of a hit by the batsman resulting in
his own retirement but the advancement to the next base of the runner. The
sacrifice-hit is most frequently a bunt, as this gives the batsman the best
chance of reaching first-base safely, besides surely advancing the runner.
Another kind of sacrifice-hit is a long fly to the outfield. On such a hit
a runner on third-base (as on the other bases) must remain on the base
until after the ball is caught, but the distance from the outfield to the
home-plate is so great that a fast runner can generally beat the ball and
score his run. When men are on bases, coaches are allowed to stand near
first and third bases to direct the runners.
One umpire, who has absolute jurisdiction over all points of play, usually
officiates in base-ball, but, in important games, two umpires are often
employed, one of them standing behind the catcher and calling the good and
bad balls pitched, and the other, posted in the infield, giving decisions
on plays at the bases.
In cases where the game is tied after nine innings, extra ones are played,
the umpire "calling" a game when it becomes too dark to play. In case of
rain, play is suspended by the umpire, who calls the game if the rain
continues for one half-hour. Should play be permanently interrupted the
game counts if five innings have been completed by each side.
_Scoring_.--The base-ball score shows, in vertical columns, (1) how many
times each player has been at bat (bases taken on balls and sacrifice-hits
not counted); (2) how many runs he has scored; (3) how many base-hits he
has made; (4) how many sacrifice-hits he has made; (5) how many opponents
he has put out; (6) how many "assists," _i.e._ times he has assisted in
putting out (_e.g._ stopping a ground ball and throwing it to first-base);
(7) the number of errors he has made, wild pitches and "passed balls,"
_i.e._ not held by the catcher, as well as balks and bases on balls, not
being counted as errors but set down under the regular columns, together
with the record of stolen bases, extra long hits, double and triple plays,
batsmen struck out by each pitcher, the number of men struck by each
pitcher with the ball, the time of the game and the name of the umpire.
Careful record is kept of the batting, fielding, pitching and base-running
averages of both professional and amateur players. To find the batting
record of a player, divide the number of hits made by the number of times
at bat. To find a fielding record, divide the number of accepted chances by
the total chances, _e.g._ A.B. put 1188 men out, and assisted sixty-four
times, while making fifteen errors; his fielding average is therefore 1252
divided by 1267, or 988, 1000 being perfect fielding.
See _Spalding's Base-ball Guide_, in Spalding's Athletic Library, published
annually; _How to Play Base-ball_, by T. H. Murnane, Spalding's Athletic
Library; _The Book of School and College Sports_, by R. H. Barbour (New
York, 1904).
(E. B.)
BASEDOW, JOHANN BERNHARD (1723-1790), German educational reformer, was born
at Hamburg on the 11th of September 1723, the son of a hairdresser. He was
educated at the Johanneum in that town, where he came under the influence
of the rationalist H. S. Reimarus (1694-1768), author of the [v.03 p.0462]
famous _Wolfenbuetteler Fragmente_, published by Lessing. In 1744 he went
to Leipzig as a student of theology, but gave himself up entirely to the
study of philosophy. This at first induced sceptical notions; a more
profound examination of the sacred writings, and of all that relates to
them, brought him back to the Christian faith, but, in his retirement, he
formed his belief after his own ideas, and it was far from orthodox. He
returned to Hamburg, and between 1749 and 1753 was private tutor in a
nobleman's family in Holstein. Basedow now began to exhibit his really
remarkable powers as an educator of the young, and acquired so much
distinction that, in 1753, he was chosen professor of moral philosophy and
belles-lettres in the academy of Soro in Denmark. On account of his
theological opinions he was in 1761 removed from this post and transferred
to Altona, where some of his published works brought him into great
disfavour with the orthodox clergy. He was forbidden to give further
instruction, but did not lose his salary; and, towards the end of 1767, he
abandoned theology to devote himself with the same ardour to education, of
which he conceived the project of a general reform in Germany. In 1768
appeared his _Vorstellung an Menschenfreunde fuer Schulen, nebst dem Plan
eines Elementarbuches der menschlichen Erkenntnisse_, which was strongly
influenced by Rousseau's _Emile_. He proposed the reform of schools and of
the common methods of instruction, and the establishment of an institute
for qualifying teachers,--soliciting subscriptions for the printing of his
_Elementarwerk_, where his principles were to be explained at length, and
illustrated by plates. The subscriptions for this object amounted to 15,000
Talers (L2250), and in 1774 he was able to publish the work in four
volumes. It contains a complete system of primary education, intended to
develop the intelligence of the pupils and to bring them, so far as
possible, into contact with realities, not with mere words. The work was
received with great favour, and Basedow obtained means to establish an
institute for education at Dessau, and to apply his principles in training
disciples, who might spread them over all Germany. The name of
_Philanthropin_ which he gave to the institution appeared to him the most
expressive of his views; and he engaged in the new project with all his
accustomed ardour. But he had few scholars, and the success by no means
answered his hopes. Nevertheless, so well had his ideas been received that
similar institutions sprang up all over the land, and the most prominent
writers and thinkers openly advocated the plan. Basedow, unfortunately, was
little calculated by nature or habit to succeed in an employment which
required the greatest regularity, patience and attention; his temper was
intractable, and his management was one long quarrel with his colleagues.
He resigned his directorship of the institution in 1778, and it was finally
closed in 1793. Basedow died at Magdeburg on the 25th of July 1790.
See H. Rathmann, _Beitraege zur Lebensgeschichte Basedows_ (Magdeburg,
1791); J. C. Meyer, _Leben, Charakter und Schriften Basedows_ (2 vols.,
Hamburg, 1791-1792); G. P. R. Hahn, _Basedow und sein Verhaltnis zu
Rousseau_ (Leipzig, 1885); A. Pinloche, _Basedow et le philanthropinisme_
(Paris, 1890); C. Goessgen, _Rousseau und Basedow_ (1891).
BASE FEE, in law, a freehold estate of inheritance which is limited or
qualified by the existence of certain conditions. In modern property law
the commonest example of a base fee is an estate created by a tenant in
tail, not in possession, who bars the entail without the consent of the
protector of the settlement. Though he bars his own issue, he cannot bar
any remainder or reversion, and the estate (_i.e._ the _base fee_) thus
created is determinable on the failure of his issue in tail. An example of
this kind of estate was introduced by George Eliot into the plot of _Felix
Holt_. Another example of a base fee is an estate descendible to heirs
general, but terminable on an uncertain event; for example, a grant of land
to A and his heirs, tenants of the manor of Dale. The estate terminates
whenever the prescribed qualification ceases. An early meaning of base fee
was an estate held not by free or military service, but by base service,
_i.e._ at the will of the lord.
BASEL (Fr. _Bale_), one of the most northerly of the Swiss cantons, and the
only one (save Schaffhausen) that includes any territory north of the
Rhine. It is traversed by the chain of the Jura, and is watered by the Birs
and the Ergolz, both tributaries (left) of the Rhine. It is traversed by
railways from Basel to Olten (25 m.) and to Laufen (14-1/4 m.), besides
local lines from Basel to Fluehen (8 m.) for the frequented pilgrimage
resort of Mariastein, and from Liestal to Waldenburg (8-3/4 m.), From 1803
to 1814 the canton was one of the six "Directorial" cantons of the
Confederation. Since 1833 it has been divided into two half cantons, with
independent constitutions.
One is that of Basel Stadt or Bale Ville, including, besides the city of
Basel, the three rural districts (all to the north of the Rhine) of Riehen,
Bettingen and Klein Hueningen (the latter now united to the city). The
total area of this half canton is 13.7 sq. m. only, of which 11 sq. m. are
classed as "productive," forests occupying 1.5 sq. m., but its total
population in 1900 was 112,227 (of whom 3066 inhabited the rural
districts), mainly German-speaking, and numbering 73,063 Protestants,
37,101 Romanists (including the Old Catholics), and 1897 Jews. The cantonal
constitution dates from 1889. The executive of seven members and the
legislature (_Grossrat_) of 130 members, as well as the one member sent to
the Federal _Staenderat_ and the six sent to the Federal _Nationalrat_, are
all elected by a direct popular vote for the term of three years. Since
1875, 1000 citizens can claim a popular vote (_facultative Referendum_) on
all bills, or can exercise the right of _initiative_ whether as to laws or
the revision of the cantonal constitution.
The other half canton is that of Basel Landschaft or Bale Campagne, which
is divided into four administrative districts and comprises seventy-four
communes, its capital being Liestal. Its total area is 165 sq. m., of which
all but 5 sq. m. is reckoned "productive" (including 55.9 sq. m. of
forests). In 1900 its total population was 68,497, nearly all
German-speaking, while there were 52,763 Protestants, 15,564 Romanists, and
130 Jews.
The cantonal constitution dates from 1892. The executive of 5 members and
the legislature or _Landrat_ (one member per 800 inhabitants or fraction
over 400), as well as the single member sent to the Federal _Staenderat_
and the three sent to the Federal _Nationalrat_, are all elected by a
direct popular vote for three years. The "obligatory Referendum" obtains in
the case of all laws, while 1500 citizens have the right of "initiative"
whether as to laws or the revision of the cantonal constitution. Silk
ribbon weaving, textile industries and the manufacture of tiles are carried
on.
(W. A. B. C.)
BASEL (Fr. _Bale_, but _Basle_ is a wholly erroneous form; Ital.
_Basilea_), the capital of the Swiss half canton of Basel Stadt or Bale
Ville. It is now the second most populous (109,161 inhabitants) town
(ranking after Zuerich) in the Swiss Confederation, while it is reputed to
be the richest, the number of resident millionaires (in francs) exceeding
that of any other Swiss town. Both facts are largely due to the opening
(1882) of the St Gotthard railway, as merchandise collected from every part
of north and central Europe is stored in Basel previous to being
redistributed by means of that line. Hence the city has an extremely large
and flourishing transit trade, despite the rather dingy appearance of its
older portions. The city is divided by the Rhine into Gross Basel (south)
and Klein Basel (north), the former being by far the larger. There are
several bridges over the river, the old wooden bridge having been replaced
in 1905 by one built of stone. The central or main railway station is in
Gross Basel, while the Baden station is in Klein Basel. The most prominent
building in the city is the cathedral or Muenster, built of deep red
sandstone, on a terrace high above the Rhine. It was consecrated in 1019,
but was mainly rebuilt after the disastrous earthquake of 1356 that nearly
ruined the city. The public meetings of the great oecumenical council
(1431-1449) were held in the choir, while the committees sat in the
chapter-house. Erasmus lived in Basel 1521-1529, and on his death there
(1536) was buried in the cathedral, attached to which are cloisters, in
which various celebrated men are buried, _e.g._ Oecolampadius (d. 1531),
Grynaeus (d. 1541), Buxtorf (d. 1732). The 16th-century Rathaus or town
hall has recently been restored. In the museum is a fine collection of
works of art by Holbein (who lived in Basel from [v.03 p.0463] 1528 to
1531), while the historical museum (in the old Franciscan church) contains
many treasures, and among them the fragments of the famous _Dance of
Death_, wrongly attributed to Holbein. The university (founded by Pius II.
in 1460) is the oldest in Switzerland, and of late years has been extended
by the construction of detached buildings for the study of the natural
sciences, _e.g._ the Vesalianum and the Bernoullianum. The university
library is very rich, and contains the original MSS. of the acts of the
great oecumenical council. There are a number of modern monuments in the
city, the most important being that set up to the memory of the Swiss who
fell in the battle of St Jakob (1444), won by the French. Basel is the seat
of the chief missionary society in Switzerland, the training school for
missionaries being at St Chrischona, 6 m. out of the city.
The town was founded in A.D. 374 by the emperor Valentinian, from whose
residence there it takes its name. In the 5th century the bishop of Augusta
Rauricorum (now called Kaiser Augst), 7-1/2 m. to the east, moved his see
thither. Henceforth the history of the city is that of the growing power,
spiritual and temporal, of the bishops, whose secular influence was
gradually supplanted in the 14th century by the advance of the rival power
of the burghers. In 1356 the city was nearly destroyed by a great
earthquake. After long swaying between the neighbouring Rhine cities and
the Swiss Confederation, it was admitted into the latter in 1501. It later
became one of the chief centres of the Reformation movement in Switzerland,
so that the bishop retired in 1525 to Porrentruy, where he resided till
1792, finally settling at Soleure in 1828, the bishopric having been wholly
reorganized since 1814. As in other Swiss towns the trade gilds got all
political power into their hands, especially by the 18th century. They
naturally favoured the city at the expense of the rural districts, so that
in 1832 the latter proclaimed their independence, and in 1833 were
organized into the half canton of Basel Landschaft, the city forming that
of Basel Stadt.
See _Basler Biographien_ (3 vols., 1900-1905); _Basler Chroniken_ (original
chronicles), (5 vols., Leipzig, 1872-1890); H. Boos, _Geschichte von
Basel_, vol. i. (to 1501) alone published (1877); A. Burckhardt, _Bilder
aus d. Geschichte von Basel_ (3 vols., 1869-1882); _Festschrift z. 400ten
Jahrestage d. ewig. Bundes zwisch. B. und den Eidgenossen_ (1901); T.
Geering, _Handel und Industrie d. Stadt Basel_ (1885); A. Heusler,
_Verfassungsgeschichte d. Stadt Basel im Mittelalter_ (1860), and
_Rechtsquellen von Basel_ (2 vols., 1856-1865); L. A. Stocker, _Basler
Stadtbilder_ (1890); L. Stouff, _Pouvoir temporel des eveques de Bale_ (2
vols., Paris, 1891); R. Thommen, _Gesch. d. Universitaet B._, 1532-1632
(1889); _Urkundenbuch d. Landschaft B._ (pub. from 1881), and ditto for the
city (pub. from 1890); W. Vischer, _Gesch. d. Universitaet B._, 1460-1529
(1860); R. Wackernagel, _Gesch. d. Stadt Basel_ (3 vols., 1906 sqq.); K.
Weber, _Die Revolution im Kanton Basel_, 1830-1833 (1907); G. Gautherot,
_La Republique rauracienne_ (1908).
(W. A. B. C.)
BASEL, CONFESSION OF, one of the many statements of faith produced by the
Reformation. It was put out in 1534 and must be distinguished from the
First and Second Helvetic Confessions, its author being Oswald Myconius,
who based it on a shorter confession promulgated by Oecolampadius, his
predecessor in the church at Basel. Though it was an attempt to bring into
line with the reforming party both those who still inclined to the old
faith and the anabaptist section, its publication provoked a good deal of
controversy, especially on its statements concerning the Eucharist, and the
people of Strassburg even reproached those of Basel with celebrating a
Christless supper. Up to the year 1826 the Confession (sometimes also known
as the Confession of Muehlhausen from its adoption by that town) was
publicly read from the pulpits of Basel on the Wednesday of Passion week in
each year. In 1872 a resolution of the great council of the city
practically annulled it.
BASEL, COUNCIL OF. A decree of the council of Constance (9th of October
1417) sanctioned by Martin V. had obliged the papacy periodically to summon
general councils. At the expiry of the first term fixed by this decree,
Martin V. did, in fact, call together at Pavia a council, which it was
necessary to transfer almost at once to Siena, owing to an epidemic, and
which had to be dissolved owing to circumstances still imperfectly known,
just as it was beginning to discuss the subject of reform (1424). The next
council was due to assemble at the expiry of seven years, _i.e._ in 1431;
with his usual punctuality, Martin V. duly convoked it for this date to the
town of Basel, and selected to preside over it the cardinal Julian
Cesarini, a man of the greatest worth, both intellectually and morally.
Martin himself, however, died before the opening of the synod.
From Italy, France and Germany the fathers were slow in appearing at Basel.
Cesarini devoted all his energies to the war against the Hussites, until
the disaster of Taus forced him hastily to evacuate Bohemia. The progress
of heresy, the reported troubles in Germany, the war which had lately
broken out between the dukes of Austria and Burgundy, and finally, the
small number of fathers who had responded to the summons of Martin V.,
caused that pontiff's successor, Eugenius IV., to think that the synod of
Basel was doomed to certain failure. This opinion, added to the desire
which he had of himself presiding over the council, induced him to recall
the fathers from Germany, whither his health, impaired of late, probably
owing to a cerebral congestion, rendered it all the more difficult for him
to go. He commanded the fathers to disperse, and appointed Bologna as their
meeting-place in eighteen months' time, his intention being to make the
session of the council coincide with some conferences with representatives
of the Greek church, which were to be held there with a view to union (18th
December 1431).
This order led to an outcry among the fathers of Basel and incurred the
deep disapproval of the legate Cesarini. The Hussites, it was said, would
think that the Church was afraid to face them; the laity would accuse the
clergy of shirking reform; in short, this failure of the councils would
produce disastrous effects. In vain did the pope explain his reasons and
yield certain points; the fathers would listen to nothing, and, relying on
the decrees of the council of Constance, which amid the troubles of the
schism had proclaimed the superiority, in certain cases, of the council
over the pope, they insisted upon their right of remaining assembled,
hastily beat up the laggards, held sessions, promulgated decrees,
interfered in the government of the papal countship of Venaissin, treated
with the Hussites, and, as representatives of the universal Church,
presumed to impose laws upon the sovereign pontiff himself. Eugenius IV.
resolved to resist this supremacy, though he did not dare openly to
repudiate a very widespread doctrine considered by many to be the actual
foundation of the authority of the popes before the schism. However, he
soon realized the impossibility of treating the fathers of Basel as
ordinary rebels, and tried a compromise; but as time went on, the fathers
became more and more intractable, and between him and them gradually arose
an impassable barrier.
Abandoned by a number of his cardinals, condemned by most of the powers,
deprived of his dominions by _condottieri_ who shamelessly invoked the
authority of the council, the pope made concession after concession, and
ended on the 15th of December 1433 by a pitiable surrender of all the
points at issue in a bull, the terms of which were dictated by the fathers
of Basel, that is, by declaring his bull of dissolution null and void, and
recognizing that the synod had not ceased to be legitimately assembled. It
would be wrong, however, to believe that Eugenius IV. ratified all the
decrees coming from Basel, or that he made a definite submission to the
supremacy of the council. No express pronouncement on this subject could be
wrung from him, and his enforced silence concealed the secret design of
safeguarding the principle of sovereignty.
The fathers, who were filled with suspicion, would only allow the legates
of the pope to preside over them on condition of their recognizing the
superiority of the council; the legates ended by submitting to this
humiliating formality, but in their own name only, thus reserving the
judgment of the Holy See. Nay more, the difficulties of all kinds against
which Eugenius had to contend, the insurrection at Rome, which forced him
to escape by the Tiber, lying in the bottom of a boat, left him at first
little chance of resisting the enterprises of the council. Emboldened by
their success, the fathers approached the subject of reform, their
principal object being to curtail the power and resources of the papacy.
This is why, besides the disciplinary [v.03 p.0464] measures which
regulated the elections, the celebration of divine service, the periodical
holding of diocesan synods and provincial councils, are found also decrees
aimed at some of the "rights" by which the popes had extended their power,
and helped out their finances at the expense of the local churches. Thus
annates (_q.v._) were abolished, the abuse of "reservation" of the
patronage of benefices by the pope was much limited, and the right claimed
by the pope of "next presentation" to benefices not yet vacant (known as
_gratiae expectativae_) was done away with altogether. By other decrees the
jurisdiction of the court of Rome was much limited, and rules were even
made for the election of popes and the constitution of the Sacred College.
The fathers continued to devote themselves to the subjugation of the
Hussites; they also intervened, in rivalry with the pope, in the
negotiations between France and England which led only to the treaty of
Arras, concluded by Charles VII. with the duke of Burgundy; finally, they
investigated and judged numbers of private cases, lawsuits between
prelates, members of religious orders and holders of benefices, thus
themselves falling into one of the serious abuses for which they had most
blamed the court of Rome.
The democratic character of the assembly of Basel was the result both of
its composition and of its organization; not only was the number of
prelates in it always small in comparison with that of the doctors,
masters, representatives of chapters, monks or clerks of inferior orders,
but the influence of the superior clergy had all the less weight because,
instead of being separated into "nations," as at Constance, the fathers
divided themselves according to their tastes or aptitudes into four large
committees or "deputations" (_deputationes_), one concerned with questions
of faith (_fidei_), another with negotiations for peace (_pacis_), the
third with reform (_reformatorii_), the fourth with what they called
"common concerns" (_pro communibus_). Every decision made by three of these
"deputations"--and in each of them the lower clergy formed the
majority--was ratified for the sake of form in general congregation, and if
necessary led to decrees promulgated in session. It was on this account
that the council could sometimes be called, not without exaggeration, "an
assembly of copyists" or even "a set of grooms and scullions."
Eugenius IV., however much he may have wished to keep on good terms with
the fathers of Basel, was neither able nor willing to accept or observe all
their decrees. The question of the union with the Greek church, especially,
gave rise to a misunderstanding between them which soon led to a rupture.
The emperor John Palaeologus, pressed hard by the Turks, showed a great
desire to unite himself with the Catholics; he consented to come with the
principal representatives of the Greek church to some place in the west
where the union could be concluded in the presence of the pope and of the
Latin council. Hence arose a double negotiation between him and Eugenius
IV. on the one hand and the fathers of Basel on the other. The chief object
of the latter was to fix the meeting-place at a place remote from the
influence of the pope, and they persisted in suggesting Basel or Avignon or
Savoy, which neither Eugenius nor the Greeks would on any account accept.
The result was that Palaeologus accepted the offers of the pope, who, by a
bull dated the 18th of September 1437, again pronounced the dissolution of
the council of Basel, and summoned the fathers to Ferrara, where on the 8th
of January 1438 he opened a new synod which he later transferred to
Florence. In this latter town took place the momentary union, which was
more apparent than real, between the Latin and the Greek church (6th July
1439). During this time the council of Basel, though abandoned by Cesarini
and most of its members, persisted none the less, under the presidency of
Cardinal Aleman, in affirming its oecumenical character. On the 24th of
January 1438 it suspended Eugenius IV., and went on in spite of the
intervention of most of the powers to pronounce his deposition (25th June
1439), finally giving rise to a new schism by electing on the 4th of
November Amadeus VIII., duke of Savoy, as pope, who took the name of Felix
V.
This schism lasted fully ten years, although the antipope found hardly any
adherents outside of his own hereditary states, those of Alphonso of
Aragon, of the Swiss confederation and certain universities. Germany
remained neutral; Charles VII. of France confined himself to securing to
his kingdom by the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges, which became law on the
13th of July 1438, the benefit of a great number of the reforms decreed at
Basel; England and Italy remained faithful to Eugenius IV. Finally, in 1447
Frederick III., king of the Romans, after negotiations with Eugenius,
commanded the burgomaster of Basel not to allow the presence of the council
any longer in the imperial city. In June 1448 the rump of the council
migrated to Lausanne. The antipope, at the instance of France, ended by
abdicating (7th April 1449). Eugenius IV. died on the 23rd of February
1447, and the fathers of Lausanne, to save appearances, gave their support
to his successor, Nicholas V., who had already been governing the Church
for two years. Trustworthy evidence, they said, proved to them that this
pontiff accepted the dogma of the superiority of the council as it had been
defined at Constance and at Basel. In reality, the struggle which they had
carried on in defence of this principle for seventeen years, with a good
faith which it is impossible to ignore, ended in a defeat. The papacy,
which had been so fundamentally shaken by the great schism of the West,
came through this trial victorious. The era of the great councils of the
15th century was closed; the constitution of the Church remained
monarchical.
AUTHORITIES.--Mansi, vol. xxix.-xxxi.; Aeneas Sylvius, _De rebus Basileae
gestis_ (Fermo, 1803); Hefele, _Conciliengeschichte_, vol. vii.
(Freiburg-im-Breisgau, 1874); O. Richter, _Die Organisation und
Geschaftsordnung des Baseler Konzils_ (Leipzig, 1877); _Monumenta
Conciliorum generalium seculi xv., Scriptorum_, vol. i., ii. and iii.
(Vienna, 1857-1895); J. Haller, _Concilium Basiliense_, vol. i.-v. (Basel,
1896-1904); G. Perouse, _Le Cardinal Louis Aleman, president du concile de
Bale_ (Paris, 1904). Much useful material will also be found in J. C. L.
Gieseler's _Ecclesiastical History_, vol. iv. p. 312, &c., notes (Eng.
trans., Edinburgh, 1853).
(N. V.)
BASEMENT, the term applied to the lowest storey of any building placed
wholly or partly below the level of the ground. It is incorrectly applied
to the ground storey of any building, even when, as for instance in the
case of Somerset House, London, the ground floor is of plain or rusticated
masonry, and the upper storey which it supports is divided up and decorated
with columns or pilasters.
BASHAHR, or BISAHIR, a Rajput hill state, within the Punjab, amid the
Himalayan mountains, with an area of 3820 sq. m. and a population in 1901
of 80,582. In 1898, the raja being of weak intellect and without heir, the
administration was undertaken by a British official. In 1906 there were
some local troubles owing to the refusal of the people to pay taxes. The
revenue is obtained chiefly from land and forests, the latter being leased
to the British government.
BASHAN, a region lying E. of the Jordan, and towards its source. Its
boundaries are not very well defined, but it may be said in general to have
been north of the territory of Gilead. The name first appears in Hebrew
history in connexion with the wanderings of the Israelites. According to
Numbers xxi. 33, the tribes after the rout of Sihon, king of the Amorites,
turned to go by the land of Bashan; and its king, Og, met them at Edrei,
and was there defeated and slain. The value of this narrative is a matter
of much dispute. The gigantic stature of the king, and the curious details
about his "bedstead" (Deut. iii. 11) are regarded as suggestive of legend;
to say nothing of the lateness of all the documents relating to the wars of
Og, and the remoteness of Bashan from the regions of the Israelites'
wandering. The story, however, had so firm a hold on Hebrew tradition that
it can hardly fail to have some basis in fact; and an invasion by Israel of
Bashan before coming to Jordan is by no means an improbability.
The great stature of Og is explained in the passage of Deuteronomy
mentioned by the statement that he was of the remnant of the aboriginal
_Rephaim_. This was a race distinguished by lofty stature; and in Genesis
xiv. 5 we find them established in Ashteroth-Karnaim (probably the same as
_Ashtaroth_, which, as we shall see, was an important city of Bashan). The
territory [v.03 p.0465] was allotted on the partition of the conquered land
to the eastern division of the tribe of Manasseh (Numbers xxxiii. 33; Josh.
xiii. 29). One of the cities of refuge, Golan, was in Bashan (Deut. iv.
43). By Solomon, Bashan, or rather "the region of Argob in Bashan,"
containing "threescore great cities with walls and brazen bars," was
assigned to the administrative district of Ben-Geber, one of his
lieutenants (1 Kings iv. 13, compare ver. 19). In the days of Jehu the
country was taken from Israel by Hazael, king of Syria (2 Kings x. 33).
This is the last historical event related in the Old Testament of Bashan.
In the poetical and prophetic books it is referred to in connexion with the
products for which it was noted. From a passage in the "Blessing of Moses"
(Deut. xxxiii. 22) it seems to have been inhabited by lions. Elsewhere it
is referred to in connexion with its cattle (Deut. xxxii. 14; Ezek. xxxix.
18), which seem to have been proverbial for ferocity (Ps. xxii. 12); Amos
(iv. 1) calls the wealthy women of Samaria, who oppressed the poor, "kine
of Bashan." It is also noted for its mountain (Ps. lxviii. 15), and
especially for oaks, which are coupled with the cedars of Lebanon (Isa. ii.
13; compare xxxiii. 9; Zechariah xi. 2). Oars were made from them (Ezek.
xxvii. 6).
The boundaries of Bashan may to some extent be deduced from the indications
afforded in the earlier historical books. Og dwelt at Ashteroth, and did
battle with the Israelites at Edrei (Deut. i. 4). In Deut. iii. 4, "the
region of Argob" with its threescore cities is mentioned; Mt. Hermon is
referred to as a northern limit, and Salecah is alluded to in addition to
the other cities already mentioned. Josh. xii. 4 and Josh. xiii. 29 confirm
this. Josephus (_Ant._ iv. 5. 3; _Wars_, ii. 6. 3) enumerates four
provinces of Bashan, Gaulanitis, Trachonitis, Auranitis and Batanaea.
Gaulanitis (which probably derived its name from the city of refuge, Golan,
the site of which has not yet been discovered) is represented by the modern
Jaul[=a]n, a province extending from the Jordan lakes to the Haj Road.
Josephus (_Wars_, iv. 1. 1) speaks of it as divided into two sections,
Gamalitis and Sogana. Trachonitis (mentioned in Luke iii. 1 as in the
territory of Philip the tetrarch) adjoined the territory of Damascus,
Auranitis and Batanaea. This corresponds to the _Trach[=o]nes_ of Strabo
(xvi. 20), and the modern district of the Lej[=a]; inscriptions have been
found in the Lej[=a] giving Trach[=o]n as its former name. Auranitis is the
Hauran of Ezekiel xlvii. 16, and of the modern Arabs. It is south of the
Jaul[=a]n and north of Gilead. According to Porter (_Journal Soc. Lit._,
1854, p. 303), the name is locally restricted to the plain south of the
Lej[=a]. and the narrow strip on the west; although it is loosely applied
by strangers to the whole country east of the Jaul[=a]n. The fourth
province, Batanaea, which still is remembered in the name _'Ard
el-Bathaniyeh_, lies east of the Lej[=a] and the Hauran plain, and includes
the Jebel ed-Dr[=u]z or Hauran mountain.
The identification of Argob, a region of the kingdom of Og, is a matter of
much difficulty. It has been equated on philological grounds to the
Lej[=a]. But these arguments have been shown to be shaky if not baseless,
and the identification is now generally abandoned. The confidence with
which the great cities of Og were identified with the extensive remains of
ancient sites in the Lej[=a] and Hauran has also been shown to be without
justification. All the so-called "giant cities of Bashan" without exception
are now known to be Greco-Roman, not earlier than the time of Herod, and,
though in themselves of very high architectural and historical interest,
have no connexion whatever with the more ancient periods. No tangible
traces of Og and his people, or even of their Israelite supplanters, have
yet been found.
This fact somewhat weakens the various identifications that have been
proposed for the cities of Bashan enumerated by name. Edrei for example is
identified with _Ed-Dera'a_. This is perhaps the most satisfactory
comparison, for besides the Greco-Roman remains there is an extensive
subterranean city of unknown date, which may be of great antiquity, though
even this is still _sub judice_. The other identifications that have
commanded most acceptance are as follows:--Ashteroth Karnaim, also called
Ashtaroth and (Josh. xxi. 27) Be-eshterah, has been identified with
_Busrah_ (Bostra), where are very important Herodian ruins, but there is no
tangible evidence yet adduced that the history of this site is of so remote
antiquity. From the similarity of the names, it has also been sought at
_Tell Ashari_ and _Tell 'Ashtera_. The true site can be determined, if at
all; by excavation only; identifications based on mere outward similarity
of names have always been fruitful sources of error. Salecah is perhaps
less doubtful; it is a remarkable name, and a ruin similarly styled,
_Salkhat_, is to be seen in the Hauran. It is inhabited by Druses. Another
town in eastern Manasseh, namely Kenath, has been identified by Porter with
Kanawat, which may be correct.
In the later history Bashan became remarkable as a refuge for outlaws and
robbers, a character it still retains. The great subterranean "city" at
Ed-Dera'a has been partially destroyed by the local sub-governor, in order
to prevent it becoming a refuge of fugitives from justice or from
government requirements (conscription, taxation, &c.). Strabo refers to a
great cave in Trachonitis capable of holding 4000 robbers. Arab tradition
regards it as the home of Job; and it is famous as being the centre of the
Ghassanid dynasty. The Hauran is one of the principal habitations of the
sect of the Druses (_q.v._).
The physical characteristics of Bashan are noteworthy. Volcanic in
origin--the Jebel ed-Druz is a group of extinct volcanoes--the friable
volcanic soil is extraordinarily fertile. It is said to yield wheat
eighty-fold and barley a hundred. The oaks for which the country was once
famous still distinguish it in places.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--In addition to books mentioned under PALESTINE see the
following:--U. J. Seetzen, _Reisen durch Syrien, Palastina, Phonicien, &c._
(4 vols., 1854); Rev. J. L. Porter, _Five Years in Damascus_ (2 vols.,
1855); _The Giant Cities of Bashan_ (out of date, but some of the
descriptions good, 1865); J. G. Wetzstein, _Reisebericht ueber Hauran und
die Trachonen_ (Berlin, 1860); Sir R. F. Burton and C. F. T. Drake,
_Unexplored Syria_ (1872); G. Schumacher, _The Jaul[=a]n_ (1888); _Abila,
Fella and Northern Ajlun_ (1890); _Across the Jordan_ (1886), (Palestine
Exploration Fund); Rev. W. Ewing, _A Journey in the Hauran_ (with a large
collection of inscriptions); Palestine Exploration Fund _Quarterly
Statement_, 1895; W. H. Waddington's _Inscriptions of Syria_ may also be
consulted; Dussaud (Rene) and Frederic Macler, _Voyage archeologique au
Safa et dans le Djabel ed-Dr[=u]z_ (1901). In 1900 an important survey of
the Hauran and neighbouring regions was made under American auspices,
directed by Dr Enno Littmann; the publication of the great harvest of
results was begun in 1906.
(R. A. S. M.)
BASHI-BAZOUK, the name given to a species of irregular mounted troops
employed by the Turks. They are armed and maintained by the government but
do not receive pay. They do not wear uniform or distinctive badges. They
fight either mounted or dismounted, chiefly the latter, but are incapable
of undertaking serious work, because of their lack of discipline. Their
uncertain temper has sometimes made it necessary for the Turkish regular
troops to disarm them by force, but they are often useful in the work of
reconnaissance and in outpost duty. They are accused, and generally with
justice, of robbery and maltreatment of the civil population, resembling in
those things, as in their fighting methods and value, the Croats, Pandours
and Tolpatches of 18th-century European armies. The term is also used of a
mounted force, existing in peace time in various provinces of the Turkish
empire, which performs the duties of gendarmerie.
BASHKALA, the chief town of a sanjak of the vilayet of Van in Asiatic
Turkey. It is a military station, situated at an elevation of 7500 ft.
above sea-level in the valley of the Great Zab river. It stands on the east
slope of lofty bare mountains, overlooking a wide valley on the farther
side of which flows the Zab. On a knoll above is a ruined fortress formerly
occupied by a Kurdish Bey. The population numbers some 10,000, principally
Kurds, but including 1500 Armenians and 1000 Jews. The place is important
as the centre of the Hakkiari sanjak, a very difficult mountain district to
the south-west containing numerous tribes of Kurds and Nestorian
Christians, and also the many Kurdish tribes along the Persian frontier.
The houses are well built of sun-dried brick, and the streets are wide and
fairly clean. Good smiths' and carpenters' work is [v.03 p.0466] done. The
bazaar is small, although a thriving trade is done with the mountain
districts. Owing to the great elevation the winter is extremely severe, and
the summer of short duration. Wheat, barley, millet and sesame are
cultivated on the plain, but fruit and vegetables have mostly to be
imported from Persia. Roads lead to Van, Urmia in Persia and Mosul through
the Nestorian country. The Kurd and Nestorian tribes in the wilder parts of
the Hakkiari Mountains are under slight government control, and are
permitted to pay tribute and given self-government in a large degree.
(F. R. M.)
BASHKIRS, a people inhabiting the Russian governments of Ufa, Orenburg,
Perm and Samara, and parts of Vyatka, especially on the slopes and confines
of the Ural, and in the neighbouring plains. They speak a Tatar language,
but some authorities think that they are ethnically a Finnish tribe
transformed by Tatar influence. The name Bashkir or Bash-kurt appears for
the first time in the beginning of the 10th century in the writings of
Ibn-Foslan, who, describing his travels among the Volga-Bulgarians,
mentions the Bashkirs as a warlike and idolatrous race. The name was not
used by the people themselves in the 10th century, but is a mere nickname.
Of European writers, the first to mention the Bashkirs are Joannes de Plano
Carpini (_c._ 1200-1260) and William of Rubruquis (1220-1293). These
travellers, who fell in with them in the upper parts of the river Ural,
call them Pascatir, and assert that they spoke at that time the same
language as the Hungarians. Till the arrival of the Mongolians, about the
middle of the 13th century, the Bashkirs were a strong and independent
people and troublesome to their neighbours, the Bulgarians and Petchenegs.
At the time of the downfall of the Kazan kingdom they were in a weak state.
In 1556 they voluntarily recognized the supremacy of Russia, and, in
consequence, the city of Ufa was founded to defend them from the Kirghiz,
and they were subjected to a fur-tax. In 1676 they rebelled under a leader
named Seit, and were with difficulty reduced; and again in 1707, under
Aldar and Kusyom, on account of ill-treatment by the Russian officials.
Their third and last insurrection was in 1735, at the time of the
foundation of Orenburg, and it lasted for six years. In 1786 they were
freed from taxes; and in 1798 an irregular army was formed from among them.
They are now divided into cantons and give little trouble, though some
differences have arisen between them and the government about land
questions. By mode of life the Bashkirs are divided into settled and
nomadic. The former are engaged in agriculture, cattle-rearing and
bee-keeping, and live without want. The nomadic portion is subdivided,
according to the districts in which they wander, into those of the
mountains and those of the steppes. Almost their sole occupation is the
rearing of cattle; and they attend to that in a very negligent manner, not
collecting a sufficient store of winter fodder for all their herds, but
allowing part of them to perish. The Bashkirs are usually very poor, and in
winter live partly on a kind of gruel called _yuryu_, and badly prepared
cheese named _skurt_. They are hospitable but suspicious, apt to plunder
and to the last degree lazy. They have large heads, black hair, eyes narrow
and flat, small foreheads, ears always sticking out and a swarthy skin. In
general, they are strong and muscular, and able to endure all kinds of
labour and privation. They profess Mahommedanism, but know little of its
doctrines. Their intellectual development is low.
See J. P. Carpini, _Liber Tartarorum_, edited under the title _Relations
des Mongols ou Tartares_, by d'Avezac (Paris, 1838); Gulielmus de
Rubruquis, _The Journey of William of Rubruck to the Eastern Parts of the
World_, translated by W. W. Rockhill (London, 1900); Semenoff, _Slovar
Ross. Imp._, s.v.; Frahn, "De Baskiris," in _Mem. de l'Acad. de
St-Petersbourg_ (1822); Florinsky, in _Westnik Evropi_ (1874); and
Katarinskij, _Dictionnaire Bashkir-Russe_ (1900).
BASHKIRTSEFF, MARIA CONSTANTINOVA [MARIE] (1860-1884), Russian artist and
writer, was born at Gavrontsi in the government of Pultowa in Russia on the
23rd of November 1860. When Marie was seven years old, as her father
(marshal of the nobility at Pultowa) and her mother were unable through
incompatibility to live together, Madame Bashkirtseff with her little
daughter left Russia to spend the winters at Nice or in Italy, and the
summers at German watering-places. Marie acquired an education superior to
that given to most girls of her rank. She could read Plato and Virgil in
the original, and write four languages with almost equal facility. A gifted
musician, she at first hoped to be a singer, and studied seriously in Italy
to that end; her voice, however, was not strong enough to stand hard work
and failed her. Meanwhile she was also learning to draw. When she lost her
voice she devoted herself to painting, and in 1877 settled in Paris, where
she worked steadily in Tony Robert-Fleury's studio. In 1880 she exhibited
in the salon a portrait of a woman; in 1881 she exhibited the "Atelier
Julian"; in 1882 "Jean et Jacques"; in 1884 the "Meeting," and a portrait
in pastel of a lady--her cousin--now in the Luxembourg gallery, for which
she was awarded a _mention honorable_. Her health, always delicate, could
not endure the labour she imposed on herself in addition to the life of
fashion in which she became involved as a result of her success as an
artist, and she died of consumption on the 31st of October 1884, leaving a
small series of works of remarkable promise. From her childhood Marie
Bashkirtseff kept an autobiographical journal; but the editors of these
brilliant confessions (_Journal de Marie Bashkirtseff_, 1890), aiming
apparently at captivating the reader's interest by the girl's precocious
gifts and by the names of the various distinguished persons with whom she
came in contact, so treated certain portions as to draw down vehement
protest. This, to some extent, has brought into question the stamp of
truthfulness which constitutes the chief merit of this extraordinarily
interesting book. A further instalment of Marie Bashkirtseff literature was
published in the shape of letters between her and Guy de Maupassant, with
whom she started a correspondence under a feigned name and without
revealing her identity.
See Mathilde Blind, _A Study of Marie Bashkirtseff_ (T. Fisher Unwin,
1892); _The Journal of Marie Bashkirtseff: an Exposure and a Defence_, by
"S." (showing that there is throughout a mistake of four years in the date
of the diary); _Black and White_, 6th Feb. and 11th April 1891, pp. 17,
304; _The Journal of Marie Bashkirtseff_, translated, with an Introduction,
by Mathilde Blind (2 vols., London, 1890); _The Letters of Marie
Bashkirtseff_ (1 vol.).
(B. K.)
BASIL,[1] known as BASIL THE GREAT (_c._ 330-379), bishop of Caesarea, a
leading churchman in the 4th century, came of a famous family, which gave a
number of distinguished supporters to the Church. His eldest sister,
Macrina, was celebrated for her saintly life; his second brother was the
famous Gregory of Nyssa; his youngest was Peter, bishop of Sebaste; and his
eldest brother was the famous Christian jurist Naucratius. There was in the
whole family a tendency to ecstatic emotion and enthusiastic piety, and it
is worth noting that Cappadocia had already given to the Church men like
Firmilian and Gregory Thaumaturgus. Basil was born about 330 at Caesarea in
Cappadocia. While he was still a child, the family removed to Pontus; but
he soon returned to Cappadocia to live with his mother's relations, and
seems to have been brought up by his grandmother Macrina. Eager to learn,
he went to Constantinople and spent four or five years there and at Athens,
where he had Gregory (_q.v._) of Nazianzus for a fellow-student. Both men
were deeply influenced by Origen, and compiled the well-known anthology of
his writings, known as _Philocalia_ (edited by J. A. Robinson, Cambridge,
1893). It was at Athens that he seriously began to think of religion, and
resolved to seek out the most famous hermit saints in Syria and Arabia, in
order to learn from them how to attain to that enthusiastic piety in [v.03
p.0467] which he delighted, and how to keep his body under by maceration
and other ascetic devices. After this we find him at the head of a convent
near Arnesi in Pontus, in which his mother Emilia, now a widow, his sister
Macrina and several other ladies, gave themselves to a pious life of prayer
and charitable works. He was not ordained presbyter until 365, and his
ordination was probably the result of the entreaties of his ecclesiastical
superiors, who wished to use his talents against the Arians, who were
numerous in that part of the country and were favoured by the Arian
emperor, Valens, who then reigned in Constantinople. In 370 Eusebius,
bishop of Caesarea, died, and Basil was chosen to succeed him. It was then
that his great powers were called into action. Caesarea was an important
diocese, and its bishop was, _ex officio_, exarch of the great diocese of
Pontus. Hot-blooded and somewhat imperious, Basil was also generous and
sympathetic. "His zeal for orthodoxy did not blind him to what was good in
an opponent; and for the sake of peace and charity he was content to waive
the use of orthodox terminology when it could be surrendered without a
sacrifice of truth." He died in 379.
The principal theological writings of Basil are his _De Spiritu Sancto_, a
lucid and edifying appeal to Scripture and early Christian tradition, and
his three books against Eunomius, the chief exponent of Anomoian Arianism.
He was a famous preacher, and many of his homilies, including a series of
lenten lectures on the _Hexaemeron_, and an exposition of the psalter, have
been preserved. His ascetic tendencies are exhibited in the _Moralia_ and
_Regulae_, ethical manuals for use in the world and the cloister
respectively. His three hundred letters reveal a rich and observant nature,
which, despite the troubles of ill-health and ecclesiastical unrest,
remained optimistic, tender and even playful. His principal efforts as a
reformer were directed towards the improvement of the liturgy, and the
reformation of the monastic orders of the East. (See BASILIAN MONKS.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--Editions of his works appeared at Basel (1532); Paris, by J.
Garnier and P. Maranus (1721-1730), and by L. de Sinner (1839). Migne's
_Patrol. ser. graec._ 29-32; _De Spiritu Sancto_, ed. C. F. H. Johnston
(Oxford, 1892); _Liturgia_, ed. A. Robertson (London, 1894). See also the
patrologies, _e.g._ that of O. Bardenhewer, and the histories of dogma,
_e.g._ those of A. Harnack and F. Loofs.
[1] The name Basil also belongs to several other distinguished churchmen,
(1) Basil, bishop of Ancyra from 336 to 360, a semi-Arian, highly favoured
by the emperor Constantine, and a great polemical writer; none of his works
are extant. (2) Basil of Seleucia (fl. 448-458), a bishop who shifted sides
continually in the Eutychian controversy, and who wrote extensively; his
works were published in Paris in 1622. (3) Basil of Ancyra, fl. 787; he
opposed image-worship at the second council of Nicaea, but afterwards
retracted. (4) Basil of Achrida, archbishop of Thessalonica about 1155; he
was a stanch upholder of the claims of the Eastern Church against the
widening supremacy of the papacy.
BASIL I. (d. 886), known as the "MACEDONIAN", Roman emperor in the East,
was born of a family of Armenian (_not_ Slavonic) descent, settled in
Macedonia. He spent a part of his boyhood in captivity in Bulgaria, whither
his family was carried by the Bulgarian prince Krum in 813. He succeeded in
escaping and was ultimately lucky enough to enter the service of
Theophilitzes, a relative of the Caesar Bardas (uncle of Michael III.), as
groom. It seems that while serving in this capacity he visited Patrae with
his master, and gained the favour of Danielis, a very wealthy lady of that
place, who received him into her household, and endowed him with a fortune.
He earned the notice of Michael III. by winning a victory in a wrestling
match, and soon became the emperor's boon companion and was appointed
chamberlain (_parakoem[=o]menos_). A man of his stamp, advancing
unscrupulously on the road of fortune, had no hesitation in divorcing his
wife and marrying a mistress of Michael, Eudocia Ingerina, to please his
master. It was commonly believed that Leo VI., Basil's successor and
reputed son, was really the son of Michael. The next step was to murder the
powerful Caesar Bardas, who, as the emperor was devoted to amusement,
virtually ruled the empire; this was done with the emperor's consent by
Basil's own hand (April 866), and a few weeks later Basil was raised to the
imperial dignity. Hitherto few perhaps had divined in the unprincipled
adventurer, who shared in the debauches of the imperial drunkard, the
talents of a born ruler. On the throne he soon displayed the serious side
of his nature and his exceptional capacities for administration. In
September 867 he caused his worthless benefactor to be assassinated, and
reigned alone. He inaugurated a new age in the history of the empire,
associated with the dynasty which he founded,--"the Macedonian dynasty" it
is usually called; it would be more instructive to call it "Armenian." It
was a period of territorial expansion, during which the empire was the
strongest power in Europe. The great legislative work which Basil undertook
and his successor completed, and which may be described as a revival of
Justinianean law, entitles him to the designation of a second Justinian
(the _Basilica_, a collection of laws in sixty books; and the manuals known
as the _Prochiron_ and _Epanagog[=e]_. For this legislation see BASILICA
and ROMAN EMPIRE, LATER). His financial administration was prudent. His
ecclesiastical policy was marked by a wish to keep on good terms with Rome.
One of his first acts was to exile the patriarch Photius and restore his
rival Ignatius, whose claims were supported by the pope. Yet he had no
intention of yielding to Rome's pretensions beyond a certain point. The
decision of the Bulgarian tsar Michael to submit the new Bulgarian Church
to the jurisdiction of Constantinople was a great blow to Rome, who had
hoped to secure it for herself. In 877 Photius became patriarch again, and
there was a virtual though not a formal breach with Rome. Thus the
independence of the Greek Church may be said to date from the time of
Basil. His reign was marked by a troublesome war with the Paulician
heretics, an inheritance from his predecessor; the death of their able
chief Chrysochir led to the definite subjection of this little state, of
which the chief stronghold was Tephrice on the upper Euphrates, and which
the Saracens had helped to bid a long defiance to the government of
Constantinople. There was the usual frontier warfare with the Saracens in
Asia Minor. Cyprus was recovered, but only retained for seven years.
Syracuse was lost, but Bari was won back and those parts of Calabria which
had been occupied by the Saracens. The last successes opened a new period
of Byzantine domination in southern Italy. Above all, New Rome was again
mistress of the sea, and especially of the gates of the Adriatic. Basil
reigned nineteen years as sole sovereign. His death (29th of August 886)
was due to a fever contracted in consequence of a serious accident in
hunting. A stag dragged him from his horse by fixing its antlers in his
belt. He was saved by an attendant who cut him loose with a knife. His last
act was to cause his saviour to be beheaded, suspecting him of the
intention to kill and not to rescue. Basil is one of the most remarkable
examples of a man, without education and exposed to the most demoralizing
influences, manifesting extraordinary talents in the government of a great
state, when he had climbed to the throne by acts of unscrupulous bloodshed.
SOURCES.--_Vita Basilii_, by his grandson Constantine VII. (bk. v. of the
_Continuation of Theophanes_, ed. Bonn); Genesius (ed. Bonn); _Vita
Euthymii_, ed. De Boor (Berlin, 1888). Of the Arabic sources Tabari is the
most important.
MODERN WORKS.--Finlay, _History of Greece_, vol. ii. (Oxford, 1877);
Gibbon, _Decline and Fall_, vols. v. and vi. (ed. Bury, London, 1898);
Hergenroether, _Photius, Patriarch von Constantinopel_, vol. ii.
(Regensburg, 1867).
(J. B. B.)
BASIL II. (_c._ 958-1025), known as BULGAROKTONOS (slayer of Bulgarians),
Roman emperor in the East, son of Romanus II. and Theophano,
great-great-grandson of Basil I., was born about 958 and crowned on the
22nd of April 960. After their father's death (963) he and his younger
brother Constantine were nominal emperors during the actual reigns of
Nicephorus Phocas, their stepfather, and John Tzimisces. On the death of
the latter (10th of January 976) they assumed the sovereignty without a
colleague, but throughout their joint reign Constantine exercised no power
and devoted himself chiefly to pleasure. This was in accordance with the
Byzantine principle that in the case of two or more co-regnant _basileis_
only one governed. Basil was a brave soldier and a superb horseman; he was
to approve himself a strong ruler and an able general. He did not at first
display the full extent of his energy. The administration remained in the
hands of the eunuch Basileios (an illegitimate son of Romanus I.),
president of the senate, a wily and gifted man, who hoped that the young
emperors would be his puppets. Basil waited and watched without
interfering, and devoted himself to learning the details of administrative
business and instructing himself in military science. During this time the
throne was seriously endangered by the rebellion of an ambitious general
who aspired to play the part of Nicephorus Phocas or Tzimisces. This was
Bardas [v.03 p.0468] Sclerus, whom the eunuch deposed from his post of
general in the East. He belonged to the powerful landed aristocracy of Asia
Minor, whose pretensions were a perpetual menace to the throne. He made
himself master of the Asiatic provinces and threatened Constantinople. To
oppose him, Bardas Phocas, another general who had revolted in the previous
reign and been interned in a monastery, was recalled. Defeated in two
battles, he was victorious in a third and the revolt was suppressed (979).
Phocas remained general in the East till 987, when he rebelled and was
proclaimed emperor by his troops. It seems that the minister Basileios was
privy to this act, and the cause was dissatisfaction at the energy which
was displayed by the emperor, who showed that he was determined to take the
administration into his own hands and personally to control the army.
Phocas advanced to the Hellespont and besieged Abydos. Basil obtained
timely aid, in the shape of Varangian mercenaries, from his brother-in-law
Vladimir, the Russian prince of Kiev, and marched to Abydos. The two armies
were facing each other, when Basil galloped forward, seeking a personal
combat with the usurper who was riding in front of his lines. Phocas, just
as he prepared to face him, fell from his horse and was found to be dead.
This ended the rebellion.
The fall of Basileios followed; he was punished with exile and the
confiscation of his enormous property. Basil made ruthless war upon the
system of immense estates which had grown up in Asia Minor and which his
predecessor, Romanus I., had endeavoured to check. (For this evil and the
legislation which was aimed at it see ROMAN EMPIRE, LATER.) He sought to
protect the lower and middle classes.
Basil gained some successes against the Saracens (995); but his most
important work in the East was the annexation of the principalities of
Armenia. He created in those highlands a strongly fortified frontier,
which, if his successors had been capable, should have proved an effective
barrier against the invasions of the Seljuk Turks. The greatest achievement
of the reign was the subjugation of Bulgaria. After the death of Tzimisces
(who had reduced only the eastern part of the Bulgarian kingdom), the power
of Bulgaria was restored by the Tsar Samuel, in whom Basil found a worthy
foe. The emperor's first efforts against him were unsuccessful (981), and
the war was not resumed till 996, Samuel in the meantime extending his rule
along the Adriatic coast and imposing his lordship on Servia. Eastern
Bulgaria was finally recovered in 1000; but the war continued with varying
successes till 1014, when the Bulgarian army suffered an overwhelming
defeat. Basil blinded 15,000 prisoners, leaving a one-eyed man to every
hundred to lead them to their tsar, who fainted at the sight and died two
days later. The last sparks of resistance were extinguished in 1018, and
the great Slavonic realm lay in the dust. The power of Byzantium controlled
once more the Illyrian peninsula. Basil died in December 1025 in the midst
of preparations to send a naval expedition to recover Sicily from the
Saracens.
Basil's reign marks the highest point of the power of the Eastern empire
since Justinian I. Part of the credit is due to his predecessors Nicephorus
and Tzimisces, but the greater part belongs to him. He dedicated himself
unsparingly to the laborious duties of ruling, and he had to reckon
throughout with the ill-will of a rich and powerful section of his
subjects. He was hard and cruel, without any refinement or interest in
culture. In a contemporary psalter (preserved in the library of St Mark at
Venice) there is a portrait of him, with a grey beard, crowned and robed in
imperial costume.
AUTHORITIES.--Leo Diaconus (ed. Bonn, 1828); Psellus, _History_ (ed.
Sathas, London, 1899); George Cedrenus (_Chronicle_, transcribed from the
work of John Scylitzes, vol. ii., ed. Bonn, 1839); Zonaras, bk. xvii. (ed.
Bonn, vol. iii., 1897); Cecaumenus, _Strategikon_ (ed. Vasilievski and
Jernstedt, St Petersburg, 1896); Yahy[=a] of Antioch (contemporary Asiatic
chronicle), extracts with Russian translation by Rosen (St Petersburg,
1883); Al Mekin (Elmacinus), _Historia Saracenica_, (ed. with Latin
translation by Erpenius, Leiden, 1625); "Laws (_Novellae_) of Basil" (ed.
Zachariae von Lingenthal, in _Jus Graeco-Romanum_, vol. iii., 1853);
Finlay, _Hist. of Greece_; Gibbon, _Decline and Fall_; G. Schlumberger,
_L'Epopee byzantine_, part i. and part ii. (Paris, 1896, 1900).
(J. B. B.)
BASIL (Russ. VASILY), the name of four grand-dukes of Moscow and tsars of
Muscovy.
BASIL I. DMITREVICH (1371-1425), son of Dmitri (Demetrius) Donskoi, whom he
succeeded in 1389, married Sophia, the daughter of Vitovt, grand-duke of
Lithuania. In his reign the grand-duchy of Muscovy became practically
hereditary, and asserted its supremacy over all the surrounding
principalities. Nevertheless Basil received his _yarluik_, or investiture,
from the Golden Horde and was compelled to pay tribute to the grand khan,
Tokhtamuish. He annexed the principality of Suzdal to Moscovy, together
with Murom, Kozelsk Peremyshl, and other places; reduced the grand-duchy of
Rostov to a state of vassalage; and acquired territory from the republic of
Great Novgorod by treaty. In his reign occurred the invasion of Timur
(1395), who ruined the Volgan regions, but did not penetrate so far as
Moscow. Indeed Timur's raid was of service to the Russian prince as it all
but wiped out the Golden Horde, which for the next twelve years was in a
state of anarchy. During the whole of this time no tribute was paid to the
khan, though vast sums of money were collected in the Moscow treasury for
military purposes. In 1408 the Mirza Edigei ravaged Muscovite territory,
but was unable to take Moscow. In 1412, however, Basil found it necessary
to pay the long-deferred visit of submission to the Horde. The most
important ecclesiastical event of the reign was the elevation of the
Bulgarian, Gregory Tsamblak, to the metropolitan see of Kiev (1425) by
Vitovt, grand-duke of Lithuania; the immediate political consequence of
which was the weakening of the hold of Muscovy on the south-western Russian
states. During Basil's reign a terrible visitation of the "Black Death"
decimated the population.
See T. Schiemann, _Russland bis ins 17. Jahrhundert_ (Gotha, 1885-1887).
BASIL II., called TEMNY ("the BLIND") (1415-1462), son of the preceding,
succeeded his father as grand-duke of Moscow in 1425. He was a man of small
ability and unusual timidity, though not without tenacity of purpose.
Nevertheless, during his reign Moscow steadily increased in power, as if to
show that the personality of the grand-dukes had become quite a subordinate
factor in its development. In 1430 Basil was seized by his uncle, George of
Halicz, and sent a prisoner to Kostroma; but the nation, dissatisfied with
George, released Basil and in 1433 he returned in triumph to Moscow.
George, however, took the field against him and Basil fled to Novgorod. On
the death of George, Basil was at constant variance with George's children,
one of whom, Basil, he had blinded; but in 1445 the grand-duke fell into
the hands of blind Basil's brother, Shemyak, and was himself deprived of
his sight and banished to Uglich (1445). The clergy and people, however,
being devoted to the grand-duke, assisted him not only to recover his
throne a second time, but to put Shemyak to flight, and to seize Halicz,
his patrimony. During the remainder of Basil II.'s reign he slowly and
unobtrusively added district after district to the grand-duchy of Muscovy,
so that, in fine, only the republics of Novgorod and Pskov and the
principalities of Tver and Vereya remained independent of Moscow. Yet all
this time the realm was overrun continually by the Tatars and Lithuanians,
and suffered severely from their depredations. Basil's reign saw the
foundation of the Solovetsk monastery and the rise of the khanate of the
Crimea. In 1448 the north Russian Church became virtually independent of
the patriarchal see of Constantinople by adopting the practice of selecting
its metropolitan from among native priests and prelates exclusively.
See S. M. Solovev, _History of Russia_ (Russ.), (Petersburg, 1895).
BASIL III., IVANOVICH (1479-1533), tsar of Muscovy, son of Ivan III. and
Sophia Palaeologa, succeeded his father in 1505. A crafty prince, with all
the tenacity of his race, Basil succeeded in incorporating with Muscovy the
last remnants of the ancient independent principalities, by accusing the
princes of Ryazan and Syeversk of conspiracy against him, seizing their
persons, and annexing their domains (1517-1523). Seven years earlier (24th
of January 1510) the last free republic of old Russia, Pskov, was deprived
of its charter and assembly-bell, which were sent [v.03 p.0469] to Moscow,
and tsarish governors were appointed to rule it. Basil also took advantage
of the difficult position of Sigismund of Poland to capture Smolensk, the
great eastern fortress of Poland (1512), chiefly through the aid of the
rebel Lithuanian, Prince Michael Glinsky, who provided him with artillery
and engineers from western Europe. The loss of Smolensk was the first
serious injury inflicted by Muscovy on Poland and only the exigencies of
Sigismund compelled him to acquiesce in its surrender (1522). Equally
successful, on the whole, was Basil against the Tatars. Although in 1519 he
was obliged to buy off the khan of the Crimea, Mahommed Girai, under the
very walls of Moscow, towards the end of his reign he established the
Russian influence on the Volga, and in 1530 placed the pretender Elanyei on
the throne of Kazan. Basil was the first grand-duke of Moscow who adopted
the title of tsar and the double-headed eagle of the East Roman empire. By
his second wife, Helena Glinska, whom he married in 1526, Basil had a son
Ivan, who succeeded him as Ivan IV.
See Sigismund Herberstain, _Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii_ (Vienna,
1549); P. A. Byelov, _Russian History Previous to the Reforms of Peter the
Great_ (Russ.), (Petersburg, 1895); E. I. Kashprovsky, _The War of Basil
III. with Sigismund I._ (Russ.), (Nyezhin, 1899).
BASIL IV., SHUISKY (d. 1612), tsar of Muscovy, was during the reigns of
Theodore I. and Boris Godunov, one of the leading boyars of Muscovy. It was
he who, in obedience to the secret orders of Tsar Boris, went to Uglich to
inquire into the cause of the death of Demetrius, the infant son of Ivan
the Terrible, who had been murdered there by the agents of Boris. Shuisky
obsequiously reported that it was a case of suicide; yet, on the death of
Boris and the accession of his son Theodore II., the false boyar, in order
to gain favour with the first false Demetrius, went back upon his own words
and recognized the pretender as the real Demetrius, thus bringing about the
assassination of the young Theodore. Shuisky then plotted against the false
Demetrius and procured his death (May 1606) also by publicly confessing
that the real Demetrius had been indeed slain and that the reigning tsar
was an impostor. This was the viler in him as the pseudo-Demetrius had
already forgiven him one conspiracy. Shuisky's adherents thereupon
proclaimed him tsar (19th of May 1606). He reigned till the 19th of July
1610, but was never generally recognized. Even in Moscow itself he had
little or no authority, and was only not deposed by the dominant boyars
because they had none to put in his place. Only the popularity of his
heroic cousin, Prince Michael Skopin-Shuisky, who led his armies and fought
his battles for him, and soldiers from Sweden, whose assistance he
purchased by a disgraceful cession of Russian territory, kept him for a
time on his unstable throne. In 1610 he was deposed, made a monk, and
finally carried off as a trophy by the Polish grand hetman, Stanislaus
Zolkiewski. He died at Warsaw in 1612.
See D. I. Ilovaisky, _The Troubled Period of the Muscovite Realm_ (Russ.),
(Moscow, 1894); S. I. Platonov, _Sketches of the Great Anarchy in the Realm
of Moscow_ (Petersburg, 1899); D. V. Tsvyeltev, _Tsar Vasily Shuisky_
(Russ.), (Warsaw, 1901-1903); R. Nisbet Bain, _Slavonic Europe_, ch. viii.
(Cambridge, 1907).
(R. N. B.)
BASILIAN MONKS, those who follow the rule of Basil the Great. The chief
importance of the monastic rule and institute of St Basil lies in the fact
that to this day his reconstruction of the monastic life is the basis of
the monasticism of the Greek and Slavonic Churches, though the monks do not
call themselves Basilians. St Basil's claim to the authorship of the Rules
and other ascetical writings that go under his name, has been questioned;
but the tendency now is to recognize as his at any rate the two sets of
Rules. Probably the truest idea of his monastic system may be derived from
a correspondence between him and St Gregory Nazianzen at the beginning of
his monastic life, the chief portions whereof are translated by Newman in
the _Church of the Fathers_, "Basil and Gregory," ss. 4, 5. On leaving
Athens Basil visited the monasteries of Egypt and Palestine; in the latter
country and in Syria the monastic life tended to become more and more
eremitical and to run to great extravagances in the matter of bodily
austerities (see MONASTICISM). When (_c._ 360) Basil formed his monastery
in the neighbourhood of Neocaesarea in Pontus, he deliberately set himself
against these tendencies. He declared that the cenobitical life is superior
to the eremitical; that fasting and austerities should not interfere with
prayer or work; that work should form an integral part of the monastic
life, not merely as an occupation, but for its own sake and in order to do
good to others; and therefore that monasteries should be near towns. All
this was a new departure in monachism. The life St Basil established was
strictly cenobitical, with common prayer seven times a day, common work,
common meals. It was, in spite of the new ideas, an austere life, of the
kind called contemplative, given up to prayer, the reading of the
Scriptures and heavy field-work. The so-called Rules (the Longer and the
Shorter) are catechisms of the spiritual life rather than a body of
regulations for the corporate working of a community, such as is now
understood by a monastic rule. Apparently no vows were taken, but
obedience, personal poverty, chastity, self-denial, and the other monastic
virtues were strongly enforced, and a monk was not free to abandon the
monastic life. A novitiate had to be passed, and young boys were to be
educated in the monastery, but were not expected to become monks.
St Basil's influence, and the greater suitability of his institute to
European ideas, ensured the propagation of Basilian monachism; and Sozomen
says that in Cappadocia and the neighbouring provinces there were no
hermits but only cenobites. However, the eastern hankering after the
eremitical life long survived, and it was only by dint of legislation, both
ecclesiastical (council of Chalcedon) and civil (Justinian Code), that the
Basilian cenobitic form of monasticism came to prevail throughout the
Greek-speaking lands, though the eremitical forms have always maintained
themselves.
Greek monachism underwent no development or change for four centuries,
except the vicissitudes inevitable in all things human, which in
monasticism assume the form of alternations of relaxation and revival. The
second half of the 8th century seems to have been a time of very general
decadence; but about the year 800 Theodore, destined to be the only other
creative name in Greek monachism, became abbot of the monastery of the
Studium in Constantinople. He set himself to reform his monastery and
restore St Basil's spirit in its primitive vigour. But to effect this, and
to give permanence to the reformation, he saw that there was need of a more
practical code of laws to regulate the details of the daily life, as a
supplement to St Basil's Rules. He therefore drew up constitutions,
afterwards codified (see Migne, _Patrol. Graec._ xcix., 1704-1757), which
became the norm of the life at the Studium monastery, and gradually spread
thence to the monasteries of the rest of the Greek empire. Thus to this day
the Rules of Basil and the Constitutions of Theodore the Studite, along
with the canons of the Councils, constitute the chief part of Greek and
Russian monastic law.
The spirit of Greek monachism, as regenerated by Theodore, may best be
gathered from his _Letters, Discourses and Testament_.[1] Under the abbot
were several officials to superintend the various departments; the
liturgical services in the church took up a considerable portion of the
day, but Theodore seems to have made no attempt to revive the early
practice of the Studium in this matter (see ACOEMETI); the rest of the time
was divided between reading and work; the latter included the chief
handicrafts, for the monks, only ten in number, when Theodore became abbot,
increased under his rule to over a thousand. One kind of work practised
with great zeal and success by the Studite monks, was the copying of
manuscripts, so that to them and to the schools that went forth from them
we owe a great number of existing Greek MSS. and the preservation of many
works of classical and ecclesiastical antiquity. In addition to this,
literary and theological studies were pursued, and the mysticism of
pseudo-Dionysius was cultivated. The life, though simple and self-denying
and hard, was not of extreme austerity. There was a division of the monks
into two classes, similar to the division in vogue in later time in the
West into choir-monks and lay-brothers. The life of the choir-monks was
predominantly contemplative, [v.03 p.0470] being taken up with the church
services and private prayer and study; the lay-brothers carried on the
various trades and external works. There is little or no evidence of works
of charity outside the monastery being undertaken by Studite monks. Strict
personal poverty was enforced, and all were encouraged to approach
confession and communion frequently. Vows had been imposed on monks by the
council of Chalcedon (451). The picture of Studite life is the picture of
normal Greek and Slavonic monachism to this day.
During the middle ages the centre of Greek monachism shifted from
Constantinople to Mount Athos. The first monastery to be founded here was
that of St Athanasius (_c._ 960), and in the course of the next three or
four centuries monasteries in great numbers--Greek, Slavonic and one
Latin--were established on Mount Athos, some twenty of which still survive.
Basilian monachism spread from Greece to Italy and Russia. Rufinus had
translated St Basil's Rules into Latin (_c._ 400) and they became the rule
of life in certain Italian monasteries. They were known to St Benedict, who
refers his monks to "the Rule of our holy Father Basil,"--indeed St
Benedict owed more of the ground-ideas of his Rule to St Basil than to any
other monastic legislator. In the 6th and 7th centuries there appear to
have been Greek monasteries in Rome and south Italy and especially in
Sicily. But during the course of the 8th, 9th and 10th centuries crowds of
fugitives poured into southern Italy from Greece and Sicily, under stress
of the Saracenic, Arab and other invasions; and from the middle of the 9th
century Basilian monasteries, peopled by Greek-speaking monks, were
established in great numbers in Calabria and spread northwards as far as
Rome. Some of them existed on into the 18th century, but the only survivor
now is the monastery founded by St Nilus (_c._ 1000) at Grottaferrata in
the Alban Hills. Professor Kirsopp Lake has (1903) written four valuable
articles (_Journal of Theological Studies_, iv., v.) on "The Greek
monasteries of South Italy"; he deals in detail with their scriptoria and
the dispersal of their libraries, a matter of much interest, in that some
of the chief collections of Greek MSS. in western Europe--as the Bessarion
at Venice and a great number at the Vatican--come from the spoils of these
Italian Basilian houses.
Of much greater importance was the importation of Basilian monachism into
Russia, for it thereby became the norm of monachism for all the Slavonic
lands. Greek monks played a considerable part in the evangelization of the
Slavs, and the first Russian monastery was founded at Kiev (_c._ 1050) by a
monk from Mount Athos. The monastic institute had a great development in
Russia, and at the present day there are in the Russian empire some 400
monasteries of men and 100 of women, many of which support hospitals,
almshouses and schools. In the other Slavonic lands there are a
considerable number of monasteries, as also in Greece itself, while in the
Turkish dominions there are no fewer than 100 Greek monasteries. The
monasteries are of three kinds: _cenobia_ proper, wherein full monastic
common life, with personal poverty, is observed; others called
_idiorrhythmic_, wherein the monks are allowed the use of their private
means and lead a generally mitigated and free kind of monastic life; and
the _lauras_, wherein the life is semi-eremitical. Greek and Slavonic monks
wear a black habit. The visits of Western scholars in modern times to Greek
monasteries in search of MSS.--notably to St Catherine's on Mount Sinai,
and to Mount Athos--has directed much attention to contemporary Greek
monachism, and the accounts of these expeditions commonly contain
descriptions, more or less sympathetic and intelligent, of the present-day
life of Greek monks. The first such account was Robert Curzon's in parts
iii. (1834) and iv. (1837) of the _Monasteries of the Levant_; the most
recent in English is Athelstan Riley's _Athos_ (1887). The life is mainly
given up to devotional contemplative exercises; the church services are of
extreme length; intellectual study is little cultivated; manual labour has
almost disappeared; there are many hermits on Athos (_q.v._).
The ecclesiastical importance of the monks in the various branches of the
Orthodox Church lies in this, that as bishops must be celibate, whereas the
parochial clergy must be married, the bishops are all recruited from the
monks. But besides this they have been a strong spiritual and religious
influence, as is recognized even by those who have scant sympathy with
monastic ideals (see Harnack, _What is Christianity?_ Lect. xiii., end).
Outside the Orthodox Church are some small congregations of Uniat
Basilians. Besides Grottaferrata, there are Catholic Basilian monasteries
in Poland, Hungary, Galicia, Rumania; and among the Melchites or Uniat
Syrians.
There have been Basilian nuns from the beginning, St Macrina, St Basil's
sister, having established a nunnery which was under his direction. The
nuns are devoted to a purely contemplative life, and in Russia, where there
are about a hundred nunneries, they are not allowed to take final vows
until the age of sixty. They are very numerous throughout the East.
AUTHORITIES.--In addition to the authorities for different portions of the
subject-matter named in the course of this article, may be mentioned, on St
Basil and his Rules, Montalembert, _Monks of the West_, second part of bk.
ii., and the chapter on St Basil in James O. Hannay's _Spirit and Origin of
Christian Monasticism_ (1903). On the history and spirit of Basilian
Monachism, Helyot, _Hist. des Ordres Religieux_, i. (1714); Heimbucher,
_Orden und Kongregationen_ (1907), i., s. 11; Abbe Marin, _Les Moines de
Constantinople_ (1897); Karl Holl, _Enthusiasmus und Bussgewalt beim
griechischen Moenchtum_ (1898); Otto Zoeckler, _Askese und Moenchtum_, pp.
285-309 (1897). For general information see Wetzer und Welte,
_Kirchenlexicon_ (ed. ii.), art. "Basilianer," and Herzog-Hauck,
_Realencyklopaedie_ (ed. iii.), in articles "Moenchtum," "Orientalische
Kirche," and "Athosberg," where copious references will be found.
(E. C. B.)
[1] Specimen passages, and also a general picture of the life, will be
found in Miss Alice Gardner's _Theodore of Studium_, ch. v.
BASILICA, a word of Greek origin (see below), frequently used in Latin
literature and inscriptions to denote a large covered building that could
accommodate a considerable number of people. Strictly speaking, a basilica
was a building of this kind situated near the business centre of a city and
arranged for the convenience of merchants, litigants and persons engaged on
the public service; but in a derived sense the word might be used for any
large structure wherever situated, such as a hall of audience (Vitruv. vi.
5. 2) or a covered promenade (St Jerome, _Ep._ 46) in a private palace; a
riding school (_basilica equestris exercitatoria_, _C.I.L._ vii. 965); a
market or store for flowers (_basilica floscellaria_ [_Notitia_]), or other
kinds of goods (_basilica vestiaria_, _C.I.L._ viii. 20156), or a hall of
meeting for a religious body. In this derived sense the word came naturally
to be applied to the extensive buildings used for Christian worship in the
age of Constantine and his successors.
The question whether this word conveyed to the ancients any special
architectural significance is a difficult one, and some writers hold that
the name betokened only the use of the building, others that it suggested
also a certain form. Our knowledge of the ancient basilica as a civil
structure is derived primarily from Vitruvius, and we learn about it also
from existing remains and from incidental notices in classical writers and
in inscriptions. If we review all the evidence we are led to the conclusion
that there did exist a normal form of the building, though many examples
deviated therefrom. This normal form we shall understand if we consider the
essential character of the building in the light of what Vitruvius tells us
of it.
Vitruvius treats the basilica in close connexion with the forum, to which
in his view it is an adjunct. In the earlier classical times, both in
Greece and Italy, business of every kind, political, commercial and legal,
was transacted in the open forum, and there also were presented shows and
pageants. When business increased and the numbers of the population were
multiplied, it was found convenient to provide additional accommodation for
these purposes. Theatres and amphitheatres took the performances and games.
Markets provided for those that bought and sold, while for business of more
important kinds accommodation could be secured by laying out new _agorae_
or _fora_ in the immediate vicinity of the old. At Rome this was done by
means of the so-called imperial fora, the latest and most splendid of which
was that of Trajan. These fora corresponded to the later Greek or
Hellenistic agora, which, as Vitruvius tells us, was of regular form and
surrounded by colonnades in two stories, and they had the practical use of
relieving the pressure on the [v.03 p.0471] original forum (Cic., _ad
Att._, iv. 16). The basilica was a structure intended for the same
purposes. It was to all intents and purposes a covered forum, and in its
normal form was constituted by an arrangement of colonnades in two stories
round a rectangular space, that was not, like the Greek agora, open, but
covered with a roof. Vitruvius writes of it as frequented by merchants, who
would find in it shelter and quiet for the transaction of their business.
Legal tribunals were also set up in it, though it is a mistake to suppose
the basilica a mere law court. The magistrates who presided over these
tribunals had sometimes platforms, curved or rectangular in plan, provided
as part of the permanent fittings of the edifice.
According to Vitruvius (v. 1. 4, cf. also vi. 3. 9) the building is to be
in plan a rectangle, not more than three times nor less than twice as long
as it is broad. If the site oblige the length to be greater, the surplus is
to be cut off to form what he calls _chalcidica_, by which must be meant
open vestibules. The interior is divided into a central space and side
aisles one-third the width of this. The ground plan of the basilica at
Pompeii (fig. 1) illustrates this description, though the superstructure
did not correspond to the Vitruvian scheme. The columns between nave and
aisles, Vitruvius proceeds, are the same height as the width of the latter,
and the aisle is covered with a flat roof forming a terrace (_contignatio_)
on which people can walk. Surrounding this on the inner side is a
breastwork or parapet (_pluteum_), which would conceal these promenaders
from the view of the merchants in the basilica below. On the top of this
parapet stood the upper row of columns, three-quarters as high as the lower
ones. The spaces between these columns, above the top of the _pluteum_,
would be left free for the admission of light to the central space, which
was covered by a roof called by Vitruvius (v. 1. 6) _mediana testudo_.
Nothing is said about a permanent tribunal or about an apse.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Basilica at Pompeii. 1, Portico (Chalcidicum); 2,
hall of basilica; 3, aisles; 4, altar; 5, tribunal; 6, offices.]
How far existing remains agree with the Vitruvian scheme will be seen as we
proceed. We have now to consider the derivation of the word "basilica," the
history of the form of building, and its architectural scheme as
represented in actual relics.
The word "basilica" is a Latinized form of the Greek adjective [Greek:
basilike], "royal," and some feminine substantive, such as _domus_, or
_stoa_, must be understood with it. A certain building at Athens, wherein
the [Greek: archon basileus] transacted business and the court of the
Areopagus sometimes assembled, was called [Greek: basileios stoa], and it
is an accredited theory, though it is by no means proved, that we have here
the origin of the later basilica. It is difficult to see why this was
called "royal" except for some special but accidental reason such as can in
this case be divined. There are other instances in which a term that
becomes specific has been derived from some one specimen accidentally
named. "Labyrinth" is one case in point, and "basilica" may be another. It
is true that we do not know what was the shape of the King Archon's
portico, but the same name ([Greek: basileios stoa]) was given to the grand
structure erected by Herod the Great along the southern edge of the Temple
platform at Jerusalem, and this corresponded to the Vitruvian scheme of a
columned fabric, with nave and aisles and clerestory lighting.