The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 443

VALAIS, a Swiss canton, between Berne on the N. and Italy on the S., in a wide valley of the Rhone, and shut in by lofty mountains; cattle-rearing is the chief industry.

VALDAI HILLS, a plateau rising to the height of 1100 ft. above the sea-level in Russia, forming the only elevation in the Great European Plain.

VALENCIA (180), a city of Spain, once the capital of a kingdom, now of a fertile province of the name; is situated on the sh.o.r.es of the Mediterranean, 3 m. from the mouth of the Guadalaviar, in the midst of a district called the Huerta, which is watered by the river, and grows oranges, citron, almond, mulberry-trees in richest luxuriance, the fruits of which it exports; is an archbishop's see, and contains a large Gothic cathedral, a picture gallery, and a university with a large library; has silk, cloth, leather, cigar, floor-tile manufactures, and exports grain and silk besides fruits.

VALENCIA (40), a city of Venezuela, in a rich district, on a lake of the same name; large numbers of cattle, horses, and mules are reared in the neighbourhood.

VALENCIENNES (24), an ancient fortified city in the dep. Nord, France, on the Scheldt, 32 m. SE. of Lille, with a citadel planned by Vauban, a fine town-hall, and a modern Gothic church and other buildings; has textile manufactures, besides iron-works, and was once famous for its lace.

VALENS, FLAVIUS, Emperor of the East from 364 to 378; nominated by his brother Valentinian I. emperor of the West; was hara.s.sed all his reign by the Goths, who had been allowed to settle in the empire, and whom he drove into revolt, to the defeat of his army in 378, in a battle in which he was himself slain; the controversy between the orthodox and the Arians was at its height in this reign, and to the latter party both he and his victors belonged; _b_. 328.

VALENTIA, an island in co. Kerry, Ireland, is the European terminus of the Atlantic telegraph system.

VALENTINE, BASIL, a German alchemist of the 15th century, is said to have been a Benedictine monk at Erfurt, and is reckoned the father of a.n.a.lytical chemistry.

VALENTINE'S DAY, the 14th of February, on which young people of both s.e.xes were wont (the custom seems gradually dying out) to send love-missives to one another; it is uncertain who the Valentine was that is a.s.sociated with the day, or whether it was with any of the name.

VALENTINIAN I., Roman emperor from 364 to 375, born in Pannonia, of humble birth; distinguished himself by his capacity and valour; was elected emperor by the troops at Nicaea; his reign was spent in repelling the inroads of the barbarians.

VALENTINIANS, a Gnostic sect, called after their leader Valentine, a native of Egypt of the 2nd century, regarded heathenism as preparatory to Christianity, and Christ as the full and final development in human form of a series of fifteen stages of emanation from the infinite divine to the finite divine in Him "the fulness of Him that filleth all in all,"

each stage in the process achieved by the union of a male element with a female, that is, a conceptive and a susceptive.

VALERIa.n.u.s, LUCINIUS, Roman emperor from 253 to 260, elected by the legions in Rhaetia; the empire being a.s.sailed on all hands he set out to defend it on the E.; was defeated at Edessa, taken prisoner, and cruelly treated; when he died his skin, it is said, was stuffed and paraded as a trophy.

VALERIUS MAXIMUS, a Roman writer of the age of Tiberius, who compiled a collection of the sayings and doings of notable Romans; it is of very miscellaneous character, and is written in a bombastic style, and dedicated to the emperor.

VALETTA (62), a fortress city, the capital of Malta, on a promontory on the NE. coast of the island, between two bays; the streets are steep, and the harbour is strongly fortified; it contains several fine buildings, a cathedral, the palace of the Grand-Masters of the Knights Templar, and the hospital of St. John; there is also a university and a large public library.

VALETTE, JEAN PARISOT DE LA, grand-master of the order of St. John, famous for his military exploits and for his defence of Malta against the Turks in 1565 (1494-1565).

VALHALLA, Hall of Odin, the heaven of the brave in the Norse mythology, especially such as gave evidence of their valour by dying in battle, the "base and slavish" being sent to the realm of Hela, the Death-G.o.ddess.

VALKYRS, in the Norse mythology daughters of Odin, who selected such as were worthy to be slain in battle, and who conducted them to VALHALLA (q. v.).

VALLA, LAURENCE, a learned humanist, born in Rome, and a valiant defender of the claims of scholars.h.i.+p; was a distinguished Latinist (1405-1457).

VALLADOLID (62), a famous city of Spain, the capital of old Castile, and now of a province of the name, 150 m. N. of Madrid; is a fortress town; is the seat of an archbishop; has a university and a number of churches; manufactures textile fabrics, iron, and leather.

VALLOMBROSA (shady valley), a Benedictine abbey 15 m. E. of Florence, in a valley of the Apennines, surrounded by forests of beech, firs, &c.; is a cla.s.sic spot.

VALMY, a village of France, 20 m. NE. of Chalons, where the Prussians, under the Duke of Brunswick, were defeated by the troops of the French Republic under Kellermann in 1792.

VALOIS, an ancient duchy of France, which now forms part of the departments of Oise and Aisne, a succession of the counts of which occupied the throne of France, beginning with Philippe VI. in 1328 and ending with Henry III. in 1574.

VALPARAISO (Vale of Paradise) (150), the second city and chief port in Chile, over 100 m. NW. of Santiago, at the head of a bay which looks N., and where the anchorage is dangerous; is quite a commercial city; exports ores, nitre, wheat, hides, &c., the business affairs of which are largely in the hands of foreigners, chiefly English, American, and Germans; it has been on various occasions visited by severe earthquakes; was bombarded by a Spanish fleet in 1866 and suffered in the Civil War of 1891.

VAMBeRY, ARMINIUS, traveller and philologist, born in Hungary, of poor Jewish parentage; apprenticed to a costumier; took to the study of languages; expelled from Pesth as a revolutionary in 1848, settled in Constantinople as a teacher, travelled as a dervish in Turkestan and elsewhere, and wrote "Travels and Adventures in Central Asia," a most valuable and notable work; _b_. 1832.

VAMPIRE, the ghost of a dead person accursed, fabled to issue from the grave at night and suck the blood of the living as they sleep, the victims of whom are subject to the same fate; the belief is of Slavonic origin, and common among the Slavs.

VAN (35), a town in the Kurdistan Highlands, on the SE. sh.o.r.e of Lake Van, and 145 m. SE. of Erzerum; inhabited by Turks and Armenians.

VAN BUREN, MARTIN, the eighth President of the United States, born in New York; devoted from early years to politics, and early made his mark; elected President in 1835, an office which he adorned with honour, though to the sacrifice of his popularity (1782-1862).

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND. See TASMANIA.

VANADIUM, a metallic silver-white elementary body of rare occurrence, and occurring in very small quant.i.ties; discovered first in 1801 by Del Rio.

VANBRUGH, SIR JOHN, dramatist, of uncertain birth; his dramas adaptations from the French of Moliere and others; had been a soldier; was Clarencieux King-at-Arms, and is noted as an architect; _d_. 1726.

VANCOUVER ISLAND (30), a rugged-coasted island on the W. of North America; belongs to British Columbia; is separated from it by a strait of the sea; is 278 m. long and 50 to 65 m. of average breadth; is covered with forests, and only partially cultivated; is rich in minerals, and has extensive fisheries.

VANDALS, a fierce nation of the Teutonic race, who, from the NE. of Europe, invaded Rome on the E., mutilating and destroying the works of art in the city.

VANDERBILT, CORNELIUS, American millionaire, born on Staten Island; began life as a ferryman, acquired his fortune by enterprise in steams.h.i.+p navigation, and speculating in railway extensions (1794-1877).