Dictionary of Historical Allusions

Abbeville, Treaty of.

A treaty between the English Barons and Louis IX of France, signed in 1259, shortly after the establishment in England of the Council of Fifteen. By its provisions England retained Bordeaux, Bayonne, and Gascony, and surrendered all claim to Normandy, Anjou, Poitou, and Maine. The French king agreed to supply a sum of money sufficient to maintain for two years five hundred knights, to be employed for the benefit of England or of the Church.

Abecedarians.

A branch of the Anabaptists, founded in Germany in the sixteenth century by Stork, a disciple of Luther. They held that all human knowledge was valueless, and therefore declined to learn even the alphabet.

Abencerrages.

A noble Moorish family of Granada, in the fifteenth century. They were accused by a rival family, the Zegris, of plotting against Abdallah, King of Granada, and were lured into the Alhambra, where they were barbarously massacred. Thirty-six members of the family perished.

Abhorrers.

Another name for the Tories in the reign of Charles II. They were so called from their use of the word in their addresses to the king, protesting against the petitions in favour of summoning a Parliament in 1679.

Abingdon Law.

Execution first and trial afterwards. The phrase is derived from the methods adopted by Major-General Brown, of the Commonwealth Army, at Abingdon, during the Civil War. It was his habit, it is said, to deal in this fashion with Malignants who fell into his hands.

Abjuration, Act of (England).

An Act passed in 1702, imposing upon all who took office under the State, an oath abjuring the House of Stuart, and binding them to support each successor to the throne named in the Act of Settlement.

Abjuration, Act of (Netherlands).

The declaration of independence made at The Hague in 1581 by the deputies of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, deposing Philip II. It did not, however, substitute any other form of government.

Abo, Treaty of.

A treaty between Russia and Sweden, signed in 1743, after the surrender of the Swedish army at Helsingfors. Russia acquired Finland, as far as the river Kiümer, and secured the election of Adolphus Frederick of Holstein as Crown Prince of Sweden, in the place of the Prince Royal of Denmark.

Abolitionists.

The extreme anti-slavery party in the United States, in 1860. They demanded the total abolition of slavery, and would agree to no compromise with the South, even at the cost of civil war.

Absentee Tax.

A tax imposed upon absentee landlords in Ireland, in the reign of Richard II. An attempt was made to reimpose it in 1773, but unsuccessfully, mainly owing to the opposition of Edmund Burke.

Academic Legion.

A body of armed students who took an active part in the revolutionary disturbances in Vienna in 1848.

Acadia.

The original name of Nova Scotia.