college of Fraserburgh, and at the same time minister of that parish. A keen opponent of episcopacy he fell under the ban of the ruling powers; and, for his share in the proceedings of the assembly of 1605, he was condemned by the privy council to be imprisoned. This he endured for three years, after which he returned to his duties at Fraserburgh. His labours and sufferings, however, had conspired to undermine his strength, and he died, 24th September, 1617. With him expired the college of Fraserburgh. He left a commentary in Latin on the Romans, which has been translated and published by the Wodrow Society, edited with a life by the writer of this notice.—W. L. A.
FERMOR, William, Count Von, a celebrated Russian general, was born at Pleskow in 1704, and died in 1771. He was the son of a Scotchman, and entered the army as a common bombardier; but rising rapidly in his profession, was at the close of the Turkish war of 1736 appointed governor of Zolberg. He obtained the chief command of Petersburg, Finland, and Novogorod at the new modelling of the army, and became commander-in-chief in 1755. He distinguished himself highly in the war against Prussia, during which he fought the famous battle of Zorndorf against the great Frederick, and took possession of the city of Berlin. Peter III. at length recalled him from the army, but his successor appointed him governor-general of Smolensko, and a member of the supreme senate.—R. M., A.
FERN, Fanny. See Partin, Sarah P.
FERNAN GONZALEZ, first independent count of Castile, a favourite hero of Spanish romance (descended from one of the vassal counts murdered in 922), became independent of the kingdom of Leon about 933. Ramiro II., king of Leon, having secured himself on the throne, undertook the conquest of the Moors in Cordova (who had penetrated even to Madrid), in which the count bore a distinguished part. The king of Navarre gave the successful hero his daughter in marriage; and the king of Leon promoted the union of his own son, D. Ordoño, with Doña Urraca, daughter of the count. On the death of Ramiro II., his son, Ordoño III., succeeded—his reign being an almost uninterrupted series of civil wars with his brother Sancho, in which the count took part against his own son-in-law. Ordoño, in revenge, put away his wife and married another, but the insult does not seem to have been avenged. Fernan Gonzalez died about 952; and a host of miraculous legends have been gathered about his memory.—F. M. W.
FERNAND or PHERNANDUS, Charles, a Roman catholic ecclesiastic and author, probably of Spanish descent, was born at Bruges about 1450, and died in 1496. Fernand was either born blind, or lost his sight in early childhood. This calamity however seems only to have quickened his desire of knowledge. He studied (probably at Paris) philosophy, theology, rhetoric, and music, and subsequently lectured on Latin literature at the university of Paris. In 1490 he entered the Benedictine monastery of Chezal-Benoit. Fernand, notwithstanding his blindness, was a prolific author both in prose and verse. We may mention his "De animi tranquillitate libri duo," Paris, 1512; "Collationes monasticæ," Paris, 1515; and his "De Conceptione, contra Vincentium."—R. M., A.
FERNANDEZ, Alvaro, the Elder, a Portuguese navigator, born about 1412. In 1446 he took part in the expedition under Lancelot to the mouth of the river Senegal. The following year, in command of a small sloop, he pushed the limit of Portuguese discovery about forty miles along the west coast of Africa. Landing about seven miles south of the Tabite stream, he was driven back by armed natives, and returned to Portugal, where he was received with honour by the king, Dom Pedro, and the Infante Don Enrique.—F. M. W.
FERNANDEZ, Diego, a Spanish adventurer and historian, born in the beginning of the sixteenth century. He was first intended for the clerical profession, but in 1545 embarked for Peru and served under Alvarado until the arrival of the viceroy, Hurtado de Mendoza, who attached Fernandez to his person as historiographer. In this capacity he wrote a "History of Peru," embracing the period from 1546 to 1571, which was completed after his return to Spain. He has been accused of indulging his animosities in this work, but it was probably the opposite fault which led the council of the Indies to suppress it. It abounds in information evidently the fruit of personal knowledge, in acute remarks, and valuable criticism.—F. M. W.
FERNANDEZ, Joao, a Portuguese traveller, the first European who succeeded in penetrating to the interior of Africa. In 1446 he sailed with the expedition fitted out by Prince Henry, under the command of Antonio Gonzales, to explore the coast of Africa; and with a heroic desire to forward the object of the expedition, he, at his own request, was left alone on the coast, near the mouth of the Rio do Ouro. He lived with a native tribe (perhaps that now known as the Ashantees) for seven months, and though he was stripped of everything he possessed, and treated with much rigour, he succeeded in collecting much valuable information as to the habits of the tribe. When rescued by his companions he is said to have been in excellent health, though he had lived on camel's milk and fish during the whole time. In 1447 he was attached to the expedition sent out to establish commercial relations with the Moors of Maça on the coast of Africa. The ship being driven off by a tempest, he was again left on shore, and spent some time in the country of Anquin. He was rescued in the following year, and furnished most valuable information as to the tribes of central Africa.—F. M. W.
FERNANDEZ, Juan, a Spanish navigator, died in 1538. He was engaged in the South American war under Francisco Pizzaro, and afterwards passed into the service of his rival Alvarado. When the latter entered into a treaty with Pizzaro, Fernandez was intrusted with other commands, and was sent with an expedition under Antonio de Sedeno to subdue the island of Trinidad. Instead of this they disembarked on the mainland, in search of gold, and the expedition was almost destroyed by the climate and the attacks of the Indians. Fernandez became commander on the death of the chief, and endeavoured to maintain a position in Calaparo; but he soon died, and his comrades found their way back to the Spanish settlements.—F. M. W.
FERNANDEZ, Juan (who must not be confounded with the foregoing), a Spanish navigator, died in 1576. He first attained distinction as a navigator by observing the course of the trade winds, and the currents off the coast of South America; and thus succeeded in making his voyages to the coast of Chili in so short a time that he was arrested on a charge of sorcery. In 1563 he discovered the two islands which bear his name, one of which has become famous in romance as the residence of Alexander Selkirk. Fernandez obtained a royal concession of these islands, whose natural riches and defences were highly extolled, and founded a colony there, which, however, was soon broken up, leaving no traces save a number of goats, which multiplied to a considerable extent, and are still the only attraction to the navigator. In the latter part of his life Fernandez pushed his adventures still further, and maintained that he had discovered a new continent in the Southern Ocean, which some suppose to have been Australia, others New Zealand; but it is quite possible that the story was a fabrication.—F. M. W.
FERNANDES or FERDINAND, Valentine: the dates of Valentine Fernandes' birth and death are unknown. He was a German printer, who settled towards the close of the fifteenth century at Lisbon. He was given some small office about the court, which did not interfere with his devotion to what he called the noble art of printing. He published a Portuguese translation of part of Marco Polo's travels. The "Vita Christi," which appeared from his press, with the date of February, 1500, is described as the chef d'œuvre of Portuguese typography at that period. It is a book of extreme rarity.—J. A., D.
FERNANDEZ, Vasco, a distinguished Portuguese painter, who has been the original cause of the creation, in popular belief, of an imaginary painter, commonly called Grand-Vasco in Portugal, and to whom most early Gothic works in that country are attributed. Vasco Fernandez was born at Vizeu, September 18, 1552, and became the most distinguished of the Portuguese painters of his period. Little is known about him; he was, however, the painter of the "Calvary" and some other works, still preserved in the cathedral of Vizeu. Vasco's style is thoroughly Gothic, somewhat remarkable in the close of the sixteenth century; but as he probably never left his native place. Count Raczynski conjectures that he drew his inspirations from German prints. The "Calvary," Vasco's masterpiece, represents Christ crucified between the two thieves, and is much in the style of Albert Durer. Another excellent work by this painter is "St. Peter as a pope"—both are engraved in Count Raczynski's Dictionnaire Historico-artistique du Portugal, 1847. The same writer mentions a "St. Michael" in the possession of the duke of Palmella as a good example of this master. The date of the death of Vasco Fernandez is unknown.—R. N. W.
