Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 01.djvu/510

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BARCELONA 418 BAREBONE'S PARLIAMENT itself independent when the Arabs in- vaded it and conquered it in 641. The present inhabitants consist of Arabs and Berbers. Its area is about 20,000 square miles; and the population is estimated at 325,000. The capital is Bengazi (pop. about 35,000), by which name the prov- ince is sometimes known. By the treaty of Ouchy (Oct. 12, 1912) between Italy and Turkey, Barca became an Italian dependency, and is now one of the two districts of Lybia (g. v.). BARCELONA, the most important manufacturing city in Spain, in the province of the same name; pop. about 625,000. The province of Barcelona has an area of 2,968 square miles, pop. about 1,195,000. The streets of the old town, forming the N. W. division, are crooked, narrow, and ill paved. Those of the new are much more spacious and regular. There is a large suburb E. of the town where the seafaring portion of the popu- lation chiefly reside. Barcelona is the see of a bishop. It has a university, and colleges and schools, the finest theater in Spain, a magnificent cathedral, which, begun in 1298, is not yet completed, and many other beautiful public and private buildings. Barcelona manufac- tures silk, woolens, cottons, lace, hats, firearms, etc., which form its principal exports. Next to Bilbao it is the most important port in Spain. Barcelona is a place of great antiquity, and associated with many historical events. Local tra- dition fixes the date of its foundation 400 years before the Romans; and it is said to have been refounded by Hamilcar Barca, the father of Hannibal, from whom its ancient name, Barcino, was de- rived. An important city under the Ro- mans, Goths, and Moors, Barcelona in 878 became an independent sovereignty, under a Christian chief of its own, whose descendants continued to govern it, and to hold the title of Count of Barcelona, until the 12th century, when its ruler adopted the title of King of Aragon, to which kingdom it was annexed. During the Middle Ages, Barcelona became a flourishing seaport, rivaled in the Medi- terranean by Genoa only. In recent times Barcjelona has become the center of Spanish radicalism. BARCELONA, formerly called New Barcelona, capital of the state of An- zoategui, Venezuela, near the mouth of the Neveri, 160 miles E. of Caracas. The surrounding country is fertile, but Barcelona is very unhealthy. Cattle, jerked beef, hides, indigo, cotton, and cacao are the chief exports. There are coal and salt mines in the vicinity. Pop. about 15,000. The town was founded in 1638 at the foot of the Cerro Santo, but was removed to its present location in 1671. BARCOCHBA, or BARCOKECAS ("son of a star"), a famous Jewish im- postor, whose real name was Simeon, and who lived in the 2d century A. D. After the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, the Jews, at different periods, sought to regain their independence; and Bar- cochba, seeing his countrymen still im- patient of the Roman yoke, resolved to attempt their emancipation. With this view he sought to sound the dispositions of his co-religionists of Egypt, Mes- opotamia, Greece, Italy and Gaul, and sent forth emissaries, who traveled over all the provinces of the Roman Empire. When all was ready Barcochba solemnly announced himself as King and Messiah, and seized by surprise on many fortified places. All who refused to submit to him, particularly the Christians, were put to death. Great numbers of Jews, from all parts of the world, hastened to join his standard; and so formidable did this revolt become that Julius Severus, gen- eral of the armies of the Emperor Adrian, was compelled to act with ex- treme caution, and to content himself with surprising detached bodies of the enemy. Soon, however, the superior dis- cipline of the Romans prevailed. The Jewish army, shut up in the fortress of Bethar, succumbed under fatigue and famine; Barcochba perished miserably, and all his followers were massacred or reduced to slavery. From this period may be dated the entire dispersion of the race of Israel over the face of the earth. BARD, a fortress and village in the Italian province of Turin, on the left bank of the Dora Baltea, about 23 miles S. E. of Aosta. When the French crossed the St. Bernard, in 1800, the for- tress of Bard, manned by 400 Austrians, maintained for 10 days a resistance to their further advance into Italy. Ulti- mately Napoleon contrived to elude the vigilance of the garrison, and passed by a mountain-track during the night. Bard was taken a short time after by the French, and razed, but, in 1825, it was restored. BAREBONE'S PARLIAMENT, the "Little Parliament" summoned by Oliver Cromwell, met July 4, 1653, so nicknamed from the name of one of its members. It consisted of 139 persons, "faithful, fear- ing God, and hating covetousness." They began by abolishing the Court of Chan- cery, and were proceeding to abolish tithes, when Cromwell dissolved the Par- liament on Dec. 12 of the same year.