F R A
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F R A
FOY, or St Foy, a town in Guienne, in France, thirty-two miles eaſt of Bourdeaux; it is ſituated under the meridian of London, in 44°, 50′, N. lat.
FRACTURE, in ſurgery, a rupture of a bone, or a ſolution of continuity in a bone, when it is cruſhed or broken by ſome external cauſe. See Surgery.
FRAGARIA, the Strawberry, in botany, a genus of the icoſandria polygynia claſs. The calix is divided into ten ſegments; the petals are five; and the receptacle is an oval deciduous berry. There are three ſpecies, two of them natives of Britain, viz. the veſca, or common ſtrawberry; and the ſterilis, or baren ſtrawberry.
FRANCE, a large kingdom of Europe, ſituated between 5° W. and 7° E. long. and between 43° and 51° N. lat. being bounded by the Engliſh channel and the Auſtrian Netherlands, on the north; by Germany, Switzerland, Savoy, and Piedmont, in Italy, on the eaſt; by the Mediterranean ſea, and the Pyrenean mountains, which ſeparate it from Spain, on the ſouth; and, by the bay of Biſcay, on the weſt. This kingdom, was formerly divided into twelve provinces; but at preſent it is divided into twenty-five general governments, over every one of which is an officer, called an intendant, appointed by the king, who has a power of controlling the governor, and all other officers of juſtice; and preſides over the receivers-general of his generality.
FRANCFORT, a city of Germany, ſituated on the confines of Heſſe and Franconia, on both ſides of the river Maine: E. lon. 7° 20′, N. lat. 50° 10′.
Francfort on the Oder, a city of Germany, in the circle of Upper Saxony, and marquiſate of Brandenburgh, ſituated in E. long. 15°, N. lat. 52° 22′.
Franche-comte, a province of France bounded by Lorrain on the north; by Alſace and Switzerland, on the eaſt; by La Breſs and Bugey, on the ſouth; by the dukedom of Burgundy, on the weſt.
FRANCHISE, in a general ſenſe, a privilege or exemption from ordinary juriſdiction; as that for a corporation to hold pleas among themſelves to ſuch a value, or the like.
FRANCISCAN monks, friars minor, or grey friars, religious of the order of St Francis, founded by him in the year 1709.
The rule of the Franciſcans, as eſtabliſhed by St Francis himſelf, is briefly this: they are to live in common, to obſerve chaſtity, and to pay obedience to the pope and their ſuperiors.
Before they can be admitted into the order, they are under the obliged to ſell all they have, and give it to the poor: they are to perform a year's noviciate, and when admitted never to quit the order upon any account. They are to faſt from the feaſt of All-ſaints, to the Nativity. This order has produced four popes, forty-two cardinals, and an infinite number of patriarchs.
FRANCONIA, a circle of the German empire, lying
between Bohemia on the eaſt, and the Mentz on the weſt. Its capital is Nuremburg; and from this county the Franks, who conquered and gave name to the kingdom of France, are ſaid to have come.
Frank language, or lingua franca, a kind of jargon ſpoken on the Mediterranean, and particularly throughout the coaſts and parts of the Levant, compoſed of Italian, Spaniſh, French, vulgar Greek, and other languages.
Frank, or Franc, an ancient coin, either of gold or ſilver, ſtruck and current in France. The value of the gold frank was ſomewhat more than that of the gold crown; the ſilver frank was a third of the gold one; this coin is long out of uſe, though the term is ſtill retained as the name of a money of account; in which ſenſe it is equivalent to the livre, or twenty ſols.
FRANKENDAL, a city of Germany, in the palatinate of the Rhine, ſituated on the weſt ſide of the river Rhine, in E. long. 8° 15′, N. lat. 49° 30′.
FRANCENIA, sea-heath, or sea-chickweed, a genus of the hexandria monogynia claſs. The calix is tunnel ſhaped, and divided into five ſegments; the petals are five; the ſtigma has ſix diviſions; and the the capſule conſiſts of one cell, with three valves. There are three ſpecies, two of them natives of Britain, viz. the lævis, or ſmooth ſea-heath; and the pulverulenta, or broad leaved ſea-heath.
FRANKENSTEIN, a town of Germany, in the palatinate of the Rhine, and dutchy of Zuebruggen, ſituated twelve miles north-weſt of Landau.
FRANKER, a town of the United Provinces in the province of Weſt Frieſland, nine miles weſt of Lewarden.
FRANKS, Frankis, or Franquis, an appellation given by the Turks, and other nations of Aſia, to all the people of the weſtern parts of Europe, to which they give the name of Frankiſtan.
FRANSTAT, or Fraustat, a town of Sileſia, ſituated twenty-five miles north-eaſt of Glogaw, ſubject to Pruſſia.
FRASCATI, or Frescati, a town of Italy, in the campania of Rome, thirteen miles eaſt of that city; near which place is the Tuſculum of Cicero, called Grotto Ferrate.
FRATERNITY, in the Roman-catholic countries,
ſignifies
