death he returned to Florence, and entered the order of St. Augustine. He afterwards journeyed through Italy, where he was universally acknowledged the first of sacred orators. He also translated into Latin verse Pliny's Natural History, and was the tutor of Pope Julius III. He died of the plague at Rome in 1497.—A. C. M.
BRANDOLINI, Raffaele, a brother or cousin of Aurelio, born at Florence towards the middle of the fifteenth century, a nobleman of singular talents, who, although deprived of sight whilst yet an infant, could compose impromptu the most elaborate Latin poems on any given subject. Mazzucchelli relates of him, that having recited an oration before King Ferdinand, and being desired by that monarch to turn it into verse, he did so without the least hesitation; whereupon the king exclaimed—"Magnus orator, summus poeta!" After the death of Aurelio, his near relation, he went to Rome, where he contracted the closest friendship with the famous Marone and Pontano. With their assistance he published many of Aurelio's posthumous works, which he dedicated to Cardinal Giovanni de Medicis, who, when on the papal throne, under the name of Leo X., assigned to his protegé splendid apartments in the Vatican. Although blind, every one considered and called him "Oculus pontificis." Only three of his splendid orations, some treatises, and a few letters written in classic Latin, have been preserved. Brandolini died at the beginning of the sixteenth century.—A. C. M.
BRANDT (in Latin, Titio), Sebastian, a celebrated German poet, was born at Strasburg in 1458, and died May 10, 1520. He studied law at Basle, where he became professor in the university, and afterwards was appointed by the Emperor Maximilian to high civic offices in his native town. He is the author of the renowned satirical poem, "Das Narrenschiff" (the Fools' Ship, or the New Ship of Narragonia), in which he satirizes the vices and follies of his age, and sends all fools by shiploads into their own country, called Narragonia. Less for its poetical merit, than for its high moral tendency, this poem enjoyed so universal a popularity, that it was translated into almost all European languages (into English by Alexander Barklay, 1509), and that the well-known Geiler von Kaisersberg even selected the texts for his sermons from its pages. He also published a volume of Latin poetry and other works. The best editions of the "Narrenschiff" are by A. W. Strobel, Quedlinburg, 1838, and by Fr. Zarncke, 1854.—K. E.
BRANKER, Thomas, an English mathematician of the middle of the seventeenth century, author of a translation of the Algebra of Rhonius, and of a treatise on the doctrine of the Sphere.
BRANT, Joseph, a celebrated Indian chieftain of the Mohawk tribe, the head of the Iroquois Confederacy, or "Six Nations," as they were called, in the state of New York. Thayendanegea was his Indian name; whether he was of pure or mixed blood is a disputed point. He was born on the banks of the Ohio river about 1742, and when only fourteen years old, was sent by Sir William Johnson to Dr. Wheelock's Indian charity school in Connecticut, where he received a good education. In 1762 he was employed as an interpreter by the Rev. Charles J. Smith, a missionary to the Mohawks; he appears to have befriended the missionaries, and to have exerted himself for the religious instruction of his Indian brethren. He published the Book of Common Prayer and the Gospel of St. Mark, translated by himself into the Mohawk language, in London in 1787; and he proposed to write a history of the Six Nations, but never fulfilled this intention. When the Revolution broke out, the influence of the Johnsons, the agents of government with the Six Nations, inclined him to adopt the royalist side; and this inclination was strengthened during a visit which he made to England in the winter and spring of 1776. He was received in London with flattering attentions; the earl of Warwick engaged Romney to paint his portrait, and James Boswell in a characteristic manner gloried in forming an intimacy with him. He returned to America in April, 1776, having previously pledged himself to take the field in the royal cause, with 3000 warriors of his race. He fulfilled his promise as far as he could, not bringing so many of his tribe with him as he had expected, but still affording essential aid to the king's arms. After the peace, he visited England again, to adjust the claims of the loyal Mohawks upon the crown, for indemnification of their losses and sacrifices during the war. He was received even with greater attention than before, being quite a lion in fashionable society; all his claims were satisfied, and he returned to his native land in high good humour. A tract of land for the residence of his tribe was assigned to them upon Grand River, on the north side of Lake Erie. The remainder of Brant's life was spent at the handsome seat which he owned in Upper Canada, at the head of Lake Ontario, where he died November 24th, 1807, aged 65. Two of his sons were educated at Moor's Indian school, connected with Dartmouth college. His daughter married William J. Kerr, Esq., of Niagara, in 1824.
BRANTÔME, Pierre de Bourdeilles, born about 1540; died in 1614. He was the third son of Francis, vicomte de Bourdeilles, and of Anne de Vivonne de la Chataigneaue—by both his parents of the best blood of Bretagne. He lived in a day when the distinction of birth was everything in France. His early years were past at the court of Margaret de Valois, sister of François I., and queen of Navarre, to whom the mother of Pierre was dame de corps. The romance of real life which he witnessed here impressed the boy more than his royal mistress's lively novels, amusing as they are. On the death of "la reine spirituelle" in 1549, he commenced his studies at Paris, and completed them—to use the language of his day—at Poitiers, 1555. Bourdeilles, from which the family took one of its titles, as well as the name by which Pierre is often styled, is about three leagues from Périgueux, the ancient capital of the province of Périgord. But they were also the owners of the district round Brantôme in the same province. At Brantôme there was an abbaye, the gift of which it would appear was in the crown, and this in 1556 was given to Pierre by Henry II., in recompense of some services rendered by his brother, Seigneur d'Ardelay. The abbaye was held by Pierre sometimes in his own name, sometimes in that of others but for his use, for the rest of his life; and, from this circumstance, he was more often known by the name of the abbaye than his own. The character and pursuits of the abbé, which we chiefly know through his own writings, are not calculated to suggest the notion of a churchman; nor does his receiving the means of support from church property seem to have had annexed to it any inconvenient condition. It certainly imposed no restriction on his courting pleasure in any of the courses which suggest themselves to the mere layman. It did not interfere with his pursuing military life as a profession; and we have him everywhere, like a knight-errant in search of adventures, running over Europe wherever he found employment for his long sword, saddle, and bridle. We cannot speak much for the modesty of his pretensions; still nothing very great is claimed for him by himself or others on the score of his martial achievements. They are not performed "en capitaine, capable de se faire un nom parmi les grands guerriers contemporains mais en vaillant soldat, en homme qui savait manier avec addresse une longue épée on une dague." Brantôme was observant, and was active—very much of a gossip—very shrewd—very credulous—never seeing more than the surface of things—and seeming never to suspect that much of what great men say and do in public, is for the purpose of misleading inquisitive spirits like his. Of his strange credulity it is scarce possible to imagine a stronger proof than what he says of the Emperor Charles V. He tells us that he made efforts to be elected pope; that failing in this, he still indulged the ecclesiastical passion which suggested his strange ambition of becoming a monk. Brantôme made his way wherever a battle was to be fought, and he behaved in the field gallantly. In the festivities after victory, in the camp, or during truces, he was sure to be as far as possible with "captains and colonels, and knights in arms," learning all he could of what led to the fortune of the day; and even when little else could be had in such communications, learning that for which he is now chiefly consulted, and for which he is indeed an indispensable authority to students of French history—the characters of the persons with whom he was thus brought in contact.
Brantôme, though always holding some appointment at court, or with the duke of Alençon, whose chamberlain he was for some time, complains of the neglect of the great—tells of disappointments with respect to offices which he wished for, and which others obtained. On the death of Charles IX. he finally retired from public life, and employed himself in the management of a sister-in-law's property, and the education of a brother's children, whom he adopted. It was impossible that such occupations should be sufficient to satisfy Brantôme's restless and discontented spirit. His imagination still carried him back to the scenes which he had
