FLEUR ET BLANCHEFLEUR. 72 FLEUR ET BLANCHEFLEUR, fler a. blaNsh'fle'r'. See Flobe ex Blancuei'leue. FLEXJRIAIS, llc're-a', Georges Ernest (1840 — ). A French naval officer, born in Paris. After graduation from the Kcole Navale in 1857, he entered the French Navy, rose to be capitaine de vaisseau in 1883, and rear-admiral in L892. He saw service in Mexico in the eontesl incident to the establishment of the empire of .Maximilian, and during the Franco-Prussian War was suc- cessively aide-de-camp to Admiral Bonet-Wil- laumez, commanding the North Sea Squadron, and a soldier in the Army of the Loire. During the war against China, in I HS4 85, he commanded the armored cruiser l.u Galisonni* r< ;. Be was at various times intrusted with important scien- tific missions, such as the determination of cer- tain meridians by lunar observations (18(17-70), and the observation of the transit of Mercury at Payta, Peru (1878). He received, in 1874 and 1882, the Prix Lalande and the Prix Plumey re- spectively, for improvements made by him in instruments of navigation. FLETJRIETT, fle're-e', Charles Pierre Claret (1738-1810). A French naval officer, born in Lyons. He entered the French Navy in 1751 ; in 1768-69 was commander of the Isis in an ex- pedition sent out for the trial of the chronome- ter, or marine watch, in whose invention he had assisted Berthoud, and in 1776 became inspector- general of navy-yards and ports. In 1778-83 he made the plans to be followed in the naval war against England, by way of aiding the American Colonies in their struggle for independence. From 1790 to 1791 he was Minister of the Navy, in 1800 was appointed by Napoleon to the Council of State, and later became successively Senator (1805), Admiral (1806), and Governor of the Tuileries (1808). He was Minister Plenipoten- tiary for the signing of the treaty by whose terms Louisiana was ceded to the United States. He published a history of the Spanish conquerors of America (1800). FLEURUS, fle'rus'. A small town of Bel- gium, in the Province of Hainaut, situated near the left bank of the Sambre, and 15 miles west of Namur. Population, about 5200. Fleurus has been the scene of at least four important battles. Here, on August 29, 1622, the Protes- tant Army, under the Duke of Brunswick and Count Mansfeld, repulsed the Spaniards under Cordova. On July 1, 1690, Marshal Luxem- bourg defeated the Dutch and the Germans. On June 26, 1794, Jourdan, after an obstinate and bloody conflict at Fleurus, forced 80.000 of the Allies, under the Prince of Saxe-Coburg, to re- treat from the Sambre and to evacuate Flanders, • thereby saving France from invasion. On June 16, 1815, Napoleon defeated the Prussians near Fleurus, though the battle is better known as the battle of Ligny (q.v. ). FLETJRY, fieri (from Fr. fleure, flowered, from fleur, flower, from Lat. flos, flower). A term in heraldry signifying that an object is adorned with fleurs-de-lis or parts of the fleur-de- lis; also written flory. flowry. fleurette. etc. A cross fleury is a cross the ends of which are in the form of the fleurs-de-lis. and is distinguished from a cross patonce in that the limbs in the latter are in the form of the segments of a circle, and terminate in a mere bud, whereas the cross 5 FLEURY. fleury has the limb i and the ends dis- tinctly floriated. Sec III. RALDBY. FLEURY, llc'r.-', ANDBI II, i :i DE (1653- I7i.ii. A French cardina md chief Min- i ter during the earlj pari of the reign ol I XV. lie was bom June 26, L653, al I odeve in Languedoc, and aftei an excellent education at Paris entered the Church, and became a canon at Monl pellii i I a I 679 he wa called to be almoner to Marie-'riiere-e, i ife ol Louu XIV., and after her death be became royal almoner (1683), and received man} preferments, including the Abbey of Rivour and the bishopric of Frejus. In 1715, in accordance with the dying wish of Louis XIV'., Henry became tutor to the young Louis XV., only live years old, over whom be succeeded in establishing :i eomplele ascendency. When the King reached bis majority Fleury was made a member of the Council of Stale, and in 17-H, when the Due de Bourbon was dismissed, be be came virtually Prime Minister, though he did not assume that title, and contented himself with the dignity of cardinal, which he received in the same year. By strict economy and a wise internal policy, Henry raised France from a state of commercial depression; but he was un- fortunate on the whole in his external policy, which embraced the play of politics attendant upon the Polish and Austrian wars of succession. The last of these wars he did not live to see ter- minated, for he died while still in office, in 1743, at the age of ninety. One of the most praise- worthy acts of his administration was the comple- tion of the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris. He was a scholarly man himself, and a member of the various French academies. Consult: La cretelle, Eistoire du dix-httitieme siecle (Paris, 1830) ; Verlaque, Histoire du cardinal Fleury (Paris, 1879) ; Perkins, France Under the Ur- gency (Boston, 1892). FLEURY, Claude (1640-1723). A French Church historian, born in Paris. He was edu- cated by the Jesuits, and at first practiced law (1658-67) ; but preferring an ecclesiastical ca- reer, took priest's orders, and became tutor to the young princes of Conti (1672), and later (1680) to the Comte de Vermandois, natural son of Louis XIV. After the death of the Count, the King appointed him, in 1684, Abbot of the Cistercian Monastery of Loc-Dieu, and in 1689 tutor to the royal grandchildren, the dukes of Burgundy, Anjou, and Berri. In 1696 he was elected to the Academy, and in 1706 became prior of Argenteuil. The Duke of Orleans appointed him confessor to the young King, Louis XV., in 1716, and he held this office till compelled to resign by the infirmities of age in 1722. Fleury was a man of much learning, kind- hearted and simple in manners, and upright in conduct. Of his numerous works may be men- tioned: Les rntcurs des Israelites (1681); Less mosurs des Chretiens (1082); Trnite" du ch&ix et de la methode des Studes I 1 1 ; "T ~> ) ; Institution du droit eccUsiastique (1687); and. most im- portant of all, the Histoire eccUsiastique (20 vols., 1691-1720). This work was the labor of thirty years, and is marked by learning and a judiciously critical spirit. J. H. Newman pre- pared an English translation of the part from the Second Ecumenical Council (Oxford. 1842-44). Fleury's part extends only to 1414, hut his con- tinuators have brought it to 1546 in the Paris
