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288 BRIGITTINS BRIXDISI BRIGITTINS, or Order of onr Savionr, a branch of the Augustinians, founded about the year 1344 by St. Brigida of Sweden, and approved by Urban V. in 1370. It owes its origin to the monastery built by Brigida at Wadstena, near Linkoping, in Sweden. It embraces both monks and nuns, who occupy contiguous buildings, and celebrate the divine office in the same church, but never see each other. The prioress is su- perior in temporal concerns, but spiritual mat- ters are managed by the monks. All the houses of the order are subject to the bishop of the diocese, and no new one can be founded without express permission of the pope. The number of monks in each monastery was fixed by the rule at 25, that of nuns at 60 ; but this regulation was not always strictly enforced. Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, and several other countries had con- vents of this order, most of which, including the parent house at Wadstena, were destroyed at the reformation. The only house of the order in England was the rich institution known as Sion house, founded by Henry V. on the Thames, 10 m. from London. It was sup- pressed by Henry VIII., restored by Queen Mary, and again dissolved under Elizabeth. The monks of this order are now extinct, but a few convents for nuns existed in 1860 in Bavaria, Poland, Holland, and England. BRIGNOLES, a town of Provence, France, In the department of Var, on the Calami, 21 m. N. N. E. of Toulon ; pop. in 1866, 5,945. It is well built, and contains several squares plant- ed and adorned with fountains, a public library, a normal school, an ecclesiastical school, and manufactories of silk, cloth, hardware, soaps, and of other articles. A good trade is carried on in wines, olive oil, liqueurs, and dried fruits ; the prunes of Brignoles, produced in the coun- try around Digne, enjoy a high reputation. BRIHCEGA, a town of New Castile, Spain, in the province and 19 m. N. E. of the city of Guadalajara, on the Tajnfia ; pop. about 4,500. It was the scene of a decisive victory gained by the French, under the duke de Vend&me, over the allied forces, under Lord Stanhope, in 1710. A branch establishment of the royal cloth manufactory of Guadalajara occupies a splen- did edifice built under the reigns of Ferdinand VI. and Charles III. A considerable trade in cloth and woollen goods is carried on. BRIL, Paul, a Flemish painter, born at Ant- werp in 1556, died in Rome in 1626. He aided his brother Matthew in decorating the Vatican, and executed some important works for the Sistine chapel. Some of his landscapes con- tain figures by Annibale Carracci. His finest composition is a landscape in the Vatican. BRILLAT-SAVARIN, Antlir Imr, a French author and magistrate, born at Bellay, April 1, 1755, died in Paris, Feb. 2, 1826. He was a deputy to the states general in 1789, a judge of the court of cassation in 1792, and mayor of Bellay in 1793, in which year he fled to Switzerland and the United States to escape from the revo- lutionary tribunal, and resided nearly three years in New York, where he supported him- self by teaching French and by performing in the orchestra of a theatre. He returned to France in 1796, and during the consulate again became a judge of the court of cassation, which position he held till his death. He is known to literature by his anonymous writings on po- litical economy, and on the archaeology of the department 'of Ain, also by a work on duels ; but chiefly by his famous book on gastronomy, entitled PJiysiologie du gout, published in 1825, which has been translated into English and several other languages. BKI.MHSl (anc. Brundusium or Brundwum), a seaport of Italy, on the N. E. coast of the province of Terra d Otranto, lying at the head of a deep and sheltered harbor of the Adriatic between the promontories Permo and Cavallo, in lat. 40 38' N., Ion. 18 E., 44 m. E. N. E. of Taranto; pop. about 12,000. The town has comparatively few objects of interest, its castle, called Forte di Terra, being the most note- worthy building of the place. This is a strong and well placed fortress, with immense round towers, and is the most conspicuous object in every view of the city. The cathedral, a large Norman structure, has little architectural beauty, and its walls have been much injured by earthquakes. Near it stands an ancient marble column about 50 ft. high, probably once a portion of a temple. The Appian way ter- minated at Brindisi. There is a public library in the town, and a valuable collection of an- cient coins. Improvements are going on in the harbor, which has greatly deteriorated in value since the Roman times, in part on account of dikes erected by Cassar and intended to add to the safety of the port; instead of doing so, they aided the accumulation of sand, and nar- rowed the entrance, to the great detriment of the inner bay. It is expected that the mea- sures now in progress will restore the ancient value of the roadstead, secure a great depth of water along the piers, and materially ad- vance the prosperity of the town. The im- portance and prosperity of Brindisi have of late years been greatly increased by the com- pletion of the railway extending along the eastern coast from northern Italy. Thus con- nected with all the railways of the continent, it has been selected as the place of embarka- tion for the mails to the East. Steamers carrying these mails and passengers ply be- tween Brindisi and Alexandria, connecting with the regular mail steamers of the Pen- insular and Oriental steamship company. Letters for India and all the East can thus be posted at London some days after the depar- ture of the company's vessels from England, and still overtake them at Alexandria. Ac- cording to ancient tradition, Brundusium was founded by Cretans in a very remote time. It flourished as an independent city, governed for some time by princes of its own people. In 267 B. C. it was taken by the Romans. It