Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 10.djvu/181

VALDIVIA 151 VALENCIA Cuenca, Castile, about 1500. In 1528 he wrote "Dialogo de Mercurio y Caron," a treatise severely criticising the Roman church. Fearing the Spanish Inquisition, Valdes left the country and settled in Naples, spending also some time in Rome and Bologna. In 1533 he returned to Naples, where he resided until his death in 1541. Although a Catholic, he was a strong advocate of doctrines usually iden- tified with Luther and his followers. VALDIVIA, a town in the S. of Chile; capital of a province of the same name; on the Valdivia river, 9 miles from its mouth, with a safe and roomy harbor. The entrance to the river is fortified. The town is built on level ground, and is embosomed in apple or- chards, surrounded by the native forest. It has an active coasting trade, chiefly with Valparaiso. Valdivia was founded in 1551 by Pedro de Valdivia, one of Pi- zarro's lieutenants, v/ho named it after himself, and it was at one time a place of great wealth. The province of Val- divia has an area of 8,647 square miles. Besides splendid forests it has large up- land pastures, and deposits of coal are known to exist within it. Pop. (1918) 26.091. VALDIVIA, PEDRO DE, a Spanish military officer; born in Estremadura, Spain, about 1498; was on military serv- ice in Flanders; removed to Venezuela in 1534; and two years later joined Pi- zarro against the Indians in Peru. Un- der that conqueror he aided in the de- feat of Almagro at Las Salinas. Later he led 150 Spanish and several thousand Indians in an expedition against Chile, which had been ceded by Charles V. to Pedro Sanchez de Hoz. After defeating a large force of Indians he established Santiago on Feb. 12, 1541. Subsequently ' the Spaniards were many times attacked by the Indians and were cut off from Peru. In December, 1543, re-enforce- ments arrived and the colony thereafter prospered. In September, 1544, Valpa- raiso was founded, and in 1546 Valdivia marched into the Araucanian district, and in a great battle conquered the In- dians. In 1547-1549 he joined Gasca, the royalist, against Pizarro, whom they defeated. In 1550-1552 he established Concepcion, Valdivia, and other places. A wide uprising of the Indians occurred in December, 1553, and while Valdivia was endeavoring to put down this revolt he was captured and put to death, it is supposed, on Jan. 1, 1554. VALDOSTA, a city of Georgia, and the county-seat of Lowndes co., about 150 miles southwest of Savannah, on the At- lantic Coast Line, the Georgia and Flor- ida, and other railroads. There are manufactories of buggies, cloth, cotton- seed oil, fertilizers, lumber products, na- val stores, etc. It is the center of a prosperous agricultural region, raising cotton, fruit, and general farm products. The South Georgia Normal College, high schools, and a Carnegie library are among its prominent educational fea- tures. Pop. (1910) 7,656; (1920) 10,783. VALENCE (va-longs), a town of France, capital of the department of Drome; on the Rhone; 57 miles S. of Lyons. It is surrounded by orchards, vineyards and woods; has an important trade; and manufactures of silk goods, metal goods, etc. Its principal edifices are the cathedral, with the tomb of Pope Pius VI., barracks, citadel,' court house, prison and theater. It has a communal college, a public library, school of artil- lery, school of design, dock for ship- building, cotton printing and dyeing es- tablishments, etc. Pop. commune, about 30,000. VALENCIA, a seaport of Spain, for- merly capital of the kingdom, and now of the province of the same name ; on the shores of the Mediterranean; 3 miles from the mouth of the Guadalaviar and 200 miles S. W. of Barcelona. In the Huerta ("garden") surrounding the city carob, citron, orange, palm, and mul- berry grow in wild luxuriance. The old picturesque battlemented walls, erected by Pedro IV. in 1356, were removed in 1871; and while, in the old quarters, the houses are closely packed and gloomy- looking, well suited to keep out the heat, those recently erected are gaily colored and furnished with courts freshened with flowers and cooled by fountains. Valencia is the see of an archbishop, and its cathedral, which was commenced in 1262, classical in the interior, and Gothic on the exterior, is 350 feet long. The church of the Colegio de Corpus is quite a museum of pictures by Ribalta. The picture gallery contains chiefly the pro- ductions of the Valencian school (Juanes, the Ribaltas, Ribera, etc.). The university has a library of over 50,000 volumes. The custom house, dating from 1758, is now a cigar factory. Silk spin- ning and weaving are extensively carried on; there are also manufactures of cloths, hats, glass, linen, leather, cigars, and Valencia tiles for flooring. The ex- ports are mainly grain, silk, rice and fruits. Pop. about 245,000. Valencia, or Valentia del Cid, dating from the 2d cen- tury B. c, was destroyed by Pompey, taken by the Goths A. D. 413, by the Moors in 715, and by the Cid in 1094. The union of Ferdinand and Isabella brought it under the Castilian crown.