throughout its whole depth for many miles from land” (H. R. Mill, Realm of Nature, 1897).
ESZTERGOM (Ger. Gran; Lat. Strigonium), a town of
Hungary, capital of the county of the same name, 36 m. N.W. of
Budapest by rail. Pop. (1900) 16,948, mostly Magyars and
Roman Catholics. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube,
nearly opposite the confluence of the Gran, and is divided into the
town proper and three suburbs. The town is the residence of the
primate of Hungary, and its cathedral, built in 1821–1870, after
the model of St Peter’s at Rome, is one of the finest and largest
in the country. It is picturesquely built on an elevated and
commanding position, 215 ft. above the Danube, and its dome,
visible from a long distance, is 260 ft. high, and has a diameter
of 52 ft. The interior is very richly decorated, notably with
fine frescoes, and its treasury and fine library of over 60,000
volumes are famous. Besides several other churches and two
monastic houses, the principal buildings include the handsome
palace of the primate, erected in 1883; the archiepiscopal library,
with valuable incunabula and old MSS.; the seminary for the
education of Roman Catholic priests; the residences of the
chapter; and the town-hall. The population is chiefly employed
in cloth-weaving, wine-making and agricultural pursuits. An iron
bridge, 1664 ft. long, connects Esztergom with the market town
of Párkány (pop. 2836) on the opposite bank of the Danube.
Esztergom is one of the oldest towns of Hungary, and is famous as the birthplace of St Stephen, the first prince crowned “apostolic king” of Hungary. During the early times of the Hungarian monarchy it was the most important mercantile centre in the country, and it was the meeting-place of the diets of 1016, 1111, 1114 and 1256. It was almost completely destroyed by Tatar hordes in 1241, but was rebuilt and fortified by King Béla IV. In 1543 it fell into the hands of the Turks, from whom it was recovered, in 1595, by Carl von Mansfeld. In 1604 it reverted to the Turks, who held it till 1683, when it was regained by the united forces of John Sobieski, king of Poland, and Prince Charles of Lorraine. It was created an archbishopric in 1001. During the Turkish occupation of the town the archbishopric was removed to Tyrnau, while the archbishop himself had his residence in Pressburg. Both returned to Esztergom in 1820. In 1708 it was declared a free city by Joseph I. On the 13th of April 1818 it was partly destroyed by fire.
For numerous authorities on the see and cathedral of Esztergom see V. Chevalier, Répertoire des sources. Topo-bibliogr. s.v. “Gran.” Of these may be mentioned especially F. Knauz, Monumenta Ecclesiae Strigoniensis (3 vols., Eszterg, 1874); Joseph Dankó, Geschichtliches . . . aus dem Graner Domschatz (Gran, 1880).
ÉTAGÈRE, a piece of light furniture very similar to the English
what-not, which was extensively made in France during the
latter part of the 18th century. As the name implies, it consists of
a series of stages or shelves for the reception of ornaments or
other small articles. Like the what-not it was very often cornerwise
in shape, and the best Louis XVI. examples in exotic woods
are exceedingly graceful and elegant.
ETAH, a town and district of British India, in the Agra
division of the United Provinces. The town is situated on the
Grand Trunk road. Pop. (1901) 8796. The district has an area
of 1737 sq. m. The district consists for the most part of an
elevated alluvial plateau, dipping down on its eastern slope
into the valley of the Ganges. The uplands are irrigated by the
Ganges canal. Between the modern bed of the Ganges and its
ancient channel lies a belt of fertile land, covered with a rich
deposit of silt, and abundantly supplied with natural moisture.
A long line of swamps and hollows still marks the former course
of the river; and above it rises abruptly the original cliff which
now forms the terrace of the upland plain. The Kali Nadi, a
small stream flowing in a deep and narrow gorge, passes through
the centre of the district, and affords an outlet for the surface
drainage. Etah was at an early date the seat of a primitive
Aryan civilization, and the surrounding country is mentioned by
Hsüan Tsang, the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim of the 7th century
A.D., as rich in temples and monasteries. But after the bloody
repression of Buddhism before the 8th century, the district
seems to have fallen once more into the hands of aboriginal
tribes, from whom it was wrested a second time by Rajputs
during the course of their great migration eastward. With the
rest of upper India it passed under the sway of Mahmud of
Ghazni in 1017, and thenceforth followed the fortunes of the
Mahommedan empire. At the end of the 18th century it formed
part of the territory over which the wazir of Oudh had made
himself ruler, and it came into the possession of the British
government in 1801, under the treaty of Lucknow. During the
mutiny of 1857 it was the scene of serious disturbances, coupled
with the usual anarchic quarrels among the native princes.
In 1901 the population was 863,948, showing an increase of 23%
in the decade due to the extension of canal irrigation. It is
traversed by a branch of the Rajputana railway from Agra to
Cawnpore, with stations at Kasganj and Soron, which are the
two largest towns. It has several printing presses, indigo
factories, and factories for pressing cotton, and there is a considerable
agricultural export trade.
ÉTAMPES, ANNE DE PISSELEU D’HEILLY, Duchesse d’ (1508–c. 1580), mistress of Francis I. of France, daughter of Guillaume de Pisseleu, sieur d’Heilly, a nobleman of Picardy. She came to court before 1522, and was one of the maids of honour of Louise of Savoy. Francis I. made her his mistress, probably on his return from his captivity at Madrid (1526), and soon gave up Madame de Châteaubriant for her. Anne was sprightly, pretty, witty and cultured, and succeeded in keeping
the favour of the king till the end of the reign (1547). The liaison received some official recognition; when Queen Eleanor entered Paris (1530), the king and Anne occupied the same
window. In 1533 Francis gave her in marriage to Jean de
Brosse, whom he created duc d’Étampes. The influence of the
duchesse d’Étampes, especially in the last years of the reign,
was considerable. She upheld Admiral Chabot against the
constable de Montmorency, who was supported by her rival,
Diane de Poitiers, the dauphin’s mistress. She was a friend to
new ideas, and co-operated with the king’s sister, Marguerite
d’Angoulême. She used her influence to elevate and enrich her
family, her uncle, Antoine Sanguin (d. 1559), being made bishop of Orleans in 1535 and a cardinal in 1539.[1] The accusations made against her of having allowed herself to be won over by the emperor Charles V. and of playing the traitor in 1544 rest on no serious proof. After the death of Francis I. (1547) she was dismissed from the court by Diane de Poitiers, humiliated in every way, and died in obscurity much later, probably in the reign of Henry III.
See Paulin Paris, Études sur François Ier (Paris, 1885).
ÉTAMPES, a town of northern France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Seine-et-Oise, on the Orléans railway, 35 m. S. by W. of Paris. Pop. (1906) 8720. Étampes is a long straggling town hemmed in between the railway on the north and the Chalouette on the south; the latter is a tributary of the Juine which waters the eastern outskirts of the town. A fine view of Étampes is obtained from the Tour Guinette, a ruined keep built by Louis VI. in the 12th century on an eminence on the other side of the railway. Notre-Dame du Fort, the chief church, dates from the 11th and 12th centuries; irregular in plan, it is remarkable for a fine Romanesque tower and spire, and for the crenellated wall which partly surrounds it. The interior contains ancient paintings and other artistic works. St Basile (12th and 16th centuries), which preserves a Romanesque doorway, and St Martin (12th and 13th centuries), with a leaning tower of the 16th century, are of less importance. The civil buildings offer little interest, but two houses named after Anne de Pisseleu (see above), mistress of Francis I., and Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henry II., are graceful examples of Renaissance architecture. In the square there is a statue of the naturalist, Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, who was born in Étampes. The subprefecture, a tribunal of first instance, and a communal college are among the public institutions of Étampes. Flour-milling,
- ↑ The château of Meudon, belonging to the Sanguin family, was handed over to the duchesse d’Étampes in 1539. Sanguin was translated to Limoges in 1546, and became archbishop of Toulouse in 1550.
