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BRETHREN OF THE LORD. 467 BRETSCHNEIDER. Of these views, the first is fatal to, while the latter two sustain, the theory of the per- petual virginity of Mary. Consult : For the first view, J. B. Mayor, Introduction to his Commentary on James (Lon- don, 1S07) ; for the second view, J. B. Lightfoot, Excursus in his Commentary on Galatianx (Cambridge and London, 18S7); for the third view, P. Schegg, Jakobus der Bruder des Herrn (Munich, 1883). See James. BRETIGNY, bre-t^'nyy. A village of France, in tlic D-parunent of Eure-et-Loir, about six miles southeast of Chartres, on the railway be- tween Paris and Orleans. At Bretigny, on May 8. 13tiO, Edward 111. concluded a treaty with France, by which the I'rench King. .John II., was released from captivitv in England, on agreeing to pay 3,000,000 ecus of gold (about $8,000,000) for his ransom. Edward renounced his preten- sions to the crown of France, his title to Nor- mandy, Anjou, JIaine, and Touraine, and the suzerainty over Brittany and Flanders; but was confirmed in liis possession of Guienne and Gas- cony, and received in addition Poitou, Saintonge, Calais, and a number of other places. See France. BRETON, brf-tox', Gilles Le ( ? -1550). A French architect. He built the most interesting parts of the famous Chateau of Fontainebleau (q.v.) between 1.528 and his death in 1550, when he was succeeded by Philibert de TOrme (q.v.). BRETON, JtT-ES Adolphe (1827—). A French figure painter of peasant subjects, also an author of note. He was born at Corri&res (Pas-de-Calais), and studied under Devigne at Ghent, Wappers at Antwerp, and Drolling at Paris. Beginning as an liistorical painter, he soon found his forte in depicting the life and surroimdings of the peasants, among whom he was born and passed most of his life. Although his figures are not free from a certain academic pose, and both figures and landscape lack the rugged strengtli which characterizes Millet, he charms by the tender sentiment of his works. Among his principal ones are "Blessing the Grain" (1857) and, most celebrated of all, the '•Return of the Gleaners" (185!)). both in the Luxembourg. Paris: "Planting a Calvary" ( 1S59. Lille) ; "Women Weeding" ( ISGl) ; "Song of the Lark" ( 1885, Metropolitan Museum. Xew York) : and "Twilight Glory" (1000). An author of note, he writes poetry and prose with equal facility, his literar>- works including Les champs et la mer, poems (1875); Jeanne, a poem (1876); La vie d'un artiste (1890) and Un peintrc paysan (1805), the last two autol)io- graphical in character. He has received many medals, and was made a commander of the I>egion of Honor in 1889. Consult, liesides the works cited above. Vachon. Jules Breton (Paris, 1900) ; Ducro.s, in L'Artiste (ib., 1885). BRETON DE LOS HERREROS, brft-ton' da li'js 4ru'ri'>s, Do.x Mamei. ( 170(J-1S73) . A popular modem Spanish poet. He was born at Quel, in the Province of Logroiio, was educated in ifadrid, and after eight years of militarj' ser- vice held several positions under the Govern- ment, but always lost them on account of his free expressions of liberal opinion. Mis first essay in the drama was A las vcjez viruclus, which, in 1824, was produced with great success. Other plays followed in rapid succession, numbering altogether more than 1.50, partly original, part- ly translations from earlier Spanish classics, and partly translations from the Italian and French, some of which were very popular. His best and most ambitious play is the Escuela del matrimonio, being an admirable picture of aver- age Spanish social life, with just the needed touch of irony to relieve it. Had he been content to write less, he might have left a more enduring fame. His collected works, edited l)y liimself, ap- peared in JIadrid (1850-52) in five volumes. A better edition is that of Breton y Orozco (5 vols., JIadrid. 1883). BRET'ON LITERATURE, The Breton, or .rmorican, language belongs to the British sub- division of the Celtic family of languages. (See Celtic Langi'age.s.) In its earliest form it was spoken in Britain, and closely resembled Cornish. As a result of social and political disturbances in Britain, many of the Celtic inhabitants emigrated during the Fifth and Sixth centuries to what is now French Brittany. The language that they ])lanted there was known as Breton or Armori- can. It was strongly inlluenced by French, as time went on, and in the Middle Breton period a large part of the vocabulary came to be of Ro- mance origin. The Celtic language was entirely driven out of Upper Brittany by French, but in Lower Brittany it is still spoken by more than a million people. In modern Breton four distinct dialects are recognized — those of Leon, Treguier, Cornouailles, and Vannes. The Vannetais stands rather ajjart from the other three. The material for the study of Old Breton con- sists entirely of glosses and lists of proper names, of which there is a considerable quantity in man- uscripts ranging from the Eighth to the Tenth Centtiry. The oldest literary monuments that have been preserved are Middle Breton ; and like those in Cornish, they are almost entirely of a religious character. A number of the most im- portant texts are accessible in recent editions. During the Xineteenth Century there was a kind of literary revival in Brittany. In 1827 the Bible was translated into Breton by Le Gonidec. In 1839 appeared the first edition of Barzaz Brci:, by Hersart de la Villemarque, a book which gave rise to a long discussion resembling, on a smaller scale, the controversy over Macpher- son's Ossian. The Barzaz Breiz w'as finally dis- credited as a reproduction of Breton popular poetry, but it gave an impulse to the work of more scientific collecting which has gone on .steadily to this day. The most valuable publica- tions in this field have been those of il. F. M. Luzel. At the present time in Brittany, as in the other Celtic countries, an active effort is being nuide to preserve the native language and to i)romote its use in literature. Bibliography. For Old and Middle Breton monuments consult: Loth, Chrestomathic Bre- ton ne (Paris. 1800) ; Le Myslire de Sainte Barbe, edited by Ernault (Paris, 1888), contains a Middle Breton vocabulary, and the same scholar has siiiic published a separate dictionary of Mid- dle Breton. An important bibliography of mod- ern Breton materials was contributed by Gaidoz and Scbillot to the Revue Celtiquc, " Vol. V. (Paris, 1S75). BRETSCHNEIDER, brft'shnlder, Hein- nun GoniKiEi) vo.v (1730-1810). A German remarkable for his unsettled life, eccentric habits.