Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 Part 22 (1/2)
Alopecia areata is characterized by the development of round patches more or less completely denuded of hair. It is most commonly observed on the scalp, though it may occur on any part of the body where hair is naturally present. The patches are rounded, smooth and somewhat depressed owing to the loss of a large proportion of the follicles. At the margin of the patches short broken hairs are usually to be seen. Clinical evidence is steadily acc.u.mulating to show that this disease may be transmitted.
Organisms are invariably present, in some cases few in number, but in others very abundant and forming a continuous sheath round the hair. They were first described by Dr George Thin, who gave them the name of _Bacterium decalvens_. The disease must be distinguished from ringworm--especially the bald variety; but though this is at times somewhat difficult clinically, the use of the microscope leaves no room for doubt.
It must be remembered that for patients under forty years of age, time alone will generally bring about the desired end, though treatment undoubtedly hastens recovery. After forty every year added to the patient's age makes the prognosis less good. The general hygiene and mode of life of the sufferer must be very carefully attended to, and any weakness suitably treated. The following lotion should be applied daily to the affected parts, at first cautiously, later more vigorously, and in stronger solution:--[Rx.] Acidi lactici [dr.] i-[oz.] i; Ol. ricini [dr.] ii; Spt.
vini ad [oz.] iv.
The loss of hair following acute fevers must be treated by keeping the hair short, applying stimulating lotions to the scalp, and attending to the general hygiene of the patient.
[1] The adjective ”bald” M. E. ”balled” is usually explained as literally ”round and smooth like a ball,” but it may be connected with a stem _bal_, white or s.h.i.+ning. The Greek [Greek: phalakros] certainly suggests some such derivation.
BALDOVINETTI, ALESSIO (1427-1499), Florentine painter, was born on the 14th of October 1427, and died on the 29th of August 1499. He was a follower of the group of scientific realists and naturalists in art which included Andrea del Castagno, Paolo Uccello and Domenico Veneziano, the influence of the last-named master being particularly manifest in his work. Tradition, probable in itself though not attested by contemporary records, says that he a.s.sisted in the decorations of the chapel of S. Egidio in Santa Maria Nuova, carried out during the years 1441-1451 by Domenico Veneziano and in conjunction with Andrea del Castagno. That he was commissioned to complete the series at a later date (1460) is certain. In 1462 Alessio was employed to paint the great fresco of the Annunciation in the cloister of the Annunziata, which still exists in ruined condition. The remains as we see them give evidence of the artist's power both of imitating natural detail with minute fidelity and of s.p.a.cing his figures in a landscape with a large sense of air and distance; and they amply verify two separate statements of Vasari concerning him: that ”he delighted in drawing landscapes from nature exactly as they are, whence we see in his paintings rivers, bridges, rocks, plants, fruits, roads, fields, cities, exercise-grounds, and an infinity of other such things,” and that he was an inveterate experimentalist in technical matters. His favourite method in wall-painting was to lay in his compositions in fresco and finish them _a secco_ with a mixture of yolk of egg and liquid varnish. This, says Vasari, was with the view of protecting the painting from damp; but in course of time the parts executed with this vehicle scaled away, so that the great secret he hoped to have discovered turned out a failure. In 1463 he furnished a cartoon of the Nativity, which was executed in tarsia by Giuliano de Maiano in the sacristy of the cathedral and still exists. From 1466 date the groups of four Evangelists and four Fathers of the Church in fresco, together with the Annunciation on an oblong panel, which still decorate the Portuguese chapel in the church of S. Miniato, and are given in error by Vasari to Pietro Pollaiuolo. A fresco of the risen Christ between angels inside a Holy Sepulchre in the chapel of the Rucellai family, also still existing, belongs to 1467. In 1471 Alessio undertook important works for the church of Sta Trinita on the commission of Bongianni Gianfigliazzi. First, to paint an altar-piece of the [v.03 p.0244] Virgin and Child with six saints; this was finished in 1472 and is now in the Academy at Florence: next, a series of frescoes from the Old Testament which was to be completed according to contract within five years, but actually remained on hand for fully sixteen. In 1497 the finished series, which contained many portraits of leading Florentine citizens, was valued at a thousand gold florins by a committee consisting of Cosimo Rosselli, Benozzo Gozzoli, Perugino and Filippino Lippi; only some defaced fragments of it now remain. Meanwhile Alessio had been much occupied with other technical pursuits and researches apart from painting.
He was regarded by his contemporaries as the one craftsman who had rediscovered and fully understood the long disused art of mosaic, and was employed accordingly between 1481 and 1483 to repair the mosaics over the door of the church of S. Miniato, as well as several of those both within and without the baptistery of the cathedral.
These are the recorded and datable works of the master; others attributed to him on good and sufficient internal evidences are as follows:--A small panel in the Florence Academy, with the three subjects of the Baptism, the Marriage of Cana and the Transfiguration; this was long attributed to Fra Angelico, but is to all appearance early work of Baldovinetti: an Annunciation in the Uffizi, formerly in the church of S. Giorgio; unmistakably by the master's hand though given by Vasari to Peselino: several Madonnas of peculiarly fine and characteristic quality; one in the collection of Madame Andre at Paris acquired direct from the descendants of the painter, a second, formerly in the Duchatel collection and now in the Louvre, a third in the possession of Mr Berenson at Florence. All these are executed with the determined patience and precision characteristic of Baldovinetti; two, those at the Louvre and in the Andre collection, are distinguished by beautiful landscape backgrounds; and all, but especially the example in the Louvre, add a peculiar and delicate charm to the quality of grave majesty which Alessio's works share with those of Piero della Francesca and others of Domenico Veneziano's following. They probably belong to the years 1460-1465. In the later of his preserved works, while there is no abatement of precise and laborious finish, we find beginning to prevail a certain harshness and commonness of type, and a lack of care for beauty in composition, the technical and scientific searcher seeming more and more to predominate over the artist.
See also Vasari, ed. Milanesi, vol. ii.; Crowe-Cavalcaselle, _Hist. of Painting in Italy_, vol. ii.; Bernhard Berenson, _Study and Criticism of Italian Art_, 2nd series.
(S. C.)
BALDRIC (from O. Fr. _baudrei_, O. Ger. _balderich_, of doubtful origin; cognate with English ”belt”), a belt worn over one shoulder, pa.s.sing diagonally across the body and under the other arm, either as an ornament or a support for a sword, bugle, &c.
BALDUINUS, JACOBUS, Italian jurist of the 13th century, was by birth a Bolognese, and is reputed to have been of a n.o.ble family. He was a pupil of Azo, and the master of Odofredus, of Hostiensis, and of Jacobus de Ravanis, the last of whom has the reputation of having first applied dialectical forms to legal science. His great fame as a professor of civil law at the university of Bologna caused Balduinus to be elected _podesta_ of the city of Genoa, where he was entrusted with the reforms of the law of the republic. He died at Bologna in 1225, and has left behind him some treatises on procedure, the earliest of their kind.
BALDUS DE UBALDIS, PETRUS (1327-1406), Italian jurist, a member of the n.o.ble family of the Ubaldi (Baldeschi), was born at Perugia in 1327, and studied civil law there under Bartolus, being admitted to the degree of doctor of civil law at the early age of seventeen. Federicus Petrucius of Siena is said to have been the master under whom he studied canon law. Upon his promotion to the doctorate he at once proceeded to Bologna, where he taught law for three years; after which he was advanced to a professors.h.i.+p at Perugia, where he remained for thirty-three years. He taught law subsequently at Pisa, at Florence, at Padua and at Pavia, at a time when the schools of law in those universities disputed the palm with the school of Bologna. He died at Pavia on the 28th of April 1406. The extant works of Baldus hardly bear out the great reputation which he acquired amongst his contemporaries, due partly to the active part he took in public affairs, and partly to the fame he acquired by his consultations, of which five volumes have been published (Frankfort, 1589). Baldus was the master of Pierre Roger de Beaufort, who became pope under the t.i.tle of Gregory XI., and whose immediate successor, Urban VI., summoned Baldus to Rome to a.s.sist him by his consultations in 1380 against the anti-pope Clement VII.
Cardinal de Zabarella and Paulus Castrensis were also amongst his pupils.
His _Commentary on the Liber Feudorum_, is considered to be one of the best of his works, which were unfortunately left by him for the most part in an incomplete state. His brothers Angelus (1328-1407) and Petrus (1335-1400) were of almost equal eminence with himself as jurists.
BALDWIN I. (d. 1205), emperor of Romania, count of Flanders and Hainaut, was one of the most prominent leaders of the fourth crusade, which resulted in the capture of Constantinople, the conquest of the greater part of the East Roman empire, and the foundation of the Latin empire of Romania. The imperial crown was offered to, and refused by, Henry Dandolo, doge of Venice. The choice then lay between Baldwin and Boniface of Montferrat.
Baldwin was elected (9th of May 1204), and crowned a week later. He was young, gallant, pious and virtuous, one of the few who interpreted and observed his crusading vows strictly; the most popular leader in the host.
The empire of Romania was organized on feudal principles; the emperor was feudal superior of the princes who received portions of the conquered territory. His own special portion consisted of Constantinople, the adjacent regions both on the European and the Asiatic side, along with some outlying districts, and several islands including Lemnos, Lesbos, Chios and Tenos. The territories had still to be conquered; and first of all it was necessary to break the resistance of the Greeks in Thrace and secure Thessalonica. In this enterprise (summer of 1204) Baldwin came into collision with Boniface of Montferrat, the rival candidate for the empire, who was to receive a large territory in Macedonia with the t.i.tle of king of Saloniki. He hoped to make himself quite independent of the empire, to do no homage for his kingdom, and he opposed Baldwin's proposal to march to Thessalonica. The antagonism between Flemings and Lombards aggravated the quarrel. Baldwin insisted on going to Thessalonica; Boniface laid siege to Hadrianople, where Baldwin had established a governor; civil war seemed inevitable. An agreement was effected by the efforts of Dandolo and the count of Blois. Boniface received Thessalonica as a fief from the emperor, and was appointed commander of the forces which were to march to the conquest of Greece.
During the following winter (1204-1205) the Franks prosecuted conquests in Bithynia, in which Henry, Baldwin's brother, took part. But in February the Greeks revolted in Thrace, relying on the a.s.sistance of John (Kaloyan), king of Bulgaria, whose overtures of alliance had been unwisely rejected by the emperor. The garrison of Hadrianople was expelled. Baldwin along with Dandolo, the count of Blois, and Marshal Villehardouin, the historian, marched to besiege that city. The Bulgarian king led to its relief an army which far outnumbered that of the crusaders. The Frank knights fought desperately, but were utterly defeated (14th of April 1205); the count of Blois was slain, and the emperor captured. For some time his fate was uncertain, and in the meanwhile Henry, his brother, a.s.sumed the regency.
Not till the middle of July was it definitely ascertained that he was dead.
It seems that he was at first treated well as a valuable hostage, but was sacrificed by the Bulgarian monarch in a sudden outburst of rage, perhaps in consequence of the revolt of Philippopolis, which pa.s.sed into the hands of the Franks. One contemporary writer says that his hands and feet were cut off, and he was thrown into a valley where he died on the third day; but the manner of his death is obscure. King John himself wrote to Pope Innocent III. that he died in prison. His brother Henry was crowned emperor in August.
AUTHORITIES.--Villehardouin, _La Conquete de Constantinople_ (ed. De Wailly, Paris, 1872; ed. Bouchet, 2 vols., Paris, 1891); Robert [v.03 p.0245] de Clari, _La Prise de Constantinople_ (in Hopf's _Chroniques greco-romaines_); Ernoul, _Chronique_ (ed. Mas Latrie, Paris, 1871); Nicetas (ed. Bonn, 1835); George Acropolites, vol. i. (ed. Heisenberg, Leipzig, 1903); Doc.u.ments in Tafel and Thomas, _Urkunden zur alteren Handels- und Staatsgeschichte der Republik Venedig_ (Vienna, 1856).
MODERN WORKS.--Ducange, _Histoire de l'empire de Constantinople sous les empereurs francais_ (Paris, 1657); Gibbon, _Decline and Fall_, vol. vi.
(ed. Bury, 1898); G. Finlay, _History of Greece_, vol. iv. (Oxford, 1877); Pears, _The Fall of Constantinople_ (London, 1885); Hopf, ”Griechische Geschichte,” in Ersch and Gruber's _Encyklopadie_, vol. lx.x.xv. (Leipzig, 1870); Gerland, _Geschichte des lateinischen Kaiserreiches von Konstantinopel_, part i. (Homburg v. d. Hohe, 1905).
(J. B. B.)
BALDWIN II. (1217-1273), emperor of Romania, was a younger son of Yolande, sister of Baldwin I. Her husband, Peter of Courtenay, was third emperor of Romania, and had been followed by his son Robert, on whose death in 1228 the succession pa.s.sed to Baldwin, a boy of eleven years old. The barons chose John of Brienne (t.i.tular king of Jerusalem) as emperor-regent for life; Baldwin was to rule the Asiatic possessions of the empire when he reached the age of twenty, was to marry John's daughter Mary, and on John's death to enjoy the full imperial sovereignty. The marriage contract was carried out in 1234. Since the death of the emperor Henry in 1216, the Latin empire had declined and the Greek power advanced; and the hopes that John of Brienne might restore it were disappointed. He died in 1237. The realm which Baldwin governed was little more than Constantinople. His financial situation was desperate, and his life was chiefly occupied in begging at European courts. He went to the West in 1236, visited Rome, France and Flanders, trying to raise money and men to recover the lost territory of his realm. His efforts met with success, and in 1240 he returned to Constantinople (through Germany and Hungary) at the head of a considerable army. Circ.u.mstances hindered him from accomplis.h.i.+ng anything with this help, and in 1245 he travelled again to the West, first to Italy and then to France, where he spent two years. The empress Maria and Philip of Toucy governed during his absence. He was happy to be able to get money from King Louis IX. in exchange for relics. In 1249 he was with King Louis at Damietta. The extremity of his financial straits reduced him soon afterwards to handing over his only son Philip to merchants as a pledge for loans of money. Louis IX. redeemed the hostage. The rest of his inglorious reign was spent by Baldwin in mendicant tours in western Europe. In 1261 Constantinople was captured by Michael Palaeologus, and Baldwin's rule came to an end. He escaped in a Venetian galley to Negropont, and then proceeded to Athens, thence to Apulia, finally to France. As t.i.tular emperor, his role was still the same, to beg help from the western powers. In 1267 he went to Italy; his hopes were centred in Charles of Anjou. Charles seriously entertained the idea of conquering Constantinople, though various complications hindered him from realizing it. He made a definite treaty with Baldwin to this intent (May 1267). During the next year Baldwin and his son Philip lived on pensions from Charles. In October 1273 Philip married Beatrice, daughter of Charles, at Foggia. A few days later Baldwin died.
See authorities for BALDWIN I. above; also Norden, _Das Papsttum und Byzanz_ (Berlin 1903).
(J. B. B.)
BALDWIN I., prince of Edessa (1098-1100), and first king of Jerusalem (1100-1118), was the brother of G.o.dfrey of Bouillon (_q.v._). He was originally a clerk in orders, and held several prebends; but in 1096 he joined the first crusade, and accompanied his brother G.o.dfrey as far as Heraclea in Asia Minor. When Tancred left the main body of the crusaders at Heraclea, and marched into Cilicia, Baldwin followed, partly in jealousy, partly from the same political motives which animated Tancred. He wrested Tarsus from Tancred's grip (September 1097), and left there a garrison of his own. After rejoining the main army at Marash, he received an invitation from an Armenian named Pakrad, and moved eastwards towards the Euphrates, where he occupied Tell-bas.h.i.+r. Another invitation followed from Thoros of Edessa; and to Edessa Baldwin came, first as protector, and then, when Thoros was a.s.sa.s.sinated, as his successor (March 1098). For two years he ruled in Edessa (1098-1100), marrying an Armenian wife, and acting generally as the intermediary between the crusaders and the Armenians.
During these two years he was successful in maintaining his ground, both against the Mahommedan powers by which he was surrounded, and from which he won Samosata and Seruj (Sarorgia), and against a conspiracy of his own subjects in 1098. At the end of 1099 he visited Jerusalem along with Bohemund I.; but he returned to Edessa in January 1100. On the death of G.o.dfrey he was summoned by a party in Jerusalem to succeed to his brother.
A lay reaction against the theocratic pretensions of Dagobert, who was counting on Norman support, was responsible for the summons; and in the strength of that reaction Baldwin was able to become the first king of Jerusalem. He was crowned on Christmas Day, 1100, by the patriarch himself; but the struggle of church and state was not yet over, and in the spring of 1101 Baldwin had Dagobert suspended by a papal legate, while later in the year the two disagreed on the question of the contribution to be made by the patriarch towards the defence of the Holy Land. The struggle ended in the deposition of Dagobert and the triumph of Baldwin (1102).