OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Mergentheim

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​MERGENTHEIM, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Württemberg, situated in the valley of the Tauber, 7 m. S. from Lauda by rail. Pop. (1905), 4535. It contains an Evangelical and three Roman Catholic churches, a Latin and other schools, and a magnificent castle with a natural history collection and the archives of the Teutonic order. This is now used as barracks. The industries of the town include tanning, the manufacture of agricultural machinery and wine-making. Near the town is a medicinal spring called the Karlsbad.
Mergentheim (Mariae domus) is mentioned in chronicles as early as 1058, as the residence of the family of the counts of Hohenlohe, who early in the 13th century assigned the greater part of their estates in and around Mergentheim to the Teutonic order. It rapidly increased in fame, and became the most important of the eleven commanderies of that society. On the secularization of the Teutonic Order in Prussia in 1525, Mergentheim became the residence of the grand master, and remained so until the final dissolution of the order in 1809.
See Höring, Das Karlsbad bei Mergentheim (Mergentheim, 1887); and Schmitt, Garnisongeschichte der Stadt Mergentheim (Stuttgart, 1895).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Merian, Matthew

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​MERIAN, MATTHEW (1593–1650), Swiss engraver, was born in Basel, on the 25th of September 1593. The family came originally from near Delémont, but in his grandfather’s time settled in Basel, where in 1553 it obtained the burghership of the city. As Matthew early showed signs of artistic tastes, he was placed (1609) under the care of Dietrich Meyer, a painter and engraver of Zürich (1572–1658). He went on to Nancy in 1613, where he already displayed considerable talents as an engraver on copper. After studying in Paris, Stuttgart (1616) and the Low Countries, he came to Frankfort, where in 1618 he married the eldest daughter of J. T. de Bry, who was a publisher and bookseller as well as an engraver. Merian worked for some time with his father-in-law in Oppenheim, but then returned to Basel, whence he came back (1624) to Frankfort after Bry’s death (1623), in order to take over his business; ​this remained in his family till 1726, when, after a great fire that destroyed most of the books in stock, it came to an end. In 1625 Merian became a burgher of Frankfort, then the great centre of the book trade in Germany, and lived there till his death on the 22nd of June 1650. Among his many works two deserve to be specially mentioned. The first is the long series of works, each entitled Topographia, which contained descriptions of various countries, illustrated by copper plates, largely done by Merian himself, while the accompanying text was due to Martin Zeiller (1589–1661), an Austrian by birth. The first volume was published in 1642 and described Switzerland, with the Grisons and the Valais; it contains the first known view of the glaciers of Grindelwald. “Austria” appeared in 1649, but the volume relating to Upper Saxony and Bohemia (1650) was the last issued by Merian himself. “France” appeared in 1655–1656, while in 1688 the series (extending to 30 parts, in 18 vols.) came to an end with “Italy,” the volume as to Rome having appeared in 1681. The other great enterprise of Merian was the series entitled Theatrum Europaeum, which appeared in 21 parts between 1635 and 1738—it is a historical chronicle of events in Europe from 1617 onwards. In 1625–1630 Merian published a series of illustrations to the Bible, and in 1649 a Dance of Death. But he is best remembered by his views of towns, which have very considerable historical value. His best pupil, Wenceslaus Hollar (1607–1677), of Prague, settled in London (1635–1643, 1652–1677), and worthily carried on the Merian tradition.  (W. A. B. C.)
See Life, by H. Eckardt (Basel, 1887).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Meriden

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​MERIDEN, a city of New Haven county, Connecticut, U.S.A., in the township of Meriden, S.W. of the centre of the state, about 18 m. N.N.E. of New Haven and about the same distance S.S.W. of Hartford. Pop. of the township, including the city (1900), 28,695; (1910), 32,066; of the city (1900), 24,296, of Whom 7215 were foreign-born; (1910), 27,265. Meriden is served by the New York, New Haven & Hartford railway and by an inter-urban electric line. The city is bisected by Harbor Brook, a small stream, and through the S.W. part of the township flows the Quinnipiac river. A short distance N.W. of the city, in Hubbard Park, an attractive reservation of more than 900 acres, are the Hanging Hills, three elevations (West Mountain, South Mountain and Cat-Hole Mountain) in a broken range of trap ridges, which have resisted the erosion that formed the lowlands of the Connecticut valley; they rise to a height of about 700 ft. above the sea. In their vicinity, near the boundary of Berlin township, is Merimere, one of the city’s four reservoirs. Meriden is the seat of the Connecticut School for Boys (Reformatory). There are also a public library (1899), a state armoury, a hospital, the Curtis Home for orphans and aged women, and a tuberculosis sanitarium supported by the city. Meriden is one of the most important manufacturing cities of Connecticut, and in 1905 produced 59·9% of the plated ware manufactured in the state, and much sterling silver. In 1905 the factory product was valued at $13,763,548, an increase of 17·1% over that of 1900. Meriden was originally a part of the township of Wallingford, but a tract in the northern part of this township was designated as Merideen by an Indian deed of 1664. It was made a separate parish under that name in 1728, but did not become a separate township until 1806. The city was chartered in 1867.
See G. W. Perkins, Historical Sketches of Meriden (West Meriden, 1849); C. H. S. Davis, History of Wallingford (Meriden, 1870), and G. M. Curtis and C. Bancroft Gillespie, A Century of Meriden (Meriden, 1906).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Meridian (Mississippi)

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​MERIDIAN, a city and the county-seat of Lauderdale county, Mississippi, U.S.A., about 90 m. E. of Jackson. Pop. (1890), 10,624; (1900), 14,050, of whom 5787 were negroes; (1910 census), 23,285. It is served by the Southern, the Alabama Great Southern, the Mobile & Ohio, and the New Orleans & North Eastern and the Alabama & Vicksburg (Queen & ​Crescent Route) railways. It is the seat of the East Mississippi Insane Hospital, of the state Masonic Widows and Orphans Home and of the Meridian Women’s College (non-sectarian, opened in 1903), the Meridian Male College (opened in 1901), and, for negroes, the Lincoln School (Congregational) and Meridian Academy (Methodist Episcopal). The city is an important market for cotton grown in the surrounding country, and is the principal manufacturing city in the state. Its factory products, chiefly railway supplies and cotton products, increased in value from $1,924,465 in 1900 to $3,267,600 in 1905, or 69·8% in five years. Mineral waters (especially lithia) are bottled in and near the city. Meridian was laid out in 1854 at a proposed railway crossing, and was chartered as a city in 1860. In February 1864 General William Tecumseh Sherman, with an army of about 20,000, made an expedition from Vicksburg to Meridian, then an important railway centre and dépôt for Confederate supplies, chiefly for the purpose of making inoperative the Mobile & Ohio and the Jackson & Selma railways; on the 14th of the month his army entered Meridian, and within a week destroyed nearly everything in the city except the private houses, and tore up over 110 m. of track. In the “Meridian riot” of 1871—a prominent episode of reconstruction—when one of several negroes on trial for urging mob violence had shot the presiding judge, the whites, especially a party from Alabama interested in the trial, killed a number of negroes and burned a negro school. On the 2nd of March 1906 a cyclone caused great loss of life and property.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Merger

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​MERGER (Fr. merger, to sink), in law, the sinking or “drowning” of a lesser estate in a greater, when the two come together in one and the same person without any intervening estate. In order to effect a merger the two estates must vest in the same person at the same time, must be immediately expectant one on the other, and the expectant estate must be larger than the preceding estate. The term is also used for the extinguishment of any right, contract, &c., by absorption in another, e.g. the acceptance of a higher security for a lower, or the embodying of a simple contract in a deed.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Sierra Nevada, The (Spain)

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​SIERRA NEVADA, THE, a mountain range of southern Spain, in the provinces of Granada and Almería. The Sierra Nevada is a well-defined range, about 55 m. long and 25 m. broad, situated to the south of the Guadalquivir valley, and stretching from the upper valley of the river Genii or Jenil eastwards to the valley of the river Almería. It owes its name, meaning “the snowy range,” to the fact that several of its peaks exceed 10,000 feet in height and are thus above the limit of perpetual snow. Its culminating point, the Cerro de Mulhacen or Mulahacen (11,421 ft.) reaches an altitude unequalled in Spain, while one of the neighbouring peaks, called the Picacho de Veleta (11,148 ft.), is only surpassed by Aneto (11,168 ft.), the loftiest summit of the Pyrenees. The Sierra Nevada is composed chiefly of soft micaceous schists, sinking precipitously down on the north, but sloping more gradually to the south and south-east. On both sides deep transverse valleys (barrancas) follow one another in close succession, in many cases with round, basin-shaped heads like the cirques of the Pyrenees (q.v.). In many of these cirques lie alpine lakes, and in one of them, the Corral de Veleta, there is even a small glacier, the most southerly in Europe. The transverse valleys open on the south into the longitudinal valleys of the Alpujarras (q.v.). On the north, east and west there are various minor ranges, such as the Sierras of Parapanda, Harana, Gor, Baza, Lucena, Cazorla, Estancias, Filabres, &c, which are connected with the main range, and are sometimes collectively termed the Sierra Nevada system. The coast ranges, or Sierra Penibetica, are not included in this group. The Sierras de Segura form a connecting link between the Sierra Morena and the Nevada system.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Sifaka

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​SIFAKA, apparently the name of certain large Malagasy lemurs nearly allied to the Indri (q.v.) but distinguished by their long tails, and hence referred to a genus apart—Propithecus, of which three species, with several local races, are recognized. Sifakas are very variable in colouring, but always show a large amount of white. They associate in parties and are mainly arboreal, leaping from bough to bough with an agility that suggests flying through the air. When on the ground, to pass from one clump of trees to another, they do not run on all fours, but stand erect, and throwing their arms above their heads, progress by a series of short jumps, producing an effect which is described by travellers as exceedingly ludicrous. They are not nocturnal, but most active in the morning and evening, remaining seated or curled up among the branches during the heat of the day. In disposition they are quiet and gentle, and do not show much intelligence; they are also less noisy than the true lemurs, only when alarmed or angered making a noise which has been compared to the clucking of a fowl. Like all their kindred they produce only one offspring at a birth (see Primates).
The Crowned Sifaka (Propithecus diadema coronatus). From Milne-Edwards and Grandidier.
(R. L.*)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Sigalon, Xavier

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​SIGALON, XAVIER (1788–1837), French painter, born at Uzès (Gard) towards the close of 1788, was one of the few leaders of the romantic movement who cared for treatment of form rather than of colour. The son of a poor rural schoolmaster, he had a terrible struggle before he was able even to reach Paris and obtain admission to Guérin's studio. But the learning offered there did not respond to his special needs, and he tried to train himself by solitary study of the Italian masters in the gallery of the Louvre. The “Young Courtesan” (Louvre), ​which he exhibited in 1822, at once attracted attention and was bought for the Luxembourg. The painter, however, regarded it as but an essay in practice and sought to measure himself with a mightier motive; this he did in his "Locusta" (Nimes), 1824, and again in "Athaliah's Massacre" (Nantes), 1827. Both these works showed incontestable power; but the "Vision of St Jerome" (Louvre), which appeared at the salon of 1831, together with the " Crucifixion " (Issengeaux), was by far the most individual of all his achievements, and that year he received the cross of the Legion of Honour. The terrors and force of his pencil were not, however, rendered attractive by any charm of colour; his paintings remained unpurchased, and Sigalon found himself forced to get a humble living at times by painting portraits, when Thiers, then minister of the interior, recalled him to Paris and entrusted him with the task of copying the Sistine fresco of the "Last Judgment" for a hall in the Palace of the Fine Arts. On the exhibition, in the Baths of Diocletian at Rome, of Sigalon's gigantic task, in which he had been aided by his pupil Numa Boucoiran, the artist was visited in state by Gregory XVI. But Sigalon was not destined long to enjoy his tardy honours and the comparative ease procured by a small government pension; returning to Rome to copy some pendants in the Sistine, he died there of cholera on the 9th of August 1837.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Sierra Nevada (California)

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​SIERRA NEVADA (Span. for “snowy range”), a mountain range, about 430 m. long, in the eastern part of California, containing Mt Whitney (14,502 ft.), the highest point in the United States, excluding Alaska. (See California.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Sigebert, King

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​SIGEBERT (d. 575), king of the Franks, was one of the four sons of Clotaire I. At the death of Clotaire in 561 the Frankish kingdom was divided among his sons, Sigebert's share comprising the Rhine and Meuse lands and the suzerainty over the Germanic tribes beyond the Rhine as far as the Elbe, together with Auvergne and part of Provence. At the death of his brother Charibert in 567 Sigebert obtained the cities of Tours and Poitiers, and it was he who elevated to the see of Tours the celebrated Gregory, the historian of the Franks. Being a smoother man than his brothers (who had all taken mates of inferior rank), Sigebert married a royal princess, Brunhilda, daughter of Athanagild, the king of the Visigoths; the nuptials were celebrated with great pomp at Metz, the Italian poet Fortunatus composing the epithalamium. Shortly afterwards Sigebert's brother Chilperic I. married Brunhilda's sister, Galswintha; but the subsequent murder of this princess embroiled Austrasiaand Neustria, and civil war broke out in 573. Sigebert appealed to the Germans of the right bank of the Rhine, who attacked the environs of Paris and Chartres and committed frightful ravages. He was entirely victorious, and pursued Chilperic as far as Tournai. But just when the great nobles of Neustria were raising Sigebert on the shield in the villa at Vitry, near Arras, he was assassinated by two bravoes in the pay of Fredegond, Chilperic's new wife. At the beginning of his reign Sigebert had made war on the Avars, who had attacked his Germanic possessions, and he was for some time a prisoner in their hands.
See Gregory of Tours, Historia Francorum, book iv.; Aug. Thierry, Recits des temps merovingiens (Brussels, 1840), and Aug Digot, Histoire du royaume d'Austrasie (Nancy, 1863).
(C. Pf.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Sieve

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​SIEVE (O.E. sife, older sibi, cf. Dutch zeef, Ger. Sieb; from the subst. comes O.E. siftan, to sift), an instrument or apparatus for separating finer particles from coarser. The common sieve is a net of wires or other material stretched across a framework with raised edges; the material to be sifted is then shaken or pressed upon the net so that the finer particles pass through the mesh and the coarser remain. The word "screen" is usually applied to such instruments with large mesh for coarse work, and “strainer” for those used in the separation of liquids or semi-liquids from solid matter. In the separation of meal from bran “bolting-clothes” are used. There was an early form of divination known as coscinomancy (Gr. κόσκινον, sieve, μαντεία, divination), where a sieve was hung or attached to a pair of shears, whence the name sometimes given to it of “sieve and shears”; the turning or movement of the sieve at the naming of a person suspected of a crime or other act, coupled with the repetition of an incantation or other magic formula, decided the guilt or innocence of the person.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Sigebert of Gembloux

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​SIGEBERT OF GEMBLOUX (c. 1030-1112), medieval chronicler, became in early life a monk in the Benedictine abbey of Gembloux. Later he was a teacher at Metz, and about 1070 he returned to Gembloux, where, occupied in teaching and writing, he lived until his death on the 5th of October 1112. As an enemy of the papal pretensions he took part in the momentous contest between Pope Gregory VII. and the emperor Henry IV., his writings on this question being very serviceable to the imperial cause; and he also wrote against Pope Paschal II. Sigebert's most important work is a Chronographia, or universal chronicle, according to Molinier the best work of its kind, although it contains many errors and but little original information. It covers the period between 381 and mi, and its author was evidently a man of much learning. The first of many editions was published in 1513 and the best is in Band vi. of the Monumenta Germaniae historica. Scriptores, with valuable introduction by L. C. Bethmann. The chronicle was very popular during the later middle ages; it was used by many writers and found numerous continuators. Other works by Sigebert are a history of the early abbots of Gembloux to 1048 (Gesta abbatum Gemblacensium) and a life of the Frankish king Sigebert III. {Vita Sigeberti III. regis Austrasiae). Sigebert was also a hagiographer. Among his writings in this connexion may be mentioned the Vita Deodcrici, Mettensis episcopi, which is published in Band iv. of the Monumenta, and the Vita Wicberti, in Band viii. of the same collection. Dietrich, bishop of Metz (d. 984) was the founder of the abbey of St Vincent in that city, and Wicbert or Guibert (d. 962) was the founder of the abbey of Gembloux.
See S. Hirseh, De vita et scriptis Sigiberti Gemblacensis (Berlin, 1841); A. Molinier, Les Sources de Vhistoire de France, tomes ii. and v. (1902-1904); and W. Wattenbach, Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen, Band ii. (Berlin, 1894).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Polenta, Da

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​POLENTA, DA, the name of a castle in Romagna, from which came the noble and ancient Italian family of Da Polenta. The founder of the house is said to have been Guido, surnamed l'Antico or the Elder, who wielded great authority in Ravenna in the 13th century. His grandson Guido Novello upheld the power of the house and was also capitano del popolo at Bologna; he was overthrown in 1322 and died the following year. His chief claim to renown lies in the fact that in 1321 he gave hospitality to the poet Dante, who immortalized the tragic history of Guido’s daughter Francesca, unhappily married to Malatesta, lord of Rimini, in an episode of the Inferno. Guido’s kinsman Ostasio I. was lord of Cervia and Ravenna from 1322 to 1329, and, after being recognized as a vassal of the Holy See, again became independent and went over to the house of Este, whom he served faithfully in their struggles with the Church until his death in 1346. His son Bernardino, who succeeded him as lord of Ravenna in 1346, was deposed in 1347 by his brothers, Pandolfo and Lamberto II., but was reinstated a few months later and ruled until his death in 1359; he was famous for his profligacy and cruelty. His son Guido III. ruled more mildly and died in 1390 Then followed Ostasio II. (d. 1396), Obizzo (d. 1431), Pietro (d. 1404), Aldobrandino (d. 1406), all sons of Guido III. Ostasio III. (or V.), son of Obizzo, was at first allied with the Venetians; later he went over to the Milanese, and, although he again joined the Venetians, the latter never forgave his intrigue with their enemies, and in 1441 they deprived him of his dominions. He died in a monastery in 1447.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Poligny

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​ POLIGNY, a town of eastern France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Jura, 18 m. N. N. E. of Lons-le-Saunier on the Paris-Lyons railway. Pop. (1906), 3756. The town lies in the valley of the Glantine at the base of a hill crowned by the ruins of the old castle of Grimont, once the repository of the archives of the county of Burgundy. The church of Montivillard, its most remarkable building, dates in the oldest portions from the 12th century, its chief features being a Romanesque tower and reredos of the Renaissance period. Amongst the other old buildings of the town, the church of St Hippolyte, of the first half of the 15th century, and a convent-church serving as corn market are of some interest. The tribunal of first instance belonging to the arrondissement is at Arbois. Poligny has a sub-prefecture, a communal college and a school of dairy instruction. Under the name of Polemniacum the town seems to have existed at the time of the Roman occupation.