OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Walden, Roger

See also Roger Walden on Wikipedia; and our 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica disclaimer.
​WALDEN, ROGER (d. 1406), English prelate, was a man of obscure birth, little or nothing, moreover, being known of his early years. He had some connexion with the Channel Islands, and resided for some time in Jersey; and he held livings in Yorkshire and in Leicestershire before he became archdeacon of Winchester in 1387. His days, however, were by no means fully occupied with his ecclesiastical duties, and in 1387 also he was appointed treasurer of Calais, holding about the same time other positions in this neighbourhood. In 1395, after having served Richard II. as secretary, Walden became treasurer of England, adding the deanery of York to his numerous other benefices. In 1397 he was chosen archbishop of Canterbury in succession to Thomas Arundel, who had just been banished from the realm, but he lost this position when the new king Henry IV. restored Arundel in 1399, and after a short imprisonment he passed into retirement, being, as he himself says, “in the dust and under feet of men.” In 1405, through Arundel’s influence, he was elected bishop of London, and he died at Much Hadham in Hertfordshire on the 6th of January 1406. An Historia Mundi, the manuscript of which is in the British Museum, is sometimes regarded as the work of Walden; but this was doubtless written by an earlier writer.
See J. H. Wylie, History of England under Henry IV. vol. iii. (1896).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Wakley, Thomas

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​Wakley, Thomas (1793–1862), English medical and social reformer, was born in Devonshire, and was early apprenticed to a Taunton apothecary. He then went to London and qualified as a surgeon, setting up in practice in Regent Street, and marrying (1820) Miss Goodchild, whose father was a merchant and a governor of St Thomas’s Hospital. All through his career Wakley proved to be a man of aggressive personality, and his experiences in this respect had a sensational beginning. In August 1820 a gang of men who had some grievance against him burnt down his ​house and severely wounded him in a murderous assault. The whole affair was obscure, and Wakley was even suspected, unjustly, of setting fire to his house himself; but he won his case against the insurance company which contested his claim. He became a friend of William Cobbett, with whose radicalism he was in sympathy. In 1823 he started the well-known medical weekly paper, the Lancet, and began a series of attacks on the jobbery in vogue among the practitioners of the day, who were accustomed to treat the medical profession as a close borough. In opposition to the hospital doctors he insisted on publishing reports of their lectures and exposing various malpractices, and he had to fight a number of lawsuits, which, however, only increased his influence. He attacked the whole constitution of the Royal College of Surgeons, and obtained so much support from among the general body of the profession, now roused to a sense of the abuses he exposed, that in 1827 a petition to parliament resulted in a return being ordered of the public money granted to it. But reform in the college was slow, and Wakley now set himself to rouse the House of Commons from within. He became a radical candidate for parliament, and in 1835 was returned for Finsbury, retaining his seat till 1852. In this capacity, and also as coroner for West Middlesex—an appointment he secured in 1839—he was indefatigable in upholding the interests of the working classes and advocating humanitarian reforms, as well as in pursuing his campaign against medical restrictions and abuses; and he made the Lancet not only a professional organ but a powerful engine of social reform. He died on the 16th of May 1862, leaving three sons, the proprietorship of the Lancet remaining in the family.
See Samuel Squire Sprigge, Life and Times of Thomas Wakley (1897).
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Arnoult Sophie

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ARNOULT SOPHIE,
A Parisian actress, born at Paris, February 17th., 1740. Her father kept a hôtel garni, and gave her a good education. Nature endowed her with wit, sensibility, a charming voice, and great personal attractions. Chance brought her upon the stage, where she delighted the public from 1767 to 1778. The princess of Modena happened to be in retirement at the Vol de Grace, and was struck with a very fine voice that sang at evening mass. Sophie Arnoult was the songstress; and on the princess speaking of her discovery, she was obliged, against her mother's wish, to join the royal choir. This paved the way for Sophie to the Parisian opera, where she soon became queen. All persons of rank, and all the literati, sought her society; among the latter, were D'Alembert, Diderot, Helvétius, Duclos, and Rousseau. She was compared to Aspasia and Ninon de d'Enclos. Her wit was so successful, that her bons mots were collected. It was sometimes severe, yet it made her no enemies. She died in 1802. In the beginning of the revolution, she bought the parsonage at Luzarche, and transformed it into a country-house, with this inscription over the door, Ite missa est. Her third son Constant Dioville de Brancas, colonel of cuirassiers, was killed at the battle of Wagram.
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Arragon, Tullia d'

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ARRAGON, TULLIA D',
An Italian poetess, who lived about the middle of the sixteenth ​century, was the natural daughter of Peter Tagliava d'Arragon, archbishop of Palermo and a cardinal, himself an illegitimate descendant of the royal house of Arragon. She was a woman of great beauty, genuis, and education, so that the first scholars of the age celebrated her praises with enthusiastic admiration. Girolamo Muzio, by whom she was passionately beloved, expatiates, in the third book of his letters, on her talents and virtues; her perfections are the constant theme of his poems, in which she is sometimes spoken of under the name of Thalia and Syrrhenie.
One of her most celebrated productions was a poem entitled "Dell 'Infinita d'Amor." She also wrote "Il Meschino," or "The Unfortunate One," a poetical Romance. In her early years, she resided at Ferrara, Rome and Venice; but the latter part of her life she spent at Florence, where she died about 1650.
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Artemisia I

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ARTEMISIA I,
Daughter of Lygdamis, became queen of Caria, in Asia Minor, when her husband died. According to Herodotus, she was one of the most distinguished women of antiquity. She attended Xerxes in his expedition against Greece, B. C. 480, and furnished five ships, which were only inferior to those of the Sidonians. In the council of war before the battle of Salamis, she strongly represented to Xerxes the folly of risking a naval engagement, and the event justified her opinion. In the battle she displayed so much courage, that Xerxes exclaimed "The men behave like women, and the women like men!" To her Xerxes intrusted his children, that they might be safely transported to his kingdom, when, agreeably to her advice, he abandoned Greece, to return to Asia.
These great qualities did not secure her from the weakness of love; she was passionately fond of a man of Abydos, whose name was Dardanus, and was so enraged at his neglect of her, that she put out his eyes while he was asleep. This, however, instead of diminishing her passion, seemed to increase it. At length she consulted the Delphic oracle, to learn how to conquer her love; and being advised to go to Leucadia, the ordinary resort of desperate lovers, she, like the poet Sappho, took the fatal leap from that promontory, and was drowned and buried there. Many writers confound this Artemisia with the wife of Mausolus, who lived some time after.
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Artemisia II

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ARTEMISIA II,
The queen of Caria, wife of Mausolus, immortalized by her attachment to her husband, built for him, at his death, the celebrated and stately tomb, that was considered one of the seven wonders of the world. It was called the Mausoleum, and from it all other magnificent sepulchres have received the same name. It was built by four architects, and the expense of its construction was enormous; the philosopher Anaxagoras exclaimed, when he saw it, "How much money changed into stones!"
Artemisia frequently visited the place where her husband's ashes were deposited; mixed the earth that covered him with water, and drank it, for the purpose, as she said, of becoming the living tomb of her departed lord. She offered the richest prizes to those who should excel in composing a panegyric on his virtues. Yet in the midst of all her grief, she did not suffer it to interfere with the duties of her elevated position, but took the command of her army In a war against the Rhodians, in which she is said to have shown undaunted bravery. She took possession of the city of Rhodes, and treated the inhabitants with great severity. She caused two statues to be erected: one of the city of Rhodes, habited like a slave; and the other of herself, branding the city with a hot iron. Vitruvius adds, that the Rhodians never dared to remove that trophy from its place; such an attempt being prohibited by their religion; but they built a wall around it, which prevented it from being seen. She lived in the fourth century before Christ.
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Arundel, Lady Blanche

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ARUNDEL, LADY BLANCHE,
A daughter of the earl of Worcester, and wife of lord Arundel of Wardour, is celebrated for her heroic defence of Wardour Castle, in Wiltshire, England. She was summoned to surrender, May 2nd, 1643, by Sir Edward Hungerford, commander-in-chief of the parliamentary forces in Wiltshire, at the head of about thirteen hundred men; but Lady Arundel, whose husband was then at Oxford, replied, that she had the orders of her lord to keep the castle, and those orders she was determined to obey. On this reply the battery commenced, and continued without intermission for nearly six days, The castle contained bat twenty-five fighting-men; and wearied with exertion their strength began to fail, when the ladies and their maid-servants took their place in keeping watch, and loading their muskets. The women and chidren were repeatedly offered safely if the besieged would surrender, but they chose rather to perish than to buy their lives at the expense of those of their brave soldiers.
At length, reduced to extremity. Lady Arundel was forced to surrender, after making stipulations that the lives of all in the fortress should be spared, etc. The conditions were agreed to, but all excepting that relating to their personal safety were violated. Lady Arundel, and her children, were carried prisoners to Shaftesbury, where her two sons, children of seven and nine, were taken from her. She died October 29th., 1649, at the age of sixty-six. Her husband had died at Oxford in 1643, of wounds he received in the battle of Lansdown, in the service of Charles the First.
Lady Arundel is buried with her husband, near the altar of an elegant chapel, at Wardour Castle. On the monument Is an inscription, which, after giving their titles and ancestry, thus concludes: "This ​lady, as distinguished for her courage as for the splendour of her birth, bravely defended, in the absence of her husband, the castle of Wardour, with a spirit above her sex, for nine days, with a few men, against Sir Edward Hungerford, Edmund Ludlow, and their army, and then delivered it up on honourable terms. Obit. 28 October, 1649, Etat. 66. Requiescat in pace. 'Who shall find a valiant woman? The price of her is as things brought afar off, and from the uttermost coast. The heart of her husband trusteth in her.'—Prov. 81."
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Arragon, Joan of

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ARRAGON, JOAN OF,
Was the wife of Ascanio Colonna, prince of Tagliacozza, who was made grand constable of the kingdom of Naples, by Charles the Fifth, in 1520. He assisted the imperial forces when Rome was besieged, under the command of Bourbon, in 1527, and obtained a great reputation for bravery and military skill. Like all the petty sovereigns of that age of war and violence, his life was one of vicissitude and agitation. He died in the state prison of Castel Nuovo, at Naples, in 1557.
Of Joan herself, there are no anecdotes recorded. Nothing is known of the events of her life; but a more widely-spread contemporary celebrity is attached to few women. All the writers of her epoch, speak of her in terms that appear hyperbolical, so very extravagant are their epithets—divine, perfect, adorable, are the least of these. She is very much commended for her good judgment, practical sense, courage, and fortitude; but we are no where told how or where she exerted these qualities. Agostine Ninfo, a physician and philosophic writer, in speaking of perfect beauty, proposes Joan of Arragon as an example. Eulogies were composed to her honour by the greatest wits of her time; and in most languages, as Greek, Latin, Italian, French, Spanish, Sclavonic, Polonese, Hungarian, and even Hebrew and Chaldean; one of the most singular monuments, undoubtedly, that gallantry ever raised to female merit. This homage was decreed her in 1555, at Venice, in the Academy of Dubbiosi, and a volume was published there in 1558, a few years before her death, with this magnificent title, "Temple to the divine Lady Signora Joan of Arragon—constructed by all the most elegant minds, in all the polite languages of the world." She died in 1577.
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Arria

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ARRIA,
Wife of Caecinna Pætus, a consul under Claudius, emperor of Rome in 41 is immortalized for her heroism and conjugal affection. Her son and husband were both dangerously ill at the same time; the former died; and she, thinking that in his weak state, Pætus could not survive a knowledge of the fatal event, fulfilled every mournful duty to her child in secret; but when she entered the chamber of her husband, concealed so effectually her anguish, that till his recovery Pætus had no suspicion of his loss.
Soon after, Pætus joined with Scribonius in exciting a revolt against Claudius in Illyria. They were unsuccessful, and Pætus was carried a prisoner to Rome, by sea. Arria, not being allowed to accompany him, hired a small bark, and followed him. On her arrival at Rome, she was met by the widow of Scribonius who wished to speak to her.
"I speak to thee!" replied Arria indignantly; "to thee, who hast been witness of thy husband's death, and yet survivest!"
She had herself determined that, if all her endeavours to save Pætus failed, she would die with him. Thraseus, her son-in-law, in vain combated her resolution. "Were I," said he, "in the situation of Pætus, would you have your daughter die with me?"
"Certainly," answered she, "had she lived with you as long and as happily as I with Pætus."
Her husband was at length condemned to die, whether by his own hands or not is uncertain; if it were not so, he wished to avoid the punishment allotted to him, by a voluntary death; but at the moment wanted courage. Seeing his hesitation, Arria seized the dagger, plunged it first into her own breast, and then presenting it to her husband, said, with a smile, "It is not painful, Pætus."
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Arsinoe I

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ARSINOE I,
Daughter of Ptolemy the First, son of Lagus, king of Egypt, and of Berenice, was married to Lysimachus, king of Thrace. Lysimachus fell in battle in Asia, and his kingdom of Macedonia was taken possession of by Seleucus. Seven months afterwards, Seleucus was assassinated by Ptolemy Ceraunus, elder brother of Ptolemy Philadelphus, who also put to death the two children of his half-sister Arsinoe, after he had inveigled her into a marriage with him. Their mother he then banished to the island of ​Samothracia, where she remained till she was summoned to Egypt to become the second wife of her brother, Ptolemy the Second, Philadelphus, king of that country, who reigned from B. C. 284 to 276. Arsinoe is said to have founded a city, called by her own name, on the banks of the Achelaus, in Ætolia.
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Arsinoe II

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ARSINOE II,
A daughter of Lysimachus, king of Thrace, was the first wife of Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, by whom she had three children, Ptolemy, Lysimachus, and Berenice. Suspecting her of plotting against his life, Ptolemy banished her, and she fled to Cyrene, where she was kindly received by Magas, half-brother of the king of Egypt. Magas married her, and adopted her daughter Berenice. Berenice was betrothed to Demetrius, son of Demetrius Polioreetes, who came from Macedonia to marry her; but instead, transferred his affections to Arsinoe, which led to his assassination, and the marriage of Berenice to Ptolemy the Third, who was probably her brother, by which the kingdoms of Egypt and Cyrene were again united. The history of this princess is very confused; and there is much difference of opinion on the subject.
# A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Arsinoe III

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ARSINOE III,
Daughter of Ptolemy the Third, Euergetes, was married to her brother, Ptolemy the Fourth, Philopater; she is called Eurydice by Justin, and Cleopatra by Livy. She was present at the battle of Rhaphia, a city not far from Gaza, in Palestine, fought between her husband and Antiochus the Great, B.C. 217, and is said to have contributed not a little to the victory. Ptolemy afterwards, seduced by the charms of Agathoclea, ordered Arsinoe to be put to death.
# A Compendium of Irish Biography/Butler, Lady Eleanor Charlotte

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​Butler, Lady Eleanor Charlotte, daughter of the 16th Earl of Ormond, was born in Ireland in 1739; her friend Sarah Ponsonby, in 1755. They formed a romantic attachment, and after several attempts to run away from their friends to England (in one of which Miss Ponsonby broke her leg), were in 1778 permitted to depart with a faithful maid, Betty Carroll. They settled in a cottage at Llangollen, where they passed the remainder of their lives—more than fifty years—together. They were known as "The Ladies of Llangollen," and were visited and petted by the world of fashion and literature. In 1829 the Duke of Wellington perpetrated the job of procuring them a government pension of £200 a year. In September 1823, Charles Mathews thus wrote from Oswestry to a friend: "The dear inseparable immutables. Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Ponsonby, were in the boxes here on Friday. They came twelve miles from Llangollen, and returned, as they never sleep from home. Oh! such curiosities! I was nearly convulsed! I could scarcely get on for the first ten minutes my eye caught them! Though I had never seen them, I instantly knew them. As they are seated, there is not one point to distinguish them from men; the dressing and powdering of the hair; their well-starched neckcloths; the upper part of their habits, which they always wear, even at a dinner party, made precisely like men's coats, and regular black beaver men's hats." Afterwards he met in company "the dear antediluvian darlings, attired for dinner in the same mummified dress, with the Croix de St. Louis, and other orders, and myriads of large brooches, with stones large enough for snuff-boxes, stuck in their starched neckcloths. I have not room to describe their most fascinating persons. … They have not slept one night from home for above forty years." Betty Carroll died in 1809; Lady Butler, 2nd June 1829, aged 90; Miss Ponsonby, 9th December 1831, aged 76. The virtues of all three are celebrated in long inscriptions on one stone in the churchyard of Llangollen. A minute account of these ladies will be found in Blackburn's Illustrious Irishwomen, from which this notice is for the most part taken.
# A Compendium of Irish Biography/Butler, James, 5th Earl of Ormond

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​Butler, James, 5th Earl of Ormond, born 24th November 1420, was almost the first after the settlement of his family in Ireland that was not left a minor on the death of his father. When young he was knighted by Henry VI. and he accompanied Richard, Duke of York, to France. In 1449 he was created Earl of Wiltshire, and was for a time Governor of Calais. In 1451 he was Lord-Deputy; and next year, upon his father's death, was appointed Lord-Lieutenant. In 1452, with other great lords, he undertook the guarding of the British seas for three years. He was present at the battle of St. Albans; at Wakefield, in conjunction with the Earl of Pembroke, he commanded one wing of the Lancastrian army; and at Mortimer's Cross, leading a body of Welsh and Irish against the Earl of March, he was defeated with heavy loss. Shortly afterwards (29th March 1461) he was taken prisoner at the battle of Towton in Yorkshire, and beheaded at Newcastle on 1st May following, aged 40. He was thrice married; his third marriage, with Eleanor, sister of the Duke of Somerset, engaging him in the Lancastrian cause.
# A Compendium of Irish Biography/Butler, James, 6th Earl of Ormond

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​Butler, James, 6th Earl of Ormond, being present with his brother, 5th Earl, at the battle of Towton in 1461, was likewise attainted. He was afterwards, by Edward IV., restored in blood and to most of his estates. The king used to say of him "that he was the goodliest knight he ever beheld, and the finest gentleman in Christendom; and that if good breeding, nurture, and liberal qualities were lost in the world, they might all be found in the Earl of Ormond." He was accounted master of all the European languages, and there was scarce a court to which Edward IV. did not send him as ambassador. He died in the Holy Land, on his way to Jerusalem, 1478.