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BALL

ing of four larger islands, Majorca, Minorca, Iviza, and Formentera, and eleven smaller islands of rocky formation. Politically they form the Balearic prov- ince, and on 31 December 1900, had an area of 1936 square miles and a population of 311 649, almost exclusively Catholic. The capital is Palma The original ii^habitants of these islands were of Iberian stock, and were famous in antiquity as shngers In the seventh centurj- B.C. they were subjugated by the Carthaginians; in 206 b. c, the city of Mahon was built by HSnnibals brother Mago and called after Ins name In 123-122 b. c, the Roman consul Quin us C-ecilius Metellus conquered the islands and founded the cities' of Palma and PoUentia. The Rornans were succeeded in the sovereignty of the islands by the Vandals (426) under Genseric as leader; during the reign of Justinian they were subject to Byzantine au- thority Charlemagne incorporated them for a while with the Frankish empire, but in 79S they fell into the hands of the Arabs. About 1230 James I (Jaime) of \ragon gained possession of the islands and con- ferred "the sovereignty on his third son, who trans- mitted it to his descendants; from 1276 to 1343 they formed the independent kingdom of Majorca, a secundo geniture of Aragon, at the latter date being reunited to the Crown. In the war of the l^pati.sh Succession Minorca was occupied by the English (1708) and remained, with the exception of a brief interval (1756-63), in their possession until by the Peace of Versailles (1783) the islands were ceded back to Spain., „ , • t i i *

Christianity reached the Balearic Isles almost as soon as the Spanish mainland. As early as the fourth century mention is made of Bishops of Minorca and in the fifth centun- of Bishops of Majorca and Iviza During the period of Arabian rule these sees were suppressed, and the islands were placed under the Bishop of Barcelona. After the expulsion of the Moors a see was re-established on the island of Ma- jorca (1237), in direct dependence on the Holy See, and in 1238 Ra\Tnund de Torella was made first bishop. The diocese, which has been ruled by fifty- two bishops up to the present time, was made sub- ject to the Archbishop of Valencia in 1492; in 1782 Iviza and in 1795 Minorca were erected into separate sees In 1851 IWza was reunited with Majorca. The Balearic Isles are at present divided into two dio- ceses subject to the ecclesiastical province of V alencia: Majorca and Iviza {Dicecesis Majoricensis et Ihusen- sis), with Palma as the see, and Minorca {Dicecesis Minoricensis), with Ciudadela as the see.

The Diocese of Majorca, exclusive of Iviza, em- braces the islands of Majorca, Cabrera, and Co- lubraria; in 1906 it contained a population of 262,000 divided into 8 archipresbyterates, 39 parishes and (at the beginning of 1907) 47 mission churche^s; 704 priests, including 60 who are not residing m the diocese; 318 churches and oratories. The cathedral chapter consists of 5 prebendaries, 4 officials, and 7 canons The training of young men for the priest- hood is provided for in the seiriinario concihar in Palma which has 12 professors and 145 students. In 1907 the diocese contained 33 houses of religious orders conducted by 13 religious congregations of men: Jesuits 1 ; Capuchins 1 ; Hermits of St. Augustine 1- Mercedarians 1; Tertiaries regular of St. Francis 3; Mission Priests of St. Vincent de Paul 1 ; Oratorians of St Philip Neri 2; Brothers of the Christian Schools 4; Redemptorists 5; Missionaries of the Most Sacred Hearts 4; Carmelites 2; Hermits of Sts. Paul and An- thony 4; Brothers of Mercy 4; and 149 foundations conducted by twenty-five orders and congregations of women: Poor Clares, Dominicans, Hieronymites, Carmelites, Augustinians, Sisters of Mercy, Little Sisters of the Poor, Sorores de Patrocinio, etc Among the churches the most important is the cathedral at Palma called La Leo, an enormous edifice built in

Gothic stvle. begun during the reign of James I and not completed until 1601; in 1905 the cathedral was raised to the rank of a minor basilica. The most frequented places of pilgrimage are the shrines of San Salvador, Nostra Seiiora de Lluch, and the Santuario del Puig de PoUenza. ., ,,

The Diocese of Iviza nominally united ^^^th Ma- jorca but in reality ruled by its o^\ii vicar-capitular, contains 26,000 Catholics, 22 parishes, 26 churches and chapels, about 50 priests, and 1 seminarj'.

The Diocese of Minorca embraces the island of that name and contains 40,000 Catholics, 23 parishes, 80 churches and chapels, about 102 secular and 6 regular priests, an episcopal seminan,', at Ciudadela, an Insi- tuto de segunda ensenanza at Mahon, 35 primary' schools, 3 benevolent institutions conducted by the Sis- ters of Mercy, viz: a hospital and a foundling asylum at Mahon, and a foundling asylum at Ciudadela. The cathedral was built in 1287 on the site of a mosque, and having been partially destroyed in 1628, wa^s restored in 1719. In 1795 it was raised to the rank

BiDWELL, The Balearic Islands (London, 1876); Cahtailh.ic. Monummts primitifs dea iles BaUarea (Pans. 1892); Vcillier. L€S iles oublices (Paris, 18931; S.^I.^^^TOR, Dte Baharen (2 vols.. Wurzburg and Leipzig, 1897); Fraisse. Skizzen von den Balearischen Inseln (Leipzig, 1898); Recensio EccUauF ^Vaion- censis 1906 (Palma. 1906. addiUonrs et vanattonea. 19U/ 1. S.vMpiLT RiPOLi. Ammrin hibliog.^ (1897), Apunt. para una Biblioteca mallorquina tPalma. 1S9S.)

Joseph Lins.

Bales (or Bayles, alias Evers), Christopher, Venerable, priest and martjT, b. at Conischffe near Darlington, County Durham, England, about 1564; executed 4 March, 1590. He entered the English College at Rome, 1 October, 15S3, but owing to ill- health was sent to the College at Reims, where he was ordained 28 March, 1587. Sent to England tortured by Topcliffe, and hung up by the hands for twenty-four hours at a time; he bore all most pa- tiently. At length he was tried and condemned for hi^h treason, on the charge of ha\-ing been ordained beVond seas and coming to England to exercise his office He asked Judge Anderson whether St. Au- gustine, Apostle of the English, was also a traitor. The judge said no, but that the act had since been made treason by law. He suffered 4 March, 1590, "about Easter", in Fleet Street opposite Fetter Lane On the gibbet was set a placard: "For treason and favouring foreign invasion". He spoke to the people from the ladder, showing them that his only "treason was his priesthood. On the .same day \ enerable Nicholas Horner sufl'ered in Sniithfield for haying made Bales a jerkin, and Venerable Alexander Blake in Gray's Inn Lane for lodging him m his house
 * > November. 1588. he was soon arrested, racked, and

BRiniEWATER. Concerlalio ^cdeaifT Calholica' in AngluJ fTripr liS9)- Chilloner, Memoira: Pollen, Acts of tnglwh u"r%Vs (London. 1891); .Vow;,«^^ra(Ao;icCaW^ Douay Diaries (London. 1878); Morris. Cathohca of }ork under Elizabeth (Ixjndon, 1891); Foley, Recorda b. J.. Roman Diani (London, 1880). BeDE C.MIM.

Ball, Mother Fr.\xces M.\ry Teresa, b. in Dublin 9 January, 1794; d. 19 May, 1861; foundress of the Irish Branch of the Institute of the Blessed \ irgin Mary (see Institute of Mary, Irish). She was a daughter of John Ball and Mabel Clare Bennet. At the age of nine years, Frances was sent to the convent school at the Bar, York, England, conducted by the English Ladies of the Institute of the Blessed \ irgin Man- She remained here until the death of her father, in 1808, and then spent some tmie with her mother at home. In 1814, under the direction of Dr. Daniel Murray, Archbishop of Dublin. Frances re- turned to York and entered the no%Ttiate of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Marv-. There she re- ceived her religious training, and made her Pro'es- sion in 1816, taking, in religion, the name of Mary Teresa RecaUed by Archbishop Murray, she re-