Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 02.djvu/169

BRAGANZA inland city of about 10,000 inhabitants, 50 miles to the N. E. of São Paulo.

BRAGANZA, or BRAGANÇA, a town of Portugal, capital of the former province of Tras-os-montes, with a castle, the ancient seat of the Dukes of Braganza, from whom the present reigning family of Portugal are descended. Pop. about 3,500.

BRAGANZA, or BRAGANÇA, the name of the last reigning dynasty of Portugal. In 1801 Napoleon I. declared that the line of the Braganza sovereigns had ceased. John, Regent of the kingdom, withdrew to Brazil in 1807, but he returned in 1821. At his death, in 1826, his son, Dom Pedro, resigned the throne in favor of his daughter, Maria da Gloria, preferring to remain Emperor of Brazil, which he had been elected by the Brazilians, Nov. 18, 1825.

BRAGG, BRAXTON, an American military officer, born in Warren Co., N. C., March 22, 1817; graduated at West Point, in 1837; was appointed Second Lieutenant in the 3d Artillery; served with distinction under General Taylor in the Mexican War; and retired to private life in 1856. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he became a Brigadier-General in the Confederate army, and was stationed at Pensacola to act against Fort Pickens. He took an important part in the two days' battle of Shiloh. On the death of Gen. A. S. Johnston he was appointed to his command, with the full rank of General, and succeeded General Beauregard as commander of the Department, in July of the same year. The last command he resigned in December, 1863. His chief success was at Chickamauga, in September, 1863, when he inflicted a defeat on the army of General Rosecrans, but was himself in turn defeated by General Grant, which led to his temporary removal from command in January, 1864, and he was appointed military adviser to Jefferson Davis. In 1864, he assumed command of the department of North Carolina. After the war he was chief engineer of the State of Alabama. He died in Gal- veston, Tex., Sept. 27, 1876.

BRAGI (brā'jē), the son of Odin and Frigga, and the god of eloquence and poetry. He is represented as an old man with a long flowing beard, like Odin; yet yet with a serene and unwrinkled brow. His wife was Idunna.

BRAHAM, JOHN (brā'am), an English tenor singer, of Jewish extraction, born in London, in 1774. He appeared with the greatest success on the leading stages of France, Italy, and the United States, as well as in his own country. He excelled mainly in national songs, such as "The Bay of Biscay, O,” and "The Death of Nelson," and continued to attract large audiences even when 80 years old. He died in 1856. BRAHE, TYCHO (brä'e), a Swedish astronomer, born in Knudstrup, near Lund, Dec. 14, 1546. He was descended from a noble family, and was sent, at the age of 13, to the University of Copenhagen. An eclipse of the sun turned his attention to astronomy. His uncle destined him for the law, but Brahe, while his tutor slept, busied himself nightly with the stars. He succeeded, as early as 1563, in detecting grave errors in the Alphonsine tables and the so-called Prutenic (i. e., Prussian) tables, and set about their correction. At Wittenberg, where he resided for a short time, he lost part of his nose in a duel with a Danish gentleman; but contrived one of gold, silver and wax. After two years spent in Augsburg, he returned home, where, in 1572, he discovered a new and brilliant star in the constellation Cassiopeia. In 1573 he married a peasant girl. After some time spent in travel, Brahe received from his sovereign, Frederic II., the offer of the island of Hven of Hoëne, in the Sound, as the site for an observatory, the King also offering to defray the cost of erection, and of the necessary astronomical instruments, as well as to provide him with a suitable salary. Brahe accepted the generous proposal, and, in 1576, the foundation stone of the castle of Uranienburg ("fortress of the heavens") was laid. Here, for a period of 20 years, Brahe prosecuted his observations. Frederic II. died and under Christian IV. Brahe had his emoluments cut off and left the country. After residing a short time at Rostock and at Wandsbeck, near Hamburg, he accepted an invitation of the Emperor Rudolf II.—who conferred on him a pension—to Benatek, a few miles from Prague, where a new Uranienburg was to have been erected for him; but he died at Prague on Oct. 24, 1601.

BRAHMA, the name of the first of the three gods who constitute the Trimurti, or triad of principal Hindu deities. The epithets applied to this divinity are very numerous, some of the most usual being Swayambhu, the self-existing; Parameshti, who abides in the most exalted place; Pitamaha, the great father; Prajâpati, the lord of creatures;