Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/159

 K H A K K E 147 various corruptions connected with church discipline, he had little sympathy with the drastic measures of Wickliffe or Huss. A deathbed utterance of his, somewhat despond ing in its tone, with reference to Luther and his ninety-five theses has occasionally, but unfairly, been interpreted as a summary condemnation of that Reformer. Krantz died December 7, 1517. Krantz was the author of a number of historical works which for the period when they were written are characterized by exceptional impartiality and research. The principal of these are Chronicon regnorum aquilonarium Daniee, Sueciee, ct Norvcgise, Strasburg, 1545 ; Vandal ia, sire historia de Vandalorum vcra origine, &c., Cologne, 1519 ; Saxonia, 1520 ; and Metropolis sive Historia ecclcsias in Suxonia, 1548. See life by N. Wilckens, Hamburg, 1722. KRASNOYARSK, a town of eastern Siberia, capital of the extensive province of Yeniseisk, which stretches as a long strip from the Chinese frontier formed by the Sayan mountains to the shores of the Arctic Ocean. It is situated on the left bank of Yenisei river, at its con fluence with the Katcha, and on the highway from Moscow to Irkutsk, 662 miles west-north-west from the latter. It was founded by Cossacks in 1628, and during the early years of its existence it was more than once besieged by the Tartars and Kirghiz. It became the capital of the province in 1822, and is now the seat of the provincial administra tion. Its commercial importance depends entirely upon the gold -washings of the Yeniseisk district, supplies for which are sent from Krasnoyarsk. The climate is very cold, but dry, so that in the steppe which surrounds the town there is but little snow, even in mid-winter. The Yenisei river is frozen for one hundred and sixty days at Krasnoyarsk. Population, 13,000. KREMENETZ, a district town of Russia, in the govern ment of Volhynia, in the high valley of the Ikva, one of the tributaries of the basin of the Pripat, situated 30 miles east from Radziviloff, the great custom-house on the railway between Kieff and Lvoff. It is a poor place, the 11,800 inhabitants of which follow agriculture, raise tobacco, and excavate flint. But the Jews, who are numerous in the town, carry on a brisk trade in grain, which is stored here for export to Galicia and Odessa. The picturesque ruins of an old castle on a crag close by the town, are usually known under the name of the castle of Queen Bona ; it was built, however, but in the 8th or 9th century. The hordes of Batyi vainly besieged it in 1241 and 1255. From that time Kremenetz was alternately under the dominion of Lithuania and Poland, till 1648, when it was taken by the Zaporojtzi Cossacks. During the years 1805 to 1832 its Polish lyceum was the centre of superior instruction for the western provinces of Little Russia ; but after the Polish insurrection of 1831 the lyceum was transferred to Kieff, and is now the university of that town. KREMENTCHUG, a Russian town in the govern ment of Poltava, situated 74 miles by rail to the south west of the government town, on the railway between Kharkoff and Nicolaieff, and on the left bank (here flat and sandy) of the Dnieper. It is supposed to have been founded in 1571 ; by its situation at the southern terminus of the navigable course of the Dnieper, and on the highway from Moscow to Odessa, it early acquired a great com mercial importance, which it still retains ; by 1655 it was a wealthy town. In 1765 it became capital of &quot;New Russia.&quot; It now has a suburb, Kryukoff, on the right bank of the Dnieper, united with the town by a railway bridge. Nearly all commercial transactions in salt with White Russia are effected at Krementchug, the salt being deposited in large storehouses in Kryukoff, and then sent by boat to the north-west. The town is also a centre of the tallow trade with Warsaw ; considerable quantities of timber, too, are floated down to this place and thence sent to the neighbouring provinces. Nearly all the trade in the brandy manufactured in the government of Kharkoff and destined for the governments of Ekaterinoslatf and Taurida is concentrated here, as also is the trade in linseed between the districts situated on the left affluents of the Dnieper and the southern ports. Other articles of commerce are rye, rye-flour, wheat, oats, and sarrasine, which are sent, partly up the Dnieper to Pinsk, partly by land to Odessa and Berislaff, but principally to Ekaterinoslaff, on light boats floated down during the spring floods. Although thus busily employed, the town does not wear the aspect of a commercial place, the linseed being mostly warehoused in the houses of the Jews who carry on this trade, and the important banking operations being also chiefly in the hands of Jews. The Dnieper is crossed at Krementchug by a remarkable tubular bridge 1081 yards long, over which passes the railway from Kharkoff to Balta ; there is also a bridge of boats. The manufactures consist of carriages, agricultural machinery, and tobacco. Population, 31,000. KREMNITZ (Hungarian, Kormoczbdnya), a mining town in the cis-Danubian county of Bars, Hungary, lies in a deep valley, and on the Hungarian state railway, 82 miles north of Budapest, in 48 42 N. lat., 18 46 E. long. It is the seat of a board of mining control, and of the management of the mint, and has an office of woods and forests. As noteworthy buildings may be mentioned the castle, several Roman Catholic and the Lutheran churches, a Franciscan monastery (founded 1634), the town-hall, and the mint where the celebrated Kremnitz gold ducats are struck. The great bulk of the inhabitants find employment in connexion with the gold and silver mines, which, though far less productive than formerly, still yield considerable quantities of ore. By means of a tunnel 9 miles in length, constructed in 1851-52, the water is drained off from the mines into the Garam or Gran. In 1880 the population was 8552, mostly Germans. According to tradition Kremnitz was founded in the 8th century by Saxons. In 1100 it was raised to the dignity of a royal free town. In the middle of the 12th century the population was much aug mented by German colonists, and in 1328 the commune received special privileges at the hands of Charles Robert of Anjou. From 1424 to 1433 the town was frequently at the mercy of the Hussites. After the catastrophe at Mohacs (1526) it suffered repeatedly from the Turks, and during the 17th century both from the forces of successive Iran sy Iranian princes and from Ottoman hordes. KREMSIER (in Czech, Kromeriz), chief town of a district in Moravia, Austria, is situated in the fertile region of Hanna on the March, about 25 miles south-west of Olmiitz. It is the seat of several local courts, and is the summer residence of the bishop of Olmiitz, whose palace, surrounded by a fine park and gardens, and containing a picture gallery, library, and various collections, forms the chief object of interest. Kremsier has both a German and a Slav upper-gymnasium, a higher commercial school, a convent, and a hospital. Its industries include printing, and the manufacture of sugar, malt, and pottery. In 1870 the population was 9918. In 1131 Kremsier was the seat of a bishopric. It suffered con siderably during the Hussite war ; and in 1643 it was taken and burned by the Swedes. After the rising of 1848, the Austrian congress met in the palace at Kremsier from November 1848 till March 1849. KREUTZER, CONRADIN (1782-1849), German musical composer, owes his permanent fame almost exclusively to one opera, Das Nachtlayer von Granada, which has kept the stage for nearly half a century in spite of the changes of taste. It is written in the style of Weber, and is remarkable especially for its flow of genuine melody and depth of feeling. The same qualities are found in Kreutzer s part songs for men s voices, which at one time were extremely popular in Germany, and are still listened to with pleasure. Amongst these Der Tag des Herrn (&quot; The Lord s Day &quot;) may be named as the most excellent. It is