Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/359

Rh 11 E G R E G 341 in the king power to appoint a regent under the sign manual, such regent to be one of certain named members of the royal family. The remaining provisions closely followed those of the Act of George II. In 1788 the insanity of the king led to the introduction of a Eegency Bill. In the course of the debate in the House of Lords the duke of York disclaimed on behalf of the prince of Wales any right to assume the regency without the consent of parliament. The necessity for the authority of parlia- ment in the particular circumstances was much discussed, as a reference to the parliamentary history of the time will show. Owing to the king's recovery the bill ultimately dropped. On a return of the malady in 1810 the Act of 51 Geo. III. c. 1 was passed, appointing the prince of Wales regent during the king's incapacity. The royal assent was given by commission authorized by resolution of both Houses. By this Act no council of regency was appointed. There was no restriction on the regent's authority over treaties, peace and war, or parliament, as in the previous Acts, but his power of granting peerages, offices, and pensions was limited. At the accession of William IV. the duchess of Kent Avas, by 1 Will. IV. c. 2, appointed regent, if necessary, until the Princess Victoria should attain the age of eighteen. No council of regency was appointed. By 1 Viet. c. 72 lords justices were nomin- ated as a kind of regency council without a regent in case the successor to the crown should be out of the realm at the queen's death. They were restricted from granting peerages, and from dissolving parliament without directions from the successor. The last Eegency Act was passed after the marriage of the queen. By 3 & 4 Viet. c. 52 Prince Albert was appointed regent in case any of the queen's children should succeed to the crown under the age of eighteen. The only restraint on his authority was the usual prohibition to assent to any bill repealing the Act of Settlement, &c. By 10 Geo. IV. c. 7 the office of regent of the United Kingdom cannot be held by a Roman Catholic. A similar disability is imposed in most, if not all, Regency Acts. REGGIO DI CALABRIA, a city of Italy, in the pro- vince of its own name, formerly Calabria Ulteriore Prima, is admirably situated on the Strait of Messina some miles farther south than the city of Messina on the other side. It is the terminus of the railway round the south-east coast from Bari ; a scheme for a line along the west coast to Naples received legislative sanction in 1879. The luxuriant gardens and orchards of Reggio have been cele- brated for centuries, and the climate is so warm that even the date-palm occasionally ripens its fruit. The old city was in great part destroyed by the earthquake of 1783, and it is now built on a regular plan, with broad streets run- ning north and south and cross streets climbing the hill from the seaside. Besides the cathedral (rebuilt since the earthquake), the principal edifices are the chamber of com- merce, the new comizio agrario, the castle on the height, the Renaissance Palazzo Musitano Guerrera, and the Gothic Villa Leo. Local manufactures are essences, scented waters, silks, and byssus gloves, caps, and shoes. Extensive improvements have since 1870 been made on the port of Reggio both by the municipality and the Government; in 1883 787 vessels (209,717 tons) entered and 713 (207,179) cleared. Oil, lemons, and similar fruits, essences, silk, and grain are the staple exports. The population of Reggio was, in 1881, 23,853 in the city, or including the various suburban villages Sbarre (3622), Santa Catarina (1147), &c. 35,437. and in the commune 39,296. A colony, mainly of Chalcklians, partly of Messenians from the Peloponnesus, settled at Rhegium (Rcgium) in the 8th century B.C. About 494 B. c. Anaxilas, a member of the Messenian party, made himself master both of Regium and Zancle (Messina). In. 427 it joined the Athenians against Syracuse, but in 415 it remained neutral. An attack which it made on Dionysius of Syracuse in 399 was the beginning of a great struggle which in 387 re- sulted in its complete destruction and the dispersion of its in- habitants as slaves. Eestored by the younger Dionysius under the name of Phoebias, the colony soon recovered its prosperity and resumed its original designation. In 280, when Pyrrhus in- vaded Italy, the Regines admitted within their walls a Roman garrison of Campanian troops ; these mercenaries revolted, massacred the male citizens, and held possession of the city till in 270 they were besieged and destroyed by the Roman consul Geuucius. Though one of the cities promised by the triumvirs to the veterans, Regium escaped through the favour of Octavius (hence Regium Julium). Alaric (410 A. p.), Totila (549), and Robert Guiscard (1060) all occupied the city. It was at Reggio that Joseph Bonaparte received the title of king of the Two Sicilies. In 1860 the Bourbon garrison surrendered to the Garibaldians. REGGIO NELL' EMILIA, a city and episcopal see of Italy, in the province of Reggio nelF Emilia (up till 1859 part of the duchy of Modena), is situated on the line of the old Via ^Emilia, 17 miles by rail south-east of Parma. It is a large, well-built, and flourishing place with a population in 1881 of 18,634 (commune 56,031) within the circuit of its walls. Among the points of principal interest are the Piazza Maggiore, with the statue of the river Crostolo ; the cathedral, which was founded in 857 A.D. but dates mainly from the 15th century; the co- cathedral basilica of San Prospero, with its six old Lom- bard lions in front ; the public library, which contains the published and unpublished works of Spallanzani; the museum, in which are preserved the same naturalist's collections; the large municipal theatre, famous for its operas throughout Italy; and the municipal " palace," with the statue of Caacilius Metellus. In the neighbourhood of the city there is an extensive model lunatic asylum as well as a large poorhouse. The house in which Ariosto was born in the Corso della Ghiara is now municipal property. Horse-races are held at Reggio every year. Regium Lepidi or Regium Lepidium was probably founded by jEmilius Lepidus at the time of the construction of the ^Emilian Way. It was during the Koman period a flourishing municipium, but never became a colony ; and, though the name is frequently mentioned in the course of the civil war, it is associated with no event more interesting than the assassination of M. Brutus, the father of Cresar's friend and foe. The bishopric dates from 450 A.IX. Under the Lombards the town was the scat of dukes and counts ; in the 12th and 13th centuries it formed a flourishing republic, busied in surrounding itself with walls (1209), controlling the Crostolo and constructing navigable canals to the Po, coining money of its own, and establishing prosperous schools. About 1290 it first passed into the hands of Obizzo'd'Este, and the authority of the same family was after many vicissitudes more formally recognized in 1409. In the contest for liberty which began in 1796 and closed with annexation to Piedmont in 1859 Reggio took vigorous part. Besides Ariosto, the city has given birth to Secchi the astronomer and Prospero Clementi the sculptor ; and the poet Boiardo was governor of Reggio for many years before his death in 1494. REGIOMONTANUS (1436-1476). The real name of this astronomer was JOHANN MULLER, but from his birth- place, Konigsberg, a small town in Francgnia, he called liimself JOH. DE MONTEREGIO. The name Regiomontanus occur for the first time on the title page of his Scripta, pub- lished in 1544, but he has since become best known by it. He was born in June 1436 and became the pupil of Purbach at the university of Vienna, and jointly with him endea- voured, with such imperfect instruments as they could onstruct, to test the accuracy of the Alphonsine tables of the motions of the planets. After Purbach's death Regiomontanus finished and published his Epitome in Ptolemsei Almac/estum, but, having in the meantime become acquainted with Cardinal Bessarion, who was anxious to spread the knowledge of the Greek literature among the Western nations, he proceeded with him to Italy in 1462, and for the following eight years devoted a great deal of time to the study of the Greek language and to collecting