Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/526

Rh 500 W E L W E N by Niccola, the sculptor of the wonderful baptistery pulpit at Pisa. The whole of the facade, 147 feet wide, including the two western towers, is completely covered with this magnificent series; there are nine tiers of single figures under canopies, over 600 in number, mostly large life size, with some as much as 8 feet in height, and other smaller statues ; these represent angels, saints, prophets, kings and queens of the Saxon, Norman, and Plantagenet dynasties, and bishops and others who had been benefactors to the see. There are also forty-eight reliefs with subjects from Bible history, and immense representations of the Last Judgment and the Resurrec tion, the latter alone containing about 150 figures. The whole composition is devised so as to present a comprehensive scheme of theology and history, evidently thought out with much care and ingenuity. As works of art, these statues and reliefs are of very high merit ; the faces are noble in type, the folds of the drapery very gracefully treated with true sculpturesque simplicity, and the pose of the figures remarkable for dignity. The main lines of the .sculpture throughout are carefully arranged in a severely architec tonic manner, so as to emphasize and harmonize with the chief features of the structure. Complete self-restraint is shown in the subordination of each part to the general effect of the whole one of the great merits of English sculpture down to the 16th century. Of course a great variety of hands and much diversity of workman ship can be traced in this mass of sculpture, but in very few cases does the work fall conspicuously below the general level of excel lence, and some of the best figures show the very flower and crown of English plastic art, which was reaching its highest point about the time that the west front of Wells was completed. 1 The interior of the central tower presents an interesting example of the very skilful way in which the mediaeval builders could turn an unexpected constructional necessity into a novel and beautiful architectural feature. While it was being built the four piers of the great tower arches showed signs of failure, and therefore, in order to strengthen them, a second lower arch was built below each main arch of the tower ; and on this a third inverted arch was added. Thus the piers received a steady support along their whole height from top to bottom, and yet the opening of each archway was blocked up in the smallest possible degree. The contrasting lines of these three adjacent arches on each side of the tower have a very striking and graceful effect ; nothing similar exists elsewhere. On the south side of the cathedral stands the bishop s palace, a stately moated building, originally built in the form of a quad rangle by Bishop Joceline (1205-1244), and surrounded by a lofty circuit wall. The hall and chapel are very beautiful structures, of rather later date, mostly of the 14th century. The vicars college was a secular foundation for two principals and twelve vicars; fine remains of this, dating from the 15th cen tury, and other residences of the clergy stand within and near the cathedral close ; some of these are among the most beautiful examples of mediaeval domestic architecture which exist anywhere in England. The church of St Cuthbert in Wells is one of the finest of the many fine parochial churches in Somersetshire, with a very noble tower and spire at the west end. It was originally an Early Eng lish cruciform building, but the central tower fell in during the 16th century, and the whole building was much altered during the Perpendicular period. Though much damaged, a very interesting reredos exists behind the high altar; erected in 1470, it consists of a &quot; Jesse tree &quot; sculptured in relief. Another very beautiful reredos was discovered in 1848, hidden in the plaster on the east wall of the lady chapel, which is on the north side. (J. H. M. ) WELSHPOOL, or POOL, a market-town and municipal and parliamentary borough in Montgomeryshire, North Wales, is situated in the upper Severn valley not far from the river, on the Shropshire Union Canal, and on the Cambrian Railway, 207 miles north-west of London, 8 north of Montgomery, and 18 west of Shrewsbury. The church of St Mary s, a Gothic structure, restored by Street at a cost of 4000, is a building of some antiquity; Christ Church, in Powis Park, in the Norman style, was erected in 1839. The town-hall, erected in 1873 at a cost of ,6000, includes a corn and general market- house, assize courts, and assembly rooms. The Powysland Museum, containing a collection of local fossils and anti quities and a library, was in 1887 vested in the corpora tion as a free public library and museum. A mile south-west of the town is Powis Castle, the fine old 1 See Cockerell, Iconography of Wells C ath., 1851 ; Reynolds, Wells Calh., 1881; and Britton, Wells Cath., 1821. The stone used for this sculpture is from the neighbouring Poulting quarry ; it was once decorated with gold and colour, applied on a ground of fine gesso in the usual way. baronial residence of the earl of Powis, and about the same distance to the east is Leighton Hall. The site of au old moated mound is now occupied by a bowling green. The flannel manufacture has now ceased, but there is a large manufactory of tweeds and woollen shawls. The population of the municipal borough (area 19,549 acres) in 1871 was 7370 and in 1881 it was 7107. The population of the parliamentary borough (area 6761 acres) in 1881 was 5211. About 1109 a castle was begun at Welshpool by Cadwygan ap Bleddyn ap Cynvyn, and completed by Gwenwynwyn. In 1191 it was besieged by Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury, and after being undermined surrendered, but it was retaken by Gwenwynwyn in 1197. It was dismantled in 1233 by Llewelyn, prince of North Wales, and for several generations it remained in the hands of the lords of Powis. During the civil war Lord Powis declared for the royal cause, but he was taken prisoner, and the castle was subsequently demolished. The town was incorporated about 1279 by the lords of Powis. In 1406 its boundaries were enlarged to the present enormous dimensions, and in 1615 it received a charter from James I., which was confirmed and enlarged by Charles II. From the 27th of Henry VIII. it has been included in the Mont gomery district of boroughs, which returns one member to parlia ment. The Welsh name of the town is Trallwns or Trallwm. WENCESLAUS (1361-1419), German king, was the eldest son of the emperor Charles IV., of the house of Luxemburg. He was born in 1361, and when three years of age was crowned as his father s successor in Bohemia. In 1376 he was elected king of the Romans, and in 1378, on the death of Charles IV., he mounted the Bohemian and German thrones. He repeatedly thought of going to Rome to receive the imperial crown, but this intention was never fulfilled. During his reign there was great confusion both in church and state, and he was wholly powerless to cope with the forces of disorder. Although not without a rude sense of justice, he was of a rough and violent temper, and too fond of pleasure to devote much attention to serious duty. The cities of Germany, in which were some of the best elements of the national life, had been gradually learning how to defend themselves by combining with one another against princes and robber knights ; and a wise king or emperor might with their aid have succeeded in re-establishing the authority of the crown. Wenceslaus, however, never understood the importance of the cities, and missed every opportunity of winning their friendship. At a diet in Nuremberg in 1383 an attempt was made to secure the public peace, but the cities, knowing that their liberties were threatened, gave no heed to the measures adopted by the diet. In 1381 the Rhenish cities had formed a confederation, and notwithstanding the threats of &quot;Wenceslaus had united with the Swabian League, which was regarded with fear and hatred by most of the southern princes. The battle of Sempach, in which the Swiss confederates gained a decisive victory over the house of Hapsburg, greatly encouraged the cities, but in 1388 a powerful coalition was formed against them, and at the battle of Doffingen their troops suffered so crashing a defeat that they were rendered incapable of further resistance. At a diet held in Eger in 1389 public peace was therefore proclaimed, and the cities of Swabia, the Rhine country, Alsace, the Wetterau, Franconia, and Bavaria were ordered, on pain of the king s displeasure, to dissolve their alliances. This really meant that the princes had both the king and the towns at their mercy. Wenceslaus was not more successful in his native king dom Bohemia than in Germany. In 1393, in the course of a struggle with the archbishop of Prague, he shocked both friends and enemies by the murder of the vicar- general John of Pomuk, who, after being subjected to torture, was bound and thrown into the river Moldau. With all his faults, Wenceslaus was sincerely anxious to check the violence of the Bohemian nobles. They accord-