Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/368

 354 F O I F K high, and possessing three fine towers, all anterior to the 15th century. The principal industries of the town are connected with the manufacture of iron, but there are also breweries, tanneries, and dyeworks. Foix is the seat of a tribunal of justice of the first instance, and possesses a com munal college, a teachers seminary, a library connected with the prefecture, a prison, and a correction-house. The population in 1876 was 5127. FOIX, COUNTS OP, an ancient French family which flourished from the llth to the 16th century. The title was first assumed by Roger, nephew of Peter Roger count of Carcassonne, on his inheriting the town of Foix with the adjoining lands from his uncle. He died in 1064, and was succeeded by his brother Peter, who died in 1070 and was succeeded by his eldest son Roger II. This count was ex communicated by Pope Pascal II. for taking possession of ecclesiastical property, but in 1095 he took part in the crusade, and afterwards by rich donations made his peace with the church. He died in 1125, and was succeeded by Roger III., who on his death in 1141 was succeeded by his eldest son Roger Bernard I. Roger Bernard was succeeded in 1188 by his only son Raymond Roger, who in 1190 accompanied Philip Augustus to the Holy Land, and distinguished himself at the capture of Acre. He was afterwards engaged in the wars of the Albigenses, and on his being accused of heresy, Simon de Montfort was put in possession of his estates. He, however, made his peace with the church some time before his death, which took place in 1223 from exposure and fatigue at the siege of Mirepoix. This count was a patron of the Provencal poets, and reckoned himself one of their number. He was succeeded by his son Roger Bernard II., surnamed the Great, who distinguished himself in the wars against the Albigenses, joined in an alliance against Louis VIII. of France, lost his lands but succeeded in regaining them, was twice ex communicated but obtained absolution, and died in 1241 in the abbey of Bolbone, where he was for a short time a monk. Roger IV., his son and successor, did homage for his lands to the king of France and the count of Carcas sonne. He died in 1265. His son and successor, Roger Bernard III., was more famous as a poet than a warrior. He was taken prisoner by Philip the Bold and again by Peter III. of Aragon; and before his death in 1302 began the quarrel of the house of Foix with that of Armagnac. His son and successor, Gaston I., continued the war, was excom municated in 1308 by Clement V. and imprisoned in the Chatelet, Paris, but, regaining his freedom shortly afterwards, joined Louis X. in 1315 in the expedition against Holland, and died on the way home. To him succeeded his eldest son Gaston II., who became reconciled with the house of Armagnac, joined the Navarrese in their wars against the Castilians, over whom he won a great victory at Tudela in 1335, took part in the war of the French against the English in 1337, and in 1343 assisted Alphonso XI. of Castile against the Moors. He died at Seville in Septem ber of the same year. His son Gaston III. (1331-1391), surnamed on account of his beauty Phoebus, was the most famous of the old Foix family. He took part in the wars against the English in 1345, and was on that account ap pointed by the king of France governor of Languedoc and Gascony. In 1346 he married Agnes of Navarre, but on account of a dispute with her brother Charles the Bad, he divorced her in 1373. On suspicion of being concerned in a conspiracy in conjunction with his brother-in-law he in 1356 suffered a short imprisonment in the Chatelet. After obtaining 1 his release he took part in the wars against the heretics of Prussia, and on his return in 1358 he assisted in releasing the royal princesses from the hands of the Jacquerie at Meaux. In the same year he recommenced the quarrels with the house of Armagnac, and took the count of Armagnac prisoner at the battle of Launac in 1372. In 1380 he was again appointed governor of Languedoc by Charles V., but that king dying the same year the regency replaced the count of Foix by the duke of Berry. Gas- ton defeated and slew the duke, but was afterwards induced to resign his claims. In 1390 Gaston entertained Charles VI. in his castle of Mazeres, and agreed for a sum of money to make him heir of his dominions. He died sud denly of apoplexy the same year when returning from the chase. Shortly after his death Charles VI. ceded the estate of Foix to Matthew, great-great-grandson of Roger I., who died without issue in 1398. On his death his sister s husband Archambault de Grailly took possession of the estates, and in 1401 assumed the title. Dying in 1412 he was succeeded by his son Jean de Grailly, who became governor-general of Languedoc, Auvergne, and Guienne, and, dying in 1436, was succeeded by his son Gaston IV., who took part in the wars of Charles VII. against the English, and was raised to the peerage of France. Gaston s father-in-law, Jean II. of Navarre, de clared him in 1455 his successor; and Louis XL conferred on him the seignory of Carcassonne and the countships of Roussillon and Cerdagne. In 1471 he joined in a league against Louis, which, however, was rendered abortive by the death of the king s brother. On the death of Gaston in 1472, the house of Foix became merged in that of Navarre. FOIX, GASTON DE. See NEMOURS. FOIX, PAUL DE (1528-1584), a French prelate and diplomatist, was born in 1528. He studied Greek and Roman literature at Paris, and jurisprudence at Toulouse, where shortly after finishing his curriculum, he delivered a course of lectures on civil law, which gained him great reputation. At the age of nineteen he was named councillor of the parlement of Paris. Having in this capacity expressed himself favourable to the adoption of mild measures in regard to certain persons accused of Lutheranism, he was arrested, but escaped punishment, and subsequently regained the favour of the French court. At the end of 1561 he was sent ambassador to England, where he remained four years, and in 1565 endeavoured in vain to persuade Elizabeth to consent to the surrender of Havre to the French. He was afterwards sent to negotiate a marriage between Elizabeth and the duke of Anjou. On account of his former toleration of the Lutherans, Foix only with difficulty escaped perishing in the Massacre of St Bartholomew in 1572 ; but having been sent in 1573 on an embassy to Italy, he was admitted to an audience of the pope, and succeeded in thoroughly establishing his reputa tion for orthodoxy. In 1576 he was made archbishop of Toulouse. He was afterwards employed by the king of France on various important missions, and in 1579 was appointed ambassador to Rome, where he remained till his death in 1584. Lcs Lcttrcs de Messirc de Paul de Foix, arclicvcsquc dc Tolozc ct ambassadcur pour le roy auprts du paye, Grcgoire XIII. , au roi Henry III., were published in 1628, but there are some doubts as to their authenticity. FOKSHAN, or FOKSHANI, a town of Roumania, is situated 104 miles N.E. of Bucharest on the river Milkov, which forms the boundary line between Wallachia and Moldavia the larger portion of the town being in Wallachia. It possesses a normal school, and is the seat of a prefecture and of a criminal and district court of justice. It has a considerable trade in corn with Galatz, and is in the vicinity of the district which produces the best Moldavian wine. A congress between Russian and Turkish diplomatists was held near the town in 1772. In the neighbourhood the Turks suffered a severe defeat from the Austrians and Russians in 1789. The population in 1873 was 20,323.