Page:Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography Volume 1.pdf/616

BIE other works from the Italian, French, and German. She died unmarried in 1788.—M. H.  BIEL,, a German philosopher and theologian, born at Spires in the middle of the fifteenth century; died 1495; was first celebrated as a preacher at Mayence, then became professor of theology at Tübingen, and finished his days as a monk. He was an able defender of nominalism in the form in which it had been propounded by Occam.—J. D. E.  BIEL,, a German theologian, born at Brunswick in 1687; died in 1745. He published a great number of dissertations in the "Thesaurus Antiq. Sac." of Ugolin, and a Lexicon for the Septuagint, 3 vols., 1779-80.  BIELEFELD,, was born at Hamburg in 1711, and died at Altenburg in 1770. He was superintendent-general of the Prussian universities under Frederick II., and left several valuable works (written in French) on politics and literature. We mention: "Progrès des Allemands dans les sciences, les belles-lettres et les arts," Berlin, 1752; "Institutions Politiques;" "Les premiers traits de l'érudition universelle," Leyden, 1767.—K. E.  BIELER,, a German theologian and antiquarian, born in Saxony, 1693; died 1772; author of several antiquarian dissertations. He also wrote "Historische Nachricht von allerley geheimen Dingen der alten und neuen Juden," &c., 1743—a curious account of certain Jewish mysteries.  BIELINSKI,, a Polish nobleman of large property, whose love of science, and especially of natural history, induced him to show great kindness to those who were engaged in scientific studies. He published two works by Lucas Gornicki, at his own expense, and collected a large library in his residence at Warsaw. In 1710 he became staroste of Marienburg, and in 1732 was made a knight of the order of the white eagle, vaivode of Culm, and marshal of the crown. In 1733 he accompanied King Stanislas to Danzig, but after the capitulation of that city, submitted to Augustus III., who afterwards made him grand marshal of the crown. He died about 1766. He translated into Polish, a dissertation by Rousset on the claims of the Polish crown to Livonia and Courland.—W. S. D.  BIELKE,, sometime Danish minister at the court of Berlin, was descended from an ancient and noble family in Denmark, and early entered the diplomatic service of his country. In due course of time he became secretary of legation to the Danish mission in England. He filled this post in circumstances peculiarly trying. In the year 1848 all Germany was revolutionized, and the dominions of the king of Denmark were invaded. Denmark was poor and weak; Schleswig-Holstein was powerful, with all Germany at its back. While the Danes prepared to repel the invaders at home, the ingenuity of their diplomatic agents abroad was taxed to the uttermost to combat the subtleties of the Schleswig-Holstein emissaries. None rendered his country more signal service than Rodolph de Bielke. It is to his indefatigable efforts that Denmark owes the formation of a proper judgment in England on the merits of the Schleswig-Holstein quarrel, the intricacies of which at one time threatened to weary the patience of Europe. On the death of Count Reventlow, M. de Bielke was appointed chargé-d'affaires in England, and shortly afterwards was appointed Danish minister at Berlin. Bielke was injured by an imprudent use of some German baths, and while travelling in Italy to recruit his health, was seized by cholera, and died at Padua, July 26, 1855.—(Gentleman's Magazine; Hardwicke's Annual Biography for 1856.)—E. W.  BIELKE,, a Swedish botanist and chemist, was born at Stockholm in 1709, and died on 13th July, 1754. He travelled much in Sweden, Russia, and other countries, and was instrumental in advancing the sciences and arts in Sweden. He devoted much attention to grasses, and was instrumental in publishing Floras of the Wolga, Tartary, and Moscow.—J. H. B. <section end="616H" /> <section begin="616I" />* BIELOWSKI, A., born in Galicia in 1806, a poet of considerable reputation, and cultivator of the national literature of Poland. He has also published some translations and biographies, and is a contributor to several periodicals. <section end="616I" /> <section begin="616J" />BIELSKI,, a Polish historian, born in 1495, who wrote several works, chiefly on history, which are held in estimation. His principal work is the "Kronica Polska," which contains the history of Poland from the earliest period down to the year 1576. It is valued for its authenticity. It would have been continued, but that he died the same year. He was considered an elegant and accurate writer. <section end="616J" /> <section begin="616K" />BIELSKI,, followed in the steps of his father, Martin, and continued the "Kronica Polska" down to the year 1597, when he published the whole in folio. He also wrote some poetical pieces. The historical chronicles of the two Bielskis are still the standard authority on Polish history.—J. F. W. <section end="616K" /> <section begin="616L" />BIENAISE,, a French surgeon, born at Magères in 1601, was received as master in surgery at the college of Saint-Côme, and soon acquired much celebrity as a bold and successful operator. He was the inventor of some valuable instruments. He accompanied Louis XIV. in two of his campaigns in Flanders. Bienaise died in 1681, leaving behind him a noble fortune, of which he bequeathed one portion to the poor, and another to the college of Saint-Côme, for the establishment of two professorships, one of anatomy, and one of surgery. His only work, which was not published until seven years after his death, is entitled "Les opérations de Chirurgie, par une mèthode courte et facile;" in it he not only gives excellent directions for the performance of many surgical operations, but condemns the numerous absurdities which prevailed in his time in the treatment of such cases.—W. S. D. <section end="616L" /> <section begin="616M" />BIENNE,, in Latin , a French printer, born at Paris; died 1588. He continued the impression of Demosthenes commenced by his predecessor, Worel, and published it in 1570, folio. He also published the New Testament in Syriac and Greek, with a Latin interlinear translation. <section end="616M" /> <section begin="616N" />BIENVILLE,, the second royal French governor of Louisiana, and the founder of New Orleans, was born at Quebec about 1680. He was the tenth of the eleven sons of Charles Lemoyne, Baron Longueil, of Canada, all of whom held commissions in the royal service, and acquired distinction. D'Iberville, the third son, is best known as the leader of the expedition which rediscovered the opening of the Mississippi into the Gulf, and founded the French colony of Louisiana. Bienville took the name of an older brother, who was killed by the Iroquois Indians. In 1699 he accompanied D'Iberville and Sauvolle, another of the brothers, in the expedition which carried out from France about two hundred emigrants, to establish a new French colony near the mouth of the Mississippi. Serigny and Chateaugué, two other brothers from this remarkable family, joined them not long afterwards. Young as he was, Bienville was much trusted by his brother, and his talents and bravery often rescued the feeble colony when it seemed on the verge of extinction. The settlement was begun at Biloxi, but was soon removed to the west side of Mobile river, near where the city of Mobile now stands. The death of Sauvolle left Bienville, when he was but twenty years old, in temporary command of the colony; and he continued to be its ruling spirit, often its actual governor, for more than forty years. The story of his life would be the history of Louisiana for that period. In 1716 he led an expedition against the Natchez Indians, and finished the fort, Rosalie, which D'Iberville had begun sixteen years before: upon the site of this fort is the present city of Natchez. He founded the city of New Orleans in 1718, and moved his head-quarters thither four years afterwards. His last military achievement was to lead an expedition against the Chickasaw Indians in 1739, in which he was successful, and concluded a treaty with them. Then he returned to France under unmerited censure from the government, which he had faithfully and admirably served for a long time. He died in Paris, March 7, 1767, and was buried with military honours at Montmartre.—F. B. <section end="616N" /> <section begin="616Zcontin" />BIEREY,, a musician, was born at Dresden in 1772, and died in Breslau in 1840. He studied composition and the pianoforte under Weinlig, in the canton of his native town, till he was seventeen years of age, by which time he had also acquired some skill on the violin and oboe. He was then engaged for five years in various itinerant companies, but had no settled appointment till 1794, when he became a member of a permanent operatic establishment, which gave performances in rotation at three or four of the secondary German cities. He retained this situation till 1806, having in the course of these twelve years produced with success his first two operas, "Der Schlaftrunk" and "Rosette." He now went to Vienna, where in 1807 he brought out "Wladimir," a serious opera, which gained for him such distinction that he was offered the advantageous post of music director at Breslau, upon which he entered the following year. He had the moral and technical qualifications for a good conductor, and he fulfilled his office with singular honour to himself, and great advantage to the art. <section end="616Zcontin" />