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 BARL^EUS BARLEY 315 ladies were among its abbesses. The abbess of Barking was one of the four persons who were baronesses ex officio. Under Henry VIII. it was suppressed and the abbess and nuns were pensioned, and Charles I. sold the estate. Hardly a vestige of the building remains. i:KL Kis. Caspar. See BAEBLE. BAR-LE-DUC, or Bar-snr-Ornain, the capital of the department of Meuse, France, and in the middle ages of the duchy of Bar, on the Bar-le-Duc. Ornain, 125 m. E. of Paris, on the railway from Paris to Strasburg, and the canal from the Marne to the Rhine; pop. in 1866, 15,334. The old town was anciently fortified, with a strong castle of the dukes of Lorraine, the ruins of which are yet to be seen, and had some historical importance, being the capital of the duchy of Bar, and the birthplace of Francis, duke of Guise, surnamed le alafre, of Marshal Oudinot, and Gen. Excelmans. It contains some old public buildings; in one of the churches is the celebrated monument of Ren6 de Chalons, prince of Orange, by Richier, pupil of Michel Angelo. The new town, which stands lower on the river bank, has establish- ments for manufacturing cotton stuffs, hand- kerchiefs, hosiery, hats, and jewelry, with tan- neries. Its preserved fruits, and especially its confitures de groseillei, are highly esteemed, as well as its sparkling wine. The Ornain being navigable from the town, it has a considerable trade in forwarding timber, wine, and other articles for the supply of Paris. BARLETTA, a walled town and seaport of S. Italy, in the province of Terra di Bari, on the Adriatic, 33 m. N. W. of Bari; pop. in 1872, 28,163. It has wide streets, a colossal bronze statue supposed to be of the emperor Heraclius, and a Gothic cathedral in which Ferdinand I. of Aragon was crowned. There is a good har- bor, partly artificial, and considerable com- merce is carried on with Greece and the Ionian Islands. Barletta is supposed to occupy the site of a Greek town called Bardnli. While it was besieged by the French in 1503, a combat was fought by challenge between 13 French and 13 Italian cavaliers, respectively under Bayard and Prospero Colonna. At the first collision seven of the French knights were unhorsed, but Bayard and his remaining com- rades fought with such skill that the tour- nament ended as a drawn battle. BARLETTA, GabrMlo, an Italian preacher, born at Barletta, liv- ed in the second half of the 15th century. He was a Benedictine monk, and rendered himself very famous both by his eloquence and eccentricity. He had a habit of inserting between the clauses of the liturgy practical comments and sharp personal illustrations. Though his style of preaching was not in good taste, it was very effective, and the es- teem in which he was held was expressed by the proverb, Neseitprm- dicare, qui neseit bar- lettare. A collection of his sermons passed through about 20 editions. BARLEY (hordeum), a grain more widely dis- tributed and generally used than any other, and from the most remote tunes an important article of the food of man. Pliny speaks of it as the first grain cultivated for nourishment. It is adapted to hot and cold climates, in the for- Hordeum vulgare. Hordeum hexastichom. mer being obtained in two successive crops in a season. Where it originated is not known, but the plant grows wild in Sicily and the in-