Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/877

 TRANSYLVANIA rians, Avars, Petchenegs, and other tribes, and in the 10th and llth centuries conquered by the Hungarians, who ruled it by waywodes, for a time disputing its possession with the Cumans. Having shared the fate of Hungary for centuries, it became an independent prin- cipality during the Turkish-Austrian wars in the early part of the 16th century, and was ruled among others by the Zapolyas, the Ba- thoris, Bocskay, Bethlen, the Rak6czys, and the Apafis, until it was finally annexed to Austria in 1713. (See HUNGARY, vol. ix., pp. 57-61, BATHORI, BETHLEN, RAK6czY, and ZA- POLTA.) The antagonism between the Rou- mans and Magyars, which in 1848 led to a bloody rising of the former, has not entirely subsided, and more or less secret agitations in favor of a union of Transylvania with Rou- mania, the united countries to form a strong Dacian realm, not unfrequently alarm the Hun- garian government. The Saxons, too, hold themselves in opposition to the leadership of the Hungarians. On the E. and S. frontiers the people down to a late date held their land under the tenure of protecting the country against foreign aggression in these directions, the hardy and warlike Szeklers in the east con- stituting the principal strength of this military frontier organization. See "Transylvania, its Products and its People," by Charles Boner (London, 1865), and Voyage aux regions mi- nieres de la Transylvanie occidental, by Eli- see Reclus (Paris, 1873). TRANSYLVANIA, a S. "W. county of North Carolina, bordering on South Carolina; area, about 475 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 3,536, of whom 309 were colored. It contains the sources of the French Broad river, and is almost entirely surrounded and occupied by mountains. The soil of the valleys is fertile and well adapted to stock raising. The chief productions in 1870 were 12,476 bushels of rye, 95,633 of Indian corn, 8,142 of Irish and 3,101 of sweet pota- toes, 18,844 Ibs. of wool, 6,301 of tobacco, and 24,129 of butter. There were 504 horses, 1,197 milch cows, 2,712 other cattle, 4,721 sheep, and 6,490 swine. Capital, Brevard. TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. See LEXING- TON, Ky. TRAP (Swed. trappa, a stair), a class of vol- canic rocks, so named because of the stair-like appearance they often present. There are several kinds of trap rocks, distinguished by their chemical composition and physical char- acter. They are composed mainly of feldspar and hornblende, in varying proportions and states of aggregation, with sometimes augite, chrysolite, and other minerals in smaller quan- tities. The most important among the trap rocks are the basalts, amygdaloids, greenstones, and dolerites. They are therefore chiefly di- vided into felstone traps and hornblende traps, the principal variety of the latter being green- stone. Hypersthene rock is made up of La- brador feldspar and hypersthene, a variety of hornblende ; it is abundant in the isle of Skye. 794 VOL. xv. 54 TRAPPISTS 847 TRAPANI. I. A province of Sicily, compri- sing the W. extremity of the island, bounded E. by Palermo and Girgenti, and on the other sides by the Mediterranean; area, 1,214 sq. m. ; pop. in 1872, 236,388. The coast line is irregular, and there are several bays, the lar- gest of which is the gulf of Castellamare. The most important of the numerous islands off the W. coast are the three anciently called the ^Egates, viz., Favignana, Levanzo, and Mari- time. The surface of Trapani is traversed by several offsets from the Madonian mountains. The soil is generally fertile. II. A city (anc. Drepanum or Drepana), capital of the prov- ince, on a peninsula which extends into the Mediterranean, 46 m. W. S. W. of Palermo ; pop. in 1872, 33,634. It has a small harbor protected by a fort. The churches are exceed- ingly numerous, and there is a lyceum, a gym- nasium, and an archaeological museum endowed in 1875 by Cavaliere Depoli. The salt works and fisheries are of some importance. Drepa- num was founded by Hamilcar during the first Punic war, about 260 B. C., who transferred hither the inhabitants of the neighboring Eryx ; and it remained one of the chief strongholds of the Carthaginians throughout this war. Off its port they gained a great naval victory under Adherbal in 249, destroying nearly the whole Roman fleet ; and it was in attempting to raise its siege by the Roman consul Catulus in 241, that their ships under Hanno suffered off the island of Favignana (anc. ^Egma) the defeat which ended the war. TRAPEZES. See TREBIZOND. TRAPPISTS, a branch of the Cistercian or- der famed for the austere reform inaugura- ted by De Ranee, abbot of La Trappe. (See RANGE.) This monastery is near Mortagne, in the French department of Orne. It was found- ed in 1140 by Rotrou II., count of Perche, who gave it to a colony of Benedictine monks from Savigny. In 1148 St. Bernard affiliated it to Clairvaux, and its inmates became famous for piety. During the incessant wars between the French and the English, the monks were fre- quently plundered and dispersed, till toward the close of the 15th century their long en- forced absence from the monastery gradually weakened the habits of regular observance, and reduced their numbers to less than 20. Francis I. gave the ruined abbey in commen- dam to Cardinal du Bellay ; and thenceforward all religious fervor and discipline were at an end. In the beginning of the reign of Louis XIV. only seven monks remained, whose li- centious habits caused them to be called " the brigands of La Trappe." On July 13, 1664, De Ranee was consecrated abbot of La Trappe in the cathedral of Seez, by Oliver Plunket, archbishop of Armagh. The old monks who did not wish to adopt the severe life inaugu- rated by the abbot were allowed to depart, and were pensioned out of De Ranee's patri- mony; and, after much opposition from the other 'Cistercian monasteries, and six years