he lived at its nearby ‘twin' house of Jarrow.
Bede became one of the most learned and prolific authors in Europe, producing biblical commentaries, saints' Lives, studies of chronology and computation, and the Ecclesiastical History of the English People (completed 731). An outstanding historical source, the History narrates the progress of Christianity among Anglo‐Saxon kingdoms, and demonstrates how virtuous kings are rewarded on Earth. See also BENEDICT BISCOP; NORTHUMBRIA.
BEDFORD, 4TH DUKE OF
(b. 30 Sept. 1710 at Streatham, Surrey, England; d. 15 Jan. 1771 at London, England, aged 60). John Russell, a WHIG, succeeded as duke in 1732. Following the fall of Robert WALPOLE (1742), he was a reforming first lord of the Admiralty (1744–8), (southern) SECRETARY OF STATE (1748–51), lord lieutenant of Ireland (1755–61), and lord PRIVY SEAL (1761–3). In Sept. 1762 he was sent to Paris, France, by the earl of BUTE to negotiate a treaty to end the SEVEN YEARS WAR.
Bedford became president of the Council in the ministry of George GRENVILLE (1763). He feared that Bute remained influential with King GEORGE III and sought to have him banned from office. Bedford was dismissed in 1765. Some of his followers joined the ministry of William PITT the Elder in late 1767.
BEDFORD, JOHN DUKE OF
(b. 20 June 1389 in England; d. 14 Sept. 1435 at Rouen, Normandy, aged 46). John of Lancaster, first brother of King HENRY V, was created duke of Bedford in 1414. After Henry renewed war against France (1415; see HUNDRED YEARS WAR), Bedford served as ‘lieutenant’ (regent) in England in 1415, 1417–19, 1421–2. He defeated a Franco‐Genoese fleet off Harfleur in 1416, and campaigned in France 1420–1. When HENRY VI succeeded (1 Sept. 1422), Bedford became heir presumptive and ‘protector’.
As the young king’s regent in France, Bedford married (1423) Anne, sister of Philip, duke of BURGUNDY, a union intended to cement the Anglo‐Burgundian alliance. He strengthened England’s hold on Normandy, achieving a heavy defeat of Franco‐Scots forces at Verneuil (17 Aug. 1424). He was recalled to England to resolve disputes between (his brother) the duke of GLOUCESTER and (his uncle) Henry BEAUFORT (1425–7), and his regency was suspended 1430–2 for Henry’s coronation in Paris.
The English position in France weakened after defeat at ORLÉANS (1429). Bedford returned to England to obtain reinforcements (1433–4). Peace negotiations began but failed at the Congress of ARRAS (Aug.–Sept. 1435), with the Burgundian alliance also ending. Bedford died soon afterwards. See also WOODVILLE FAMILY.
‘BEECHING REPORT’Popular name for a plan for the modernization of Great Britain’s nationalized RAILWAYS (full title, The Reshaping of British Railways), published 1963, which was prepared by Richard Beeching, chairman of the British Railways Board. Beeching proposed closure of 280 economically unviable lines and 1850 stations to restore profitability. The 18,000 route mi (28,800 km) of railways were reduced by 1969 to 12,000 mi (19,200 km), and stations from 7000 to 3000.BEHN, APHRA(b. 14 Dec. 1640 in Kent, England; d. 16 April 1689 at London, England, aged 48). Behn possibly served as a Royalist spy in the 1650s, and in 1666 was an agent for Lord ARLINGTON in Antwerp (Spanish Netherlands). A playwright from 1670, she had at least 19 plays staged, including The Rover (1677) about a comic rake. Many reflected strong Royalist views. She became a TORY propagandist during the EXCLUSION CRISIS (1679–81). From 1684 Behn published prose fiction, including Oronooko (1688), a story which attacked slavery. See also ENGLISH LITERATURE, ENGLAND.BELFAST
The capital city of Northern Ireland, by the R. Lagan; from Irish Béal Feirste, meaning ‘Mouth of Farset stream’.
Belfast town was developed from 1603 by the English soldier Sir Arthur CHICHESTER (granted charter of self‐government by King JAMES VI/I in 1613). In the later 17th century it became the centre of the rural Ulster LINEN INDUSTRY and an important port (Ireland’s fourth‐largest town in 1680s).
Late 18th‐century Belfast became an industrial centre. Cotton‐spinning factories flourished in and around Belfast c.1780–1870s. (By 1811, 15 of 33 Belfast factories were steam powered.) Flax‐spinning mills operated from the 1820s (29 by 1850), and linen weaving was mechanized in factories from the 1850s. SHIP BUILDING became substantial with the expansion of Harland and Wolff (from 1860s). By the 1880s Belfast produced a third of Ireland’s net industrial output and two‐thirds of industrial exports. It received city status in 1888 and became the capital of NORTHERN IRELAND in 1921.
Aircraft manufacturing was started in 1937, but Belfast’s economy declined from the 1960s and life was disrupted 1969– c.2000 by sectarian conflict (see TROUBLES). See also INDUSTRY, NORTHERN IRELAND.
Est. popn: 1800, 20,000; 1900, 349,000; 2000, 280,000.
BELFAST AGREEMENTSigned on 10 April 1998 (Good Friday) at BELFAST, Northern Ireland, by representatives of the British and Irish governments and of eight political parties; part of Northern Ireland’s PEACE PROCESS. It provided for an elected ASSEMBLY and devolved power‐sharing EXECUTIVE in Northern Ireland; bodies representing both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland; and a British–Irish Council. Prisoners associated with PARAMILITARY ORGANIZATIONS would be released, and the Republic would revoke its constitutional claim on Northern Ireland. The Agreement was endorsed by referendums in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on 22 May. See also NORTHERN IRELAND.BELGAEA confederation of Gallic tribes in NW Europe (between the Rivers Rhine, Seine and Marne) which was defeated by the Roman general CAESAR (57, 52 BC). Commius, leader of the Atrebates tribe, fled to Britain, establishing a Belgic kingdom of the Atrebates in S Britain. His son Verica's expulsion by the CATUVELLAUNI provided the pretext for the Roman invasion of AD 43 (see CLAUDIAN INVASION). In Roman Britain (1st–5th centuries), the Atrebates' territory comprised two civitates, named for the Atrebates and Belgae (see CIVITAS). See also IRON AGE TRIBES, BRITAIN; WINCHESTER.BELGIUM (SOUTHERN NETHERLANDS), ENGLISH AND BRITISH RELATIONS WITH
From 1689 England (Great Britain from 1707) fought repeatedly to prevent French domination of the (largely Catholic) southern Netherlands (Spanish ruled to 1714, then Austrian ruled). But they were conquered by the French in 1794 (annexed 1795). In 1815, following the fall of the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, the British foreign secretary Viscount CASTLEREAGH arranged their unification with the (mainly Protestant) northern (Dutch) NETHERLANDS in a ‘United Kingdom of the Netherlands’. When the southern Netherlands revolted in 1830, Lord PALMERSTON recognized their independence, as ‘Belgium’, rather than drive them into the arms of FRANCE. Having forced a Dutch withdrawal, he later sponsored international guarantees of neutrality (by treaty of London, 1839).
Revulsion at King Leopold’s misrule in the Belgian Congo was overlaid when Germany invaded Belgium on 4 Aug. 1914, in violation of the 1839 treaty. This became the immediate cause of British entry into WORLD WAR I. Belgian troops operated with the Allies (1914–18). Having guaranteed the Belgian–German frontier under the treaty of LOCARNO (1925), Britain briefly intervened in May 1940 (early in WORLD WAR II), following sudden Belgian capitulation to Germany. British forces participated in Belgium’s liberation in 1944, and from 1949 both countries were allies within the NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION.
BELIZEsee BRITISH HONDURASBELL, ALEXANDER GRAHAM
(b. 3 March 1847 at Edinburgh, Scotland; d. 2 Aug. 1922 at Beinn Bhreagh, Nova Scotia, Canada, aged 75). After brief periods in Scotland and England as a teacher, university student and elocutionist, Bell emigrated with his parents to CANADA (1870). He moved to the USA, becoming professor of vocal physiology and elocution at Boston University (1873) and a citizen (1874).
Interested in telegraphy and familiar
