and remained justiciar. From Oct. 1221 he was pre‐eminent in the government, having sidelined Peter des ROCHES. He also married Margaret, sister of ALEXANDER II of Scotland (his second marriage).
After Henry took power (Jan. 1227), he made de Burgh earl of Kent (Feb.) and confirmed the justiciarship for life (1228). But on 29 July 1232 Henry dismissed de Burgh for allegedly inciting anti‐Italian riots. Imprisoned, he later escaped and was pardoned. See also BURGH OR BURKE FAMILY, IRELAND.
BURGHAL HIDAGEName given to a memorandum which lists: (a) 30 BURHS (fortified places), mainly in WESSEX (S England), (b) the HIDES allocated for the maintenance and manning of each burh's defences (due from estates). It probably dates from after 914 (in the reign of EDWARD THE ELDER). The list demonstrates the sophistication of royal government in Anglo‐Saxon England. See also THREE PUBLIC SERVICES.BURGH OR BURKE FAMILY, IRELAND
An Anglo‐Irish noble family, descended from the Englishman William de Burgh (d. 1205) who arrived in Ireland in 1185 (with Prince JOHN) and received land in MUNSTER (S Ireland, 1185) and title to CONNACHT (W Ireland, c.1194). His son Richard (d. 1243) was granted most of Connacht (1227, forfeited 1232–4). Richard's second successor Walter (d. 1271) received the earldom of Ulster in 1263 from the Lord Edward (see EDWARD I AND IRELAND). His son Richard, the ‘Red Earl' (c.1259–1326, minor until 1280), was pre‐eminent in Ireland and fought the BRUCE INVASION. Richard's grandson and successor William de Burgh (1312–33) left an heiress who married Lionel, son of King Edward III. Lionel was recognized as earl of Ulster and was later sent to Ireland (see IRELAND, ENGLISH EXPEDITIONS TO, LATE 14TH CENTURY).
After the murder of William de Burgh (1333), most of his estates in Connacht were retained by kinsmen who established their own landed families. By the mid 15th century Gaelicized Burgh families were predominant in Connacht. Later descendants included the earls of Clanricarde (descendants of Ulick de Burgh, created earl 1543, d. 1544) and the political philosopher Edmund BURKE.
BURGH REFORM ACTSTwo Acts of the UK Parliament, 1833, which reformed town government in Scotland. They followed the first Scottish REFORM ACT (1832) and preceded the MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS ACT for England and Wales (1835). The Royal Burghs (Scotland) Act instituted elected councils in royal burghs using the burgh franchise introduced in 1832 for parliamentary elections, thus ending ‘closed corporations’ (self‐perpetuating councils). The Parliamentary Burghs (Scotland) Act implemented similar arrangements in newly created parliamentary burghs. See also TOWN GOVERNMENT, SCOTLAND.BURGUNDY, ENGLISH RELATIONS WITH
In the late 14th and 15th centuries the Valois dukes of Burgundy, with lands in France and the Netherlands, were important for England, which had strong economic ties with the Netherlands. There were four dukes: Philip the Bold (duke 1363–1404), John the Fearless (1404–19); Philip the Good (1419–67), Charles the Bold (1467–77). After Charles’s death, the Burgundian lands were contested. Charles’s heiress, Mary, married Maximilian of Austria (1477), and eventually the main northern lands (Artois, Flanders) were annexed to the HABSBURG EMPIRE (1493).
In France, a quarrel from 1404 between John the Fearless and Louis, duke of Orléans, developed into civil war between so‐called ‘Burgundians’ and ‘Armagnacs’ (1410). The dissension facilitated King HENRY V’s invasion of France (1415; see HUNDRED YEARS WAR). After John the Fearless was murdered (1419) by agents of the French dauphin (heir to the king), Philip the Good allied with the English and affirmed the treaty of TROYES (1420). The alliance was strengthened by marriage of Philip’s sister Anne to John, duke of BEDFORD (1423), but endangered when Humphrey, duke of GLOUCESTER, sought lands in the Netherlands claimed by Philip (1424–5). Philip abandoned the alliance in 1435 (see ARRAS, CONGRESS OF).
In 1468 EDWARD IV of England made a marriage alliance, whereby his sister Margaret of York (1446–1503) married Charles the Bold. Edward and Charles agreed (1474) that Edward would invade France in pursuit of the English claim to the French Crown and cede territory to Charles. Though invasion followed (1475), Edward was bought off by the French king (see PICQUIGNY, TREATY OF).
Margaret became dowager duchess when Charles the Bold died (1477). Following the accession of HENRY VII in England (1485), her court was a place of refuge (until 1496) for Henry’s YORKIST opponents, and she supported Perkin WARBECK.
BURH
OE term for a fortified centre. It was notably used for the forts and fortified towns founded by King ALFRED (ruled 871–99) to defend WESSEX (S England) against VIKINGS. More burhs were founded by EDWARD THE ELDER (ruled 899–924) and ÆTHELFLÆD (ruler of MERCIA 911–18).
During the 10th century ‘burh' became increasingly synonymous with royal urban centres with mints and markets. By the 14th century it had developed into the ME term BOROUGH, which often denoted a self‐governing town. See also BURGHAL HIDAGE; TOWN GOVERNMENT, ENGLAND.
BURKE, EDMUND
(b. 1 Jan. 1729 or 1730 at Dublin, Ireland; d. 9 July 1797 at Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England, aged 67 or 68). After graduating from Trinity College, Dublin, and studying law in England (from 1750), Burke became a prolific writer. He was secretary to the 2nd marquess of ROCKINGHAM from 1764, and an MP 1765–94, mostly in opposition. His rhetoric much influenced the ROCKINGHAM WHIGS. Burke himself attacked the alleged ‘secret influence’ of the Crown; he advocated conciliation with the rebellious N American colonies in the 1760s–70s; and as paymaster‐general in 1782 he achieved some ECONOMICAL REFORM. Also interested in India, in 1787 he instigated the impeachment of Warren HASTINGS.
Burke is best known for his Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), a denunciation which became an influential expression of CONSERVATISM. See also BURGH OR BURKE FAMILY, IRELAND; FRENCH REVOLUTION, IMPACT ON ENGLAND.
BURMAA former British territory in SE Asia. British India annexed the kingdom of Burma in three stages: after wars in 1824–6, 1852 and 1885. Burma was governed as a province of INDIA until 1937, when it became a separate CROWN COLONY with limited self‐government. The British expanded rice growing and forestry. Burma was occupied by the Japanese 1942–5, during WORLD WAR II, though part was recaptured in 1945. Independence was granted in 1948, when Burma became a republic outside the COMMONWEALTH. It changed its name to Myanmar in 1989. Approx. population in 1921, 13,212,000; in 1947, 18,000,000. See also ORWELL, GEORGE; WINGATE, ORDE.BURNET, ALEXANDER(bap. 6 Aug. 1615 at Edinburgh, SE Scotland; d. 22 Aug. 1684 at St Andrews, Scotland, aged 69). Burnet served as a priest in the Church of England until ejected by Parliamentarians for Royalist sympathies (1650). After the RESTORATION (1660) he was appointed bishop of ABERDEEN (1663), then archbishop of GLASGOW (1664). Although he implemented government policy by persecuting COVENANTERS in W Scotland, he opposed the 1669 Act of Supremacy (making the king head of the Church of SCOTLAND) and was deposed. He was restored in 1674 and became archbishop of ST ANDREWS in 1679.BURNS, JOHN(b. 20 Oct. 1858 at London, England; d. 24 Jan. 1943 at London, aged 84). Burns, who left school aged ten, was an Independent Labour MP 1892–1918. He co‐operated with the Liberals, and became the first working‐class member of the British CABINET as president of the Local Government Board (1905–14, serving under Henry CAMPBELL‐BANNERMAN and H.H. ASQUITH). Opposition to war prompted his resignation in Aug. 1914 (see WORLD WAR I).BURNS, ROBERT(b. 25 Jan. 1759 at Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland; d. 21 July 1796 at Dumfries, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, aged 37). Scotland's national poet. A son of a market gardener (later farmer), Burns became famous with the publication of Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (1786) and was lionized by EDINBURGH literati. He also collected folk songs and wrote songs to old tunes. After failing as a farmer, he was an EXCISE man in Dumfries (from 1791). His works satirize social divisions and CALVINISM, and celebrate love. From 1801 Burns clubs were founded, which began the tradition of holding ‘Burns
