See Illicit Diamond Buying.

Iconoclasts.

This name was first given to the followers of Leo III, Emperor of the East, who in 726 interdicted the worship of images. The opposition of a considerable section of his subjects did not deter him from carrying his principles into effect, and what is known as the Iconoclast War was the result. The same title is applied to the more militant Huguenots in France in 1560 and 1561, who, wherever they obtained the upper hand, ruthlessly destroyed the statues which adorned the churches and monasteries, and also to a section of the Puritans during the English Civil War.

Iglau, Treaty of.

A treaty between the Hussites and the Emperor Sigismund, signed in 1436, putting an end to the Hussite War. It was based upon the Compactata of Prague, and secured to the Hussites the free exercise of their religion on the lines of that document.

Ilbert Bill.

A bill introduced in the Legislative Council of India by Mr. Ilbert in 1883 “to amend the criminal jurisdiction over British subjects.” It largely extended the jurisdiction of native magistrates in the trial of Europeans, and was most bitterly criticised by the Anglo-Indian community, especially by planters and others living in remote districts.

Illicit Diamond Buying.

An illegal trade in diamonds carried on by certain speculators in Kimberley, who purchased from the employÉs of the Diamond companies rough diamonds which they had secreted in the process of washing. It was largely checked by the Diamond Trade Act of 1882. This illicit trade is generally known as I.D.B.

Illuminati.

A famous sect of German mystics, founded at Ingolstadt by Adam Weisshaupt in 1776. It undertook a crusade against Jesuitism and Church domination generally, but did not hold aloof from politics, its higher initiates being professed Republicans. It was suppressed by the Elector of Bavaria in 1785.

Immigrants Restriction Bill.

A bill passed in 1901 by the Federal Parliament of Australia in response to the outcry for a “White Australia.” It prohibits the immigration of all coloured labour, including the South Sea Islanders, or Kanakas. This restriction has caused much concern in Northern Queensland, where the climate is not suitable for white labour, and its enforcement will destroy the sugar and other industries and render the country almost valueless.

Imparani, Treaty of.

A treaty signed in 1866 after the Basuto War of 1865-66 between the Orange Free State and Molapo, the son of Moshesh. Molapo surrendered to the Free State the greater part of his country, and became a vassal of the State. He further bound himself to render no assistance to any other Basuto chief who might rise against the Free State.

Imperial Chamber.

See Reichskammergericht.

Imperial Federation Enabling Act.

An Act passed in 1885 to facilitate the federation of the Australasian Colonies. (See Federal Council.)

Importants.

The party who supported the Regent, Anne of Austria, during the minority of Louis XIV. They strongly opposed Mazarin’s policy, but the cardinal succeeded in embroiling them with the queen, thanks to feminine intrigues, and their leaders were imprisoned or banished.

Impositions.

Illegal additions to the authorized customs duties, levied by James I without the consent of Parliament. They were among the grievances detailed in the Petition of Grievances in 1610.

In Coena Domini, Bull.

A Bull issued at intervals during the Middle Ages, and annually on Holy Thursday from 1627 to 1770. It was a summary of the offences against the Church and the priesthood, and of the ecclesiastical censures pronounced against them. The sovereigns of Europe regarded this Bull as an infringement of their rights, and it was in consequence of their continued protests that Clement XIV ceased to promulgate it.

In Eminenti, Bull.

A Bull of Urban VII, issued in 1642, condemning the “Augustinus” of Jansen as heretical.

Incas.

The ruling family of the ancient Peruvians up to the conquest of Peru by Pizarro in 1531. They claimed to be descended from the Sun-God.

Incident, The.

A plot, discovered during the visit of Charles I to Scotland in 1641, to kill or kidnap Argyle and Hamilton. The king was suspected of being privy to it, though he strenuously denied it.

Incorruptible, The.

The name given by his followers to Robespierre.

Indemnity and Oblivion, Act of.

An Act passed at the Restoration in 1660, granting a free pardon to those who had been in arms against the king, with the exception of the Regicides and Sir Harry Vane and General Lambert, and settling in favour of bon fide holders all claims to land acquired during the Commonwealth.

Independence.

See Declaration.

Independents.

A sect of extreme Puritans, originally identified with the Brownists. They afterwards became a political party, holding more advanced views than the Presbyterians, who represented a conservative form of republicanism, and ultimately, under the leadership of Cromwell and with the aid of the army, which was mainly officered by them, they became the predominant party in the state.

Index Expurgatorius.

The list of books the perusal of which is forbidden to devout Catholics. The first index was drawn up by Paul IV in 1555 to prevent the diffusion of heretical opinions through the writings of the Reformers.

India Act, Pitt’s.

An Act passed in 1784 by which all political power was taken from the East India Company and vested in a Board of Control nominated by the Government. The Company retained all its patronage, excepting the appointment of Commander-in-Chief and some other high posts, and their commercial rights under their Charter were not interfered with.

Indian National Congress.

An annual congress of natives of India, with some few Europeans, whose object is to promote the extension to India of Western political institutions, such as representative government. The first congress met at Allahabad in 1888, and was attended by a few Mohammedans, but it has now fallen almost entirely into the hands of the Bengali Babus.

Indians, Apostle of the.

The name given to Bartolomeo de las Casas (1474-1566), the Spanish ecclesiastic who devoted his life to the amelioration of the condition of the South American Indians.

Indies, Apostle of the.

St. Francis Xavier, the famous Jesuit missionary to India in the sixteenth century is so called.

Indies, Council of the.

A supreme court for American affairs, established in Spain by Ferdinand in 1511 and reorganized by Charles V in 1524. The council promulgated all the laws relating to the government of the colonies and appointed to all colonial offices under the Crown.

Indulgence.

A measure of toleration granted to the Scottish Presbyterians in 1669, by which their ministers were permitted to preach in vacant parishes and received some pecuniary aid from the Government. This measure, however, did nothing to reconcile the more bigoted members of the Church, who continued their resistance to all State control. The Indulgence was soon withdrawn.

Indulgence.

See Declaration.

Indulgences.

Forms of absolution granted by Leo X, which were openly sold by his agents, the proceeds of the sale being devoted to the completion of St. Peter’s at Rome. It was the sale of these by Tetzel in 1517, in the dominions of the Elector of Saxony, which called forth Luther’s vehement protest, and was the beginning of the Reformation in Germany.

Ineffabilis Deus, Bull.

The Bull of Pius IX, issued in 1854, by which the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin was proclaimed as an article of the Catholic faith.

Inexorable Families.

The old aristocratic families of Virginia, who were expected, during the War of Independence, to show British sympathies, but earned the name of “Inexorable” by their staunch adherence to the national cause.

Infallible.

A title assumed by the Pope Pelagius (578-590).

Infante.

The title of the eldest son of the Spanish Sovereign.

Infernal Legion.

A body of irregular troops, composed of desperadoes of all nations, organized by Bover on the side of the Royalists during the revolt of the Spanish American Colonies in 1814.

Initiative.

Under the Swiss Constitution, the right of the people to initiate proposals for the enactment, repeal or amendment of a law. Fifty thousand signatures are required to make the demand operative.

Inquisition.

A tribunal to inquire into and suppress heresy, established by Innocent III at the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215. It was introduced into Germany in 1231, but abolished in 1234, and never again restored. In Italy it was successful in stamping out heresy, but it is in Spain that its tyranny was most notorious, an auto-de-fÉ having been held in that country as late as 1826. Its administration was entrusted to the Dominican Order.

Instrument of Government.

A document issued by Cromwell in 1653 by which he took the title of Protector. He was to be assisted by a Council of State of fifteen members, and a new Parliament was to be elected, to number 400, with a £200 qualification both for members and electors. No Parliament was to be dissolved unless it had sat for five months, and Parliaments were to be triennial.

Insurrection Act.

An Act passed by the Irish Parliament in 1796 empowering the Government to declare any county to be in a state of insurrection, whereupon the officials had the right to search for arms and to imprison persons found abroad between sunset and sunrise.

Insurrection of Women.

An outbreak of the women of Paris on October 5, 1789. They broke into the armoury of the HÔtel de Ville, and, having armed themselves, marched to Versailles, to demand speech of the king. The result of the rising was the return of the king to Paris, which took place on the following day.

Inter Gravissimas, Bull.

The Bull of Gregory XIII, issued in 1582, ordaining the use of the new calendar throughout Christendom.

Interdict.

The proclamation issued by Innocent III in 1208 against John and the realm of England. It forbade all services of the Church, except Baptism and Supreme Unction, and only permitted the burial of the dead in unconsecrated ground. In the following year the Interdict was followed by the excommunication of John.

Interim of Leipsic.

A modification of the Interim of Ratisbon, issued by Charles V in December, 1548, and accepted by Melancthon on behalf of the Lutherans.

Interim of Ratisbon.

A system of doctrine issued by Charles V in May, 1548, as an attempt to reconcile the differences dividing the religious world. While retaining all the salient doctrines of Catholicism, it permitted certain modifications in practice and ritual calculated to conciliate the Protestants. It did not, however, succeed in pleasing either party.

Intermarriage Act.

One of the laws of the Irish Penal Code, which provided that a man who married a Catholic should be regarded as a Papist and subject to all their disabilities, while a woman so marrying should be dead to the law.

International African Association.

An international commission formed at the Brussels Conference in 1876, with the object of exploring Central Africa. It resulted in the formation of the Congo Free State in 1885.

International, The.

An association of working men, founded in London in 1864, the original statutes of the society being drawn up by the German Socialist leader Marx. It was intended as a centre of combination for all workmen’s societies and unions of every nation, but disclaimed any desire to interfere with them individually. In 1872 a split occurred in the society between the Marxists and the followers of the Anarchist Bakunin, and the International soon after ceased to exist as an organization.

Intransigentes.

The extreme revolutionary party in the southern towns of Spain in 1873.

Invincible Armada.

The name given by the Spaniards to the great Spanish and Portuguese fleet dispatched by Philip II for the conquest of England in 1588. After being harried by the English ships under Howard of Effingham, Drake, Frobisher and others, it was finally dispersed by violent storms in the North Sea, and out of 130 ships only 53 returned to Spain.

Invincibles.

An Irish secret society, with headquarters in America, which became notorious in 1882 as having provided the assassins of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr. Burke. Those immediately concerned in the murder were brought to justice, but the heads of the society, including Tynan, the famous No. 1, were never made amenable.

Ionian Islands, Cession of.

By a treaty between Great Britain and Greece, signed in 1864, these islands were ceded to Greece.

Irish Board of Agriculture.

A new department established in Ireland in 1897, independent of the Castle and the Irish Office. Its first president was Mr. Horace Plunket.

Irish Charter.

The Charter granted to the Irish settlers by Henry III on his accession. It was practically a recital of the clauses of Magna Charta, with such variations as were rendered necessary by the different conditions.

Irish Church Act, Althorp’s.

An Act passed in 1833 abolishing the Church fees, which were paid by all, whether Churchmen, Catholics or Dissenters, and reducing the number of Irish bishops from twenty-two to twelve.

Irish Church Disestablishment.

An Act for the disestablishment and partial disendowment of the Irish Church was passed by Mr. Gladstone’s Government in 1869. The Irish bishops lost their seats in the House of Lords, the Irish Ecclesiastical Courts were abolished, and the union between the English and Irish Churches dissolved. The future government of the Irish Church was entrusted to a synod elected by the clergy and laity. Of the Church property, valued at about sixteen millions, seven millions were used to compensate incumbents and to replace the Maynooth Grant and the Regium Donum.

Irish Land Act, 1870.

An Act passed by Mr. Gladstone’s Government giving for the first time a legal status to the Ulster custom and extending it to all tenancies in Ireland. The Act provided for compensation for disturbance and compensation for improvements in the event of the landlord determining a tenancy, and enacted that improvements should be deemed to be the tenant’s, the onus of proof to the contrary being thrown upon the landlord.

Irish Land Act, 1881.

This Act, passed in 1881, introduced the principle of judicial interference between landlord and tenant. It permitted the sale of tenant right and allowed the tenant to apply to the Court to fix a judicial rent, such rent to hold good for fifteen years. It made certain alterations, in the tenant’s favour, in the law relating to compensation for improvements. It further established a Land Commission with power (1) to advance money to tenants for the purchase of their holdings, and (2) under certain conditions to purchase whole estates from the landlords.

Irish Land Act, 1885.

An Act known as Lord Ashbourne’s Act, giving additional facilities for the purchase by tenants of their holdings. An advance of £5,000,000 was made to the Land Commissioners for this purpose, while the terms to purchasers were more generous than those of the Bill of 1881. The purchase money was to be advanced at 4 per cent., and be repayable in forty-nine years, while the surplus of the Disestablished Church funds was to be used as a guarantee to the State against loss.

Irish Land Act, 1896.

An Act amending and consolidating the previous Land Acts and dealing specially with the case of “Town Parks.” It introduced no new principle, and though the Nationalists tried to secure the valuation of these holdings at prairie value, the Government carried in the main their plan for an equitable division between landlord and tenant of any increase of value due to situation.

Irish Land Conference.

A conference held in Dublin in January, 1903, known also as the Dunraven Conference, between representatives of the Irish Landlords and the tenants, under the presidency of Lord Dunraven. The conference issued a unanimous report recommending the abolition of dual ownership by means of a comprehensive scheme of land purchase. They proposed that the landlords should be bought out at a price based on their present income from rent, and that the tenants should purchase at from 15 per cent. to 25 per cent. less, the balance being found by the State, which would also advance the purchase money, to be repaid by instalments.

Irish National League.

An association formed in Dublin in 1882, after the suppression of the Land League, to unite all sections of Irish Nationalists.

Irish Society.

A society formed by twelve of the City Companies of London to colonize lands in Ulster forfeited from O’Neill and O’Donnell. They were granted a charter by James I in 1613, which was suspended in 1637 but restored in 1670.

Irish Volunteers, Society of.

See Friends of Ireland.

Iron Chancellor.

A sobriquet of Prince Bismarck.

Iron Chest.

A secret closet in the bedchamber of Louis XVI. Its existence was revealed by Gamain, the king’s locksmith, who had constructed it, and it was searched immediately by order of the National Convention, when certain compromising documents were found.

Iron Cross.

A Prussian decoration conferred for bravery in the field. It was established in 1813.

Iron Crown.

The royal crown of Lombardy, said to have been forged from a nail of the true cross. It was first used in 591 at the coronation of Agilulf, King of the Lombards, and is now the royal crown of Italy.

Iron Duke.

The sobriquet of the great Duke of Wellington.

Iron Emperor.

Nicholas I of Russia (1825-55) was so called.

Iron Hand, GÖtz of the.

The sobriquet of GÖtz von Berlichingen, the leader in the German Peasants’ War of 1525. His right hand, which he had lost in battle, was replaced by an artificial hand made of iron.

Iron Mask, The Man with the.

A mysterious personage whose face was always covered with an iron mask, who was confined in the Bastille and other State prisons in France during the reign of Louis XIV. Many theories have been advanced as to his identity. It has been contended that he was an elder brother, a twin brother, and a natural son of the king, Count Matthioli, minister of the Duke of Mantua, and M. de Marchiel, the head of a wide-spread conspiracy against Louis XIV, while many other solutions of the problem have been put forward.

Iron Tooth.

The nickname of Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg (1688-1713).

Ironclad Oath.

The oath of office established by the United States Congress in 1867 at the conclusion of the Civil War. It was designed to prevent the assumption of office by any possible enemy of the Union.

Ironside.

The nickname of Edmund, King of the English in 1016.

Ironsides.

Cromwell’s Regiment of Horse was so called.

Iskander Beg.

The sobriquet of George Castriot, the Albanian patriot (1414-67). Iskander is Alexander.

Isabella Catolica, Order of.

A Spanish order of knighthood, instituted in 1815, to reward those Spanish-Americans who remained faithful to the Crown during the Wars of Independence.

Island of Saints.

Ireland was so called in the Middle Ages.

Italia Irredenta.

Unredeemed Italy consists of those provinces and islands not included in the Kingdom of Italy which are racially or linguistically Italian. They are the Austrian provinces of Southern Tyrol, GÖrz, Trieste, Istria and Dalmatia, the Swiss Canton of Ticino, the British island of Malta and the French island of Corsica. The Irredentists are a party whose aims are similar to those of the Pan-Slavists and Pan-Germans, and who desire to see these provinces, especially those belonging to Austria, added to the kingdom.

Italy, Unification of.

The work of Victor Emmanuel and his minister Cavour, aided by Garibaldi and his volunteers. The Treaty of Zurich in 1859 left Victor Emmanuel in possession of the whole of Northern Italy excepting the Venetian states east of the Mincio. The central states, Parma, Modena, etc., applied to be united to the kingdom in 1860, while in the same year the South revolted against Francis II of Naples, and with the aid of Garibaldi the Bourbons were expelled, Victor Emmanuel being crowned King of Italy in 1861. The Venetian provinces were added to the kingdom by the Treaty of Prague in 1866, and in 1870, France withdrawing her support of the Pope, the King entered Rome and completed the emancipation of Italy.