silence

Virginia Company
See London Company.

Virgin Islands
A Caribbean island group, divided between Britain and the USA. The colony of the British Virgin Islands was first settled by the Dutch, being occupied by English planters in 1666.

Virgin Queen
*Elizabeth I. When pressed to marry she declared that she was already married to her realm and wore a ring in token.

viscount
A rank of the *peerage, below an earl and above a baron, originally a sheriff of a county and thus a deputy of a count or earl (Latin: vicecomes). The title was first used of a peer in 1440.

Vitoria, battle of (21 June 1813)
An engagement fought in the Basque province towards the closing stages of the Peninsular War. The British army, under Wellington, numbered 79000, and decisively defeated French forces of 66000 at a cost of 5000 casualties; French casualties were 8000.

Vortigern(earl 5th century)
Romano-British king. According to Bede, Vortigern invited *Hengist and *Horsa to Britain to combat a threat from Pictish and Scottish invaders. Vortigern is not a personal name but a title meaning overlord. The extent of Vortigern's territory is unknown, but he probably controlled a large part of Britain.

Vote of No Adresses(Jan 1648)
The decision of the *Long Parliament to break off all negotiations with Charles I. It was occasioned by news of the king's *Engagement with the Scots.

 

Vienna, congress of(1 Oct 1814-9 June 1815)
The congress of European powers held at Vienna following the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Britain(represented by Wellington and Castlereagh), its control of the seas acknowledged, ensured its commercial and strategic security, retaining Malta, Heligoland, the Cape of Good Hope, Ceylon, Tobago, Santa Lucia, and Mauritius and receiving the protectorate of the Inoian Islands. Austria, Prussia, and Russia made large territorial gains. France, with the Bourbons restored, lost its post-1793 conquests but retained great-power status. The congress, at Britain's initiative, also condemned the slave trade and esbatlished regulations for the precedence of diplomatic representatives that are still in force. See also quadruple alliance(1815).

Vigo Bay, battle of(12 Oct 1702)
A naval action during the War of the Spanish Succession. A Spanish treasure fleet was caught in Vigo Bay, off the northwest coast of Spain, by British and Dutch men-of-war under Admiral Sir George Rooke(1650-1709). Every Spanish ship was taken or sunk, and bullion worth 1 million pounds was seized.

Vikings
Scandinavian sea warriors who raided much of northwest Europe between the 8th and 11th centuries. They penetrated most of the British Isles, Scotland and Ireland being settled mostly by Norwegians(Norsemen) and England by the Danes (see Danish invasions).

villa
The characteristic form of landed estate in the Roman empire. The villas in Britain were the estates of the aristocracy who had accepted Roman customs. Many have been excavated and mosaics, painted plaster, and other architectural features have been discovered.

villein
A medieval peasant. The word is derived from the Latin villanus, villager-the class of person most frequently mentioned in the *Domesday Book. Like the Anglo-Saxon *gebur or *geneat the villeins cultivated land in the village fields in return for labour services on the manorial farm. By the 13th century the villeins had become unfree peasants bound to their lords by rigid legal and economic ties. Economic and social changes, especially after the *black death, had greatly weakened the instituion of villeinage by the 15th century.

Villiers, Barbara, countess of Castlemaine and duchess of Cleveland(1641-1709).
A mistress of Charles II, by whom she had at least one child. She was married(1659) to Roger Palmer, who became earl of Castlemaine in 1661, but left him in 1662. She exerted considerable powers of patronage until 1670, when she began to lose the king's favour. Subsequent lovers included John Churchill(later 1st duke of Marlborough) and the playwright William Wycherley.

Vinegar Hill, battle of (21 June 1798)
A battle in which General Lake, defending the property of Irish loyalists in Co. Wexford, defeated Catholic rebels during the Irish rebellion of 1798.

 

Vernon, Edward(1684-1757)
Naval commander, who captured Porto Bello from the Spanish in 1739. In 1745 Vernon blockaded the French in their Channel ports in order to prevent them from reinforcing Charles Edward Stuart. He was cashiered in 1746 for writing anonymous pamphlets attacking the Admiralty.

Versailles, treaty of(1919)
The treaty between the allied powers and Germany that ended World War I. It was aimed chiefly at ensuring that Germany would never again be a military power. In Europe, Germany ceded Alsace-Lorraine to France, parts of Prussia and Silesia to Poland(leading to the creation of the "Polish corridor"), and part of Schelswig to Denmark. All the German colonies were transferred to the *League of Nations as mandated territories. The German army was limited to 100000 men and the navy to 6 battleships, 12 cruisers, and 12 destroyers. The allies were to occupy the Rhineland for up to 15 years, and Germany undertook not to fortify the left bank of the Rhine. Responsibility for causing the war was accepted by Germany, which agreed to pay *reparations for allied loss and damage.

Verulamium
One of the most important and best-preserved Roman towns in Britain, at St Albans in Hertfordshire. Much was demolished, soon after the Romans left, to provide building materials for St Albans abbey and other buildings, but extensive excavations( mainly 1930-34) have revealed most notably a theatre, three mosaic pavements, and a bypocaust. See also Albans, St.

Vestiarian Controversy
A 16th-century dispute over the wearing of ecclesiastical vestments. Puritan opposition to the *surplice, prescribed by the *Book of Common Prayer and confirmed in Archbishop Parker's Advertisements(1566) led to some priests being deprived of their livings. Later in the century the controversy was absorbed into the general Puritan movement.

vicar
A priest of a parish of which the revenues are received by another. Before the Reformation the revenues, chiefly *tithes, of some parishes were appropriated by monasteries, which were obliged to appoint a vicar who would perform parochial duties in return for a portion of the tithes. After the dissolution of the monasteries the tithes of many such parishes were impropriated, or granted to laymen. A vicar has the same spiritual role in the Church of England as a rector, who, however, receives the parish revenues directly.

Victoria(1819-1901)
Queen of the United Kingdom (1837-1901) and empress of India(1876-1901). Her reign, the longest of any British sovereign, coincided with the heyday of British overseas power, and Victoria became a symbol of the nation's solidarity and confidence. The only child of George III's fourth son, Edward, duke of Kent, and Princess Mary Louisa Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Victoria succeeded William IV, becoming the last sovereign of the house of *Hanover. Under five feet tall, but with royal dignity, she immediately showed her determination to rule by excluding her mother from any state influence. At first Victoria, while receiving advice from her uncle *Leopold, relied heavily upon the prime minister, Melbourne, a reliance that caused the constitutional *bedchamber crisis in 1839. In Feb 1840 she married her cousin *Albert, whose serious approach to life strengthened her own conscientiousness. He exerted considerable influence on Victoria, who, after his death(1861) tended to view all problems in the light of his likely opinion. They had nine children.
Constitutionally, Victoria's reign witnessed, in spite of her own aspirations, a limitation of the power of the monarchy in relation to ministers, defined by *Bagehot as "the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, the right to warn". Nevertheless, encouraged by Albert, Victoria long claimed special supervision of foreign affairs, leading to sharp disputes with Palmerston and John Russell( whom she privately called "those two dreadful old men").
After Albert's death she went into virtual, and unpopular, seclusion for ten years. For her last 30 years, however, she resumed public appearances(although always wearing mourning) and her popularity reached uprecedented heights, demonstrated in her *Golden Jubilee(1887) and *Diamond Jubilee(1897). For much  of this period politics were dominated by Gladstone, whom she came to dislike intensely, and Disraeli, who became her ideal prime minister. In her long widowhood, she travelled in Europe and supervised her family, which, through marriages, gradually extended to most of European royalty. She was greatly attached to her Scottish nanservant, John Brown(1826-83), causing suggestions, periodically resuscitated, of a secret marriage. Victoria worked to the last months of her life, and her death was regarded as marking the end a splendid era. She was succeeded by the prince of Wales, Edward VII.

Vanbrugh, Sir John(1664-1726)
Dramatist and architect. Vanbrugh's success as a playwright(of Restoration comedies of manners) began with The Relapse(1696). As an architect, he worked in the baroque style, his designs including Castle Howard, Yorkshire(1701), and Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire(1705).

Vancouver, George(1757-98)
Navigator and explorer. Between 1792 and 1794 he explored and charted the Pacific coast from California to Alaska and circumnavigated the island named after him. His most northerly explorations proved that no continuous ice-free *northwest passage existed.

Van Dyck, Sir Anthony (1599-1641)
Flemish painter. An assistant of, and influenced by, Rubens, Van Dyck was most successful during the period 1632-41, when he was in England as chief portrait' painter to Charles I. His output was considerable and had a great influence on English art. His most perfect works are the equestrian portrait of Charles I and the group portrait of the Russell family.

Vane the elder, Sir Henry(1589-1655)
Secretary of state(1640-41) on the eve of the Civil War. He served in a series of household posts in the 1620s and 1630s, becoming a privy councillor in 1630. He spoke for the king in the Short Parliament(1640) but as a member of the Long Parliament took part in the impeachment of Strafford. Dismissed from royal service, he supported the parliamentarians in the Civil War.

Vane the younger, Sir Henry(1613-62)
Parliamentarian, son of Sir Henry *Vane the elder. A Puritan, he lived in Massachusetts(1635-37), of which he was governor(1636-37), of which he was governor(1636-37). After his return to England he became the MP and played a prominent role in the Long Parliament throughout the Civil War and Commonwealth periods. However, he opposed Cromwell's dissolution of the Rump (1653) and the army's subsequent dominatioin of government. In 1659 he became an MP in Richard Cromwell's parliament, participating in the overthrow of the Protectorate. He opposed the Restoration and in 1662, regarded as "too dangerous to let live", was convicted of treason and executed.

Vanuatu Republic
See New Hebrides.

vassal
A feudal tenant holding land from a lord in return for his sworn loyalty and service. The vassal had to do *homage and swear *fealty to his lord.

vavassor
A feudal tenant. Vavasors ranked immediately below the barons and their lands were called vavasories.

Verdun, battle of(Feb-July 1916)
A battle of World War I. Gen. Falkenhayn, intending to force the French to defend a vital point and so "bleed them to death", chose Verdun, a major historic fortress on the Paris approaches. Empty of guns and troops, it was hard to reinforce and its loss, he believed, would be such a blow that the French would seek peace. Initial assaults had some success but Petain held out, and British and Russian attacks prevented German reinforcements from moving to Verdun. French counterattacks regained most of the ground lost and by Aug 1917 only one German position remained. Falkenhayn had failed, but he had virtually destroyed the French army.

Vereeniging, peace of(31 May 1902)
The peace that ended the second *Boer War. The British annexation of the Transvaal and Orange Free State was confirmed. English became the official language, Dutch being allowed in schools and law courts. Future self-government was promised and Britain granted 3 million pounds to reconstruct Boer farms.

Vergil, Polydore(c.1470-1555)
Humanist, author of a notable history of England. Born in Italy, Vergil spent most of his life in England and became archdeacon of Wells in 1508. The chroniclers Hall and Holinshed were influenced by his Anglicae historia libri XXVI, the first parts of which appeared in 1534.

Verneuil, battle of (17 Aug 1424)
A battle of the Hundred Years' War. A crushing English victory over combined French and Scottish forces, it marked the zenith of English power in France during the post-* Agincourt era of the war. The Scots were decimated and their leader, the 4th earl of *Douglas, was killed.

V-1
A small jet-propelled pilotless aircraft, also called a flying(or buzz) bomb, used by the Germans to bombard London and surrounding targets from June 1944 to March 1945. Some 8000 V-1s (German Vergeltungswaffe, retaliation weapon) were launched(by rocket-assisted take-off) from sites in northern France and Holland. At first they caused considerable damage and loss of life(6184 people were killed), but later the RAF was able to shoot many of them down over the sea.

V-2 rocket
A German missile of World War II, carrying about 900 kg(2000 lb) of high explosive and having a range of over 320 km(200 mi). From Sept 1944 to March 1945, more than 1300 V-2s were launched against Britain. Belgium, too, was heavily bombarded.

vaccination
Inoculation with vaccine( originally a virus of cowpox) to produce immunity against a specific disease(originally a virus of cowpox). Vaccination was pioneered in 1796 by Edward Jenner(1749-1823), a country doctor, after he noticed that milkmaids infected with cowpox did not catch smallpox. After strong opposition from leaders of the medical profession was overcome free vaccination was introduced in 1840 and became compulsory vaccination was brought to an end in 1946. Vaccination is now used to prevent such diseases as tuberculosis and poliomyelitis.

Valence, Aymer de, earl of Pembroke(c.1265-1324)
Soldier who fought in the *Anglo-Scottish wars. He was victorious at *Ruthven(1306) but was defeated at *Loudun Hill(1307). He briefly(1212) supported Thomas, earl os Lancaster, against Edward II, but subsequently became the king's lieutenant in Scotland.