A Dictionary of British and Irish History. Группа авторов

areas, thus creating a unified Pictish realm stretching S to the FORTH–CLYDE ISTHMUS. His right to the kingship came from his Pictish mother Der‐Ilei; his father was from Scottish (i.e., Irish) Argyll, which helped him have good relations with DÁL RIATA. Moreover, after 698, when he defeated a Northumbrian effort to reverse the takeover of southern Pictland, he also established good relations with Aldfrith, king of NORTHUMBRIA. The most striking aspect of his reign, however, is his relationship with IONA (where Aldfrith had been a monk). Working with Abbot ADOMNÁN (biographer of Columba), and with Aldfrith’s encouragement, he brought previously independent religious settlements scattered across Pictland into a much more episcopal structure under Ionan primacy. See also PICTS.BRIDEI SON OF MAILCON(fl. from c.556; d. 586, probably in N Britain). A king of PICTS from c.556, Bridei’s power base appears to have been the former Verturiones tribe (see FORTRIU), whose heartland was in the coastal region from the inner Moray Firth to the R. Don (in NE of modern Scotland); but his sway probably stretched across the central and northern Highlands, and also the ORKNEY ISLANDS (which suggests he had naval resources). Early in his reign (c.558) he defeated a force of SCOTS (Irish) from (Scottish) DÁL RIATA. Later, he was visited by the Irish monk COLUMBA (from IONA monastery, founded 563), at a stronghold in or near either (modern) Inverness or Dunkeld. After initial hostility, Bridei eventually treated Columba with honour, but seems not to have espoused Christianity. See also KINGSHIP, NORTH BRITAIN.BRIDGEWATER, 3RD DUKE OF(b. 21 May 1736, probably at Westminster, Middlesex, England; d. 8 March 1803 at Westminster, aged 66). Francis Egerton inherited his dukedom in 1748. From 1755, after seeing the Languedoc Canal in France and studying engineering, he planned a canal to exploit his coalmines at Worsley (Lancashire). He obtained Acts of Parliament in 1759, 1760 and 1762. Under the second he built a canal to MANCHESTER (engineered by James Brindley), the first ‘arterial canal’ to be built in England for many centuries. Successfully operating by the early 1760s, this encouraged his further investment in canal‐building. See also CANALS, ENGLAND.BRIGANTESsee CARTIMANDUA; VENUTIUSBRIGHT, JOHN(b.16 Nov. 1811 at Rochdale, Lancashire, England; d. 27 March 1889 at Rochdale, aged 77). Bright, a Quaker cotton mill‐owner, was chief orator of the ANTI‐CORN LAW LEAGUE (1839–46). A Radical MP from 1843, he opposed the CRIMEAN WAR (1854–6); later he campaigned for PARLIAMENTARY REFORM, before holding office under W.E. GLADSTONE (president of the Board of Trade 1868–70, chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster 1873–4, 1880–2).BRIGIT(fl. in possibly early 6th century in Ireland). By the mid 7th century Brigit was claimed as the founder of a church and monastery at KILDARE (E Ireland). Her historical existence is doubtful; her cult may have started as the Christianization of devotion to a pagan goddess of the same name. Brigit nevertheless became the most popular saint in Ireland after PATRICK. See also CONVERSION OF IRELAND.BRISTOL

      A city, port and unitary authority in SW England, at the confluence of the Rivers Avon and Frome.

      A town was founded by the 10th century. Its name means ‘Place by the bridge’. Bristol has been important for trade and communications with Ireland. In the 14th–16th centuries it was also a substantial centre of the CLOTH INDUSTRY. Divided between Gloucestershire and Somerset, Bristol was the first English town to receive county status (1373). England’s exploration of N America started from Bristol in 1497 (see CABOT, JOHN). It was a bishop’s see from 1542 (except for 1836–96; joined with Gloucester).

      Bristol expanded enormously from the late 17th century with the development of trade with the WEST INDIES, NORTH AMERICAN COLONIES and WEST AFRICA (notably the SLAVE TRADE). During the 18th century it superseded NORWICH as the largest and wealthiest city after London. The first METHODIST chapel opened there in 1739. Although Bristol was disadvantaged by the rise of LIVERPOOL and abolition of the slave trade (1807), it continued to process sugar and tobacco, and manufacture chocolate. It was assisted from 1841 by a RAILWAY to London.

      Foreign trade diminished after WORLD WAR II (1939–45), but Bristol remained an important industrial and financial centre. It gained two universities (both by upgrading): Bristol University (1909), University of the West of England (1992).

      Est. popn: 1086, 4000; 1300, 12,000; 1600, 12,000; 1800, 64,000; 1900, 330,000; 2000, 635,000.

       BRITAIN

      The largest island within the BRITISH ISLES, about 570 mi (920 km) in length (N–S). Continuously inhabited from c.11,000 BC, it finally became separate from Continental Europe between 5800 and 5400 BC (see GLACIATIONS). Inhabitants adopted Brittonic (or Common Brittonic) language in the 1st millennium BC.

      The island’s Brittonic name was probably Albion, meaning ‘The land’ or ‘Mainland’. Britain is recorded in the 1st century BC as Prettanike (Greek), and as Brettania or Britannia (Latin), meaning ‘Land of the Prettanoi’ or ‘Pretani’ or ‘Britanni’, i.e., ‘painted ones’, similar to the later PICTS. (‘Pretani’ was probably the Brittonic name for its inhabitants.) The island was later known in OE as Bryten. ‘Britain’ is derived from OFr., Bretaigne.

      Britain was also known as Great Britain (in Greek) from the 2nd century AD, to distinguish it from Little Britain (Ireland). From the 12th century, the name differentiated Britain from Brittany in France (Lesser Britain).

      Following eleven millennia with varying cultures (see PREHISTORIC BRITAIN), over half of southern Britain was ruled by Romans (1st–5th centuries AD; see ROMAN BRITAIN). British kingdoms emerged to the N.

      GERMANIC SETTLEMENT (5th–6th centuries) changed British culture in much of southern Britain to Germanic (or ‘Anglo‐Saxon’) culture (e.g., language). Germanic rulers displaced British kingdoms. The main exception was W Britain (modern Wales). In N Britain, immigration introduced Irish rule and culture (see DÁL RIATA). Britain was disrupted by VIKINGS (8th–9th centuries).

      N Britain became a single large kingdom in the 9th–11th centuries (see SCOTLAND), and much of S Britain in the 10th century (see ENGLAND, FORMATION OF). W Britain was taken under English rule in the 11th–13th centuries and annexed in 1536 (see WALES). Union of England and Scotland was attempted in 1604–8, and existed briefly in the 1650s. It took place in 1707, creating GREAT BRITAIN. See also POST‐ROMAN BRITAIN; DUMNONIA; UNION OF CROWNS, ENGLAND (WITH IRELAND) AND SCOTLAND; UNION OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND, 1650S.

      BRITAIN, BATTLE OFDuring WORLD WAR II, the acute contest for air superiority over the English Channel, fought 10 July–31 Oct. 1940 between the British ROYAL AIR FORCE and German Luftwaffe. The British lost 915 aeroplanes, the Germans 1733. The successful British defence of air space caused Adolf Hitler to postpone his intended invasion of Great Britain. See also DOWDING, HUGH.BRITANNIAsee ROMAN BRITAINBRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE

      An organization founded in 1831 at YORK to encourage scientific research and seek support from the British government. Suggested by the editor and scientist David Brewster (1781–1868), who feared that British science was declining compared with science in Continental Europe, it was organized by clergyman and geologist William Harcourt (1789–1871). It also reflected concern that the ROYAL SOCIETY had become complacent.

      The Association has held annual meetings in major towns in the British Isles and occasionally overseas, and published reports on the state of science. Its 1860 meeting in OXFORD famously featured a confrontation between Bishop Samuel Wilberforce and T.H. HUXLEY over the claim of Charles DARWIN that humans resulted from EVOLUTION. In the 1990s the Association’s annual meeting was developed into the British Science Festival, and in 2009 the Association was renamed the British Science Association.

       BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION

      A public corporation (abbreviated as ‘BBC’) established by royal charter on 1 Jan. 1927 with a monopoly of RADIO broadcasting in Great Britain, NORTHERN IRELAND, the CHANNEL ISLANDS and Isle of MAN. Superseding the commercial British Broadcasting Company (created 1922), and funded by an annual radio licence, the BBC was independent of overt commercial or political influence. Its first director general was John REITH. From the 1930s the