incident (see Serfdom). Though so early as 1772 Maria Theresa had endeavoured to mitigate its hardships in her dominions (in Hungary unpaid labour was only to be demanded of the serfs on 52 days in the year!) it survived longest in the Austrian empire, being finally abolished by the revolution of 1848. The duty of personal labour on the public roads is, however, still maintained in other countries besides France. This was formerly the case in England also, where the occupiers of each parish who, by the common law, had access to the roads were responsible also for their upkeep. An act of 1555 imposed four days of forced labour for the repair of roads, and an act of Elizabeth (5 Eliz. c. 13) raised the number of days to six, or the payment of a composition instead. The system of turnpikes, dating from 1663, which gradually extended over the whole of England, lessened the burden of this system of taxation, so far as main roads were concerned, but the greater number of the local roads were subject to repair by statutory labour until the Highways Act 1835, by which highways were put under the direction of a parish surveyor, and the necessary expenses met by a rate levied on the occupiers of land. In Scotland, statutory labour on highways was created by an act of 1719, and abolished in 1883.
In Egypt, the corvée has been employed from time immemorial, more especially for the purpose of cleaning out the irrigation canals. In the days when only one harvest a year was reaped, this forced labour was not a very great burden, but the introduction of cotton and the sugar-cane under Mehemet Ali changed the conditions. These latter are crops which require watering at various seasons of the year, and very often the fellah was called away for work in the canals at times when his own crops required the utmost attention. Moreover, the inequality of the corvée added to the evil. In some districts it was possible to purchase exemption, and the more wealthy paid no more for the privilege than the humblest fellah, consequently the corvée fell with undue hardship on the poorer classes. Under the premiership of Riaz Pasha the corvée was gradually abolished in Egypt between the years 1888 and 1891, and a small rate on the land substituted to provide the labour necessary for cleaning the canals. The corvée is now employed only to a limited extent to guard the banks of the Nile during flood.
See Du Cange, Glossarium inf. et med. Lat. s.v. “Corvatae”; A Luchaire, Manuel des institutions françaises (Paris, 1892), pp. 346–349; La Grande Encyclopédie, s.v., with bibliography. For further works see the bibliography to the article Serfdom.
CORVEY, a place in the Prussian province of Westphalia, on
the Weser, a mile north of the town of Höxter, with which it
communicates by an avenue of lime trees. During the middle
ages it was famous for its great Benedictine abbey, which was
founded and endowed by the emperor Louis the Pious about
820, and received its name from having been first occupied by
a body of monks coming from Corbie in Picardy. The bones
of St Vitus, the patron saint of Saxony, were removed thither
according to legend in 836, but apart from this attraction, Corvey
became the centre of Christianity in Saxony and a nursery of
classical studies. The abbot was a prince of the Empire, and
Corvey was made a bishopric in 1783. In 1803 the abbey was
secularized, in 1815 its lands were given to Prussia, and in 1822
they were bestowed on Victor Amadeus, landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg,
by whom they were bequeathed, in 1834, to Prince
Victor of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, duke of Ratibor. The
abbey, which is now used as a residence, possesses a magnificent
library of 150,000 volumes especially rich in old illustrated
works, though the ancient collection due to the literary enthusiasm
of the Benedictines is no longer extant. Here in 1517 the
manuscript of the five first books of the Annals of Tacitus was
discovered. Here Widukind wrote his Res gestae Saxonicae.
Here, also, the librarian and poet Hoffmann von Fallersleben
lived and worked. The Annales Corbejenses 648–1148 of the monks can be read in the Monumenta Germaniae historica, Band iii. The Chronicon Corbejense, published by A. C. Wedekind in 1823, has been declared by S. Hirsch and Waitz (Kritische Prüfung, Berlin, 1839) to be a forgery.
See P. Wigand, Geschichte der Abtei Korvey (Höxter, 1819); and M. Meyer, Zur ältern Geschichte Corveys und Höxters (Paderborn, 1893).
CORVINUS, JÁNOS [John] (1473–1504), illegitimate son of
Matthias Hunyadi, king of Hungary, and one Barbara, supposed
to be the daughter of a burgess of Breslau. He took his name
from the raven (corvus) in his father’s escutcheon. Matthias
originally intended him for the Church, but on losing all hope
of offspring from his consort Queen Beatrice, determined, towards
the end of his life, to make the youth his successor on the throne.
He loaded him with honours and riches, till he was by far the
wealthiest magnate in the land. He publicly declared him his
successor, created him a prince with vast apanages in Silesia,
made the commandants of all the fortresses in the kingdom
take an oath of allegiance to him, and tried to arrange a marriage
for him with Bianca Maria Sforza of Milan, a project which was
frustrated by the intrigues of Queen Beatrice. Matthias also
intended to make the recognition of János as prince royal of
Hungary by the emperor Frederick a condition precedent of
relinquishing all or part of the conquered hereditary domains
of the house of Habsburg; but his sudden death left the matter
still pending, and the young prince suddenly found himself
alone in the midst of enemies. The inexperienced and irresolute
youth speedily became the victim of the most shameful chicanery.
He was first induced formally to resign his claims to the throne,
on the understanding that he was to be compensated with the
crown of Bosnia. He was then persuaded to retire southwards
with the royal treasures which Matthias had confided to him,
whereupon an army immediately started in pursuit, scattered
his forces, and robbed him of everything. Meanwhile the diet
had elected Vladislav of Bohemia king (July 15, 1490), to whom
János hastened to do homage, in order to save something from
the wreck of his fortunes. He was also recognized as prince of
Slavonia and duke of Troppau, but compelled to relinquish both
titles five years later. On the invasion of Hungary by Maximilian,
he shewed his loyalty to the crown by relinquishing into
the hands of Vladislav the three important fortresses of Pressburg,
Komárom and Tata, which had been entrusted to him by his
father. But now, encouraged by his complacency, the chief
dignitaries, headed by the palatine Stephen Zapolya, laid claim
to nearly all his remaining estates and involved him in a whole
series of costly processes. This they could do with perfect
impunity, as they had poisoned the mind of the indolent and
suspicious king against their victim. In 1496 Corvinus married
Beatrice, the daughter of Bernard Frangepán. His prospects
now improved, and in 1498 he was created perpetual ban of
Croatia and Slavonia. From 1499 to 1502 he successfully
defended Bosnia against the Turks, and in the following year
aspired to the dignity of palatine, but was defeated by a combination
of Queen Beatrice and his other enemies. He died on
the 12th of October 1504, leaving one son, Prince Christopher,
who died on the 17th of March 1505.
See Gyula Schönherr, János Corvinus Hunyadi (Hung.) (Budapest, 1894). (R. N. B.)
CORVUS, MARCUS VALERIUS (c. 370–270 B.C.), Roman
general of the early republican period. According to the legend
a raven settled on his helmet during his combat with a gigantic
Gaul, and distracted the enemy’s attention by flying in his face.
He was twice dictator and six times consul, and occupied the
curule chair twenty-one times. In his various campaigns he
defeated successively the Gauls, the Volscians, the Samnites,
the Etruscans and the Marsians. His most important victory
(343) was over the Samnites at Mount Gaurus.
See Livy vii. 26-42, x. 2-11.
CORWEN (“the white choir”), a market town of Merionethshire, Wales, on branches of the London & North Western and the Great Western railways; 10 m. from Llangollen, through the Glyn Dyfrdwy (Dee Vale). Pop. (1901) 2680. Telford’s road, raised on the lower Berwyn range side and overlooking the Dee, opens up the picturesqueness of Corwen, historically interesting from the reminiscences of Wales’s last struggle for independence under Owen Glendower. In the old parish church was traditionally Owen’s pew; his knife, fork and dagger, are at the neighbouring Rûg (Rhûg); his palace, 3 m. distant at Sychnant (dry stream). Here is the church dedicated to St
