futile, and Feijóo’s services to the cause of knowledge were universally recognized long before his death, which took place at Oviedo on the 26th of September 1764. He was not a great genius, nor a writer of transcendent merit; his name is connected with no important discovery, and his style is undistinguished. But he uprooted many popular errors, awakened an interest in scientific methods, and is justly regarded as the initiator of educational reform in Spain.
FEITH, RHIJNVIS (1753–1824), Dutch poet, was born of an
aristocratic family at Zwolle, the capital of the province Overijssel,
on the 7th of February 1753. He was educated at Harderwijk
and at the university of Leiden, where he took his degree in
1770. In 1772 he settled at his birthplace, and married. In 1780,
in his twenty-seventh year, he became burgomaster of Zwolle.
He built a luxurious villa, which he named Boschwijk, in the outskirts
of the town, and there he lived in the greatest comfort.
His first important production was Julia, in 1783, a novel written
in emulation of Werther, and steeped in Weltschmerz and despair.
This was followed by the tragedy of Thirsa (1784); Ferdinand
and Constantia (1785), another Werther novel; and The Patriots
(1784), a tragedy. Bilderdijk and other writers attacked his
morbid melancholy, and Johannes Kinker (1764–1845) parodied
his novels, but his vogue continued. In 1791 he published a
tragedy of Lady Jane Grey; in 1792 a didactic poem, The Grave,
in four cantos; in 1793 Inez de Castro; in 1796 to 1814 five
volumes of Odes and Miscellaneous Poems; and in 1802 Old Age,
in six cantos. He died at Zwolle on the 8th of February 1824.
His works were collected (Rotterdam, 11 vols.) in 1824, with a biographical notice by N. G. van Kampen.
FEJÉR, GYORGY (1766–1851), Hungarian author, was born on
the 23rd of April 1766, at Keszthely, in the county of Zala. He
studied philosophy at Pest, and theology at Pressburg; eventually,
in 1808, he obtained a theological professorship at Pest
University. Ten years later (1818) he became chief director of the
educational circle of Raab, and in 1824 was appointed librarian
to the university of Pest. Fejér’s works, which are nearly all
written either in Latin or Hungarian, exceed one hundred and
eighty in number. His most important work, Codex diplomaticus
Hungariae ecclesiasticus ac civilis, published from 1829 to 1844,
in eleven so-called tomes, really exceeds forty volumes. It
consists of old documents and charters from A.D. 104 to the end
of 1439, and forms an extraordinary monument of patient industry.
This work and many others relating to Hungarian
national history have placed Fejér in the foremost rank of Hungarian
historians. He died on the 2nd of July 1851. His latest
works were A Kunok eredete (The Origin of the Huns), and A
politikai forradalmak okai (The Causes of Political Revolutions),
both published in 1850. The latter production, on account of
its liberal tendencies, was suppressed by the Austrian government.
See Magyar Irók: Életrajz-gyüjtemény (Pest, 1856), and A Magyar nemzeti irodalomtörténet vázlata (Pest, 1861).
FELANITX, or Felaniche, a town of Spain, in the south-east
of the island of Majorca, Balearic Islands; about 5 m. inland
from its harbour, Puerto Colon. Pop. (1900) 11,294. A range
of low hills intervenes between Felanitx and the Mediterranean;
upon one summit, the Puig de San Sebastian, stands a Moorish
castle with a remarkable series of subterranean vaults. From
the 3rd century B.C., and possibly for a longer period, earthenware
water-coolers and other pottery have been manufactured in the
town, and many of the vessels produced are noteworthy for their
beauty of form and antiquity of design. There is a thriving
trade in wine, fruit, wheat, cattle, brandy, chalk and soap.
FELDKIRCH, a small town in the Austrian province of the
Vorarlberg, some 20 m. S. of the S. end of the Lake of Constance.
It is situated in a green hollow, on the Ill river, between the two
narrow rocky gorges through which it flows out into the broad
valley of the Rhine. Hence, though containing only about
4000 inhabitants (German-speaking and Romanist), the town
is of great military importance, since it commands the entrance
into Tirol from the west, over the Arlberg Pass (5912 ft.), and
has been the scene of many conflicts, the last in 1799, when the
French, under Oudinot and Masséna, were driven back by the
Austrians under Hotze and Jellachich. It is a picturesque little
town, overshadowed by the old castle of Schattenburg (now a
poor-house), built about 1200 by the count of Montfort, whose
descendant in 1375 sold it to the Habsburgs. The town contains
many administrative offices, and is the residence of a suffragan
bishop, who acts as vicar-general of the diocesan, the bishop of
Brixen. Among the principal buildings are the parish church,
dating from 1487, and possessing a “Descent from the Cross”
(1521), which has been attributed to Holbein, the great Jesuit
educational establishment called “Stella Matutina,” and a
Capuchin convent and church. There is a considerable amount
of transit trade at Feldkirch, which by rail is 11 m. from Buchs
(Switzerland), through the principality of Liechtenstein, 24 m.
from Bregenz, and 9912 m. from Innsbruck by tunnel beneath
the Arlberg Pass. The town also possesses numerous industrial
establishments, such as factories for cotton-spinning, weaving,
bell-founding, dyeing, &c.
(W. A. B. C.)
FÉLIBIEN, ANDRÉ (1610–1695), sieur des Avaux et de Javercy,
French architect and historiographer, was born at Chartres in
May 1619. At the age of fourteen he went to Paris to continue
his studies; and in 1647 he was sent to Rome in the capacity
of secretary of embassy to the Marquis de Marueil. His residence
at Rome he turned to good account by diligent study of its
ancient monuments, by examination of the literary treasures of
its libraries, and by cultivating the acquaintance of men eminent
in literature and in art, with whom he was brought into contact
through his translation of Cardinal Barberini’s Life of Pius V.
Among his friends was Nicholas Poussin, whose counsels were
of great value to him. On his return to France he married, and
was ultimately induced, in the hope of employment and honours,
to settle in Paris. Both Fouquet and Colbert in their turn recognized
his abilities; and he was one of the first members (1663) of
the Academy of Inscriptions. Three years later Colbert procured
him the appointment of historiographer to the king. In 1671
he was named secretary to the newly-founded Academy of
Architecture, and in 1673 keeper of the cabinet of antiques in
the palace of Brion. To these offices was afterwards added by
Louvois that of deputy controller-general of roads and bridges.
Félibien found time in the midst of his official duties for study
and research, and produced many literary works. Among these
the best and the most generally known is the Entretiens sur les
vies et sur les ouvrages des plus excellents peintres anciens et
modernes, which appeared in successive livraisons, the first in
1666, and the fifth in 1688. It was republished with several
additions at Amsterdam in 1706, and again at Trévoux in 1725.
Félibien wrote also Origine de la peinture (1660), Principes de
l’architecture, de la sculpture, de la peinture, &c. (1676–1690),
and descriptions of Versailles, of La Trappe, and of the pictures
and statues of the royal residences. Among other literary works,
he edited the Conférences of the Academy of Painting, and translated
the Castle of the Soul from the Spanish of St Theresa. His
personal character commanded the highest esteem, agreeing
with the motto which he adopted—Bene facere et vera dicere.
He died in Paris on the 11th of June 1695.
His son, Jean François Félibien (c. 1658–1733), was also an architect who left a number of works on his subject; and a younger son, Michel Félibien (c. 1666–1719), was a Benedictine of Saint Germain-des-Prés whose fame rests on his Histoire de l’abbaye royale de S. Denys en France, and also his L’Histoire de la ville de Paris in 5 vols., a work indispensable to the student of Paris.
FELIX, the name of five popes.
Felix I., pope from January 269 until his death in January 274. He has been claimed as a martyr, and as such his name is given in the Roman calendar and elsewhere, but his title to this honour is by no means proved, and he has been probably confused with another bishop of the same name. He appears in connexion with the dispute in the church of Antioch between Paul of Samosata, who had been deprived of his bishopric by a council of bishops for heresy, and his successor Domnus. Paul refused to give way, and in 272 the emperor Aurelian was asked to decide between the
