in the city was invited to take part, irrespective of nationality, was mainly formed by his energy and enthusiasm. He was ennobled for his services in the Danish War of 1864.
LANGENSALZA, a town in the Prussian province of Saxony,
on the Salza, about 20 m. N. W. from Erfurt. Pop. (1905) 12,545.
Near it are the remains of the old Benedictine monastery of
Homburg or Hohenburg, where the emperor Henry IV. defeated
the Saxons in 1075. The manufacture of cloth is the chief
industry; lace, starch, machines, cigars and chemicals are also
produced, while spinning, dyeing, brewing and printing are
carried on. There is a sulphur bath in the neighbourhood,
situated in a pleasant park, in which there are monuments to
those who fell in the war of 1866. Langensalza became a town
in 1211 and was afterwards part of the electorate of Saxony.
In 1815 it came into the possession of Prussia. It is remarkable
in history as the scene of three battles: (1) the victory of the
Prussians and English over the imperial army on the 15th of
February 1761; (2) that of the Prussians over the Bavarians
on the 17th of April 1813; and (3) the engagement on the 27th
of June 1866 between the Prussians and the Hanoverians, in
which the latter, though victorious in the field, were compelled
to lay down their arms on the arrival of overwhelming Prussian
reinforcements.
See Göschel, Chronik der Stadt Langensalza (Langensalza, 1818–1842); G. and H. Schütz, Chronik der Stadt Langensalza (Langensalza, 1901); and Gutbier, Schwefelbad Langensalza (Langensalza, 1900).
LANGHAM, SIMON (d. 1376), archbishop of Canterbury and
cardinal, was born at Langham in Rutland, becoming a monk
in the abbey of St Peter at Westminster, and later prior and then
abbot of this house. In 1360 he was made treasurer of England
and in 1361 he became bishop of Ely; he was appointed chancellor
of England in 1363 and was chosen archbishop of Canterbury
in 1366. Perhaps the most interesting incident in his
primacy was when he drove the secular clergy from their college
of Canterbury Hall, Oxford, and filled their places with monks.
The expelled head of the seculars was a certain John de Wiclif,
who has been identified with the great reformer Wycliffe. Notwithstanding
the part Langham as chancellor had taken in the
anti-papal measures of 1365 and 1366 he was made a cardinal
by Pope Urban V. in 1368. This step lost him the favour of
Edward III., and two months later he resigned his archbishopric
and went to Avignon. He was soon allowed to hold other
although less exalted positions in England, and in 1374 he was
elected archbishop of Canterbury for the second time; but he
withdrew his claim and died at Avignon on the 22nd of July
1376. Langham’s tomb is the oldest monument to an ecclesiastic
in Westminster Abbey; he left the residue of his estate—a large
sum of money—to the abbey, and has been called its second
founder.
LANGHOLM, a burgh of barony and police burgh of Dumfriesshire,
Scotland. Pop. (1901) 3142. It is situated on both sides
of the Esk, 16 m. N.E. of Annan, the terminus of a branch line
connecting with the North British railway system at Riddings
Junction. The Esk is crossed by a three-arched stone bridge,
uniting the old town on the left bank with the new on the right,
and a suspension bridge. Ewes Water, which falls into the river,
is spanned by a two-arched bridge, 1 m. N. of the town. The
public buildings include the town hall—a substantial edifice
with a tower rising in three tiers from the body of the structure,
the Telford library, and the Hope hospital for aged poor. Already
famous for its plaids and blankets, the prosperity of the burgh
advanced when it took up the manufacture of tweeds. Distilling,
brewing, dyeing and tanning are also important industries. The
Esk and Liddel being favourite fishing streams, Langholm is the
headquarters of the association which protects the rights of
anglers. About 1 m. to the N.W. stands Langholm Lodge, a seat
of the duke of Buccleuch, and some 4 m. S.E. is Gilnockie Tower,
the peel-house that belonged to Johnny Armstrong, the freebooter,
who was executed by order of James V. in 1530.
LANGHORNE, JOHN (1735–1779), English poet and translator
of Plutarch, was born at Kirkby Stephen, Westmorland. He
at first supported himself as a private tutor and schoolmaster,
and, having taken orders, was appointed (1766) to the rectory
of Blagdon, Somerset, where he died on the 1st of April 1779.
His poems (original and translations), and sentimental tales, are
now forgotten, but his translation of Plutarch’s Lives (1770), in
which he had the co-operation of his elder brother William
(1721–1772), is not yet superseded. It is far less vigorous than
Sir Thomas North’s version (translated from Amyot) but is free
from its inaccuracies. His poems were published in 1804 by his
son, J. T. Langhorne, with a memoir of the author; they will
also be found in R. Anderson’s Poets of Great Britain, xi. (1794)
and A. Chalmers’s English Poets, xvi. (1810), with memoir.
Of his poems, The Country Justice, a plea for the neglected poor,
and The Fables of Flora, were the most successful; of his prose
writings, The Correspondence between Theodosius and Constantia,
founded on a well-known story in the Spectator (No. 164).
LANGIEWICZ, MARYAN (1827–1887), Polish patriot, was
born at Krotoszyn, in the province of Posen, on the 5th of August
1827, his father being the local doctor. Langiewicz was educated
at Posen, Breslau and Prague, and was compelled to earn his
daily bread by giving lectures. He subsequently entered the
Prussian Landwehr and served for a year in the royal guard.
In 1860 he migrated to Paris and was for a time professor in the
high school founded there by Mieroslawski. The same year he
took part in Garibaldi’s Neapolitan campaign, and was then a
professor in the military school at Cuneo till the establishment
was closed. In 1862 he entered into communication with the
central Polish committee at Warsaw, and on the outbreak of the
insurrection of the 22nd of January 1863, took the command of
the armed bands. He defeated the Russians at Wachock and
Slupia (February), capturing 1000 muskets and 8 cannon. This
victory drew hundreds of young recruits to his standard, till
at last he had 12,000 men at his disposal. On the 23rd of
February he again defeated the Russians, at Malogoszcza, and
captured 500 muskets and 2 cannon. On the 10th of March
he proclaimed himself dictator and attempted to form a regular
government; but either he had insufficient organizing talent,
or had not time enough to carry out his plans, and after a fresh
series of engagements his army was almost annihilated at Zagosc
(18th of March), whereupon he took refuge in Austrian territory
and was interned at Tarnow. He was subsequently transferred
to the fortress of Josephstadt, from which he was released in
1865. He then lived at Solothurn as a citizen of the Swiss
Republic, and subsequently entered the Turkish service as Langie
Bey. He died at Constantinople on the 11th of May 1887.
See Boleslaw Limanowski, The National Insurrection of 1863–64 (Pol.) (Lemberg, 1900); Paolo Mazzoleni, I Bergamaschi in Polonia nel 1863 (Bergamo, 1893); W. H. Bavink, De Poolsche opstand 1863, &c. (Haarlem, 1864).
LANGLAND, WILLIAM (c. 1332–c. 1400), the supposed
English poet, generally regarded until recently as the single
author of the remarkable 14th-century poem Piers the Plowman.
Its full title is—The Vision of William concerning Piers the
Plowman, together with Vita de Do-wel, Do-bet, et Do-best, secundum
Wit et Resoun; usually given in Latin as Visio Willelmi de
Petro Plowman, &c.; the whole work being sometimes briefly
described as Liber de Petro Plowman. We know nothing of
William Langland except from the supposed evidence of the MSS.
of the poem and the text itself, and it will be convenient first
to give a brief general description of them.
The poem exists in three forms. If we denote these by the names of A-text (or Vernon), B-text (or Crowley), and C-text (or Whitaker), we find, of the first, ten MSS., of the second fourteen, and of the third seventeen, besides seven others of a mixed type. It will be seen that we thus have abundance of material, a circumstance which proves the great popularity of the poem in former times. Owing to the frequent expressions which indicate a desire for reformation in religion, it was, in the time of Edward VI., considered worthy of being printed. Three impressions of the B-text were printed by Robert Crowley in 1550; and one of these was badly reprinted by Owen Rogers in 1561. In 1813 the best MS. of the C-text was printed by Dr E. Whitaker. In 1842 Mr Thomas Wright printed an edition from an excellent
