destroyed, among the latter was the flagship of Conflans, who escaped to the shore on a spar. Seven of the French ships ran into the little river Vilaine, being compelled to throw their guns overboard to lighten themselves before crossing the bar. Nine escaped to the south. The small number of prizes taken gives no measure of the importance of the victory, which broke the spirit and strength of the French fleet so effectually that it did not appear at sea again during the rest of the war, i.e. until 1763.
See Beaton's Naval and Military Memoirs of Great Britain, vol. ii. p. 32I et seq.; Burrows's Life of Lord Hawke; Tronde, Batailles navales de la France, vol. i. p. 379 et seq. (D. H.)
QUICHÉ or Kichés, a tribe of Central American Indians
of Mayan stock. They inhabited western Guatemala, where
their descendants still survive. They were at the time of the
conquest the most powerful of the three Mayan peoples in
Guatemala, the other two being the Cakchiquel and the Zutugil.
Their chronicles are said to date back to the 8th century. Their
sacred book, the Popol Vuh, containing a mythological cosmogony,
survives in a 17th-century manuscript written by a
Christianized Guatemalan. To this tradition may be due the
remarkable similarity of the Quiché creation story to that of
the Old Testament. Their capital was Utatlan, near the site of
the modern Santa Cruz Quiché, and was skilfully fortified. They
had an elaborate system of government and religion. Records
were kept in picture-writing. The Quiché were the first Indians
met by Pedro de Alvarado in 1524 on his expedition into
Guatemala.
See further Central America and Mexico; for the Papal Vuh see English edition by L. Spence (1909); see also Nuttall, Ancient American Civilizations (Camb. Mass., 1901), and W. Bollaert in Proc. Roy. Soc. Lit. vii. 1862.
QUICHERAT, JULES ETIENNE JOSEPH (1814–1882), French
historian and archaeologist, was of Burgundian origin. His
father, a working cabinet-maker, came from Paray le Monial
to Paris to support his large family; Quicherat was born there
on the 13th of October 1814. He was fifteen years younger
than his brother Louis, a great Latin scholar and lexicographer,
who survived him. Although very poor, he was admitted to
the college of Sainte-Barbe, where he received a thorough classical
education. He showed his gratitude to this establishment
by writing its history (Histoire de Sainte-Barbe, college, communauté,
institution, 3 vols. 1860-1864). At the end of his
studies he hesitated for some time before deciding what career
he would follow, until Michelet put an end to his indecision by
inspiring him with a taste for history. In 1835 Quicherat entered
the École des Chartes; he left two years later at the head of the
college. Once more inspired by the example of Michelet, who had
just written an admirable work on Joan of Arc (q.v.), he published
the text of the two trials of Joan, adding much contemporary
evidence on her heroism in his Procès de condamnation et de
rehabilitation de Jeanne d'Arc (5 vols. 1841–1849), as well as half a
volume of Aperçus nouveaux sur l'histoire de Jeanne d'Arc, in
which it seems that the last word has been said on important
points. From the 15th century he drew other inspirations. He
published memoirs of the adventures of a brigand, Rodrigue
de Villandrando (1844), which gradually grew into a volume
(1877), full of fresh matter. He wrote full biographies of two
chroniclers of Louis XI., one very obscure, Jean Castel (in the
Bibliothèque de l'École des Chartes, 1840), the other, Thomas
Basin, bishop of Lisieux, who was, on the contrary, a remarkable
politician, prelate and chronicler. Quicherat published the
works of the latter, most of which were now brought out for the
first time (4 vols. 1855–1859). In addition to these he wrote
Fragments inédits de Georges Chastellain (1842), Lettres, mémoires
et autres documents relatifs a la guerre du bien public en
1465 (1843, in vol. ii. of Mélanges historiques, part of Documents
inédits), &c. These works did not wholly occupy his time: in
1847 he inaugurated a course of archaeological lectures at the
École des Chartes, and in 1849 was appointed professor of
diplomacy at the same college. His teaching had exceptionally
good results. Although he was not eloquent and had a nasal
voice, his hearers were loth to miss any of his thoughtful teaching,
which was unbiased and well expressed. Of his lectures
the public saw only some articles on special subjects which
were distributed in a number of reviews. Note should be made
of a short treatise on La Formation française des anciens noms de
lieu (1867); a memoir De l'ogive et de l'architecture dite ogivale
(18 50), where he gives his theory on the use of stone arches important
for the history of religious architecture; an article
on L'Âge de la cathédrale de Laon (1874), in which he fixed the
exact date of the birth of Gothic architecture; Histoire du
costume en France (1875; 2nd ed. 1877), which was first published
in the form of anonymous articles in the Magasin pittoresque,
and which the author wished to retain the character of a
popular work. Following the advice of his friends, he began to
write out, towards the end of his life, his lectures on archaeology,
but only the introductory chapters, up to the 11th
century, were found among his papers. On the other hand,
the pupils trained by him circulated his principles throughout
France, recognizing him as the founder of national archaeology.
In one point he seems to have taken a false step; with a warmth
and pertinacity worthy of a better cause he maintained the
identity of Caesar's Alesia with Alaise (Doubs), and he died
without becoming a convert to the opinion, now universally
accepted, that Alise Sainte-Reine (Côte d'or) is the place where
Vercingétorix capitulated. But even this error benefited science;
some well directed excavations at Alaise brought many Roman
remains to light, which were subsequently sent to enrich the
museum at Besançon. After 1871, his course of lectures on
diplomacy having been given up, Quicherat, still professor of
archaeology, was nominated director of the École des Chartes.
He filled this post with the same energy which he had shown
in the many scientific commissions in which he had taken part.
In 1878 he gave up his duties as professor, which then fell to the
most conspicuous of his pupils, Robert de Lasteyrie. He died
suddenly at Paris on the 8th of April 1882, a short time after
having corrected the proofs of Supplément aux témoignages
contemporains de Jeanne d'Arc, published in the Revue historique.
After his death it was decided to bring out his hitherto unpublished
papers (Mélanges d'archéologie et d'histoire, vol. i., Celtic,
Roman and Gallo-Roman antiquities, ed. A. Giry and Aug.
Castan, 1885; vol. ii., Archéologie du moyen age, ed. R. de
Lasteyrie, 1886); among these are some important fragments
of his archaeological lectures, but his Histoire de la laine, with
which he was occupied for many years, is missing
Bibliography.—Two of Quicherat's best pupils published excellent obituary notices of him: Robert de Lasteyrie, in Jules Quicherat, sa vie et ses travaux (from Bulletin du Comité des travaux historiques, 1883, n. 1); and Arthur Giry, Jules Quicherat (in the Revue historique, vol. xix.), with a Bibliographie des œuvres de Jules Quicherat (in the Bibliothèque de l'École des Chartes, vol. xliii. p. 316). (C. B.*)
QUICHUA, a South American Indian tribe and stock, the ruling people of Peru when the Spaniards arrived. The
Quichuan stock then included the Quichuas proper and the
many vassal tribes of the ancient empire of Peru. To-day
it numbers some three millions. The modern Quichuas average
a height of 5 ft. to 5 ft. 6 in. They are of slender build,
but with well proportioned muscular limbs, and are capable
of enduring great fatigue. Their complexions are of a fresh
olive colour, the skin very smooth and soft, beardless, hair
straight and black, the nose aquiline. They are skilful farmers
and herdsmen. (See Peru.)
QUICK, a word which, by origin, and in early and many surviving uses, meant “ living,” “ alive.” It is common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. keck, lively, Du. kwik, and Dan. kvik; cf. also Dan. kvaeg, cattle. The original root is seen in Skt. jiva; Lat. vivus, living, alive; Gr. βίος, life. In its original sense the chief uses are such as “the quick and the dead,” of the Apostles' Creed, a “ quickset ” hedge, i.e. consisting of slips of living privet, thorn, &c., the “ quick,” i.e. the tender parts of the flesh under hard skin or particularly under the nail. The phrase “ quick with child ” is a conversion of with a quick, i.e. living child. From the sense of having full
