town near Calais, in the Department of Pas-de- I Calais, France. See Field of the Cloth of Gold.
BALIOL, ba'll-ol or bfil'yol. Edward de ( ? -
13(i7). Tlic son of John Baliol. He was re-
ceived as the vassal King of Scotland at the
English Conrt. and made himself conspicuous, in
133'2, by his daring and successful invasion of
Scotland, then under the regency of Randolph,
Earl of Jloray. Accompanied by some English
noblemen, bent on recovering their forfeited es-
tates in Scotland, he landed with a few hundred
followers at Kingluini. in Fifeshire; defeated the
Earl of Fife ; ]nished lioldly into the country and,
on Dupplin Moor, in Perthshire, routed with
innnense slaughter an army more numerous than
his own. On September 24, he was crowned King
of Scotland at Scone. He acknowledged English
suzerainty, and promised to give up Berwick.
He had enjoyed the kingly dignity for about .
three months, when he was surprised in his camp
at Annan by a party of Scottish nol^les, and
nearly lost his life as well as the crown. After
the capture of Berwick, in 1333, he regained the
throne. He was used as a tool by Edward III.
until 13.56, when he surrendered to the latter the
whole kingdom of Scotland. He died at Doncas-
ter in 1367, and with him ended the house of
Baliol. Consult Longman, llintori/ of the Life
and Times of Edn-ard HI. (London, 1809).
BALIOL, John de ( 1240-1315) . Lord of Galloway, and King of Scotland from 1292 to 1290.
On the death of Princess Margaret, in 1290. he
became a competitor for the ero^^•n of Scotland.
As the grandson of the eldest daughter of David,
Earl of Huntington, brother of William the Lion,
and grandson of David I., his claim was pro-
nounced superior to that of his principal competitor, Robert Bruce, Lord of Annandale, son
of a second daughter. The arbiter on the occa-
sion was Edward I., of England, who found this
a fit opportunity for asserting his claim as Lord-
paramount of Scotland. This claim was ac-
knowledged by the Scottish Estates in submit-
ting the contest to his decision; and, consistently
with this submission, Baliol, before and after
receiving the crown (November 30, 1292), swore
fealty to Edward as his feudal superior. He was
soon made to feel that his sovereignty was merely
nominal, and the indignities which he experienced
mused him to an assertion of his rights as king.
With the advice of his nobles, he concluded an
alliance in 129,t, with France, then at war with
England — an act of revolt followed by speedy
chastisement. Edward invaded Scotland with a
large force: defeated the Scottish troops ( took
Baliol prisoner, and compelled him formally to
surrender his crown. ,Tuly 10, 1296. Baliol was
held as a prisoner for three years, enjoying, how-
ever, a limited freedom, and something of royal
state. At the end of that time he was permitted
to retire to his patrimonial estates in France,
where he died in 131.5. The estimate by his sub-
jects of this prince was significantly indicated l)y
the surname of 'Toom Tabard,' or Empty Jacket.
BALIOL, Mrs. JI.rtii.v Bethune. The
imaginary narrator of some of Scott's Chronicles
of the ('(inon(i(ite.
BALIOL COLLEGE. See Balliol College.
BALISARDA, bii'le-siir'da. A magic and all-
penetrating sword, mentioned in Ariosto's Or-
hiiidu Furioso. It was made by a witch, Faler-
ina, to kill Orlando. Orlando surprised her in
the act of looking at herself in the polished blade
and took it. It was afterwards stolen b^' Bru-
nello, and finally came into the possession of
Eogero.
BALISAUR, bfil'i-sii'oor. An East Indian
badger. See Badgeii.
BAL'ISTRA'RIA (Low Lat. lalistra, Lat.
hiilliula, cros^,bo^^ I . One of the names given to
those narrow apertures so often seen in the walls
of old castles, through which the orossbowmen
discharged their bolts. Their lower termina-
tions are generally circular, but sometimes in
the form of a shovel. They do not seem to have
come into use till the Thirteenth Century. See
Artilleky ; Loopholes.
BALIZE, ba-lez'. See British Honduras;
Belize.
BALKAN (bal-kiin' or bnll^an) MOTJN'-
TAINS (Turk., high ridge; the ancient H;e-
mus) . A mountain range in Southeastern Europe,
in the Balkan Peninsula, forming a continuation
of the Carpathian system. As such they may be
considered to begin at the western extremity of
the Transylvanian Alps, at the gorge known as
the Iron Gates of the Danube, where the bound-
aries of Hungary, Rumania, and Servia meet.
Thence they extend due south through Servia and
along the borders of Servia and Bulgaria, then
bend alirnptly to the east, and continue in that
direction as far as Cape Emineh, on the Black
Sea (Map: Balkan Peninsula, E 3). The first
section of the Balkans — that'extending north and
south — is formed b.y rounded hills and ridges,
which attain an extreme elevation of about 7000
feet. The main range consists of several sec-
tions, including the Etropol, Kodja, and Ship-
ka Balkans, which are arranged successively
along an east and west axis, constituting the
watershed between the Danube and the Maritza
rivers and the boundary between Bulgaria and
Eastern Rumelia. In this nuiin division, com-
prising the Central Balkans, are the highest sum-
mits of the range, several of which exceed 7000
feet (Yiimriicktchal, 7789; Kadimlia, 7410;
Ambarica, 70,52). The Eastern Balkans, from
the vicinity of Sliven to the Black Sea, con-
sist of numerous ridges, usually less than 3000
feet high, and of more broken character than the
mountains in the western and central sections.
From the Balkans various ranges extend south-
ward toward the .Egcan, the principal being the
Rhodope ( Despoto-Dagh ) , whose summits over-
top those of the Balkans. Among the passes of
the Balkans n>ay be mentioned the Troyan,
Rosalita, and Shipka passes, which are at eleva-
tions of 4000 to 5000 feet. The Balkan Range
is composed largely of folded sedimentary strata;
but in the west, crystalline schists containing
deposits of copper, lead, and iron ore, are
prominent.
BALKAN PENIN'SULA. A name commonly applied to the easternmost of the three great southern peninsulas of Europe, bounded by the Adriatic Sea on the west and the Black and Ægean seas on the east. Its northern boundary
is generally considered to be the Danube, with its
tributary, the Save. Thus defined, the peninsula
comprises, within an area of about 175,000 square miles, the following countries: European Turkey, Bulgaria (including Eastern Rumelia), Servia, Montenegro, Bosnia, and Herzegovina,
