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tribute), was a son of a certain Kennedy or Cenneide (d. 951). He passed his youth in fighting against the Danes, who were constantly ravaging Munster, the northern part of which district was the home of Brian's tribe, and won much fame in these encounters. In 976 his brother, Mathgamhain or Mahon, who had become king of Thomond about 951 and afterwards king of Munster, was murdered; Brian avenged this deed, became himself king of Munster in 978, and set out upon his career of conquest. He forced the tribes of Munster and then those of Leinster to own his sovereignty, defeated the Danes, who were established around Dublin, in Wicklow, and marched into Dublin, and after several reverses compelled Malachy (Maelsechlainn), the chief king of Ireland, who ruled in Meath, to bow before him in 1002. Connaught was his next objective. Here and also in Ulster he was successful, everywhere he received hostages and tribute, and he was generally recognized as the ardri, or chief king of Ireland. After a period of comparative quiet Brian was again at war with the Danes of Dublin, and on the 23rd of April 1014 his forces gained a great victory over them at Clontarf. After this battle, however, the old king was slain in his tent, and was buried at Armagh. Brian has enjoyed a great and not undeserved reputation. One of his charters is still preserved in Trinity College, Dublin.

See E.A. D'Alton, History of Ireland, vol. i. (1903).

BRIAN�ON, a strongly fortified town in the department of Hautes-Alpes in S.E. France. It is built at a height of 4334 ft. on a plateau which dominates the junction of the Durance with the Guisane. The town itself is formed of very steep and narrow, though picturesque streets. As it lies at the foot of the descent from the Mont Gen�vre Pass, giving access to Turin, a great number of fortifications have been constructed on the heights around Brian�on, especially towards the east. The Fort Janus is no less than 4000 ft. above the town. The parish church, with its two towers, was built 1703-1726, and occupies a very conspicuous position. The Pont d'Asfeld, E. of the town, was built in 1734, and forms an arch of 131 ft. span, thrown at a height of 184 ft. across the Durance. The modern town extends in the plain at the S.W. foot of the plateau on which the old town is built and forms the suburb of Ste Catherine, with the railway station, and an important silk-weaving factory. Brian�on is 51� m. by rail from Gap. The commune had a civil population in 1906 of 4883 (urban population 3130), while the permanent garrison was 2641?in all 7524 inhabitants.

Brian�on was the Brigantium of the Romans and formed part of the kingdom of King Cottius. About 1040 it came into the hands of the counts of Albon (later dauphins of the Viennois) and thenceforth shared the fate of the Dauphin�. The Brian�onnais included not merely the upper valley of the Durance (with those of its affluents, the Gyronde and the Guil), but also the valley of the Dora Riparia (C�sanne, Oulx, Bardonn�che and Exilles), and that of the Chisone (F�nestrelles, P�rouse, Pragelas)?these glens all lying on the eastern slope of the chain of the Alps. But by the treaty of Utrecht (1713) all these valleys were handed over to Savoy in exchange for that of Barcelonnette, on the west slope of the Alps. In 1815 Brian�on successfully withstood a siege of three months at the hands of the Allies, a feat which is commemorated by an inscription on one of its gates, Le pass� r�pond de l'avenir.

(W. A. B. C.)

BRIAND, ARISTIDE (1862- ), French statesman, was born at Nantes, of a bourgeois family. He studied law, and while still young took to politics, associating himself with the most advanced movements, writing articles for the anarchist journal Le Peuple, and directing the Lanterne for some time. From this he passed to the Petite R�publique, leaving it to found, with Jean Jaur�s, L'Humanit�. At the same time he was prominent in the movement for the formation of labour unions, and at the congress of working men at Nantes in 1894 he secured the adoption of the labour union idea against the adherents of Jules Guesde. From that time, Briand became one of the leaders of the French Socialist party. In 1902, after several unsuccessful attempts, he was elected deputy. He declared himself a strong partisan of the union of the Left in what is known as the Bloc, in order to check the reactionary deputies of the Right. From the beginning of his career in the chamber of deputies, Briand was occupied with the question of the separation of church and state. He was appointed reporter of the commission charged with the preparation of the law, and his masterly report at once marked him out as one of the coming leaders. He succeeded in carrying his project through with but slight modifications, and without dividing the parties upon whose support he relied. He was the

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 / "Brescia" to "Bulgaria"