Brantôme, Pierre de Bourdeille, Abbé et Seigneur
de (c. 1540–1614) French chronicler, soldier, and courtier
Brantôme was born at Bourdeille (now Bourdeilles) and
spent his early years at the court of MARGUERITE DE
NAVARRE. He then studied in Paris and at the university of
Poitiers before embarking on a military career. He fought
in Italy, Spain, and Portugal, in Africa against the Turks,
and supported the GUISEfaction in the Wars of RELIGION.
Forced to retire through injury, after falling from his
horse, he began to write his memoirs: these were pub-
lished posthumously (1665–66) and include Les Vies des
hommes illustres et des grands capitaines, an informative ac-
count of military life in the 16th century, Les Vies des
dames galantes, an anecdotal exposé of the scandals of the
French court, and Discours sur les duels.
Breda, Compromise of (1566) A petition by Dutch no-
blemen and burghers to the Hapsburg regent, MARGARET
OF PARMA, against the attempts of PHILIP IIof Spain to force
Catholicism on the Netherlands. The scornful rejection of
the petitioners as “beggars” and Philip’s refusal to modify
his religious policy were followed by an uprising (see
NETHERLANDS, REVOLT OF THE).Bregno, Andrea (Andrea da Milano) (1421–1506)
Italian sculptor
He was born at Osteno, near Lugano, and was active in
Rome from 1465, producing monumental decorative
sculptures, tombs, and altars in marble. Gian Cristoforo
ROMANOwas one of the pupils in this thriving workshop.
In Rome he is principally noted for his work in Sta. Maria
del Popolo, while outside Rome he made the Piccolomini
altar in Siena cathedral (1485), which has statues of saints
by Michelangelo, and the tabernacle in Sta. Maria della
Quercia outside Viterbo (1490).Briggs, Henry (1561–1631) English mathematician
Born at Warley Wood, near Halifax, and educated at Cam-
bridge, Briggs served as professor of geometry at Gresham
College, London (1596–1619), and as Savilian professor
of geometry at Oxford from 1620 until his death. In 1615
he visited John NAPIER, the inventor of logarithms, and
they agreed to develop a system of decimal logarithms in
which log. 1 = 0, and log. 10 = 1. Napier, however, was too
old to undertake the prolonged labours involved in con-
structing the necessary tables, so the task fell to Briggs. In
1617 he published his Logarithmorum chilias prima in
which the logarithms of the numbers 1 to 1000 were listed
to 14 decimal places. The tables were extended in his
Arithmetica logarithmica (1624) to include the numbers
up to 20,000 and from 90,000 to 100,000. The gap be-
tween 20,000 and 90,000 was filled by Adrien Vlacq
(1600–66) in 1628. Briggs was also keen to see science ap-
plied in other areas. Consequently he worked with, among
others, William GILBERTon magnetism, merchants on the
application of mathematics to navigation, and surveyors
wishing to master the use of logarithms.Briosco, Il See RICCIO, ANDREA DI AMBROGIO BRIOSCOBriot, François (c. 1550–1616) French metalworker
Briot was born in Damblain, but was active from 1579 in
Montbeliard, in the county of Württemberg. He was cele-
brated as a master of pewter relief work, especially for his
masterpiece, the Temperantia Dish (1585–90; Louvre,
Paris), with its central allegorical figure of Temperance.
Other works included the Mars Dish and, probably, the
Suzannah Dish both of which were later imitated by Gas-
par ENDERLEINand other notable metalworkers at Nurem-
berg.7700 BBrraannttooîî mmee,, PPiieerrrree ddeeSebastian BrantShips laden with fools wearing jesters’ caps
and armed with the tools of their trade adorn the opening
page of the 1509 Latin translation of Das Narrenschyff.