Wiseman, Nicholas Patrick Stephen, 1802-65, English prelate, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, b. Seville, Spain, of Irish-English parentage. In 1836 he founded (with Daniel O'Connell) the Dublin Review. In 1840 he was taken from his rectorship of the English College at Rome (which he had held since 1828) and made coadjutor to the vicar apostolic of the central district of England. Later he was appointed vicar apostolic of the London district. He was very influential among Catholics and was sympathetic to the Oxford movement. In 1850 the pope restored the hierarchy in England; Wiseman was appointed a cardinal (the first English cardinal in modern times) and was selected as the first archbishop of Westminster, the Catholic primate of England. He succeeded in allaying much of the suspicion that existed between the older Catholic families of England and the newer converts and worked to lessen the anti-Catholic feeling in England. He wrote many books, notably Fabiola (1854), a historical novel of early Christianity. Henry Edward Manning was his assistant and successor.

Ward, Bernard Nicholas: see Ward, William George.

Vansittart, Nicholas, 1st Baron Bexley, 1766-1851, British politician. He entered Parliament in 1796, was joint secretary of the treasury (1801-4, 1806-7) and briefly secretary for Ireland (1805), and in 1812 he became chancellor of the exchequer under the 2d earl of Liverpool. He held office for 11 years, dealing with the problems of economic adjustment that followed the end of the Napoleonic Wars. A loyal follower of Viscount Sidmouth, he resigned (1823) not long after Sidmouth. He was raised to the peerage in 1823 and remained in the cabinet as chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster until 1828.

Udall, Nicholas, 1505-56, English dramatist, educated at Oxford. He was headmaster of Eton (1534-41) and of Westminster School (from 1554). His one extant play, Ralph Roister Doister (c.1545), is regarded as the first complete English comedy. The influence of Plautus and Terence is evident, but the play is distinguished by its elements of native English humor.

Trist, Nicholas Philip, 1800-1874, American diplomat, b. Charlottesville, Va. He attended West Point, studied law under Thomas Jefferson, whose granddaughter he married, and was private secretary to Andrew Jackson. He served as U.S. consul (1833-41) in Havana, Cuba, and was chief clerk of the Dept. of State when he was sent (1847) to Mexico as a special agent to conduct negotiations to end the Mexican War. A short armistice was reached after the battles of Contreras and Churubusco (Aug., 1847), but negotiations were unsuccessful and war was resumed. President Polk had Trist recalled. Trist had reopened negotiations before his recall arrived and decided to ignore the order. He succeeded in negotiating the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Polk supported the treaty but declared Trist in disgrace. Trist did not recover his unpaid salary and expenses until 1871.

Titulescu, Nicholas, 1882?-1941, Romanian statesman. A professor of law at Bucharest Univ., he was finance minister (1917, 1920-21) and served as foreign minister from 1927 to 1928 and from 1932 to 1936. Titulescu was one of the chief figures in the League of Nations, serving (1930, 1931) as president of the General Assembly. A champion of the French-sponsored policy of collective security, he was an architect of the Little Entente and later of the Balkan Entente (1934). He was detested by the fascist Iron Guard and by other extreme reactionary elements in his country; his resignation was forced in 1936. Shortly afterward he settled in France, where he died.

Throgmorton, Sir Nicholas: see Throckmorton, Sir Nicholas.

Throckmorton or Throgmorton, Sir Nicholas, 1515-71, English diplomat. A relative of Catherine Parr, the last wife of Henry VIII, he became a staunch Protestant and gained the favor of the young Edward VI, who knighted him in 1547. He supported, for a time, the claims of Lady Jane Grey to the throne, and in 1554 he was tried for complicity in the rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyatt. Although acquitted, he was kept in the Tower until 1555. Upon Elizabeth I's accession (1558) he was made ambassador to France, where he championed the cause of the Huguenots. While in France he negotiated with Mary Queen of Scots and, despite religious differences, became her personal friend. In 1565, Throckmorton was sent to Scotland to attempt to prevent Mary's marriage to Lord Darnley, and in 1567 he tried to secure the release of the imprisoned Scottish queen. A supporter of the proposed match between the duke of Norfolk and Mary, he came under Elizabeth's suspicions. He was imprisoned in 1569 for his supposed complicity in the rebellion of the northern English Roman Catholics, but he was soon released. Throckmorton's daughter Elizabeth married Sir Walter Raleigh.

Stone, Nicholas, 1586-1647, English sculptor and mason, b. Devonshire. He rose to a position of highest importance as a decorative sculptor, working after designs by Inigo Jones. His independent productions include the gate at St. Mary's, Oxford, and numerous tombs, such as that of the Viscount Dorchester, Westminster Abbey. His notebook and account book are preserved in the Soane Museum, London, and give much information about his trade. He also wrote a work on fortifications (1645).

Staël, Nicholas de, 1914-55, French painter, b. St. Petersburg, Russia. Reared in Brussels, he traveled extensively before settling in France in 1940. De Staël evolved c.1942 a highly abstract style, developing a rich color fabric combined with strong elements of tension. His later works became gradually more representational. His artistic reputation was firmly established by the time of his suicide.

Sanders or Sander, Nicholas, 1530-81, English Roman Catholic churchman. He became prominent at Oxford as an ally of Cardinal Pole and had to flee on the accession of Elizabeth I. He attended the Council of Trent and traveled in Poland and Lithuania. He rose to prominence as a leader of the exiled English Catholics. From 1573 to 1578 he worked on plans to restore Catholicism by deposing Elizabeth, and in 1579 he sailed with a Spanish troop to join in the revolt of the earl of Desmond. Disaster overtook them, and in 1581 he died of the hardships he had undergone. His De origine ac progressu schismatis Anglicani is the prime source for the state of Roman Catholics in England under Elizabeth I.

Rowe, Nicholas, 1674-1718, English dramatist. An ardent Whig, he was able to gain various government posts during the course of his life. In 1715 he became poet laureate. His first two plays, The Ambitious Stepmother (1700) and Tamerlane (1701), established his reputation as a popular playwright. Soon afterward he wrote his best plays, The Fair Penitent (1703) and Jane Shore (1714); both are stories of men's cruelty to women that prefigure the domestic tragedies popular later in the 18th cent. Rowe is also well known for his edition of Shakespeare (1709), which supplied valuable textual and biographical data and divided the plays into acts and scenes.

Roerich, Nicholas Konstantin, 1874-1947, Russian artist, scene designer, and archaeologist. He was connected with the Moscow Art Theatre and the Diaghilev ballet. His stage sets for Stravinsky's Sacre du printemps (1913) revealed him as a brilliant colorist. He traveled to the United States where the Roerich Museum, New York City, was founded (1923) in his honor. His exploration of the Himalayas resulted in 500 pictures. He is represented in the chief European collections and many American galleries. Among his books are Heart of Asia (1929) and Realm of Light (1931).

Ridley, Nicholas, c.1500-1555, English prelate, reformer, and Protestant martyr. In 1534, while a proctor of Cambridge, he signed the decree against the pope's supremacy in England. In 1537 he became chaplain to Thomas Cranmer, in 1540 master of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, and in 1541 chaplain to Henry VIII and canon of Canterbury. As bishop of Rochester (1547), Ridley was chosen to strengthen and establish the Reformed teachings at Cambridge. In the reign of Edward VI, he took part in compiling (1548) the Book of Common Prayer, and he was a commissioner in the examination that resulted in the deposition of bishops Stephen Gardiner and Edmund Bonner. In 1550 he succeeded Bonner as bishop of London, where he did much to improve the condition of the poor by preaching on social injustices before the king. Ridley supported Lady Jane Grey's claims to the crown, and in 1553, shortly after Mary Tudor's accession as the Catholic Mary I, he was imprisoned. With Cranmer and Hugh Latimer he took part (1554) in the Oxford disputations against a group of Catholic theologians and would not recant his Protestant faith. He was burned at the stake with Latimer before Balliol Hall, Oxford. Latimer's parting words to Ridley are often quoted: "Be of good courage, brother Ridley, and play the man; for we shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England, as I trust shall never be put out."

Nicholas, Saint, patron of children and sailors, of Greece, Sicily, and Russia, and of many other places and persons. Little is known of him, but he is traditionally identified as a 4th-century bishop of Myra in Asia Minor. His relics were stolen from Myra in the Middle Ages and taken to Bari, Italy. St. Nicholas is the subject of many legends. He is credited with restoring to life three boys who had been chopped up and pickled in salt by a butcher. Another famous story concerns his giving three bags of gold to the daughters of a poor man and thus saving them from lives of prostitution. Later tradition transformed the bags into three gold balls, which became the symbol of pawnbrokers. In the Netherlands and elsewhere St. Nicholas's feast (Dec. 6) is a children's holiday, appropriate for gifts. The English in colonial New York adopted from the Dutch the now unrecognizable saint, calling him Santa Claus (a contraction of the Dutch Sint Nikolaas). They moved his feast day to the English gift holiday, Christmas. The career and qualities attributed to Santa Claus are all recently acquired.

Nicholas, Harold Lloyd: see Nicholas Brothers.

Nicholas, Antonio Fayard: see Nicholas Brothers.

Nicholas of Cusa (Nicolaus Cusanus), 1401?-1464, German humanist, scientist, statesman, and philosopher, from 1448 cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. The son of a fisherman, Nicholas was educated at Deventer, Heidelberg, Padua, Rome, and Cologne. He became bishop of Brixon (Bressanone) in 1450 and instituted widespread, though temporary, reforms of the monasteries. As papal legate he traveled throughout Europe preaching and negotiating diplomatic affairs for the Holy See. Nicholas' greatest achievements were in science and philosophy. His researches and writings formed major advances in Renaissance mathematics, astronomy, and mysticism. He held, before the time of Copernicus and Newton, that the nearly spherical earth revolves on its axis about the sun and that the stars are other worlds. He described the Gregorian calendar reform in detail, before it occurred. In mathematics Nicholas propounded significant concepts of the infinitesimal and contributed to modern relativity theory. His mystical religious philosophy was set forth in his essays De Docta Ignorantia [of learned ignorance] (1440, tr. 1954), De Conjuncturis Libri Duo, and De Visio Dei [vision of God] (1453, tr. 1928). It anticipated the direction of growth of Renaissance conjecture concerning the nature of man and his relationship to the cosmos.

Nicholas V, antipope (1328-30); see Rainalducci, Pietro.

Nicholas V, 1397-1455, pope (1447-55), an Italian named Tommaso Parentucelli, b. probably Sarzana, Liguria; successor of Eugene IV. From Eugene IV he inherited the antipapal enactments of the Council of Basel (see Basel, Council of). By a conciliatory policy Nicholas gained the Concordat of Vienna (1448) with Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III. It undid much of the damage to papal authority, and the following year the council and the antipope, Felix V, submitted to Nicholas. In 1450 a splendid jubilee marked the schism's end. To further church reform, the pope sent (1450) Nicholas of Cusa to Germany. Pope Nicholas was renowned for learning and piety; he established the papacy as a patron of the humanities and was a founder of the Vatican Library. Lorenzo Valla benefited from his generosity. A plot on his life and the fall (1453) of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks clouded his last days. He was succeeded by Calixtus III.

Nicholas III, d. 1280, pope (1277-80), a Roman named Giovanni Gaetano Orsini; successor of John XXI. As a cardinal he made a great reputation in diplomacy, and he was a close confidant of popes for 30 years. He was elected pope after a six-month delay. Nicholas's principal efforts were directed to rendering the Holy See free of civil interference; he was most successful in obtaining renunciation by Rudolf I (Rudolf of Hapsburg) of all control over the Romagna. By passing laws preventing non-Romans from obtaining privileges in Rome, he quietly frustrated the ambitions of Charles I, king of Naples, to dominate central Italy. He was the first pope in a century to live regularly in Rome, and he has been called the founder of the Vatican. He was succeeded by Martin IV.

Nicholas II Land: see Severnaya Zemlya, Russia.

Nicholas II (c.1010-61), pope (1058-61), a Roman named Gerard, b. Lorraine, France; successor to Pope Stephen IX. A strong proponent of papal reform, he issued (1059) the Papal Election Decree in an effort to minimize political interference in papal elections. He favored the elimination of simony, clerical marriage, and lay influence in the church. Nicholas II also attempted to restore a common life for cathedral clergy and to eliminate the abuse and alienation of ecclesiastical property.

Nicholas II, 1868-1918, last czar of Russia (1894-1917), son of Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna.

Road to Revolution

Nicholas was educated by private tutors and the reactionary Pobyedonostzev. Alexander III gave his son little training in affairs of state, and Nicholas proved to be a charming but ineffective and easily influenced ruler. In 1894 he married Princess Alix of Hesse (Alexandra Feodorovna).

Soon after his accession Nicholas stated that he intended to maintain the autocratic system. He continued the suppression of opposition, the persecution of religious minorities, and the Russification of the borderlands. Revolutionary movements were growing rapidly. The Social Democratic Labor party (later split into Bolshevism and Menshevism) was founded in 1898; the Socialist Revolutionary party was formed in 1901; the liberals pressed for constitutional government. In foreign affairs, Nicholas initiated the first of the Hague Conferences and supported an aggressive policy in E Asia.

The humiliating outcome of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-5) resulted in the peasant revolts, industrial strikes, and violent outbreaks known as the Revolution of 1905. In Jan., 1905, a crowd of workers who had come peaceably to petition the czar were fired upon in front of the Winter Palace; the government's action on that "Bloody Sunday" proved fateful. After the general strike of Oct., 1905, Count Witte, who soon became premier, induced Nicholas to sign a manifesto promising representative government and basic civil liberties. An elected duma and an upper chamber were set up, but neither the extreme revolutionaries nor the czar were disposed to support the parliament.

Nicholas soon curtailed the Duma and dismissed Witte in 1906, replacing him with I. A. Goremykin and then with P. A. Stolypin. The outbreak in 1914 of World War I briefly swept aside internal conflicts. In 1915, Nicholas took over the command of the army from Grand Duke Nicholas, leaving the czarina in virtual control at home. This act led to a constant stream of resignations from the ministers; their posts were filled by the sycophants of Alexandra, who was completely dominated by Rasputin until his murder in 1916.

Abdication and Execution

Discontent at home grew, the army tired of war, the food situation deteriorated, the government tottered, and in Mar., 1917, Nicholas was forced to abdicate (see Russian Revolution). He was held first in the Czarskoye Selo palace, then near Tobolsk. The advance, in July, 1918, of counterrevolutionary forces caused the soviet of Yekaterinburg to fear that Nicholas might be liberated; after a secret meeting a death sentence was passed on the czar and his family, who were shot along with their remaining servants in a cellar at Yekaterinburg on the night of July 16. Their bodies were buried or burned in a nearby forest.

Discovered in 1979, the remains of the czar, czarina, and three of their children exhumed in 1991 and reburied in St. Petersburg in 1998. The remains of the czar's two other children were discovered in 2007 and identified in 2008. In 2000 the Russian Orthodox Church canonized the czar and the members of his immediate family. Nicholas's vague mysticism, limited intelligence, and submission to sinister influences made him particularly unfit to cope with the events that led to his tragic end.

Nicholas I, Saint, c.825-867, pope (858-67), a Roman; successor of Benedict III. He was a vigorous and politically active pope who arbitrated both temporal and religious disputes. His decisions often set important precedents, as when the pope upheld the right of the bishop of Soissons to appeal to Rome against his superior, Archbishop Hincmar. Much of his pontificate was concerned with preventing the proposed divorce of Lothair of Lotharingia, who wished to remarry. Even when Holy Roman Emperor Louis II occupied Rome, the pope refused to yield. In the end he forced Lothair to reinstate his wife. Nicholas challenged the right of Photius to occupy the see of Constantinople and attempted to have St. Ignatius of Constantinople restored to it. St. Nicholas worked with Boris I to introduce Roman ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Bulgaria, which had recently been converted by the Byzantines. A letter from the pope to Boris is extant. He was succeeded by Adrian II. Feast: Nov. 13.

Nicholas I, 1796-1855, czar of Russia (1825-55), third son of Paul I. His brother and predecessor, Alexander I, died childless (1825). Constantine, Paul's second son, was next in succession but had secretly renounced (1822) the throne after marrying a Polish aristocrat. This secrecy resulted in confusion at Alexander's death and touched off the Decembrist uprising, a rebellion against Nicholas, which he crushed on the first day of his reign.

Nicholas strove to serve his country's best interests as he saw them, but his methods were dictatorial, paternalistic, and often inadequate. One important achievement, however, was the codification (1832-33) of existing Russian law. A few measures attempted to limit the landlords' powers over their serfs, and the condition of peasants belonging to the state was improved. Industry progressed somewhat; the first Russian railroad was completed in 1838. Efforts were made to stabilize the ruble and reduce the growing national debt.

The motto "autocracy, orthodoxy, and nationality," expressing the principles applied to a new system of education, was also used by Nicholas in suppressing liberal thought, controlling the universities, increasing censorship, persecuting religious and national minorities, and strengthening the secret police. Intellectual life was in ferment, the revolutionary movement took form, and the two schools of thought held by Slavophiles and Westernizers emerged. With Pushkin, Lermontov, and Gogol a golden age in literature began.

Under Nicholas, Russia gained control of part of Armenia and the Caspian Sea after a war with Persia (1826-28). A war with the Ottoman Empire (1828-29; see Russo-Turkish Wars) gave Russia the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the mouth of the Danube. Nicholas brutally suppressed the uprising (1830-31) in Poland and abrogated the Polish constitution and Polish autonomy. In 1849 he helped Austria crush the revolution in Hungary. His attempts to dominate the Ottoman Empire led to the disastrous Crimean War (1853-56). He was succeeded by his son Alexander II.

Nicholas I, 1841-1921, prince (1860-1910) and king (1910-18) of Montenegro, successor of his uncle, Danilo II. In 1862, after a series of frontier incidents, Nicholas was forced into war with the Ottoman Empire. Despite heroic resistance he had to conclude an unfavorable peace. He then reorganized his army. Although he rivaled Serbia for leadership of the South Slavs, in 1876 he allied himself with Serbia, intervened in favor of the rebels in Bosnia and Herzegovina, declared war on the Ottomans, and waged a successful campaign in Herzegovina. Russia's entrance (1877) into the war assured him of success. The Treaty of San Stefano (1878) trebled the size of Montenegro; the final boundaries adopted at the Congress of Berlin reduced the Montenegrin gains but gave access to the Adriatic Sea. Montenegro was recognized as fully independent, and, in 1910, Nicholas proclaimed himself king. He sided with Serbia in World War I but sought (1915) a separate peace with the Central Powers after his troops had been routed. When Montenegro was occupied by Austrian troops, he fled the country. In exile, he resisted the proposed union of Montenegro with Serbia under a Serbian king and as a result was deposed (1918) by a national assembly, which proclaimed the union. Nicholas succeeded in marrying his five daughters into the ruling houses of Europe, including those of Italy, Russia, and Serbia.

Nicholas Brothers, African-American tap dance team consisting of Fayard Antonio Nicholas, 1914-2006, b. Mobile, Ala., and Harold Lloyd Nicholas, 1921-2000, b. Winston-Walem, N.C. Performing on stage and in films, they combined dance genres—tap, jazz, and ballet—in polished routines that spotlighted their elegantly sophisticated style, fine timing, complex step patterns, and superb athleticism—particularly their spectacular mid-air splits. Sons of vaudeville musicians, they made their debut in 1928 on their parents' show circuit. Four years later they opened at Harlem's Cotton Club and appeared in their first film short. In 1934 they danced in Kid Millions, the first of their many Hollywood movies, which also include The Big Broadcast of 1936 (1935), Down Argentine Way (1940), Sun Valley Serenade (1941), Stormy Weather (1943, in which they performed their famous "Jumpin' Jive" routine), and The Pirate (1948, their last movie together). The brothers also appeared in many stage productions, including Broadway's Ziegfield Follies (1936) and Babes in Arms (1937), and on television. Late in their careers, both brothers did solo work as dancers and in dramatic roles.

Nicholas (Nikolai Nikolayevich), 1856-1929, Russian grand duke and army officer; first cousin of Czar Alexander III and grandson of Czar Nicholas I. He served in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. During the Revolution of 1905, he refused the czar's request that he become military dictator, thus forcing Nicholas to accept Count Witte's plan for an elective national assembly. Nicholas was made commander in chief of the Russian armies at the outbreak of World War I. In 1915 Czar Nicholas II, influenced by the czarina and Rasputin, relieved him of his post and took over the command himself. Grand Duke Nicholas was made commander in the Caucasus, where he won successes against the Turks until the February Revolution of 1917 deprived him of his command. He left Russia in 1919 and settled in France.

Mountbatten, Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, 1900-1979, British admiral; great-grandson of Queen Victoria and uncle of Philip Mountbatten, duke of Edinburgh. He entered the navy as a cadet in 1913 and saw service as a midshipman in World War I. At the outbreak of World War II he was a commander in the dangerous destroyer service until he returned to England to become adviser to and later director (1942-43) of combined operations; he directed the commando raids upon Norway and France. In 1943 he was appointed to head the Southeast Asia Command and commanded Allied operations against the Japanese in Myanmar. As the last British viceroy of India (1947) he concluded the negotiations for independence and the creation of the two separate states of India and Pakistan. He then served briefly (1947-48) as governor-general of the dominion of India. He was created an earl in 1947. As chief of the defence staff (1959-65), he worked to integrate the various branches of the armed forces. He became governor (1965) of the Isle of Wight and then lord lieutenant (1974). In 1979 he was assassinated by terrorists affiliated with the Irish Republican Army.

Longworth, Nicholas, 1869-1931, American legislator, b. Cincinnati. A lawyer, he practiced in Cincinnati, where his family had long been prominent. He served (1899-1903) in the Ohio legislature and, with the support of George B. Cox, was elected (1903) to the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1906 he married Alice Lee Roosevelt, the daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, in a wedding that took place at the White House. As a Representative (1903-13, 1915-31), Longworth was (1925-31) Speaker of the House and became recognized as a master of congressional procedure.

Horthy de Nagybanya, Nicholas, Hung. Nagybányai Horthy Miklós, 1868-1957, Hungarian admiral and regent. He commanded the Austro-Hungarian fleet in World War I. After Béla Kun seized (1919) power in Hungary, the counterrevolutionary government put Horthy in command of its forces. When the Romanian forces that had defeated Kun evacuated Budapest (Nov., 1919), Horthy entered it and in 1920 was made regent and head of the state. He checked two attempts (March and Oct., 1921) of former Emperor Charles I to regain his throne in Hungary—once by persuasion and once by armed force. Charles was then formally barred from the throne and exiled, and Horthy found himself regent of a kingless kingdom. A nationalist who was distinctly inclined toward the right, he guided Hungary through the years between the two world wars. After the suicide (1941) of the premier, Paul Teleki, Hungary entered World War II as an ally of Germany. Despite Horthy's opposition, German troops occupied Hungary in Mar., 1944. When Russian troops entered Hungary, Horthy sent an armistice commission to Moscow and announced (Oct., 1944) the surrender of Hungary. The Germans immediately forced Horthy to countermand his order and resign. He was taken to Bavaria and later was freed by U.S. troops. After appearing as a witness at the Nuremberg war-crimes trial (1946), he settled (1949) in Portugal, where he died. His memoirs appeared in English in 1956.

Hilliard, Nicholas, 1537-1619, English miniature painter, son of a goldsmith. Trained first as a jeweler, he was court painter to Elizabeth and to James I. The first true miniaturist in England, Hilliard was self-taught. He painted meticulous linear portraits on card or vellum, even on the backs of playing cards. His works were highly individual, elegant and subtle, particularly well suited to their form. He and his pupil Isaac Oliver led their field. Hilliard's reputation gained him many distinguished Elizabethans as subjects. Much of his work is at Windsor Castle and in the private collections of England; Queen Elizabeth (1572) is in the National Portrait Gallery and his Portrait of a Youth (c.1588) is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, both in London. An essay on miniature painting, The Art of Limning, is attributed to Hilliard.

Herkimer, Nicholas, 1728-77, American Revolutionary general. He was born in a German colony near the present town of Herkimer, N.Y. He served in the French and Indian War and was appointed (1776) brigadier general in the New York militia. In 1777 in the Saratoga campaign, Herkimer was leading a relief party to the Americans besieged by General St. Leger at Fort Stanwix when at Oriskany Creek they were ambushed by a force of Loyalists and Native Americans. Herkimer was mortally wounded, and his force had to retreat, but St. Leger later abandoned his plan to join Burgoyne.

Hawksmoor, Nicholas, 1661-1736, English architect involved in the development of most of the great buildings of the English baroque. From the age of 21 he assisted Sir Christopher Wren in the design of Chelsea Hospital, city churches, royal residences, and St. Paul's Cathedral. He became deputy surveyor (1705-29) in the construction of Greenwich Hospital. In the building of the great residences, Castle Howard and Blenheim Palace, he was associated with Sir John Vanbrugh. Under the act of 1711, Hawksmoor was appointed one of the architects to design 50 churches in London. He planned (1714-30) six highly original churches, which included St. George's, Bloomsbury; Christ Church, Spitalfields; and the rebuilding of St. Mary Woolnoth. At Oxford he designed the north quadrangle of All Souls' College. Influenced by architectural elements of many periods, Hawksmoor arrived at an individuality of design that makes him a significant figure in the history of the international baroque.

Grimoald, Nicholas: see Grimald, Nicholas.

Grimald, Grimalde, or Grimoald, Nicholas, 1519?-1562?, English poet. He contributed 40 poems to the first edition (1557) of Tottel's miscellany, of which "A Funeral Song upon the Decease of Annes, His Mother" is the most noteworthy. His other works include two Latin dramas and translations of Vergil and Cicero.

Geffrard, Nicholas Fabre, 1806-79, president of Haiti (1859-67). He took part (1843) in the revolt against Jean Pierre Boyer and led the insurrection that overthrew Faustin Élie Soulouque in 1859. Although he tried to reform the government, he was continually harassed by counterrevolutions and could accomplish little. He was exiled in 1867.

Flüe, Nicholas von der, Saint, 1417-87, Swiss patriot and folk hero. He was leader of the cantonal forces fighting Austria and counselor for many years to the duke of Saxony. In 1467 he left his worldly life to become a hermit in Obwalden. When dissension arose among the federated cantons, his influence at the Diet of Stans (1481) brought about the preservation of peace. A covenant, drawn up to regulate federal relations, made the urban cantons a majority; it remained in effect until 1798. He was canonized in 1947. Feast: Mar. 21.

Fish, Nicholas, 1758-1833 and 1848-1902: see Fish, family.

Ferrar, Nicholas, 1592-1637, English theologian. He was associated (1618-23) with the Virginia Company and, with his brother John, played a notable role in its affairs. He retired from Parliament and founded (1625) an austere religious community at Little Gidding in Huntingdonshire; the community consisted of 30 persons engaged in charitable works and intense study of the Scriptures. It was visited and approved (1633) by Charles I, but it was later attacked as an "Arminian nunnery" because of its monastic tendencies and disbanded by Parliament in 1647.

Cusa, Nicholas of: see Nicholas of Cusa.

Copernicus, Nicholas, Pol. Mikotaj Kopérnik, 1473-1543, Polish astronomer. After studying astronomy at the Univ. of Kraków, he spent a number of years in Italy studying various subjects, including medicine and canon law. He lectured c.1500 in Rome on mathematics and astronomy; in 1512 he settled in Frauenburg, East Prussia, where he had been nominated canon of the cathedral. There he performed his canonical duties, practiced medicine, was a legal officer, and wrote a pioneering treatise on currency reform. But the work that immortalized him is De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, in which he set forth his beliefs concerning the universe, known as the Copernican system. That treatise, which was dedicated to Pope Paul III, was probably completed by 1530 but was not published until 1543, when Copernicus was on his deathbed. Modern astronomy was built upon the foundation of the Copernican system.

Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947, American educator, president of Columbia Univ. (1902-45), b. Elizabeth, N.J., grad. Columbia (B.A., 1882; Ph.D., 1884). Holding a Columbia fellowship, he studied at Paris and Berlin, specializing in philosophy. Beginning in 1885 he was made successively assistant, tutor, and adjunct professor of philosophy at Columbia. He became (1886) president of the Industrial Education Association, reshaped it into what is today Teachers College, Columbia, and was (1889-91) the institution's first president. He was intimately associated with John W. Burgess in the struggle to create a university organization and was largely responsible for the expansion of Columbia College into Columbia Univ. In 1890 he became professor of philosophy and education and dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and in 1901 acting president of Columbia. The next year he formally succeeded Seth Low as president. He instituted the Summer Session, University Extension (now the School of General Studies), the School of Journalism, the Medical Center, and other units that are an integral part of the present-day university.

An advocate of peace through education, Butler helped to establish the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, of which he was a trustee and later president (1925-45). His efforts in behalf of disarmament and international peace won him international prestige, and he shared with Jane Addams the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize. Prominent in national, state, and New York City politics, he remained a regular Republican party member despite differences with its platforms. Though a close friend of Theodore Roosevelt, he refused to join the Progressive movement of 1912, and that year Butler received the Republican electoral votes for vice president after the death of Vice President James S. Sherman, the regularly nominated candidate. He later was the leading Republican advocate of the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment, urged economy in government, and supported local reform movements. He was (1928-41) president of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

His books include Education in the United States (1910), The International Mind (1913), The Meaning of Education (rev. ed. 1915), Scholarship and Service (1921), The Faith of a Liberal (1924), The Path to Peace (1930), Looking Forward (1932), Between Two Worlds (1934), and The World Today (1946).

Brown, Nicholas, 1769-1841, American manufacturer and philanthropist, b. Providence, R.I., grad. Rhode Island College (renamed Brown Univ. in 1804 for him), 1786. He extended the internationally known mercantile business of his father, Nicholas Brown. Later his own firm, Brown and Ives, came to control most of the waterpower on the Blackstone River, where his uncle, Moses Brown, and Samuel Slater had pioneered in the cotton textile industry. He was the treasurer (1796-1825) and, for a long period of time, the benefactor of his alma mater. Butler Hospital was founded (1847), in Providence, by his bequest for the care of the mentally ill.

Breton, Nicholas, 1551?-c.1623, English author, a prolific and versatile writer of verse and prose. His best work, written in a lyrical and pastoral vein, appeared in The Arbor of Amorous Devices (1597), England's Helicon (1600), and The Passionate Shepherd (1604).

Breakspear, Nicholas: see Adrian IV.

Blake, Nicholas: see Day Lewis, Cecil.

Biddle, Nicholas, 1750-78, American naval officer, b. Philadelphia. Biddle left the British navy in 1773. In the American Revolution he became captain in the patriot navy and daringly raided British shipping off the American coast. After receiving command (1777) of the ship Randolph, Biddle was killed and his ship destroyed in an encounter (1778) with the British warship Yarmouth off the coast of Barbados.

Biddle, Nicholas, 1786-1844, American financier, b. Philadelphia. After holding important posts in the American legations in France and England, he returned to the United States in 1807 and became one of the leading lights of Port-Folio, a literary magazine, which he edited after 1812. He was also commissioned to write the history of the Lewis and Clark expedition, but turned over the job to Paul Allen, a Philadelphia journalist, when he was elected (1810) to the state house of representatives, where he served a single term. In 1819, President Monroe appointed him one of the government directors of the Bank of the United States. He became its president in 1823, and his administration illustrated his belief in the necessity of a central banking institution to stabilize the currency and curb the inflationary tendencies of the era. He became the leading target of the Jacksonians in their war against the bank. After the bank failed of recharter, Biddle operated it as a private bank until it collapsed (1841) as an aftermath of the Panic of 1837. He was charged with fraud but was subsequently acquitted. Biddle's public correspondence dealing with national affairs (1817-44) was edited by Reginald McGrane (1919).

Berdyaev, Nicholas, 1874-1948, Russian theologian and religious philosopher, b. Kiev. After an early period as a Marxist, Berdyaev became prominent in a brilliant circle of Russian intellectuals famous in their time for their interest in Russian Orthodoxy. Forced into exile in 1922, Berdyaev attracted similar circles in Berlin and Paris. He wrote prolifically and gained wide recognition. He decried the dehumanization of man by modern technology and believed that man fulfills himself in the free, creative act. Fond of dichotomies, Berdyaev discussed history in terms of eschatology and the human in terms of the divine. He believed in the ideal of the Godmanhood. Among his many works are The End of Our Time (tr. 1933); The Destiny of Man (tr. 1937); Slavery and Freedom (tr. 1944); Dream and Reality: an Essay in Autobiography (tr. 1950); Truth and Revelation (tr. 1953).

Bacon, Sir Nicholas, 1509-79, English jurist. Called to the bar in 1533, he was made attorney of the court of wards and liveries in 1546 and, although a staunch Protestant, held this office through the reign of Mary I. On the accession (1558) of Elizabeth I, he was appointed lord keeper of the privy seal, possibly through the influence of William Cecil, later Lord Burghley (whose wife's sister Bacon married). In 1559 he was authorized to exercise the jurisdiction of the lord chancellor. He regarded Mary Queen of Scots as a menace to English peace and opposed any measure of compromise with her. He was the father of Francis Bacon.

(born December 1505?, Southampton, Hampshire, Eng.—died December 1556, Westminster) English playwright, translator, and schoolmaster. The headmaster of Eton College from 1534 and of Westminster from 1555, Udall was well known as a translator. He is credited with writing many plays, of which only one is extant, Ralph Roister Doister (performed circa 1553), the first known English comedy. About a braggart soldier-hero who is finally shown to be an arrant coward, it marks the emergence of comedy from the medieval morality plays, interludes, and farces.

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or Santa Claus

(flourished 4th century, Myra, Lycia, Asia Minor; feast day December 6) Minor saint associated with Christmas. Probably bishop of Myra, he is reputed to have provided dowries for three poor girls to save them from prostitution and to have restored to life three children who had been chopped up by a butcher. He became the patron saint of Russia and Greece, of charitable fraternities and guilds, and of children, sailors, unmarried girls, merchants, and pawnbrokers. After the Reformation his cult disappeared in all the Protestant countries of Europe except Holland, where he was known as Sinterklaas. Dutch colonists brought the tradition to New Amsterdam (now New York City), and English-speaking Americans adopted him as Santa Claus, who is believed to live at the North Pole and to bring gifts to children at Christmas.

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(born June 20, 1674, Little Barford, Bedfordshire, Eng.—died Dec. 6, 1718, London) English writer. His plays, which did much to assist the rise of domestic tragedy (in which the protagonists are middle-class rather than aristocratic), include The Ambitious Step-Mother (1700), Tamerlane (1702), The Fair Penitent (1703), The Tragedy of Jane Shore (1714), and The Tragedy of the Lady Jane Grey (1715). He is also remembered as the first to attempt a critical edition of William Shakespeare (The Works of Mr. William Shakespear, 1709, 1714). His own poetry includes odes and translations. He became poet laureate in 1715. Rowe is regarded as the foremost 18th-century English tragic dramatist.

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or Santa Claus

(flourished 4th century, Myra, Lycia, Asia Minor; feast day December 6) Minor saint associated with Christmas. Probably bishop of Myra, he is reputed to have provided dowries for three poor girls to save them from prostitution and to have restored to life three children who had been chopped up by a butcher. He became the patron saint of Russia and Greece, of charitable fraternities and guilds, and of children, sailors, unmarried girls, merchants, and pawnbrokers. After the Reformation his cult disappeared in all the Protestant countries of Europe except Holland, where he was known as Sinterklaas. Dutch colonists brought the tradition to New Amsterdam (now New York City), and English-speaking Americans adopted him as Santa Claus, who is believed to live at the North Pole and to bring gifts to children at Christmas.

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(born 1401, Kues, Trier—died Aug. 11, 1464, Todi, Papal States) German cardinal, mathematician, scientist, and philosopher. Ordained a priest in 1440, he was made a cardinal in Italy and became bishop there in 1450. In On Catholic Concordance (1433), he supported the supremacy of the general councils of the church over the papacy's authority (see conciliar movement). However, after witnessing the failure of the Council of Basel to unify the church or enact reform, he reversed his position and became an ardent supporter of the pope. Skilled in nearly every branch of learning, he anticipated the work of Nicolaus Copernicus by discerning a movement in the universe that did not centre on the Earth. He also carried out botanical experiments and collected ancient manuscripts. In his discourse On Learned Ignorance (1440), he described the learned man as one who is aware of his own ignorance.

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orig. Tommaso Parentucelli

(born Nov. 15, 1397, Sarzana, Republic of Genoa—died March 24, 1455, Rome) Pope (1447–55). Soon after his election, he ended the schism caused by the rivalry between popes and church councils. He restored peace to the Papal States, won Poland's allegiance, and gained the support of Austria by promising to crown Frederick III as Holy Roman emperor. Nicholas initiated the Peace of Lodi (1455) in order to end strife in Italy, and he tried to stamp out simony and other corrupt practices in the church. A patron of art and scholarship, he rebuilt many of Rome's architectural treasures and founded the Vatican Library. Although Nicholas was the first of the Renaissance popes, his failure to promote real religious reform helped bring about the Reformation of the 16th century.

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(born December 1505?, Southampton, Hampshire, Eng.—died December 1556, Westminster) English playwright, translator, and schoolmaster. The headmaster of Eton College from 1534 and of Westminster from 1555, Udall was well known as a translator. He is credited with writing many plays, of which only one is extant, Ralph Roister Doister (performed circa 1553), the first known English comedy. About a braggart soldier-hero who is finally shown to be an arrant coward, it marks the emergence of comedy from the medieval morality plays, interludes, and farces.

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(born June 20, 1674, Little Barford, Bedfordshire, Eng.—died Dec. 6, 1718, London) English writer. His plays, which did much to assist the rise of domestic tragedy (in which the protagonists are middle-class rather than aristocratic), include The Ambitious Step-Mother (1700), Tamerlane (1702), The Fair Penitent (1703), The Tragedy of Jane Shore (1714), and The Tragedy of the Lady Jane Grey (1715). He is also remembered as the first to attempt a critical edition of William Shakespeare (The Works of Mr. William Shakespear, 1709, 1714). His own poetry includes odes and translations. He became poet laureate in 1715. Rowe is regarded as the foremost 18th-century English tragic dramatist.

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(born April 2, 1862, Elizabeth, N.J., U.S.—died Dec. 7, 1947, New York, N.Y.) U.S. educator. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University. He was the founding president of what is today Columbia's Teachers College (1886–91). As president of Columbia University itself (1901–45), he led the institution to world renown. Early in his career he criticized prevailing pedagogical methods, but later he turned on pedagogical reform itself, decrying vocationalism in education and behaviorism in psychology. A champion of international understanding, he helped establish the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 1910 and served as its president (1925–45). In 1931 he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Jane Addams.

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Russian Nikolay Aleksandrovich

(born May 18, 1868, Tsarskoye Selo, near St. Petersburg, Russia—died July 16/17, 1918, Yekaterinburg) Tsar of Russia (1894–1917). Son of Alexander III, he received a military education and succeeded his father as tsar in 1894. He was an autocratic but indecisive ruler and was devoted to his wife, Alexandra, who strongly influenced his rule. His interest in Asia led to construction of the Trans-Siberian Railroad and also helped cause the disastrous Russo-Japanese War (1904–05). After the Russian Revolution of 1905, he agreed reluctantly to a representative Duma but restricted its powers and made only token efforts to enact its measures. His prime minister, Pyotr Stolypin, attempted reforms, but Nicholas, increasingly influenced by Alexandra and Grigory Rasputin, opposed him. After Russia suffered setbacks in World War I, Nicholas ousted the popular grand duke Nicholas as commander in chief of Russian forces and assumed command himself, at the bidding of Alexandra and Rasputin. His absence from Moscow and Alexandra's mismanagement of the government caused increasing unrest and culminated in the Russian Revolution of 1917. Nicholas abdicated in March 1917 and was detained with his family by Georgy Y. Lvov's provisional government. Plans for the royal family to be sent to England were overruled by the local Bolsheviks. Instead the family was sent to the city of Yekaterinburg, where they were executed in July 1918.

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Russian Nikolay Pavlovich

(born July 6, 1796, Tsarkoye Selo, near St. Petersburg, Russia—died March 2, 1855, St. Petersburg) Tsar of Russia (1825–55). He was the son of Paul I and was trained as an army officer. In 1825 he succeeded his brother Alexander I as emperor and suppressed the Decembrist revolt. His reign came to represent autocracy, militarism, and bureaucracy. To enforce his policies, he created such agencies as the Third Section (political police). In foreign policy, Nicholas quelled an uprising in Poland (1830–31) and aided Austria against a Hungarian uprising (1849). His designs on Constantinople led to war with Turkey (1853) and drew other European powers into the Crimean War. He was succeeded by his son Alexander II.

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(born 1547, Exeter, Eng.—died Jan. 7, 1619, London) British painter. The son of a goldsmith, he trained as a jeweler and began painting miniatures in his youth. In 1570 he was appointed miniature painter to Elizabeth I. He produced many portraits of her and of such members of her court as Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh. He retained his appointment on the accession of James I (1603), while also practicing as a goldsmith and jeweler. The first great native-born English painter of the Renaissance, he raised the art of miniature painting to its highest point of development and influenced English portraiture through the early 17th century.

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U.S. tap-dancing duo. Fayard Antonio Nicholas (b. Oct. 20, 1914, Mobile, Ala., U.S.—d. Jan. 24, 2006, Los Angeles, Calif.) and his brother Harold Lloyd Nicholas (b. March 17, 1921, Winston-Salem, N.C.—d. July 3, 2000, New York, N.Y.) developed the “classical tap” form, combining jazz dance, ballet, and acrobatics with tap. They gained fame at a young age while dancing at Harlem's Cotton Club (1932–39); they went on to appear in films such as Stormy Weather (1943), as well as on Broadway and later on television. They began their careers at a time when opportunities were few and stereotyped roles the norm for black entertainers, but they rose above this marginalization and enhanced the art of tap with their elegance and sensational showmanship.

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orig. Nicholas Breakspear

(born 1100?, Abbot's Langley, near St. Albans, Hertfordshire, Eng.—died Sept. 1, 1159, Anagni, near Rome [Italy]) Pope (1154–59), the only Englishman ever to hold the office. He served in France and Italy before a successful mission to Scandinavia led to his election as pope. Adrian crowned Frederick I Barbarossa emperor in 1155, after Frederick had turned over Arnold of Brescia, leader of a revolt in Rome. The relationship quickly soured, however, as a result of Adrian's policy toward the Normans of southern Italy and his assertion that Frederick had received the imperial crown as a benefice. His controversial bull Laudabiliter supposedly gave Ireland to Henry II of England, a claim that was later refuted. Adrian's refusal to recognize the king of Sicily, William I, stirred revolt in the Campania.

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(born April 27, 1904, Ballintubbert, County Leix, Ire.—died May 22, 1972, Hadley Wood, Hertfordshire, Eng.) Irish-born British poet. Son of a clergyman, Day-Lewis studied at the University of Oxford and in the 1930s became part of a circle of left-wing poets centred on W.H. Auden, though he later turned to an individual lyricism expressed in traditional forms. His works include translations of Virgil's Georgics (1940), Aeneid (1952), and Eclogues (1963) and the verse collections The Room (1965) and The Whispering Roots (1970). He also wrote the autobiography The Buried Day (1960) and several detective novels under the pseudonym Nicholas Blake. He became poet laureate of England in 1968. He was the father of actor Daniel Day-Lewis.

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(born Jan. 8, 1786, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—died Feb. 27, 1844, Philadelphia) U.S. author, financier, and lawyer. He served as secretary to Pres. James Monroe (1806–07), then minister to England, and, afterward, while practicing law in the U.S., he wrote History of the Expedition of Captains Lewis and Clark (1814) from the explorers' notes. In 1823 Monroe appointed him president of the Second Bank of the United States. He developed the bank into the first effective U.S. central bank, sponsoring policies that curbed credit, regulated the money supply, and safeguarded government deposits. In 1832 the bank came under attack from Pres. Andrew Jackson, who managed to terminate its national charter in 1836. Biddle later became president of the bank under a Pennsylvania state charter. The Federal Reserve System was later established as the country's central bank.

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Russian Nikolay Nikolayevich

(born Nov. 18, 1856, St. Petersburg, Russia—died Jan. 5, 1929, Antibes, France) Russian grand duke. The nephew of Tsar Alexander II, he entered the imperial army (1872) and served in the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78). As inspector general of calvary (1895–1905), he introduced reforms in training and equipment. From 1905 he commanded the St. Petersburg military district, and in 1914 he was appointed head of all Russian forces. A popular commander, he led the army to early successes in World War I but was hampered by shortages. Dismissed in 1915 by Nicholas II, he commanded in the Caucasus (1915–17). After the Russian Revolution of 1917 he moved to France, where he led an organization to unite anticommunist Russian émigrés.

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(born Nov. 10, 1879, Springfield, Ill., U.S.—died Dec. 5, 1931, Springfield) U.S. poet. In his youth, he began traveling the country reciting his poems in return for food and shelter, in an attempt to revive poetry as an oral art form of the common people. He first received widespread recognition for “General William Booth Enters into Heaven” (1913), about the founder of the Salvation Army. His works are full of powerful rhythms, vivid imagery, and bold rhymes and express an ardent patriotism, a passion for progressive democracy, and a romantic view of nature. His collections include Rhymes to Be Traded for Bread (1912), The Congo (1914), and The Chinese Nightingale (1917). He was responsible for discovering the work of Langston Hughes. Depressed and unstable in later years, he committed suicide by drinking poison.

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(born 1547, Exeter, Eng.—died Jan. 7, 1619, London) British painter. The son of a goldsmith, he trained as a jeweler and began painting miniatures in his youth. In 1570 he was appointed miniature painter to Elizabeth I. He produced many portraits of her and of such members of her court as Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh. He retained his appointment on the accession of James I (1603), while also practicing as a goldsmith and jeweler. The first great native-born English painter of the Renaissance, he raised the art of miniature painting to its highest point of development and influenced English portraiture through the early 17th century.

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(born April 2, 1862, Elizabeth, N.J., U.S.—died Dec. 7, 1947, New York, N.Y.) U.S. educator. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University. He was the founding president of what is today Columbia's Teachers College (1886–91). As president of Columbia University itself (1901–45), he led the institution to world renown. Early in his career he criticized prevailing pedagogical methods, but later he turned on pedagogical reform itself, decrying vocationalism in education and behaviorism in psychology. A champion of international understanding, he helped establish the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 1910 and served as its president (1925–45). In 1931 he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Jane Addams.

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(born Jan. 8, 1786, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—died Feb. 27, 1844, Philadelphia) U.S. author, financier, and lawyer. He served as secretary to Pres. James Monroe (1806–07), then minister to England, and, afterward, while practicing law in the U.S., he wrote History of the Expedition of Captains Lewis and Clark (1814) from the explorers' notes. In 1823 Monroe appointed him president of the Second Bank of the United States. He developed the bank into the first effective U.S. central bank, sponsoring policies that curbed credit, regulated the money supply, and safeguarded government deposits. In 1832 the bank came under attack from Pres. Andrew Jackson, who managed to terminate its national charter in 1836. Biddle later became president of the bank under a Pennsylvania state charter. The Federal Reserve System was later established as the country's central bank.

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