ured classes of
the free and broad humanity that inspired them, an epoch which marks the
transition from the rigid formality of mediaeval to the enlightened
freedom of modern times.

RENAIX (17), a busy manufacturing town in East Flanders, Belgium, 22
m. SW. of Ghent; has large cotton and linen factories, breweries, and
distilleries.

RENAN, ERNEST, Orientalist and Biblical scholar, born in Brittany,
son of a sailor, who, dying, left him to the care of his mother and
sister, to both of whom he was warmly attached; destined for the Church,
he entered the seminary of St. Sulpice, where his studies threw him out
of the relation with the Church and obliged him to abandon all thoughts
of the clerical profession; accomplished in Hebrew, he was appointed
professor of that language in the College of France in 1861, though not
installed till 1870, and made a member of the French Academy in 1878;
having distinguished himself by his studies in the Semitic languages, and
in a succession of essays on various subjects of high literary merit, he
in 1863 achieved a European reputation by the publication of his "Vie de
Jesus," the first of a series bearing upon the origin of Christianity and
the agencies that contributed to its rise and development; he wrote other
works bearing more immediately on modern life and its destiny, but it is
in connection with his views of Christ and Christianity that his name
will be remembered; he entertained at last an overweening faith in
science and scientific experts, and looked to the latter as the elect of
the earth for the redemption of humanity (1823-1893).

RENDSBURG (12), a fortified town in Schleswig-Holstein, on the North
Sea and Baltic Canal, 19 m. W. of Kiel; manufactures cotton, chemicals,
brandy &c.

RENE I., titular king of Naples, born at Angers, son of Louis II.,
Duke of Anjou and Count of Provence; on the death of his father-in-law,
Duke of Lorraine, he in 1431 claimed the dukedom; was defeated and
imprisoned; bought his liberty and the dukedom in 1437, in which year he
also made an ineffectual attempt to make good his claim to the throne of
Naples and Sicily; settled down in Provence and devoted himself to
literature and art and to developing the country (1409-1480).

RENFREW (7), a royal burgh and county-town of Renfrewshire, situated
on the Clyde, 6 m. below Glasgow; dates back to the 12th century as a
burgh; industries include thread, cotton cloths, shawl factories, an