. Pop. (1901) 2467. The church of St
Peter, the body of which is Decorated and Perpendicular, has a beautiful
Early English tower. Magdalen College school was founded in 1447 by
William of Waynflete, bishop of Winchester, bearing the name of his
great college at Oxford. Of a previous foundation of the 12th century,
called the Hospital of St John, the transitional Norman and Early
English chapel remains. Brewing is carried on. The borough is under a
mayor, 4 aldermen and 12 councillors. Area, 3489 acres.

Brackley (Brachelai, Brackele) was held in 1086 by Earl Alberie, from
whom it passed to the earl of Leicester and thence to the families of De
Quinci and Holand. Brilliant tournaments were held in 1249 and 1267, and
others were prohibited in 1222 and 1244. The market, formerly held on
Sunday, was changed in 1218 to Wednesday, and in answer to a writ of
_Quo Warranto_ Maud de Holand claimed in 1330 that her family had held a
fair on St Andrew's day from time immemorial. In 1553 Mary granted two
fairs to the earl of Derby. By charter of 1686 James II. incorporated
the town under a mayor, 6 aldermen, and 26 burgesses, granted three new
fairs and confirmed the old fair and market. In 1708 Anne granted four
fairs to the earl of Bridgewater, and in 1886 the borough had a new
charter of incorporation under a mayor, 4 aldermen and 12 councillors
under the Municipal Corporations Act of 1882. Camden (_Brit._ p. 430)
says that Brackley was formerly a famous staple for wool. It first sent
members to parliament in 1547, and continued to send two representatives
till disfranchised by the Reform Act of 1832. The town formerly had a
considerable woollen and lace-making trade.

BRACQUEMOND, FELIX (1833- ), French painter and etcher, was born in
Paris. He was trained in early youth as a trade lithographer, until
Guichard, a pupil of Ingres, took him to his studio. His portrait of his
grandmother, painted by him at the age of nineteen, attracted Theophile
Gautier's attention at the Salon. He applied himself to engraving and
etching about 1853, and played a leading and brilliant part in the
revival of the etcher's art in France. Altogether he has produced over
eight hundred plates, comprising portraits, landscapes, scenes of
contemporary life, and bird-studies, besides numerous interpretations of
other artists' paintings, especially those of Meissonier, Gustave Moreau
and Corot. After having been attached to the Sevres porcelain fa