once belonged to the ancient abbey of Bassefontaine, the ruins of which are
situated near the village.

_Counts of Brienne._--Under the Carolingian dynasty Brienne-le-Chateau was
the capital town of a French countship. In the 10th century it was captured
by two adventurers named Engelbert and Gobert, and from the first of these
sprang the noble house of Brienne. In 1210 John of Brienne (1148-1237)
became king of Jerusalem, through his marriage with Mary of Montsserrat,
heiress of the kingdom of Jerusalem. He led a crusade in Egypt which had no
lasting success; and when in 1229 he was elected emperor of the East, for
the period of Baldwin II.'s minority, he fought and conquered the Greek
emperor John III. (Batatzes or Vatatzes). Walter V., count of Brienne and
of Lecce (Apulia) and duke of Athens, fought against the Greeks and at
first drove them from Thessaly, but was eventually defeated and killed near
Lake Copais in 1311. His son, Walter VI., after having vainly attempted to
reconquer Athens in 1331, served under Philip of Valois against the
English. Having defended Florence against the Pisans he succeeded in
obtaining dictatorial powers for himself in the republic; but his
tyrannical conduct brought about his expulsion. He was appointed constable
of France by John the Good, and was killed at the battle of Poitiers in
1356. His sister and heiress Isabelle married Walter of Enghien, and so
brought Brienne to the house of Enghien, and, by his marriage with Margaret
of Enghien, John of Luxemburg-St Pol (d. about 1397) became count of
Brienne. The house of Luxemburg retained the countship until Margaret
Charlotte of Luxemburg sold it to a certain Marpon, who ceded it to Henri
Auguste de Lomenie (whose wife, Louise de Beon, descended from the house of
Luxemburg-Brienne) in 1640. The Limousin house of Lomenie (the genealogies
which trace this family to the 15th century are untrustworthy) produced
many well-known statesmen, among others the celebrated cardinal Etienne
Charles de Lomenie de Brienne (1727-1794), minister of Louis XV.; and the
last lords of Brienne were members of this family.

(M. P.*)

BRIENZ, LAKE OF, in the Swiss canton of Bern, the first lake into which the
river Aar expands. It lies in a deep hollow between the village of Brienz
on the east (2580 inhabitants, the chief centre of the Swiss wood-carving
industry) and, on the west, Boenigen (1515 inhabitants), close to
Interlaken. Its length is about 9 m.,