bottaci: a traditional unit of volume capacity used in Sicily. It was equal to 615 liters.
bougainvillea: A tropical plant which produces clusters of rosy or purplish leaves which match its flowers. It is much used as a creeper in Sicily.
boule: a council of an ancient Greek city. The meeting-place for a boule was known as a boulerterion.
Bourbon Dynasty: Royal dynasty with links in Austria and Spain, ruling Sicily and Naples (and the Two Sicilies) 1735-1859.
Bova (RC): A commune in the province of Reggio Calabria.
Bova Marina (RC): A commune in the province of Reggio Calabria.
Bovalino (RC): A commune in the province of Reggio Calabria.
Bovesia (or Grecia Calabra=Calabrian Greece): the smaller of the two surviving Griko-speaking enclaves in southern Italy (along with Grecia Salentina in Puglia). Located on the tip of Calabria near Reggio di Calabria, it consists of nine villages.
Bovianum: (mod. Boiano (CB)). The principal town of the Pentrian Samnites. Captured by the Romans during the Samnite wars, it became a veteran colony under Julius Caesar or Augustus. It was situated on the Via Numicia, between Aesernia and Ad Tamarum.
Bovino (FG): A commune in the province of Foggia. Population: 3,788 (2006e).
Bracigliano (SA): A commune in the province of Salerno.
Bradanus, River: (mod. Bradano). A river in ancient Lucania. Rising in the Apennines between Venusia and Potentia, it flows into the Bay of Taranto (Sinus Tarentinus), at a point NE of Metapontum. Its course formed the boundary between Lucania and Apulia.
bradyseism: a long-continued, extremely slow vertical instability in the earth’s crust near a volcano. In the Phlegraean Fields these movements range from 20 feet above to 20 feet below sea level over 2,000 years.
Brancaccio: One of the great noble families of Naples. Descended from the Brancas of France, they formed two principal branches, the “Principi di Ruffano” and the “Principi Brancaccio”. Between the 14th and 17th centuries the Bracaccios supplied several important officials to the royal government as well as seven cardinals to the Church.
Brancaccio, Landolfo: (b. Naples. d. 1312, Avignon). Ecclesiastic. Created a cardinal by Pope Celestine V in 1294, he served in the papal government under that Pope and Boniface VIII. He attended the General Council at Vienne in 1311-12.
Brancaccio, Luigi: (d. 1411). Ecclesiastic and canonist. Having served as papal nunzio to Naples for Pope Innocent VII (r1404-06), he was appointed Archbishop of Taranto and Cardinal by Gregory XII in 1408.
Brancaleone (RC): A commune in the province of Reggio Calabria.
Brentesion: The Messapian name for ancient Brundisium. The name is derived from a Messapian word meaning “stag’s head.”
Brettioi: Greek name for the ancient Bruttii.
Briatico (VV): A commune in the province of Vibo Valentia.
Bricinniae (Bricinnia): An ancient town in eastern Sicily located to the S of Leontini, near the source of the river Pantagias. Ruins of ancient fortifications still survive.
Brienza (PZ): A commune in the province of Potenza.
Brigand: Originally a term for a type of irregular foot soldier, it later became synonymous with a bandit. The two definitions became confused during the Brigantaggio, the civil war which raged for several years in southern Italy after the Sardinian conquest of the Two Sicilies.
Brill, Paul: (b. 1554, Anversa. d. 1626, Rome). Painter. Of Flemish origins, he moved to Rome where he worked with his brother Matthjis on a number of religious projects (Torre dei Venti [Vatican]; Casino Rospigliosi; Galleria Clementina, Scala Santa and Library [Vatican]).
Brindisi, Province of: A province of Puglia. Area: 1,839 km². Population: 403,786 (2006e); 402,422 (2001); 411,314 [1991]; 388,434 [1981]. Its capital is the city of Brindisi. Bordering on the Adriatic coast of Puglia, the terrain is low and hilly enclosing a flat plain. It is watered by a few streams.
History: The province was created from communes taken from the province of Lecce.
The principal agricultural products are grapes, olives, figs, almonds, and vegetables. Stock-raising and fishing are also important. Most industry is centered in and around the city of Brindisi.