Parsons’ Emperor.
See Pfaffen-Kaiser.
Parthenopæan Republic.
A short-lived republic, established in the kingdom of Naples in 1799, as the result of a popular rising.
Partition Treaty, First.
A treaty between Great Britain, Holland and Spain, signed in 1698, with the object of dealing in anticipation with the claims of the rival pretenders to the Spanish succession. It was agreed that Spain, the Netherlands, and the Spanish Indies should pass to the Elector of Bavaria, the least powerful of the three claimants. France was to receive Guipuscoa and the two Sicilies, and Austria the Milanese. The terms of this treaty, though secret, leaked out, and Charles was persuaded to execute a will leaving the whole of his dominions to the Bavarian Prince.
Partition Treaty, Second.
The death of the Elector of Bavaria having rendered the First Partition Treaty of no effect, a second treaty was signed by the same three powers in 1700. By this instrument Spain, the Netherlands and the Indies were assigned to the Austrian Archduke, while France, in addition to the two Sicilies and Guipuscoa, was to receive the Milanese, to be exchanged eventually for Lorraine, which was a German fief encroaching on the natural dominions of France.
Pasquinades.
A series of satires on the authorities issued in Rome towards the end of the fifteenth century by a witty tailor named Pasquino. The word is now applied generally to political lampoons.