Beau Sabreur, Le.
The sobriquet of Joachim Murat, Napoleon’s best cavalry leader, created by him King of Naples.
Beauclerc.
The sobriquet of Henry I of England, in allusion to his scholarship, which was superior to that of most mediæval monarchs.
Bec, Compromise of.
An arrangement between Henry I and Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1106, by which the long standing dispute as to the King’s right of investiture was settled. By this arrangement the King retained the right of exacting from the Bishops the oath of fealty and homage, surrendering the purely formal right of bestowing the ring and crozier.
Bedchamber Question.
The difficulty that arose between Queen Victoria and Sir Robert Peel, on the resignation of the Melbourne Ministry in 1839. Through some misunderstanding the Queen thought that Peel wished her to change all the ladies holding Court appointments, a step she refused to take. It ended in Peel refusing to take office, and Lord Melbourne coming back.
Bedford Protest.
A protest signed by a hastily summoned meeting of the minority of the House of Lords in March, 1766, on the night that the repeal of the Stamp Act, imposing stamp duties on the American Colonies, passed that House. The signatories to the protest were headed by the Duke of Bedford.