Vassy, Massacre of.
The massacre, in 1562, of a body of Huguenots who, in accordance with their strict legal rights, were holding a service outside the town of Vassy in Champagne. The murderers were the retinue of the Duc de Guise, and the victims numbered sixty, while over two hundred were wounded. This atrocity led to the outbreak of the first Huguenot War.
Vatican Council.
The Œcumenical Council held in Rome in 1870, at which the dogma of the Infallibility of the Pope was promulgated.
Vavassors.
The name given on the Continent to the vassals of the great feudal lords.
Vehmgerichte.
Secret tribunals established in Germany during the Middle Ages, to try persons arraigned on capital charges, and to carry out the sentence in case of conviction. The most famous was that of Westphalia. Any free born German was eligible as a member, or Freischöffe, and many German Princes were initiated. The powers of the Vehmgerichte were greatly curtailed by Maximilian, the original purpose of these tribunals having been overshadowed by their employment as vehicles of private vengeance, and they gradually lost all influence, till they were finally dissolved by Jerome Buonaparte in 1811.
Veishya.
The third, or agricultural, caste among the Hindus.