(D. B. Ma.)
MALINES (Flemish, Mechelen, called in the middle ages by the Latin name Mechlinia, whence the spelling Mechlin), an ancient and important city of Belgium, and the seat since 1559 of the only archbishopric in that country. Pop. (1904), 58,101. The name is supposed to be derived from maris linea, and to indicate that originally the sea came up to it. It is now situated on the Dyle, and is in the province of Antwerp, lying about half-way between Antwerp and Brussels. The chief importance of Malines is derived from the fact that it is in a sense the religious capital of Belgium—the archbishop being the primate of the Catholic Church in that country. The archbishop’s palace is in a picturesque situation, and dates from the creation of the dignity. The principal building in the city is the exceedingly fine cathedral dedicated to St Rombaut. This cathedral was begun in the 12th and finished early in the 14th century, and although modified in the 15th after a fire, it remains one of the most remarkable specimens of Gothic architecture in Europe. The massive tower of over 300 ft., which is described as unfinished because the original intention was to carry it to 500 ft., is its most striking external feature. The people of Malines gained in the old distich—“gaudet Mechlinia stultis”—the reputation of being “fools,” because one of the citizens on seeing the moon through the dormer windows of St Rombaut called out that the place was on fire, and his fellow-citizens, following his example, endeavoured to put out the conflagration until they realized the truth. The cathedral contains a fine altar-piece by Van Dyck, and the pulpit is in carved oak of the 17th century. Another old palace is that of Margaret of Austria, regent for Charles V., which has been carefully preserved and is now used as a court of justice. In the church of Notre Dame (16th century) is Rubens’ masterpiece “the miraculous draught of fishes,” and in that of St John is a fine triptych by the same master. Malines, although no longer famous for its lace, carries on a large trade in linen, needles, furniture and oil, while as a junction for the line from Ghent to Louvain and Liège, as well as for that from Antwerp to Brussels and the south, its station is one of the busiest in Belgium, and this fact has contributed to the general prosperity of the city.
The lordship of Malines was conferred as a separate fief by Pippin the Short on his kinsman Count Adon in 754. In the 9th century Charles the Bald bestowed the fief on the bishop of Liége, and after being shared between Brabant and Flanders it passed into the hands of Philip the Bold, founder of the house of Burgundy, in 1384. During the religious troubles of the 16th century Malines suffered greatly, and in 1572 it was sacked by Alva’s troops during three days. In the wars of the 17th and 18th centuries it was besieged many times and captured by the French, Dutch and English on several occasions. The French finally removed the fortifications in 1804, since which year it has been an open town.
MALLANWAN, a town in Hardoi district, the United Provinces, India. Pop. (1901), 11,158. Under native rule the town possessed considerable political importance, and upon the British annexation of Oudh it was selected as the headquarters of the district, but was abandoned in favour of Hardoi after the Mutiny. Saltpetre and brass utensils are manufactured.
MALLARMÉ, FRANÇOIS RENÉ AUGUSTE (1755-1835), French Revolutionist, the son of a lawyer, was born at Nancy on the 25th of February 1755. He was brought up in his father’s profession, and was appointed procureur-syndic of the district of Pont-à-Mousson. During the Revolution he was elected by the department of Meurthe deputy to the Legislative Assembly and the Convention, where he attached himself to the Mountain and voted for the death of Louis XVI. He was elected president of the Convention on the 30th of May 1793, and by his weakness during the crisis of the following day contributed much to the success of the insurrection against the Girondists. He took an active part in the levée-en-masse, and in November 1793 was given the task of establishing the revolutionary government in the departments of Meuse and Moselle, where he gained an unenviable notoriety by ordering the execution of the sentence of death decreed by the revolutionary tribunal on some young girls at Verdun who had offered flowers to the Prussians when they entered the town. After the fall of Robespierre he joined the group of “Thermidorians” and was sent on mission to the south of France, where he closed the Jacobin club at Toulouse and set free a number of imprisoned “suspects.” On the 1st of June 1795 he was denounced and arrested, but was soon set at liberty. In 1796 he was appointed by the Directory commissioner for the organization of the departments of Dyle and Mont-Tonnerre. Under the empire he was receiver of the droits réunis at Nancy, and lost his money in 1814 in raising a levy of volunteers. Appointed sub-prefect of Avesnes during the Hundred Days, he was imprisoned by the Prussians in revenge for the death of the maidens of Verdun, and lived in exile during the Restoration. He returned to France after the revolution of 1830, and died at Richemont (Seine-Inférieure) on the 25th of July 1835.