BIEL (or in French Bienne), a town of the canton of Bern, in Switzerland, situated at the foot of the Jura Mountains, near the northern end of the lake to which it gives its name. It is well built, and possesses a town-house of some antiquity, a remarkable church, a hospital, a gymnasium, and an industrial school. There is considerable industrial activity in Biel, especially in the manufacture of cotton, leather, iron wire, and watches. Founded in the 11th or 12th century, Biel continued under the authority of the bishopric of Basel till the beginning of the 15 th, when it formed an alliance with Bern, Soleure, and Freiburg. Its defence against the French in 1798 is commemorated by an obelisk on a neighbouring eminence. Its incorporation with Basel dates from 1815. Population, 8113....

BIELAU, frequently distinguished as Langen Bielau, the longest village in the Prussian monarchy. It is situated in the government of Breslau in Silesia, on a tributary of the Piela, and extends for a distance of rather more than four miles. Its industrial establishments are numerous and important, the cotton manufactory alone employing 2000 looms; while bleaching, dyeing, printing, tile-making, and sugar-refining are all extensively carried on. There is an old castle in the village belonging to Count Sandreczky. Population in 1871, 13,070.

BIELAYA TSERKOV (‰e., White Church), a township of Russia, in the government of Kieff, 32 miles S.S.W. of Vasilko, on the main road from Kieff to the Crimea, in 49° 47' N. lat. and 30° 7' E. long. First mentioned in 1155, Bielaya Tserkov was destroyed during the Mongolian invasion, but afterwards recovered its prosperity. In 1550 a castle was built in the town by Prince Pιunsky, waiwode of Keiff, and various immunities were bestowed on the inhabitants. A Polish army occupied the place in 1651, and from that time it was alternately subject to Poland and to independent hetmans. In 1774 it received a charter from Stanislas Augustus, and in 1793 was united to Russia. The principal buildings of Bielaya Tserkov include two Greek churches, one Roman Catholic church, two synagogues, a hospital, and a gymnasium (founded in 1846). In commercial activity the town only yields to Kieff, Berdicheff, and Uman—the chief articles of trade being cattle and grain. There are eleven annual fairs, three of which last for ten days each. The sales at these fairs amount to upwards of £28,000. Population in 1860, 12,075, of whom 7349 are Jews.

BIELEFELD, a town in the Prussian province of Westphalia, the capital of a circle in the government of Minden. It is situated at the foot of the Osning, and consists of two portions, separated by the River Lutter, which were first united into one town in 1520. Among its public buildings and institutions are the old town church, with a curious carved altar piece, the town-house, the gymnasium, and the provincial industrial school. On the height above the town is the old castle of Sparrenberg, for a long time employed as a prison. It was founded about the 12th century, and originally bore the name of Löwenberg. Bielefeld is the centre of the Westphalian linen trade, and contains extensive factories and bleachfields. The Ravensberg factory has upwards of 24,000 spindles, and the Vorwärts, 10,700. Tobacco, glass, cement, cast-iron, leather, tiles, <fcc., are also manufactured in the town. Bielefeld is mentioned as early as the 9th century, as Belanvdde, and rose into importance in the 11th or 12th as the capital of the countship of Ravensburg. It joined the Hanseatic league in 1270, and about the same time began to engage in the linen manufacture, which was greatly extended during the 16th and 17th centuries by a number of refugees from the Netherlands. In 1666 the town passed with the countship to the duchy of Brandenburg. Population in 1871, 21,834.

BIELEFF, a town of Russia, in the government of Tula, and 82 miles from that city, on the left bank of the Oka, in 53° 48' N. lat. and 35° 9' E. long. It is first mentioned in 1147; it belonged to Lithuania in the end of the 14th century; and in 1468 it was raised to the rank of a principality, dependent on that country, by Basil Romanovitch, who had come thither from Odoeff. In the end of the 15 th century this principality began to separate from Lithuania and attach itself to the Grand Duchy of Moscow; and by the peaceful treaty of Ivan III. with Alexander the Lithuanian Bieleffwas ultimately united to Russia. In the 16th century it suffered greatly from the Tatars, especially in the years 1507, 1512, 1530, 1536, and 1544. In 1538 Ivan the Terrible exiled Prince John of Bieleff to Vologda, and in 1565 declared the lordship his own property. In 1607 Nikivitch Romanoff, general of the Emperor Basil Ivanovitch, gained a complete victory in the neighbourhood against the rebellious Prince Mosalsky. Transferred in 1708 from the Smolensk to the Kievan government, Bieleff passed in 1719 to the Bielgorod district of Orloff, and in 1777 was made a departmental town of the government of Tula. In 1826 the Empress Elizabeth Alexievna died in Bieleff on her way from Taganrog to St Petersburg. The buildings of the town include nineteen churches and two monasteries, a hospital, a widow’s asylum, a foundling institution, an almshouse, a prison, and a theatre. A public library was founded in 1858 in memory of Basil Zhukovsky, who was born in a neighbouring village. The industrial establishments comprise tallow-boiling premises, oil manufactories, a tannery, a sugar-refinery, a distillery, &c. In extent of trade Bieleff ranks next in the government to Tula—the most important ...

BIELGOROD (i.e., White Town), a town of Russia, in the government of Kursk, 87 miles S.S.W. from that city, in 50° 36' N. lat. and 36° 37' E. long., on the right bank of the North Donetz, near the confluence of the Vizelka. It occupies a high chalk hill, from which are annually quarried about 112 tons. The date of the founding of Bielgorod is uncertain, because it has been confounded with two other places of the same name. In Karamsin’s History it is mentioned that the Grand Duke Theodore Ivanovitch in 1593 sent to found Bielgorod on the ruins of Siever; and it is certain that ancient remains are still to be seen in this city. In the 17th century Bielgorod suffered ceaselessly from Tatar incursions, against which, by command of the Emperor Michael Theodorovitch, there was built (from 1633 to 1740) an earthen wall, with twelve forts, extending upwards of 200 miles from the Vorskla to the Don. These defences were called the Bielgorod line, along which, in the reign of Alexias Michaelovitch, there were settled emigrants from Cherkas, Zimbar, Corsun, and elsewhere. In 1666 an episcopal see was established in the town, and the archbishops lived there till 1833, when they w ere transferred to Kursk. In 1779 Bielgorod was made the chief town of a circle in the Kursk government. There are two cathedral churches in the place, Trinity and Assumption, both built in the 16 th century, as well as fifteen other churches, two monasteries, a theological seminary, an almshouse, and a hospital. In 1862 a bank was established with a capital of between £10,000 and £15,000. Only a few of the houses are built of stone. Wax-candles, tallowcandles, leather, soap, and bricks are manufactured, and a considerable trade is carried on in grain and cattle. There are three annual fairs on the ...

BIELITZ, a town of Austrian Silesia, in the circle of Teschen, on the Biala River, a sub-tributary of the Vistula, and opposite the Galician town of Biala, with which it is connected by a bridge. It is the seat of the superintendent of all the Protestants in Moravia, and the residence of the Sulkowsky family, in favour of w hom the lordship of Bielitz was raised to a duchy in 1754. The castle is a fine building of some antiquity, surrounded by a beautiful park. The principal industries of the town are the spinning of flax and the printing and dyeing of cloth, the last especially being carried on with great success. A valuable traffic is maintained not only in the produce of the factories but also in Hungarian wine and Galician salt. The town was founded in the 13th century, andin the 15th and 16th was a fortified place. It is connected by means of a branch line with the Kaiser-Ferdinand Northern Railway. Population in 1869, 10,721.

BIELLA, a towm of Italy, in the province of Novara, 38 miles N.E. of Turin, with which it is connected by raiL It is built partly on the slope of a hill and partly on the banks of two small streams called the Cervo and Aurena,— the palatial old houses of the upper portion being now inhabited by the poorer classes. Several of the streets have arcades along the sides. It is the seat of a bishop, and has a cathedral, an episcopal palace, and a theological seminary. The principal industries are tne manufacture of cloth and paper, and the trade consists mainly in oil, chestnuts, and silk. Population in 1870, 11,935.

BIELOPOLI, a town of Russia in the government of Kharkoff, near the Vuira and Kriuga, 37 miles N.W. from the town of Sum, in 51° 9' N. lat., and 34° 19' E long. It was founded in 1672. A very extensive trade in wheat, salted fish, salt, pitch, and timber is carried on by the inhabitants, who number upwards of 12,000.

BIELOSTOK (in Polish Bialystok), a town of Russia, in the government of Grodno, in 53° 8' N. lat. and 23° 9' E. long., 50 miles S.W. of Grodno on the River Biela, a tributary of the Suprasla. Founded in the 14th century it was long an important proprietary village belonging to the Veselovskis. In the 17th century it passed to the Branetskis, at whose solicitation Augustus III., in 1749, raised it to the rank of a borough and gave it civic rights. This increased its prosperity, and after the third partition of Poland in 1793, the Prussian Government, to whom it had been assigned, made it the seat of an administrative department. By the peace of Tilsit in 1807, Bielostok was given to Russia along with the department of the same name, which in 1808 was divided into the four districts of Bielostok, Bielsk, Sokol, and Drogotchin. The public buildings of Bielostok comprise a Greek and a Roman Catholic church, several synagogues, a hospital, a castle (used as a prison), a gymnasium, an institution for the daughters of the nobility, and various other schools. There are three cloth factories and an extensive brewery; cotton and wool spinning are both carried on, and leather, oil, soap, and tallow are manufactured. There is also an important trade in grain, wood, and various industrial articles. In 1860 the population was 16,544, no fewer than 11,288 being Jews.