BARO´NIUS, or BARONIO, Cæsar, Italian ecclesiastical historian, born 1538; educated at Naples; in 1557 went to Rome; was one of the first pupils of St. Philip of Neri, and member of the oratory founded by him; afterwards cardinal and librarian of the Vatican Library. He owed these dignities to the services which he rendered the Church by his _Ecclesiastical Annals_, comprising valuable documents from the papal archives, on which he laboured from the year 1580 until his death, 30th June, 1607. They were continued, though with less power, by other writers, of whom Raynaldus takes the first rank; others are Laderchi and Theiner.
BARON OF BEEF, two sirloins not cut asunder.
BARONS' WAR, the war carried on for several years by Simon de Montfort and other barons of Henry III against the king, beginning in 1263.
BARONY, a manor or landed estate under a baron, who formerly had certain rights of jurisdiction in his barony and could hold special courts. In Ireland baronies are still the chief subdivisions of the counties.
BAROT´SELAND, a former kingdom of South Africa, now a part of Rhodesia.
BAROUCHE (ba-rösh'), a four-wheeled carriage with a falling top and two inside seats in which four persons can sit, two facing two.
BARQUE (bärk), a three-masted vessel of which the fore-mast and main-mast are square-rigged, but the mizzen-mast has fore-and-aft sails only.
BARQUISIMETO (b[.a]r-k[=e]-s[=e]-m[=a]'t[=o]), a city in the north of the Republic of Venezuela, capital of the State of Lara. Pop. about 32,000.
BAR´RA, or BAR, a small kingdom in Africa, near the mouth of the Gambia. The Mandingoes, who form a considerable part of the inhabitants, are Mahommedans and the most civilized people on the Gambia. Pop. 200,000. The coast here belongs to Britain. The chief town is Barrinding, where the so-called king resides. See _Gambia_.
BARRA, an island of the Outer Hebrides, west coast of Scotland, belonging to Inverness-shire; 8 miles long and from 2 to 5 miles broad, of irregular outline, with rocky coasts, surface hilly but furnishing excellent pasture. On the west coast the Atlantic, beating with all its force, has hollowed out vast caves and fissures. Large herds of cattle and flocks of sheep are reared on the island. The coasts of this and adjacent islands abound with fish, and fishing is an important industry. The inhabitants, about 2500, are Roman Catholics, and speak Gaelic.