A secret society which largely controlled the appointment of officials, and practically governed Sicily. The disclosures following the murder of Signor Notarbartolo, deputy for Palermo, in 1899, caused the Italian Government to institute a searching inquiry, which led to the suppression, temporarily at least, of the Maffia. Magdeburg, Sack of. At the capture of Magdeburg by the Austrian General, Tilly, in 1629, during the Thirty Years’ War, the Protestant inhabitants were put to the sword with ruthless barbarity. Magna Charta. The Great Charter of English liberty, extorted from John by his Barons in 1215. It prescribed the constitution of the Great Council of the Kingdom, the members whereof were to be summoned by writ; it defined and limited the feudal obligations of the Barons and other tenants of the Crown; restricted the powers of the sheriffs and other royal officers, and secured the liberties of the free towns. It further declared the right of an accused person to be tried by his peers. Magnum Concilium. The Great Council of the Realm, which in Norman times took the place of the Anglo-Saxon Witanegemot, and was the forerunner of the Parliament. It consisted in the main of the King’s great vassals, and with the King exercised legislative functions and initiated taxation. Its constitution was defined, and the mode of summoning it prescribed in Magna Charta. Magyars. The original Turanian invaders of Pannonia, the modern Hungary. The name is now applied to Hungarians generally, whether of pure Turanian descent or not. It is often erroneously used as referring to the Hungarian nobles or magnates only, but it carries with it no idea of rank or dignity. Mahdi. The expected Messiah of the Moslems, said to have been promised by Mohammed. The title has been claimed by several pretenders, the best known being Mohammed Ahmed, who headed a rising in the Eastern Soudan in 1881, and afterwards captured Khartoum. Maid of Norway. The daughter of Eric, King of Norway, and grand-daughter of Alexander III of Scotland. On the death of her grandfather in 1286, she succeeded to the Scottish throne, but died on her voyage to Scotland, leaving the throne open to numerous claimants, of whom Balliol was eventually chosen. Had she lived she was to have become the wife of Edward, son of Edward I of England, thus uniting the two crowns. Maid of Orleans. The name given to Jeanne d’Arc, after the relief of Orleans in 1429. Maid of Saragossa. The name given to Agostina Zaragoza, in consequence of her bravery at the siege of Saragossa in 1808, where she took her part with the soldiers in fighting the guns on the ramparts. Maiden King. The sobriquet of Malcolm IV of Scotland (1153-1165). Maiden Queen. Elizabeth of England is so called. Maillotins, Insurrection of the.