Montherlant \mo n -ter-Ta n \, Henry (-Marie-Joseph-Millon) de
(b. April 21, 1896, Paris, France—d. Sept. 21, 1972, Paris) French nov¬ elist and dramatist. Bom into a noble family, he wrote stylistically con¬ cise works that reflect his own egocentric and autocratic personality. His major work of fiction is a cycle of four novels (1936-39) translated as The Girls, which describes the relationship between a libertine novelist and his adoring female victims. In the 1940s he turned to theatre; his best dramatic works include Malatesta (1946), Port-Royal (1954), and La Guerre civile (1965).
Monticello \,man-t3-'se-lo, .man-ta-'che-loV Home of Thomas Jefferson, located southeast of Charlottesville, Va. Designed by Jefferson and con¬
structed 1768-1809, it is one of the finest examples of the early Classi¬ cal Revival style in the U.S. Jefferson took the floor plan of the house from an English pattern book; the facade was influenced by the work of Andrea Palladio. The final structure is a three-story brick-and-frame build¬ ing with 35 differently shaped rooms. An octagonal dome dominates the structure; below it, a balustrade runs around the roof’s edge.
Montmorency \mo n -m6-ra n -'se\ English \ 1 mant-m9-'ren-se\ / Anne, duke de (b. March 15, 1493, Chantilly, France—d. Nov. 12, 1567, Paris) French soldier and constable of France. Named for his godmother. Queen Anne of Brittany, he served three kings— Francis I, Henry II, and Charles IX—in war and peace. He fought in numerous wars in northern Italy and southern France against Emperor Charles V and in campaigns against the Huguenots. In 1529 he helped negotiate the Peace of Cambrai between France and Charles V. He was created constable of France in 1538, and he became a duke and peer in 1551. Wounded at the Battle of Saint-Denis, he died two days later.
Montpelier Nmant-'pel-yorX City (pop., 2000: 8,035), capital of Ver¬ mont, U.S. Named for Montpellier, France, it commanded the main pass through the Green Mountains and was chartered in 1781 by proprietors from Massachusetts and western Vermont. It became the state capital in 1 805 and defeated attempts by other cities, including Burlington, to suc¬ ceed it as capital. In addition to providing state government services, it bases its economy on financial services and the local ski industry. It is the site of a campus of Norwich University/Vermont College and was the birthplace of Adm. George Dewey.
Montpellier \mo n -pel-'ya\ City (pop., 1999: 225,392), southern France, near the Mediterranean coast. Founded in the 8th century, it later came under control of Aragon and the king of Majorca. It developed as a trad¬ ing station for spice imports in the 10th century and acquired a charter in 1141. It reverted to France in the 14th century and served as a Huguenot stronghold until its capture by Louis XIII in 1622. It then became the admin¬ istrative capital of the Languedoc region. The city’s schools of medicine and law date from the 12th century, and the University of Montpellier was founded in 1220. The city is a tourist centre, and its industries include food processing and electronics. Historic sites include France’s oldest botanical gardens (founded 1593) and a 14th-century Gothic cathedral.
Montreal \,man-tre-'6l\ City (pop., 2001: metro, area, 3,426,350), southeastern Canada. It occupies about one-third of lie de Montreal (Mon¬ treal Island), near the confluence of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers. The metropolitan area encompasses Montreal and other islands, as well as both shores of the St. Lawrence. It is built on the slopes of a moun¬ tain, Mont-Royal, from which the city’s name is derived. English and French are spoken throughout the city, which is the chief centre of French- Canadian industry and culture. The site was occupied by the Huron Indian settlement of Hochelaga when visited by French explorer Jacques Cartier in 1535. The first European settlement was founded by the French in 1642 and was given the name Ville-Marie de Montreal. Rapid colonization based on the fur trade began in the first half of the 18th century, and the city soon grew beyond its walls. It surrendered to British forces in 1760 and, with all of New France, became part of the British North American empire in 1763. Montreal served as the capital of Canada from 1844 to 1849. It is one of Canada’s chief ports for both oceangoing and inland shipping. It is Canada’s second-largest city and a major cultural centre, with a complex of theatre and concert halls and several museums. It is the seat of the English-language McGill University and Concordia Univer¬ sity, and of the French-language University de Montreal and the Univer¬ sity du Quebec a Montreal.
Montreal, University of Canadian public French-language univer¬ sity founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1878. It provides instruction in the arts and sciences, education, law, medicine, theology, architecture, social work, criminology, and other fields. Affiliated schools include a polytech¬ nic school and a school of advanced business studies.
Montreux \'m6 n -'tr6e\ Resort town (pop., 2000: 22,455), western Swit¬ zerland, on the eastern shore of Lake Geneva. It was formed by the merger in 1962 of the villages of Le Chatelard, Les Planches, and Veytaux. The nearby 13th-century Chateau de Chillon was made famous by Lord Byron’s poem “Prisoner of Chillon.” It hosts a popular annual jazz fes¬ tival.
Montreux \m6 n -'troe\ Convention (1936) Agreement concerning the Dardanelles strait. In response to Turkey’s request to refortify the area,
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the signers of the Treaty of Lausanne and others met in Montreux, Switz., and agreed to return the zone to Turkish military control. The convention allowed Turkey to close the straits to all warships when it was at war and to permit merchant ships free passage. See also Straits Question.
Montrose \inan-'trdz\, James Graham, 5th earl and 1 st mar¬ quess of (b. 1612 —d. May 21, 1650, Edinburgh, Scot.) Scottish gen¬ eral in the English Civil Wars. He served in the Covenanter army that invaded northern England (1640) but remained a royalist. Appointed lieutenant-general by Charles I (1644), he led his royalist army of High¬ landers and Irish to victories in major battles in Scotland. After Charles’s defeat in 1645, Montrose fled to the European continent. He returned to Scotland in 1650 with 1,200 men, but he was defeated, captured, and hanged.
Montserrat Island (pop., 2001 est.: 3,600) and British crown colony, West Indies. Situated in the eastern Caribbean Sea, it occupies an area of 40 sq mi (102 sq km); it is 11 mi (18 km) long and 7 mi (11 km) wide. It was visited and named by Christopher Columbus in 1493 and was colo¬ nized by the British and Irish in 1632. France later held it briefly, but from 1783 it remained British. Its colonial economy was based on cotton and sugar plantations that used African slave labour. It was part of the colony of Leeward Islands from 1871 to 1956 and then of the Federation of the West Indies from 1958 to 1962. It was rebuilt after a devastating hurricane in 1989. A major eruption of the Soufriere Hills volcano in 1996 led to the evacuation of the southern half of the island and the abandon¬ ment of its capital, Plymouth. By 1998 more than two-thirds of its mid- 1990s population had left the island.
Monty Python('s Flying Circus) British comedy troupe. The inno¬ vative group, formed in the early 1960s, came to prominence in the 1970s, first on television and later in films. Its members, most of whom met while attending the University of Cambridge, included Graham Chapman (1941-89) and John Cleese (coauthors of most of their skits and films) as well as Terry Jones (b. 1942), Terry Gilliam (b. 1940), Eric Idle (b. 1943), and Michael Palin (b. 1943). The troupe’s parodies of British life and television and their array of absurd characters surprised and delighted international audiences. Their films include Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) and Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979).