vibrio Vvib-re-o\ Any of a group of aquatic, comma-shaped bacteria in the family Vibrionaceae. Some species cause serious diseases in humans and other animals. They are gram-negative (see gram stain), highly capable of movement (with one to three flagella at one end), and do not
Vesta (seated on the left) with Vestal Virgins, classical relief sculpture; in the Palermo Museum, Italy
COURTESY OF THE PALERMO MUSEUM, ITALY
Vetch (Vicia cracca)
WALTER DAWN
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
viburnum ► Victoria I 2001
require oxygen. Their cells are curved rods, single or strung together in S-shapes or spirals. Two species are of significance to humans: one causes cholera, the other acute bacterial diarrhea.
viburnum Wl-'bar-nsnA Any of about 200 shrubs and small trees that make up the genus Viburnum in the honeysuckle family, native to temper¬ ate and subtropical Eurasia and North America. Many species are culti¬ vated for their ornamental foliage, fragrant clusters of usually white flowers, and colourful blue-black fruits. Familiar garden shrubs in this family include Chinese snowball (V macrocephalum variety sterile ) and Japanese snowball ( V. plicatum ), each with large balls of white to green¬ ish white flowers.
Vicente \ve- , sa n n-to\ / Gil (b. c. 1465, Portugal—d. 1536/37) Portuguese playwright. His first plays were produced in 1502, and for the next 34 years he acted as court dramatist and poet laureate, staging his plays to celebrate great events and religious occasions. Regarded as the founder of Portuguese drama, he wrote in both Portuguese and Spanish. His 44 extant plays reflect the change and upheaval of his era; they may be divided into religious plays, court plays, pastoral plays, popular farces, and romantic comedy. His works include Exhortation to War (1513), The Forge of Love (1524), and The Pilgrimage of the Aggrieved (1533).
Vichy \'ve-she\ France officially French State French Etat Francais (July 1940-September 1944) French regime in World War II after the German defeat of France. The Franco-German armistice (June 1940) divided France into two zones: one under German military occu¬ pation and one under nominal French control (the southeastern two-fifths of the country). The National Assembly, summoned at Vichy to ratify the armistice, was persuaded by Pierre Laval to grant Philippe Petain authority to assume full powers in the French State. The antirepublican Vichy gov¬ ernment collaborated with the Germans and became increasingly a tool of German policy, especially after the Germans occupied the whole of France in 1942. By early 1944 the Resistance movement against the Gestapo and Vichy militias created a period of civil war in France, and after the liberation of Paris the Vichy regime was abolished.
Vicksburg Campaign (1862-63) Engagements fought at Vicksburg, Miss., in the American Civil War. Confederate forces held the fortified city against Union naval bombardment from the Mississippi River (1862) and attempts to attack by land. In April 1863 Ulysses S. Grant used the Union ships to ferry troops across the river at night. He quickly took nearby Port Gibson and Grand Gulf to prevent Confederate forces under Joseph Johnston from aiding those in the city. Unable to take Vicksburg directly, Grant besieged the city for six weeks. On July 4 Gen. John Pemberton (1814-1881) surrendered his force of 30,000, leaving the Mississippi River completely under Union control and splitting the Confederacy in half.
Vico \'ve-k6\, Giambattista (b. June 23, 1668, Naples—d. Jan. 23, 1744, Naples) Italian philosopher of cultural history and law. In his major work, New Science (1725), he attempted to combine history and the more systematic social sciences into a single science of humanity. He described human societies as passing through stages of growth and decay. The first is a “bestial” condition, from which emerges “the age of the gods,” in which man is ruled by fear of the supernatural. “The age of heroes” is the consequence of alliances formed by family leaders to protect against inter¬ nal dissent and external attack; in this stage, society is rigidly divided into patricians and plebeians. “The age of men” follows, as the result of class conflict in which the plebeians achieve equal rights, but this stage encoun¬ ters the problems of corruption, dissolution, and a possible reversion to primitive barbarism. His work is recognized as a forerunner of cultural ANTHROPOLOGY.
Victor III orig. Dauferi (b. 1027, Benevento, principality of Benevento—d. Sept. 16, 1087, Montecassino, principality of Capua; beatified July 23, 1887; feast day September 16) Pope (1086-87). As abbot of Monte Cassino from 1058, he promoted manuscript illumination, established a school of mosaic, and reconstructed the abbey. He served as papal vicar in southern Italy, negotiating peace between the Normans and the papacy. He was proclaimed pope against his will and was soon driven from Rome by supporters of Emperor Henry IV and the antipope Clement III. In 1087, after briefly retiring to his abbey, Victor resumed his papal authority and promoted the reforms of his predecessor, Pope Gregory VII. After sending an army to defeat the Saracens at Tunis (1087), he called a synod at Benevento and excommunicated Clement. He fell ill and returned to Monte Cassino, where he died.
Victor Amadeus \,am-3-'da-3s\ II Italian Vittorio Amedeo (b.
May 14, 1666, Turin, Savoy—d. Oct. 31, 1732, Moncalieri, near Turin) King of Sicily (1713-20) and of Sardinia (1720-30). The son of Charles Emmanuel II, he inherited his father’s title as duke of Savoy in 1675 and grew up under a regency headed by his mother, who pursued a pro-French policy. In the War of the Spanish Succession he sided with France, but in 1703 he shifted to the Habsburg side. With the French defeat at Turin (1706) he secured his position in Italy. The Treaty of Utrecht (1713) gave him the title of king of Sicily, which he was obliged to exchange for Sar¬ dinia in 1720. As the first king of Sardinia, which also included Piedmont and Savoy, he established the foundation for the future Italian national state.
Victor Emmanuel I Italian Vittorio Emanuele (b. July 24, 1759, Turin, Kingdom of Sardinia—d. Jan. 10, 1824, Moncalieri, near Turin) King of Sardinia (1802-21). Son of Victor Amadeus III and great- grandson of Victor Amadeus II, he led Sardinian forces against the French (1792-97). He became duke of Savoy and king of Sardinia in 1802 when his brother Charles Emmanuel IV abdicated. His kingdom, except for the island of Sardinia, was occupied by France (1802-14), then restored with the addition of Genoa by the Congress of Vienna (1815). He abdicated in 1821 in favour of his brother Charles Felix (1765-1831).
Victor Emmanuel II Italian Vittorio Emanuele (b. March 14, 1820, Turin, Piedmont, Kingdom of Sardinia—d. Jan. 9, 1878, Rome,
Italy) King of Sardinia (1849-61) and first king of a united Italy (1861—
78). The son of Charles Albert, he took part in the war against Austria (1848) and became king when his father abdicated in 1849. Assisted by his minister Camillo Cavour, he strengthened the kingdom and sup¬ ported the Risorgimento movement for unity. In the war with Austria (1859-61), he commanded troops to victories in the Battles of Magenta and Solferino. He secretly encour¬ aged Giuseppe de Garibaldi in the con¬ quest of Sicily and Naples and led the invasion of the Papal States. He assumed the title of king of Italy (1861) and later acquired Venetia (1866) and Rome (1870).
Victor Emmanuel \\ Italian Vittorio Emanuele (b. Nov. 11, 1869, Naples, Italy—d. Dec. 28, 1947, Alexandria, Egypt) King of Italy (1900- 46). Son of Umberto I, he came suddenly to the throne on his father’s assassination (1900). He accepted a Liberal cabinet and readily agreed to Italy’s war against Turkey (1911-12) and entry into World War I. After the war, he failed to prevent the rise of Benito Mussolini and the fascist seizure of power, which turned him into a figurehead sovereign. In 1943, after disastrous Italian military losses and the Allied invasion of Sicily, he had Mussolini arrested and replaced by Pietro Badoglio as premier. In 1944 he relinquished power to his son Umberto and, in an unsuccessful attempt to preserve the monarchy, abdicated in Umberto’s favour in 1946 (see Umberto II). When the Italian republic was declared in 1946, father and son went into exile.