VENDETTA ( It., feud, vengeance). A fam ily feud, having for its object the execution of blood revenge for an injury by the nearest of kin. This practice lies continued in the island of Cor sica down to recent times. Not only do the next of kin of the dead or injured man assume respon sibility for inflicting punishment, but if the of fender escapes, his nearest relatives are held re sponsible for his aggression. In some cases fami lies have been in a state of siege for long periods of years. The vendetta is held by the Corsican to be one of the most positive of family Sometimes the feuds are harmonized by mediators ( pa rola n i) and an oath is taken to forego the vengeance. This oath, like the original obligation to take revenge, is regarded as especially sacred. Private wars for blood revenge have character ized barbarism and the early stages of civiliza tion among many peoples, but, owing to the isola tion of Corsica and its peculiarly primitive social conditions, the practice lies survived there in its completeness. An exactly analogous custom is found among the mountaineers of eastern Ken tucky and Tennessee and western Virginia, de scendants of the old Scotch-Irish stock, who have reverted to many of the primitive customs of their ancestry, under the influence of isolation and pioneer conditions. In Montenegro and among the Albanians, Bedouins, Druses, and many less civilized peoples the same custom is found in a greater or lesser degree. The vendetta seems to
have its origin in the idea of clan or tribal re sponsibility and patriarchal rule, preceding the development of the State and of a system of pub lic justice.
VENDoME, viLry'dtun', The capital of the arrondissement of Vend5me. in the Department of Loir-et-Cher, France, on the right bank of the Lair, 20 miles northwest of Blois (Map: France, IT 4). The town is attractive for its charming specimens of architecture. The Church of the Trinity (12th-15th century) has a re markable transition belfry and a fine flamboyant facade. The ruins of the Renaissance abbey (1030) to which it belonged lie near. La Made leine has a stained glass window (1529) and a handsome spire. On the left hank of the Loir are the ruins of the eleventh-century castle of the counts of Vendome. There are a Ho tel de Ville, a museum, a library, a lyceum with a flamboyant chapel (1623-39), and a bronze statue of the poet Ronsard. The manufactures are gloves, cotton goods, leather, and cheese. Pop ulation, in 1901, 9457. Christianity was intro duced here as early as the fifth century. The Dukedom of Ven(Mme was created by Francis I. for a prince of the Bourbon family in 1515. It finally fell into the hands of Henry IV. He be stowed it on one of his natural sous, who founded the House of Venal/tie.