Malignants
a term used in England by the Parliament men to designate those whom they considered to be the evil advisers of Charles I. They are so called in the "Grand Remonstrance," Laud and Strafford being singled out as the most prominent, and to their door are laid all the evils which afflicted the kingdom. Afterward the name was extended to all who sided with the king against the Parliament.
MALINES (mä-lēn'), or MECHLIN (meh'lin), a city of Belgium, on the Dyle, 14 miles S. S. E. of Antwerp. It has fine squares, noble buildings, and wide regular streets, but has lost its former greatness, and fallen far behind other Belgian cities in commercial enterprise and industrial activity. As the see of the primate of Belgium it still retains a certain degree of ecclesiastical importance, and possesses numerous churches, the most noteworthy of which is St. Rombold's Cathedral, a vast building, covering nearly two acres, its interior adorned with Van Dyck's "Crucifixion." It was mostly built in 1437-1452, but its clock tower, 324 feet high, remains unfinished.
The churches of St. John and of Our Lady contain works by Rubens; the town hall dates from the 15th century; the Cloth Hall (1340) is now used as a guard house; noteworthy also are the splendid modern archiepiscopal palace, the Beguinage, the Salm inn (1534), and the monument to Margaret of Austria (1849). The manufacture of pillow lace, so famous in the 17th century (see MALLOW LACE), has been largely transferred to Brussels, etc.; but linen and woolen fabrics, beer, needles, etc., are made here.
The city was captured by the Germans in August, 1914, but they were forced out by Belgians of the Antwerp garrison.
The Germans bombarded and regained the place, holding it to the close of the war. Pop. about 60,000.