Vendetta
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Vendetta. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a particular case of the wider custom of blood-feud, by which every member of a stock, or body of men between whom blood relationship subsists, is bound to aid in taking vengeance (on the offender if possible, or on the stock to which he belongs) for a personal injury done to any of his kinsmen. The vendetta which exists in Corsica, and to a less extent in Sicily, Sardinia, and Calabria, is the practice of taking vengeance on the murder of a relative; and this duty is imposed primarily on the next of kin, but in a less degree on all the relatives of the murdered individual. If the murderer succeeds in eluding his pursuers, then vengeance may be taken on any of his relatives. Between 1770 and 1800, when the vendetta was at its height, some 7,000 murders are said to have occurred in Corsica owing to this practice of private vengeance. A law prohibiting the carrying of arms did much to put a stop to the vendetta, but the law is now repealed with the result that the number of murders is on the increase. VENDÔME (vong-dom'), a town of France; in the department of Loir-et- Cher; on the Loir; 42 miles N. N. E. of Tours and 111 S. W. of Paris. Above it rise the picturesque ruins of the castle of the Dukes of Vendôme, destroyed at the Revolution, and within the town is a fine 15th-century abbey church, with early Gothic tower and spire. Gloves and paper are made. Pop. about 10,000. VENDÔME, an ancient countship of France; erected into a duchy by Francis I., for behoof of Charles de Bourbon, through whom it fell to his grandson, Henry IV., who again conferred it on César, the eldest of his sons, by Gabrielle d'Estrées. César's eldest son, Louis, Duke of Vendôme, married Laura Mancini, one of Mazarin's nieces, and had by her three sons, the eldest of whom was the famous soldier, Louis-Joseph, Duke of Vendôme, called till his father's death the Duc de Penthièvre. He was born in Paris, July 1, 1654, and saw his first service in the Dutch campaign of 1672. He next served with distinction under Turenne in Germany and Alsace, again in the Low Countries under Luxembourg, in Italy under Catinat, and received in 1695 the command of the army in Catalonia. He shook off his indolence, and closed a series of brilliant successes by the capture of Barcelona (1697). After five years of sloth and sensuality he superseded Villeroi in Italy, much to the delight of the soldiers. He fought an undecided battle with Prince Eugene at Luzzara (Aug. 15), then burst into the Tyrol, returning to Italy to check the united Savoyards and Austrians. On Aug. 16, 1705, he fought a second indecisive battle with Prince Eugene at Cassano, and at Calcinato he crushed the Austrians (April 19, 1706). That summer he was recalled to supersede Villeroi in the Low Countries under nominal command of the Duke of Burgund Burgundy. The defeat at Oudenarde (July 11, 1708) cost him his command, but in 1710 he was sent to Spain to aid Philip V. His appearance turned the tide of disaster; he brought the king back to Madrid, and defeated the English at Brihuega, and next day the Austrians at Villaviciosa. After a month of gluttony beyond even his wont, he died in Vinaroz, in Valencia, June 11, 1712. Saint-Simon hated Vendôme, and has gibbeted to all eternity his sloth, his gluttony, and his shameless debauchery.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a state of private warfare between two sets of relatives. The term is Italian meaning vengeance. In Corsica the relatives of a murdered person deem it a duty to assassinate the murderer, or, failing to find him, they kill the nearest of kin. Failure to do so is deemed cowardice. Persons knowing themselves liable to death not infrequently hide in the mountains or barricade their houses for years, only to meet death at the end. A vendetta once begun is apt to end in killing back and forth until both circles of relatives are practically exterminated. Oftentimes a feud of this sort is handed down from generation to generation, the descendants deeming it a sacred duty to take vengeance for the injuries done on ancestors. Shakespeare makes a feud of this sort a barrier between his Romeo and Juliet . The vendetta is a local institution also in Sicily, Sardinia, Circassia, and Afghanistan. Many of the brigands or mountain robbers in these countries are refugees from the vendetta. Similar feuds in the mountains of Tennessee are of long standing. Certain Tennesseean families or clans even yet shoot at sight. Fortunately this state of affairs is yielding everywhere in favor of punishment by due course of law. A very similar custom prevailed among the North American Indians. Among the Dakotas, a son, brother, or other near relative drove his tomahawk into the brain of a murderer and that was the end of the matter. It was a private affair. The chief assumed no authority, no responsibility. No trial was held beforehand, no inquiry was made afterward. If public sentiment recognized the vengeance as just, the case was expected to end there. It behooved the executioner to look out for himself, however, for a reasonable length of time.