GONCOURT, EDMOND AND JULES DE, French novelists, born, the former at Nancy, the latter at Paris; a habit of elaborate note-taking whilst on sketching tours first drew the brothers towards literature, and inoculated them with the habit of minute and accurate observation which gave value to their subsequent writings; their first real venture was a series of historical studies, designed to reproduce with every elaboration of detail French society in the later half of the 18th century, including a “History of French Society during the Revolution”; later they found their true province in the novel, and a series of striking works of fiction became the product of their joint labours, works which have influenced subsequent novelists not a little; “Les Hommes de Lettres” (1860) was the first of these, and “Madame Gervaisais” (1869) is perhaps their best; their collaboration was broken in 1870 by the death of Jules; but Edmond still continued to write, and produced amongst other novels “La Fille Elisa”; the “Journal” of the brothers appeared in 1888 in six vols. (Edmond, 1822-1888; Jules, 1830-1870).

GONDAR (4), a once populous city and the capital of AMHARA (q. v.), situated on a basaltic ridge in the Wogra Mountains, 23 m.  N. of Lake Tzana; there are ruins of an old castle, churches and mosques, and establishments for the training of Abyssinian priests.

GONERAL, an unnatural daughter of King Lear.

GONSALEZ, a Spanish hero of the 10th century, celebrated for his adventures, and whose life was twice saved by his wife.

GONZAGA, the name of a princely family from Germany, settled in Mantua, from which the dukes were descended who ruled the territory from 1328 to 1708.

GONZALVO DI CORDOVA (the popular name of Gonzalo Hernandez y Aguilar), a renowned Spanish soldier, born at Montilla, near Cordova; he first became prominent in the wars with the Moors of Granada and with Portugal, and was rewarded with an estate and pensioned; in 1498 he so distinguished himself in assisting the king of Naples (Ferdinand II.) to drive out the French that he became known henceforth as El Gran Capitan, and was created Duke of San Angelo; subsequent heroic achievements in Naples, which won the kingdom for Spain (1503), roused a feeling of jealousy in the Spanish king, so that Gonzalvo was recalled and ill-requited for his great services (1453-1515).

GOOD FRIDAY, the Friday before Easter, held sacred from early times by the Church in commemoration of the crucifixion of Christ, observed originally with fasting and prayer.

GOOD REGENT, the REGENT MURRAY (q. v.).

GOOD TEMPLARS, a total abstinence fraternity organised in New York in 1851, which has lodges, subordinate, district, and grand, now all over the world; they exact a pledge of lifelong abstinence, and advocate the suppression of the vice by statute; there is a juvenile section pledged to abstinence from tobacco, gambling, and bad language, as well as drink.