A, the initial letter of the English and almost all other alphabets. In the Runic Futhark alphabet it occupies fourth place, while in the Ethiopic the arrangement differs again, "aleph" being thirteenth. Since the English alphabet follows the Latin directly, which in turn is based on the Greek, the letter "a" agrees with the Greek letter "alpha." In the Semitic languages "aleph" is a consonant, although at times it loses completely its consonantal quality. This explains the adoption of the letter as a vowel by the Greeks, there being no corresponding sound in their language. The Phonicians called the letter "aleph" seemingly because of the resemblance of the character to the head of an ox. Although nothing is known with any degree of certainty concerning the ultimate origin of this letter, in recent years, there has been strong advocacy of abandoning the assumption first propounded in 1859 by Vicomte Emanuel de Rougé, of immediate derivation of the Phoenician or North Semitic alphabet from Egyptian hieroglyphics, or from Babylonian cuneiform characters. On the other hand a marked tendency is in evidence to look for the solution of the problem to the later Cretan system of writing transferred to Syria as indicated by Sir Arthur Evans (Scripta Minoa, 1909) or to linear pottery marks abundantly found in many Mediterranean countries, as has been suggested by Flinders Petrie (Formation of the alphabet, 1912). Stucken (Das Alphabet und die Mondstationen, 1913) traces the origin of the Semitic alphabet to the signs of the lunar zodiac.—See also ALPHABET.

A POSTERIORI LANGUAGES. See INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE: Early history.

A PRIORI LANGUAGES. See INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE: Early history.

AA, a common name for small rivers in Europe. Of the forty or more of this name, two of the best known are in Russia; two others, the Westphalian Aa and the Münster Aa, are in Germany. AACHEN. See AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. AAHMES. See AMASIS.

AALAND ISLANDS. See ALAND ISLANDS. AALI, Mehemet, Pasha (1815-1871), Turkish statesman. Five times grand vizier; in 1867 was appointed regent of Turkey, during the sultan's visit to Paris; strong advocate of a reform policy. AALST. See ALOST.

AARAU, an important military center and capital of the Swiss canton of Aargau, situated on the right bank of the Aar, at the foot of the Jura. The cantonal library contains many works relating to Swiss history, also manuscripts from the suppressed Argovian monasteries. The ancient fortress of Aarau was taken by the Bernese in 1415. In 1798 it became for a short time the capital of the Helvetic Republic. Near by is the ruined castle of Hapsburg, the original home of the Hapsburg house.

AARAU, Peace of (1712). See SWITZERLAND: 1652-1789.

AARGAU, one of the most northerly Swiss cantons. Up to 1415 this region was the center of Hapsburg power, and there is still to be seen, near Brugg, the ruined castle of the Hapsburgs as well as the old convent of Königsfelden and remains of the ancient Roman settlement of Vindonissa. The canton contains many old castles and former monasteries; the suppression of the latter in 1847 was one of the chief causes of the Sonderbund War.

AARON, in biblical history, brother of Moses and his spokesman before Pharaoh. In company with Moses, leader of the Israelites during the Exodus. Founder of the Jewish priesthood, which became hereditary in his tribe.-See also JEWS: Children of Israel in Egypt.

AARSSENS, Francis Van (1572-1641), Dutch diplomat and statesman. Protégé of Advocate Johan Van Oldenbarneveldt, who sent him as a diplomatic agent to the court of France, and later recalled him for giving offense to the French king; instrumental in condemning his aged benefactor to death; ranked by Richelieu among the three greatest politicians of his time.

AB, the fifth month of the Jewish ecclesiastical year, and the eleventh (in intercalary years the twelfth) of the Jewish civil year. It corresponds approximately to the period from July 15 to August 15. On the first day of Ab is kept a fast commemorating the death of Aaron; on the ninth, the Black Fast bewailing the destruction of the First Temple by Nebuchadnezzar (586 B.C.) and of the Second Temple by Titus (A.D. 70). The word was adopted by the Jews after the Babylonian captivity.

ABABDA, a nomad African tribe of Hamitic stock, extending along the southern border of Egypt from the Nile to the Red sea. In Roman times they were known as Gebadei, in the Middle Ages, as Beja. They are noted as caravan guides and trade carriers.

ABACAENUM, an ancient town of Sicily, lying west of Messana and north of Mt. Etna. It was one of the last Sicilian cities to give way to Greek influence.

ABACUS, in the Greek Doric order a square stone slab that covers the capital of a column. In the Roman order, the abacus is crowned by a molding; in the Archaic-Greek Ionic it is rectangular in form in view of the greater width of the capital. ABACUS is also the name of an instrument employed by ancient mathematicians for arithmetical calculations, and still used in China.

ABAE, a city of Phocis, Greece, famous in ancient times for its oracle of Apollo. (See ORACLES.) It was exceedingly rich in treasures until pillaged by the Persians. Restoration of the city and the temple was attempted by the Emperor

Hadrian. Traces of the polygonal walls of the acropolis have been preserved, including a gateway and part of the town walls, excavations of which were made in 1894 by the British School at Athens.

ABAFY (Abaffi), Michael (1632-1690), ruler in Hungary. See HUNGARY: 1660-1664. ABAILARDUS. See ABELARD.

ABANCOURT, Charles Xavier Joseph de Franquevilled (1758-1792), French_statesman; Louis XV's last minister of war. Contrary to .orders, of the Legislative Assembly, brought Swiss Guards to Paris for defense of Tuileries, August io; arrested for treason; murdered while awaiting trial. See also FRANCE: 1792 (June-August).

ABANTES, the most powerful tribe of ancient Euboea, from whom in the Homeric age the island took its name Abantis.

ABATIS, a term in military parlance for a field fortification formed of trees laid in a row with sharpened limbs pointing toward the enemy; this obstacle is frequently used in connection with wire entanglements.

ABATTOIR, a French word often used instead of the English "slaughter-house," a place where animals are killed for food. Public control of such places has in recent years become a matter of great concern. In the United States, abattoirs are recognized by the law as in their nature nuisances and are regulated or prohibited by municipal ordinance. Though the meat industry is concentrated in a few cities, there are very few municipal slaughter-houses, a fact in sharp contrast with Continental Europe where they are very common, especially in Germany. In England legislation has, since 1388, been enacted for the regulation of abattoirs in cities.-See also LOUISIANA: 1894-1921.

ALSO IN: J. A. and H. C. Joyce, Treatise on the law governing nuisances, pp. 167-171.—E. Freund, Police power, public policy and constitutional rights.

ABBADIDES, a short-lived Mohammedan dynasty in Spain, c. 1023-1091, succeeding the Western caliphate. It was characterized by extravagance and corruption, and was finally overthrown by the Almoravides, its last monarch dying in prison. See SPAIN: 1031-1086.

ABBAS I (1813-1854), khedive of Egypt. Son of Tusun Pasha and grandson of Mehemet Ali, whom he succeeded in 1848. Was reactionary in policy. Murdered in 1854, and succeeded by his uncle, Sa'id Pasha. See EGYPT: 1840-1869.

Abbas II (Abbas Hilmi Pasha, 1874- ), khedive of Egypt. Deposed by the British during the World War (December 17, 1914), at which time a British protectorate was proclaimed and Hussein Kemal Pasha, an uncle of the khedive, installed as sultan; this action was taken in consequence of the defection of Abbas to Turkey, which was at the time at war with England. See EGYPT: 1914; World War: 1914: IV. Turkey: h.

Abbas I (called the Great), shah of Persia, 1586-1628; greatly extended the dominions of Persia. See BAGDAD: 1393-1638; PERSIA: 14991887; TURKEY: 1623-1640.

Abbas II, shah of Persia, 1641-1668. Succeeded his father, Shah Safi I; regained Kandahar at the age of sixteen.

Abbas III, shah of Persia, 1732-1736. A child ruler, son of Tahmasp II; succeeded by the usurper Nadir Kuli.

ABBAS EFFENDI (1844-1921), the late leader of the Bahais; better known by the name of Abdu'l Bahá, which signifies "Servant of the

(divine) Glory." Abdu'l Bahá is styled "Center of the Covenant," and regarded by his followers as a divinely appointed teacher of spiritual truth. -See also BAHAISM: Abdu'l Bahá.

ABBAS HILMI PASHA. See ABBAS II, khedive of Egypt.

ABBAS MIRZA (c.1783-1833), prince of Persia. He introduced reforms, especially in the army; was leader in two unsuccessful wars with Russia, but held his own in a war with Turkey.

ABBASIDS, the name usually given to the caliphs of Bagdad, constituting with the Omayyads, their predecessors, the two greatest dynasties of the Eastern caliphate. In opposition to the Omayyads who traced their descent from Omayya, the Abbasids based their claim to the office of caliph, according to Mohammedan custom, upon their descent from Abbas (566-652), the eldest uncle of Mohammed. See ABUL ABBAS; CALIPHATE: 715-750, 752-759, 756-1031, 763, 815-945, and 12621543; BAGDAD: 762-763 and 1258; JERUSALEM: 1144-1187.

Conquest by Arabs. See ARABIA: 1916.

ABBAZIA, Agreement at (1921). See ITALY: 1920-1921.

ABBESS, a title given to the superior of a monastic establishment of twelve or more nuns. Her duties correspond very closely to those of an abbot (q.v.). See MONASTICISM: Women and monasticism; WOMEN'S RIGHTS: 300-1400, 12001600.

ABBEY, Edwin Austin (1852-1911), American mural painter. See PAINTING: American: 19th

century.

In

ABBEY.-Organization and activities.-In its broader sense an abbey is a canonically erected monastery (or a religious organization under strictly prescribed rules of living), having not fewer than twelve religious monks or nuns, under the government of an abbot or abbess respectively; in its narrower sense the word is synonymous with the church of a monastery. It is to be carefully distinguished from the priory, a term applied to smaller monastic establishments some of which were founded independently, others as cells or offshoots from an abbey, remaining dependent on the parent house and having their priors chosen or removed by the abbot at will. Originally the term monastery designated, both in the East and in the West the dwelling of a solitary or hermit. time, however, there grew up around the more famous of these solitaries settlements of enthusiastic disciples, necessitating an intricate and wide-spread system of organization. These establishments in turn developed into great centers of industry and culture assuming the characteristic features of the great abbeys of medieval times. "The abbeys, however... while containing great and wonderful buildings of cathedral-like proportion where worship to which the public was admitted was con-. ducted with solemn and beautiful ritual, werenever intended to serve, and never did serve the purpose of parish churches. These abbeys were not made for the people, but for the monks who found therein a home. They were generally built in remote places, far from centers of population, and there maintained an entirely independent existence. As time went on and their wealth and membership steadily increased, this wealth and this membership constituted potential elements of power that forcibly appealed to ambitious men [Under this new impetus the abbeys became not only centers of wealth and art and luxury, but also of political power. During the period of their widest influence the greater abbeys were represented in the national councils, on a plane of political

equality with the great feudal lords. It was this combination of wealth and political influence which, arousing more and more the cupidity and the antagonism of secular rulers, ultimately resulted, during the sixteenth century, in the suppression of these great establishments and the confiscation of their estates.] In the very old days these abbeys were great and beautiful places that sheltered within their walls about all of culture and learning and peace that was to be found. . . . While the monks did not at first seek any part in controlling the life of the community, or indeed any share whatever therein, yet their position was of first importance to the people in that rude and early period. The very poor were in evidence in those days far more than they ever have been since, and on the long table of every monastic dining-room a basket always stood, receiving a large proportion of every kind of food as it was served, food that was afterwards disbursed as alms at the Abbey gates. No physicians practised then, and the monks alone knew what there was to know of the healing art, and always were their services freely given to both rich and poor. There were no libraries outside the monastery's rolls, but here was collected as incentive to study and to thought the literature of the time. There were no schools save those the monks maintained, and to them could come the children of the very poor, who, while they may not have learned much, yet were given an opportunity to find what learning meant, and some at least we know of who through these schools found opening a career of usefulness and distinction. There were no inns, but the traveler could always find a refuge at the monastery, where a great house was as much a part of the establishment as the chapel itself. Hundreds of monks found their homes in the great abbeys. . . . It was a wonderful organization that their necessities required and maintained. Everything needed for daily life was produced here. Thousands of acres of adjoining land were under constant cultivation, and to such of the brethren as had a taste in that direction was committed the task of overseeing the laborers on this great farm. From their vineyards came the wines that filled the cellars. On their pastures were the sheep from whose wool were woven their garments. Beef and pork came from the cattle and swine that every monastery owned. And fruits and flowers grew in the gardens and orchards the older or infirm brothers had in charge. . . . First of all the day's real business was the meeting of the chapter, over which the abbot presided and heard reports of the progress of all the work in hand. Here too was received the news from other [abbeys], for the custom was to send forth on a parchment roll what might be termed a circular letter. It gave the information current in the abbey whence it started, and was entrusted to a monk who thence started on the rounds of other monasteries, a journey that sometimes occupied a year. After being read aloud in chapter there was added to it the news of that establishment, and so it went its way. At Durham there is yet preserved one of these rolls which is nearly forty feet in length. And here in this public gathering the monks confessed their faults, or had tales told on them if they didn't, and thereupon were Soundly whipped precisely like naughty boys at school. Then they went to the day's task-some to teach, some to labor at the loom or in the field, and some in the cloisters to illumine those rare rolls or volumes, each according to the gift God had given him. And so they filled their days. At dinner one read while the others ate, and after

ward recreation, the telling of stories, perhaps the singing of songs, while some few walked along the sweet-smelling garden paths in the lingering northern twilight, for very beautiful friendships sometimes grew up among these unworldly men."A. B. Osborne, As it is in England, pp. 178-189.— See also ABBOT; MONASTICISM; TRAPPISTS.

Medieval monastic libraries. See LIBRARIES: Medieval: Monastic libraries.

Abbeys in history. An illustration of the importance of abbeys in the history of medieval Europe is to be found in the history of the Abbey of Saint-Denis, a few miles north of Paris. "StDenis (Dionysius), the first Bishop of Paris, and his companions, martyred in 270, were buried here and the small chapel built over the spot became a famous place of pilgrimage during the fifth and sixth centuries. In 630 King Dagobert founded the abbey for Benedictine monks, replacing the original chapel by a large basilica, of which but little now remains. He and his successors enriched the new foundation with many gifts and privileges and, possessing as it did the shrine of St-Denis, it became one of the richest and most important abbeys in France. In 653 it was made exempt from episcopal jurisdiction. A new church was commenced in 750 by Charlemagne, at the consecration of which Christ, according to popular tradition, was supposed to have assisted in person. . . The present church of St-Denis was commenced about 1140 and marks the beginning of the Gothic tendency in architecture and its transition from the Romanesque style. Further additions and alterations under succeeding abbots resulted in producing one of the finest Gothic buildings in France. . . . The abbey figures prominently in the history of France and its abbots were for several centuries amongst the chief seigneurs of the kingdom. The 'Oriflamme,' originally the banner of the abbey, became the standard of the kings of France and was suspended above the high altar, whence it was only removed when the king took the field in person. Its last appearance was at the battle of Agincourt in 1415. Joan of Arc hung up her arms in the church of St-Denis in 1429. Many kings and princes and other noble persons were buried there and three of the Roman pontiffs stayed in the abbey at different times: . . . After the Council of Trent the Abbey of St-Denis became the head of a congregation of ten monasteries, and in 1633 it was united, with its dependent houses, to the new Congregation of St-Maur, when its conventual buildings were entirely reconstructed. In 1691 Louis XVI suppressed the abbacy and united the monastery with its revenues to the royal house of noble ladies at St-Cyr, founded by Madame de Maintenon. The abbey was finally dissolved at the revolution, when much damage was done to the church and tombs. It was subsequently restored, under Napoleon III, by Viollet-le-Duc. The relics of St-Denis, which had been transformed to the parish church of the town in 1795, were brought back again to the abbey in 1819. It is now a 'national monument' and one of the show-places of Paris. Many of the chartularies and other manuscripts relating to its history are now either in the Archives Nationales or the Bibliothèque Nationale."-Catholic encyclopedia, v. 13, PP. 343-344.-See also BRITTANY: 992-1237.

Architectural features.-"The arrangement of all these [abbeys] shows a thorough uniformity in their important features. On all sides of a rectangular court, which, as a rule, is square, surrounded by arcades (the cloisters, ambitus), are grouped the church, and the places appointed f the residence of the monks, which are com

under the name of the clausures. It is the plan of the ancient villa urbana, which seems to have served as a pattern to the Benedictines. In the same way the out-houses exterior to the clausures, which are attached to them, follow the plan of the villa rustica among the Romans. Of the plan of a Benedictine abbey of the ninth century, the Abbey of St. Gall [in Switzerland], designed about 820, is an excellent example. The whole plan includes a space of from 300 to 430 feet square. The central point is the church, on the south side of which is the cloister, with the buildings belonging to the clausure; and to the east of the cloister, contiguous to it, is the dwelling-house of the monks, with the general dormitory, the bath and wash-house; to the south the refectorium (the dining-hall), with the church; and to the west the cellarage. The wing of the cloister next to the church serves as the chapter-house. Near the

round outhouses for the chickens and geese, the garden, and the burial-place. . . . Next to the Benedictines, the Cistercians, an order proceeding on the same discipline, have a great significance for the history of mediæval ecclesiastical architecture. The strictness of this order immediately brought with it a simplifying of church building. While generally the apse was omitted, and the choir terminated as a rectangle, minor chapels, as a rule, were attached to both sides of the transept. .. Besides, the Cistercian Order forbade the introduction of bell-towers, and instead of these, even in the largest churches, they contented themselves with a small roof-turret in the middle of the transept. The towers of the church at Oliva, near Danzig, form an exception. Lastly, an extraordinary length of nave is common in Cistercian churches, the reason of which is so much more difficult to explain, as the cloister churches were

eastern choir of the church is, on the north side, the writing-room, with the library above, and on the south side the justice-chamber. On the east side of the church lie, separated by two chapels, the infirmary and the school for the novices, each with its small cloister in the centre. To the north side of the infirmary stands the dwelling of the physician, with a special house for bleeding and purging. The dwelling of the abbot, the schoolhouse, and the lodgings for illustrious strangers, with an out-house, are to be found on the north side of the church; corresponding to this last on the south-western side are the lodgings for pilgrims and the poor. Attached to these important parts thus spread out are, on the western and southern sides, the house for servants, and the stalls for sheep, pigs, goats, cows, oxen, and horses, besides the workhouse, the malt-kiln, the brewery, and the bakehouse attached to the kitchen of the monastery, the stamping-mill and the corn-mill, the house of the various labourers, and the great barn. Lastly, at the south-eastern corner, are the

little attended by laity, and their use completely forbidden to women. The cloister arrangements of the Cistercians are in other things similar to those of the Benedictines. The cloister is here, as there, generally on the southern side, and seldom on the northern side of the church. With the Cistercians there was generally, on the side of the cloister lying opposite the church, a polygonal or round well-house, in which the beard and the hair of the crown of the head (the tonsure) were shaven off. The chapter-hall for the meetings of the convent is generally on the east side of the cloister, and is sometimes provided with an altar apse. Important monasterial arrangements of the Cistercians are still to be found at Ebrach, at Altenberg near Cologne, at Riddagshausen and Maulbronn in Würtemberg. In the last place, even the fortified walls, with their towers, as well as the other details of medieval arrangements, are all preserved. From the large entrance-hall, we enter the church, the nave of which is separated from the presbyterium by the screen. On the north

side of the church lie the cloisters with the wellhouse, the refectory and the chapter-hall with its altar apse. From this, a corridor leads us to the house of the abbot The space, at the northeastern corner of the cloisters, seems to contain the discipline-chamber, to which adjoins the vaulted cellar space. On the west side of the cloister is another vaulted cellar and an older refectory, which, used alternately with the above-mentioned space, may have served as the winter refectory; for we find in many monasteries, as for example at Bebenhausen, special refectories for winter and summer. The monasteries of the Premonstratensians have much resemblance in arrangement and

themselves in the populous towns.

For if the generality of the superior orders lived apart, with the view of devoting themselves to learned studies or artistic work, the popular orders undertook to work on the masses as curers of the soul by preaching and confession. They sought for a modest place in the towns, close to the walls or elsewhere, where they erected their monasterial arrangements, in fact, conformable to those of the older orders of monks. . . . Really differing from all these monasterial arrangements are the great establishments of the Carthusians, who arose about the fourteenth century in Germany. Their monasteries are distinguished by this: that they possess, by the side of the church, and of the cloister in connexion with it, a second far larger cloister, generally on the east side of the church, which includes the burial ground, and is surrounded by the single dwellings of the monks, which are separated from it by small gardens."-W. Lübke, Ecclesiastical art in Germany, pp. 103-108.-In consequence of the fact that the various buildings of an establishment were erected at different periods, the greater abbeys were seldom architecturally homogeneous; this multiplicity of styles affords, however, a pleasing variety which, added to the stately grandeur of nave and arch and tower, presents, even in their ruins, a picturesqueness which appeals alike to artist and historian. There follows a list of the more important historic abbeys:

execution to those of the Cistercians. The monasteries of the Madonna at Magdeburg and the Abbey Kappenberg in Westphalia, are examples of this kind, whose unassuming simplicity rivals the simplest arrangements of the Cistercians. If the Benedictines preferred to build in an open position at the back of a woody chain of mountains, and if the Cistercians sought separation from the world in the quiet woody glens, the Orders of Preachers and Mendicants, arising since the thirteenth century, of the Dominicans and Franciscans, or of the minor orders, established

Hersfeld, Hesse-Nassau, Prussia

Hirschau, near Stuttgart, Würtemberg

Holy Cross, County Tipperary, Ireland (q.v.) Holyrood, Edinburgh, Scotland

Jumièges, Normandy

Mellifont, County Louth, Ireland

Melrose, Roxburghshire, Scotland

Monte Cassino, near Rome

New, near Dumfries, Scotland

Peterborough, Northamptonshire, England
Prémontré, Aisne, France

Saint Albans, Hertfordshire, England
Saint Denis, near Paris, France

St. Gall, Canton of Gall, Switzerland
Saint Mary, York, England
Tavistock, Devonshire, England
Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England
Tintern, Monmouthshire, England
Vendôme, France

Waltham, Essex, England

Wearmouth, Durham, England
Westminster, London, England

Whitby, Yorkshire, England. See BIBLE, ENG-
LISH: 7th-8th centuries.

ABBOT, George (1562-1633), English divine. Took a leading part in preparing the authorized! version of the New Testament; assisted in arr