tinguish from those of Ariosto. Two Latin poems of Avesani, "On the origin of metals" and "On hypochondriasis," both unpublished, are said to have been in the possession of his friend Morgagni. (Moschini, Della Lettera comedia titolata Notte, Fato ed Amore," with | the comedy itself at the end, Rome, 1657, 12mo. 14. "Idea, overo ordine delle scene per la rappresentatione della tragedia del Sebastiano: con un discorso academico detto: Il Disinganno," Rome, 1659. 15. "L'Or-tura Veneziana de Secolo XVIII. vol. i. 140, mindo, tragicomedia reale per la felice na- vol. iv. 37, 46, 48; Biographie Universelle, scita del Serenissimo Infante D. Carlo Giu- Supplement.) G. B. seppe d'Austria, Prencipe della Spagne," with a reprint of the " Disinganno "attached, Palermo, 1662, 12mo. AVESBURY, ROBERT OF. [ROBERT OF AVESBURY.] AVESNE, BAUDOUIN D'. [BAUDOUIN D'AVESNE.] Unpublished comedies:-1. "Il Mancomale." 2. "Le fuite nozze." 3. "Il MaAVESNE, FRANÇOIS D', a French scheratto." 4. "GI' Incolpati senza colpa." fanatic of the seventeenth century, was born 5. "L'Adone." 6. "Nozze, Fato e Morte, at Fleurance in the Lower Armagnac, but at Trattenimenti modesti ed utili, distinti in più what time cannot be precisely ascertained. veglie per li ultimi dì di Carnovale," the He was a disciple of the celebrated Morin, original of the comedy entitled "La Notte who for his seditious and blasphemous writdi Palermo." (Mongitore, Bibliotheca Sicula; ings was burnt alive at Paris in the year 1663. Mazzuchelli, Scrittori d'Italia.) G. B. D'Avesne is principally known as the author AVESA'NI, GIOA'CHINO, was born at of a number of pamphlets, of which the titles Verona in the year 1741. Early in life he have been preserved by the industry of became a member of the Society of Jesus, and, Niceron. They are made up of violent deon the suppression of that order, resided suc- nunciations against the king, the nobility, cessively at Bologna, Modena, and Mantua. and Cardinal Mazarin, mixed with insane In each of these cities he gained a livelihood and blasphemous proclamations of his own by teaching. Returning to Verona, he was divine mission and authority. In the compoappointed Professor of Rhetoric in the Uni-sition of these productions he is said to have versity, in the year 1775, and at his inauguration he pronounced an eloquent discourse on the favourable influence exercised by Christianity on literature and the arts. Avesani's talents as a professor procured him universal respect; and he was much beloved by his pupils, many of whom have since risen to eminence. He continued to occupy his chair until old age warned him to accept in lieu of it the post of director of the public seminary. This was a comparatively light employment, and he died in its exercise, in the month of April, 1818, aged 77 years. Avesani was a refined scholar, and an elegant Italian and Latin poet. Secure in the emoluments of his professorship, and perhaps not ambitious of fame beyond his own immediate circle, he seems to have cultivated the Muses rather as a dilettante than as a professed author; hence the number of his productions is not great. The following were published:-1. "Saggio di poesie dell' abate Gioachino Avesani Veronese," Parma, 1797, 4to.; containing "Stanze sulla caccia di' Grilli, con una canzonette per la morte di un grillo," and "Le metamorfosi poemetto in tre canti." 2. "Poesie Italiane Latine," Verona, 1807, 12mo. 3. "Le Metamorfosi, canti vi." Verona, 1812, 12mo. 4. "Scherzi poetici," Venice, 1814, 8vo.; containing the "Canzonette per la morte di un grillo," and the "Prosopopea del medesimo grillo." 5. An edition of the "Orlando Furioso" of Ariosto, 4 vols. Verona, 1820, 12mo. In this edition, Avesani suppresses all the licentious passages, and fills up the lacunae with some elegant verses of his own, which it is difficult for even the most practised scholar to dis been assisted by Morin: on the other hand, he is said also to have had a share in the writings ascribed to his master. D'Avesne, it appears, was once endangered by his attacks on the established authorities. The registers of the Parliament of Paris show that he was arrested in 1651; but his punishment seems to have been of slight duration, for he is found soon afterwards recommencing his publications with undiminished vigour. It is concluded that he must have died previously to 1662, as he is not mentioned in the trial of Morin, which took place that year. (Niceron, Mémoires pour servir à l'Histoire des Hommes Illustres dans la République des Lettres, xxvii. 72–84; Biographie Universelle.) G. B. AVEYRO, PANTALEAM D', a Portuguese Minorite Friar, of the province of Enoxbregas, was born in the former half of the sixteenth century. Aveyro is known only as the author of an " Itinerario da Terra Santa, e suas particularidades," Lisbon, 1593, 4to., reprinted 1596, 1600, and 1685. In the preface to this work, he informs us, that after burning for many years with a desire to visit the sites of the most remarkable occurrences recorded in Scripture, and to perform his devotions at the holy sepulchre, he was at length enabled to do so through the kindness of Bonifacio de Araguza, Guardian of Mount Zion and bishop in partibus of a see in Macedonia, who invited Aveyro to accompany him to Palestine. Aveyro and his companion first proceeded to Rome: here they were furnished with the necessary instructions for their voyage, and, after receiving the benediction of Pope Pius IV., travelled to various cities of Italy, for the purpose of collecting a new body of friars for the service of the church in the East. After completing the required number of pilgrims, sixty, Araguza gave them orders to await his arrival at Venice. He and Aveyro then proceeded to Trent, during the sitting of the Council, probably in 1562, and, after remaining for some months in that city, joined the pilgrims at Venice. From Venice they sailed to Cyprus, and thence to the Holy Land. Aveyro on his return to Europe wrote a very interesting account of his travels, the title of which has been given above. (N. Antonius, Bibliotheca Hispana Nova; Preface to the Itinerario of Aveyro.) AVIA'NI, an excellent Italian architecG. B. tural, landscape, and marine painter, born at Vicenza, about the commencement of the seventeenth century. He painted some beautiful architectural pieces in the style of Palladio, in which Carpioni painted some figures. There are several of his works in the private collections of Vicenza, where he also painted some ceilings of churches, likewise with architectural designs. There is some account of his works in the "Guida di Vicenza.' (Lanzi, Storia Pittorica, &c.) AVIA'NO, GIRO'LAMO, was a native R. N. W. of Vicenza, but the time of his birth is not known. He studied at Padua, and in the year 1592 was enrolled among the members of the, Collegio de' Nobili Giudici of his native city. He appears to have resided principally at Milan. His death took place in the year 1607. Aviano was an excellent poet and a ready improvisatore. Very few of his verses have been printed: they consist of three capitoli, which are highly praised by Mazzuchelli, Crescimbeni and Quadrio; the first is an amatory complaint addressed to a lady; the second is addressed to A. Lodi, on his marriage; and the third is in praise of Cervellata e Busecchia Milanese (a sort of sausage and tripes). They were first printed in 1603, in the third book of the "Rime piacevoli" of Borgogna, &c., p. 197, Vicenza, again in 1615, and finally at Vienne, in 1627, 12mo. This Aviano must not be confounded with Hieronymus Avianus, a German, the author of "Člavis Poeseos sacræ, Hebraicæ et Syriacæ linguæ," published at Leipzig, 1627 and 1662, 8vo. Santa Maria, Biblioteca dei Scrittori Vi(Angiolgabriello di centini, vi. 18-20; Mazzuchelli, Scrittori d'Italia.) AVIA'NUS, FLA'VIUS, a Latin poet, is J. W. J. frequently confounded with Rufus Festus Avienus. He composed forty-two fables in elegiac verse, which he dedicated to some individual named Theodosius. The age in which he lived is uncertain. From the dedication of his fables to Theodosius some writers suppose that he lived during the reign of the first emperor of that name; but this 298 | AVIANUS. opinion is highly improbable. Avianus would scarcely address an emperor in the familiar style which he uses in his dedicatory epistle. On the contrary, it may be supposed that Theodosius was a literary person-" Who," says Avianus, "can speak of rhetoric or poetry with you, who in Greek literature excel even the Greeks, and in Latin the Romans ?" Afterwards he which I present to you, will delight your mind, exercise your genius, alleviate your "The work says, cares," and so forth. Wernsdorf states it to be his belief that Avianus was a writer of the Theodosian æra, and that the Theodosius to whom he dedicated his fables was a certain Macrobius Theodosius, a grammarian, known predecessors who wrote fables, Avianus menas a writer of Saturnalia. In enumerating his tions Esop, Socrates, Babrius, Flaccus, and Phædrus; but no later writer. From this, Cannegieter is of opinion that he lived during the reigns of the Antonines; but the style of Avianus is not so pure as might be expected from a writer of that age. He probably lived after the Antonines, but not so late as the reign of Theodosius. The fables of Avianus have been frequently gia, an astronomer, of whom all we can find AVIAU DU CHARLES FRANÇOIS D', Archbishop of Bordeaux, was born on the 7th of August, 1736, at the Château of Bois du Sanzay in the diocese of Poitiers. He was the eldest of the family; but he disregarded the advantage of his primogeniture, and determined on entering the church. He pursued his preparatory studies at the college of La Flèche, and afterwards at the seminary of St. Sulpice at Paris: he obtained his doctor's degree from the faculty of theology at Angers. He became a canon of the collegiate church of St. Hilaire, at Poitiers; and afterwards a canon of the cathedral of the same city, and grand vicar of the diocese. While he held this office, he was appointed to deliver a funeral oration for Louis XV. (who died in 1774), which he afterwards published. In 1789 he was appointed Archbishop of Vienne, a dignity which he would rather have declined, and accepted only at the express desire of Louis XVI. His conduct in this high office was marked by piety, charity, and great simplicity of manners. In 1792, having refused to accept the civil constitution of the clergy, he emigrated from France, and retired to Annecy in Savoy: but on the invasion of that country by the French he retired to the abbey of Einsiedlen, in the canton of Schwitz in Switzerland, and afterwards to Rome, where he was kindly received by the Pope, Pius VI., who gave him the title of "the Holy Archbishop." Anxious to revisit his bishopric, he returned to France on foot; and in this manner, disguised as a peasant, he visited the various parts of his diocese, encountering frequent privations and dangers, and administering, as he journeyed from village to village, the consolations of religion. He superintended also the dioceses of Die and Viviers, which were then vacant. The mountainous district of Le Vivarais (the department of Ardèche) was the centre of his labours; and when endangered, he took refuge in the château of Madame de Lestranges, near Annonay. After the concordat had been concluded (A.D. 1801) between Napoleon and the Pope, Aviau resigned his diocese of Vienne, and was appointed, in April, 1802, Archbishop of Bordeaux. In this new sphere of action he manifested the greatest zeal for the revival of religion. He re-established the grand seminary of the diocese, founded an ecclesiastical school at Bazas, in the building formerly occupied by the seminary for the priesthood there; established an asylum for infirm or aged priests, and a house for missionaries; and recalled to Bordeaux the Ursuline and other nuns, and the "Frères des Ecoles Chrétiennes," that by them provision might be made for the religious instruction of the young. During the peninsular war he showed the greatest kindness to the Spaniards who, whether as exiles or prisoners of war, came to Bordeaux: and the liberal spirit which he exhibited towards In those of other communions, who were admitted to partake both of his hospitality and his charity, tended to cement the harmony which prevailed in his diocese between the Roman Catholics and the Protestants. 1811 he defended the rights of the Pope in the assembly of bishops which Napoleon convoked at Paris, hoping that they would sanction the harsh measures which he had adopted against Pius VII.; but, apparently from the respect in which he was held, his freedom did not incur the penalties which similar freedom drew down upon other prelates. In March, 1814, the Archbishop took part in the declaration made at Bordeaux in favour of the Bourbons; received the Duke of Angoulême at the door of the cathedral; and assured him of the fidelity of himself and his clergy to Louis XVIII. During the hundred days the Archbishop was unmolested; and after the second restoration of the Bourbons in 1815 was named a peer of France. His death occurred in his ninetieth year, on the 11th of July, 1826, from the effects of an accident (the curtains of his bed taking fire) which had occurred four months before. During this interval the most lively interest in his condition was manifested by the inhabitants of Bordeaux, of all classes and denominations. His charity had obtained for him the title of " the Father of the Poor;" and had so reduced his own resources, that he made no will, because he had nothing to leave; and even the expenses of his funeral had to be defrayed by others. His remains (with the exception of his heart) were deposited in the cathedral of Bordeaux, amid an immense concourse of people, on the 18th of July, 1826; and a monument, designed by the architect Poitevin, has been erected over them. His heart was deposited in the church of St. Hilaire at Poitiers. Beside the funeral oration for Louis XV., Aviau du Bois published-1. A work" Sur le prêt à l'intérêt du Commerce," Lyon, 1799. 2. Melanie et Lucette, ou les avantages de l'éducation religieuse," 12mo. Poitiers, 1811, and a second edition, 18mo. Paris, 1823; a work for young people. 3. "Discours sur le Triomphe de la Croix," subjoined to a memoir of the Archbishop, by Tournon, 8vo. Montpellier, 1829. A religious story, Pieuse Paysanne," has been erroneously ascribed to him. Some of his letters, published in the "Mémorial Catholique," for May and June, 1827, show that he was in ecclesiastical affairs an Ultra-Montanist, or supporter of the papacy in opposition to the Gallican church. (Biographie Universelle, Supplement ; Quérard, La France Littéraire.) "La J. C. M. A'VIBUS, GASPAR AB, or GASPARO OSELLO, an Italian engraver and etcher of Padua, whose prints are dated from 1560 until 1580. He signed himself variously, as Gaspar ab Avibus Citadelensis, fe.-Gas paro Osello Padovano, fe.-Gaspar Patavinus, f.-Gaspar P. F.-Gasp. F.-G. O. F.G. A. P. F. and otherwise. He varied likewise his monogram, which is generally formed of G A P, GAS P, and G P F. Gaspar imitated the style and copied several of the prints of Giorgio Ghisi called Mantovano, but he never equalled that engraver. His principal work is a folio volume containing sixty-six portraits of the house of Austria, after Francesco Terzi of Bergamo, painter to the Emperor Maximilian II. The portraits are full length in rich costumes, and are ornamented with fanciful borders. He has in this work, says Strutt," changed his manner; and something more of the style of the Sadelers appears in it. The figures are very neat, but stiff, yet well proportioned, and possess much merit." Heineken notices a CESAR AB AVIBUS, who was likewise an engraver and a native of Padua, and signed himself Cæsar Patavinus; but Heineken was not acquainted with any of his works. He lived in the sixteenth century. (Heineken, Dictionnaire des Artistes, &c.; Strutt, Dictionary of Engravers; Bartsch, Peintre Graveur; Brulliot, Dictionnaire des Monogrammes, &c.) R. N. W. AVICENNA, AVICENA, AVISENNA, are the corrupt Latinized forms of the name of the most celebrated of the Arabic physicians, whose complete appellation, as given by Ibn Abí Ossaybi'ah, was Abú 'Ali Alhuseyn Ibn 'Abdillah Ibnu-l-huseyn Ibn 'Ali Ibn Síná, to which are commonly added by his Arabian biographers the surnames Ashshaikh, the "doctor," Ar-raís, the "chief." The latter title was given him either, as M. de Slane conjectures, in the notes to his translation of Ibn Khallikán's "Biographical Dictionary," in his official capacity as vizír, or as 'ámil, "agent," or "collector;" or on account of his celebrity as a physician (as he is frequently called in modern works "the prince of the Arabian physicians"); or perhaps more probably as being an abbreviation of the title "Raís 'ala-l-attebbá, or "Chief of the Physicians," an Arabic dignity synonymous apparently with the Latin "Archiater." Casiri says that the name Avicenna is derived from Afshena, the place of his birth; but the word is evidently a corruption of Ibn Síná, formed in the same manner as Avempace, Avenzoar, and Averroes. As in the case of Hippocrates and Galen, the accounts of his life have been disguised by strange geographical and chronological errors, and still stranger fictions, which are not worth notice here, but may easily be found by looking at some of the works referred to by the authors quoted at the end of this article. The shortest way of refuting them will be by the following account, which is almost entirely taken from ancient and original authorities. According to Ibn Khallikán, Avicenna was born in the month of Safar, A.H. 370 (August or September, A.D. 980). His father was a native of Balkh, but he removed from that city to Bokhara, in the time of the Amir Núh Ibn Mansur As-sámání, one of the Samanian princes of Khorásán, A.H. 366-387 (A.D. 976-7-997). Having displayed great abilities as an 'ámil, or tax-gatherer, he was appointed to fill that office in a town called Kharmatin, called by Ibn Khallikán one of the government estates (diá) in the dependencies of Bokhára, and a place of great antiquity. It was there that Abú 'Ali and his brother Mahmud were born: their mother Satára was a native of Afshena, a village near Kharmatin. They afterwards went to Bokhára, and Abú 'Ali then travelled abroad to study the sciences. The account which Avicenna has left us of his early studies, in his short autobiography, is interesting, as it gives us some idea of the different branches of study considered necessary among the ancient Moslems, and the order in which they succeeded each other. At the age of ten years he was a perfect master of the Korán and general literature, and had attained a certain degree of information in dogmatic theology, the Indian calculus (or arithmetic), and algebra. He then studied Porphyry's "Isagoge," or Introduction to the Categories of Aristotle, the Elements of Euclid, and Ptolemy's "Mathematical Syntaxis," commonly called "Almagest," in which he is said to have surpassed his tutor, and to have explained to him several difficulties which he had not before understood. He then studied jurisprudence, and exercised himself in acquiring the seven different systems followed in reading the Korán, called by the Arabians "the seven readings of the Korán," making learned researches and holding discussions. He next directed his labours to natural philosophy, divinity, and other sciences, reading the texts with the commentaries. was sixteen years old, he felt an inclination to learn medicine, and studied works on that subject; he also treated patients, not for emolument, but for instruction. He then gave another year and a half to the study of logic and other branches of philosophy. Aristotle's Metaphysics he says he read over forty times, till he knew the book by heart, but did not understand it till he met by chance with the Commentary of Abú Nasr Al-fárábí. During the period of his studies he says he never slept an entire night, nor passed one without dreaming of the employments of the day; and whenever he met with an obscure point, he used to perform a total ablution, and proceed to the great mosque to pray for Divine assistance. Before he had reached his eighteenth year he had finished the study of all these sciences; and the remark he makes in after life is, that "at that early age his knowledge was more When he AVICENNA. ready, and at the time he wrote, more mature; in other respects it was much the same, nor had he made any fresh accessions since that period." The above account of his studies must either be considered sufficiently wonderful in itself, as an instance of precocious talent, without the manifest exaggerations added by Ibn Khallikán and others; or else it must impress us with a very unfavourable idea of the superficial character of the education of the Moslems in those times. About the same period the Amír Núh Ibn Mansúr heard of Avicenna's fame, and sent for him during a dangerous illness; and having been restored to health by his treatment, took him into his favour, and allowed him to visit his library, which appears to have been one of the most celebrated and valuable of the times, containing not only all the celebrated works which were commonly to be met with, but also others that were not to be found elsewhere, and of which both the titles and the contents were unknown. The books are represented as being kept packed up in trunks. It happened, some time afterwards, that this library was burned, upon which some persons said that it had been set on fire by Avicenna, who, as being the only person acquainted with its contents, wished to pass off as his own the information he had there acquired: a similar accusation was brought by Andreas against Hippocrates. [ANDREAS.] At the age of twenty-two, A.H. 392 (A.D. 1001-2), Avicenna lost his father, in the vicissitudes of whose fortunes he had partaken, and with whom he acted as 'ámil for the sultán. When, after the death of the Amir Núh Ibn Mansúr, A.H. 387 (A.D. 997), the affairs of the Samanian dynasty were hastening to ruin under his sons Mansur and 'Abdu-l-malek, Avicenna left Bokhára, and proceeded to Korkanj, the capital of Khowárezm. Here he attended the court of Khowárezm Sháh 'Ali Ibn Mámún Ibn Mohammed, by whom he was well received, and from whom he obtained a monthly stipend. He did not, however, remain here very long, but visited Nasa, Abiward, Tús, and other cities, and spent in these travels about ten years. A very well known anecdote belongs apparently to this part of his life, but it seems of rather doubtful authenticity. He is said to have cured a nephew of the celebrated Shams Al-m'álí Kábús Ibn Washmakír, Amír of Jurján and Tabarístán, whose disease none of the physicians of the court were able to discover, but whom Avicenna almost immediately pronounced to be in love, naming at the same time the object of his passion. The story is told at length by the author of the "Dabistán" (translated by Shea and Troyer, Paris, 1843) and other eastern writers, and Avicenna certainly refers to a somewhat similar case, which he says happened to himself (Canon, lib. iii. fen i. There tract. 5, p. 495, Venice, 1595). seem, however, to be certain difficulties connected with the anecdote, which can hardly be got over. In the first place, it seems, at first sight, to be fabricated from the wellknown story of Erasistratus, which Galen tells us was a guide to himself in a similar case (De Pranot. ad Epig. cap. vi. vol. xiv. p. 630, &c. ed. Kühn); but this objection is not by any means conclusive, as Avicenna might have had these two instances in his mind, and have imitated them accordingly. A stronger objection arises from the fact of his having omitted all mention of the circumstance in the short account of his life written by himself, and preserved by Abú-lfaraj and the anonymous author quoted by Casiri; nor, in the passage in his "Canon," where he alludes to some such case, does he give the name of the patient, nor any of the details with which the story is embellished by his later biographers. It also appears very doubtful whether he was ever introduced at the court of Kábús; for though he went to Jurján with that object, he says, in his autobiography, that it happened to be the very time when the amir was dethroned and put to death, A.H. 403 (A.D. 1012-13). He afterwards went to Dahistán, where he had a severe illness; and then returned to Jurján, where he wrote the first book of his "Canon," and several other smaller works, and where he became acquainted with Abú 'Obeydah 'Abdu-l-wáhid Al-jausjání, who was first his pupil, afterwards his friend and constant companion, and lastly his biographer. This must have been towards the end of A.H. 403, or the beginning of A.H. 404 (A.D. 1013), as in one place we find that Abú 'Obeydah remained with Avicenna for twenty-five years (De Slane, Notes to Ibn Khallikán, p. 445, note 15), and Abú-l-faraj says that he was intimate with him for the remainder of his life. From Jurján he proceeded to Rai in Irak Ajemi, to the court of Majdu-d-daula Ibn Fakhri-d-daula, the eighth prince of the Buwayh dynasty, who succeeded to the throne when only four years old, A.H. 387 (A.D. 997), and continued under the guardianship of his mother, Seidát. Here he restored this prince to health, who was afflicted with melancholy, and who is said by some writers to have made Avicenna his vizír, on which account an open war broke out between him and his mother, in which the latter was victorious, and resumed the government of the kingdom. This, however, does not seem to be quite certain; but Avicenna soon after went to Kazwin, and thence to Hamadán, to the court of the Amír Shamsu-d-daula Abú Tahir, who made himself master of Rai, A.H. 405 (A.D. 1014-15). This prince had sent for Avicenna to cure him of an attack of colic, and upon his restoration to health enriched him with valuable presents, and finally made him his vizír. But Avicenna's troubles |