Adrien Balbi was a Venetian geographer and statistician. He was born in 1782 at Venice and died in 1848. In 1808 his first work on geography procured his appointment as professor of geography in the College of San Michele at Murano, and he became in 1811 professor of natural philosophy in the Lyceum at Fermo. In 1820 he proceeded to Portugal, and collected there materials for his Essai Statistique sur Le Boyaume de Portugal et d'Algarve and Varietes Politiques et Statistiques de la Monarchic Portugaise, both published in 1822 at Paris, where he resided until 1832. He then settled in Padua, where he died in 1848. Balbi's admirable Abrege de Geographie was written at Paris, and translated into the principal European languages. Research Adrien Balbi
Albertus Magnus (Albert the Great) was Count of Bollstadt and a distinguished German scholar of the thirteenth century. He was born in 1193 and died in 1280. He studied at Padua, became a monk of the Dominican order, teaching in the schools of Hildeslioini, Ratisbon, and Cologne, where Thomas Aquinas became his pupil. In 1245 he went to Paris and publicly expounded the doctrines of Aristotle, notwithstanding the prohibition of the church. He became rector of the school of Cologne in 1249; in 1254 he was made provincial of his order in Germany; and in 1260 he received from Pope Alexander IV the appointment of Bishop of Ratisbon. In 1263 he retired to his convent at Cologne, where he composed many works, especially commentaries on Aristotle. Owing to his profound knowledge he did not escape the imputation of using magical arts and trafficking with the 'Evil One'. Research Albertus Magnus
Antoine Perrenot, Cardinal de Granvella was a Spanish minister of state to Charles V and Philip II of Spain. He was born in 1517 near Besancon and died in 1586. He studied at Padua and at Louvain, abd at the age of twenty-three year was appointed Bishop of Arras, and was present at the diets at Worms and Ratisbon. In 1545 he was sent to the Council of Trent, and on the death of his father in 1550 was appointed by Charles V to succeed him in the office of chancellor. In 1552 he negotiated the Treaty of Passau, and in 1553 arranged the marriage of Don Philip with Mary Queen of England. Under Philip II he remained chief minister, and in 1559 negotiated the Peace of Cateau-Cambresis. Philip immediately after quit the Netherlands, leaving Margaret of Parma as governor, and Granvella as her minister. In 1560 he became Archbishop of Mechlin, and in 1561 was made a cardinal; but in 1564 he was obliged to yield to the growing discontent aroused by his tyranny in the Netherlands, resign his post, and retire to Besancon. In 1570 Philip sent him to Rome to conclude an alliance with the pope and the Venetians against the Turks, and afterwards to Naples as viceroy. In 1575 he was recalled to Spain, and placed at the head of the government with the title of President of the Supreme Council of Italy and Castile. In 1584 he was created Archbishop of Besancon. He preserved all letters and despatches addressed to him, nine volumes of which, published 1851-1862, are of value in illustrating the history of the 16th century. Research Antoine Perrenot
Arrigo Boito was an Italian composer and poet. He was born in 1842 at Padua and died in 1918. His chief works are operas influenced by Wilhelm Wagner. Research Arrigo Boito
Attila (Etzel) was King of the Huns. He was born in 406 and died in 453. The son of Mundzuk, and the successor, in conjunction with his brother Bleda, of his uncle Rhuas, he succeeded to the chieftainship in 434 when his people were masters of eastern Europe north of the Danube, and were terrorising western Europe as far as the Rhine and western Asia. They threatened the Eastern Empire, and twice compelled the weak Theodosius II to purchase an inglorious peace. Attila caused his brother Bleda to be murdered in 444, and in a short time extended his dominion over all the peoples of Germany and exacted tribute from the eastern and western emperors. The Vandals, the Ostrogoths, the Gepidse, and a part of the Franks united under his banners, and he speedily formed a pretext for leading them against the Empire of the East. He laid waste all the countries from the Black Sea to the Adriatic Sea, and in three encounters defeated the Emperor Theodoeius, but could not take Constantinople.
Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece all submitted to the invader, who destroyed seventy flourishing cities; and Theodosius was obliged to purchase a peace. Turning to the west, the 'scourge of God,' as the universal terror termed him, crossed with an immense army the Rhine, the Moselle, and the Seine, came to the Loire, and laid siege to Orleans. The inhabitants of this city repelled the first attack, and the united forces of the Romans under Aetius, and of the Visigoths under their king Theodoric, compelled Attila to raise the siege. He retreated to Champagne, and waited for the enemy in the plains of Chalons.
In apparent opposition to the prophecies of the soothsayers the ranks of the Romans and Goths were broken; but when the victory of Attila seemed assured the Gothic prince Thorismond, the son of Theodoric, poured down from the neighbouring height upon the Huns, who were defeated with great slaughter. Rather irritated more than discouraged, he sought in the following year a new opportunity to seize upon Italy, and demanded Honoria, the sister of Valentinian III, in marriage, with half the kingdom as a dowry. When this demand was refused he conquered and destroyed Aquileia, Padua, Vicenza, Verona, and Bergamo, laid waste the plains of Lombardy, and was marching on Rome when Pope Leo I went with the Roman ambassadors to his camp and succeeded in obtaining a peace. Attila went back to Hungary, and died on the night of his marriage with Hilda or Ildico in 453, either from the bursting of a blood-vessel or by her hand. The description that Jornandes has left us of him is in keeping with his Kalmuck-Tartar origin. He had a large head, a flat nose, broad shoulders, and a short and ill-formed body; but his eyes were brilliant, his walk stately, and his voice strong and well-toned. Research Attila
Bernardino Baldi was an Italian mathematician, theologian, geographer, historian and poet. He was born in 1533 at Urbino and died in 1617. He studied at Padua and became abbot of Guastalla. He knew upwards of twelve languages, and is said to have written over a hundred works, most of which remain in manuscript form. His works include a poem on Navigation, various translations and commentaries, Lives of Celebrated Mathematicians, etc. Research Bernardino Baldi
Egidio Forcellini was an Italian lexicographer. He was born in 1688 and died in 1768. The poverty of his parents deprived him of early advantages, and he was almost grown up when he began to study Latin in the seminary at Padua. Egidio Forcellini made rapid progress in Latin and Greek, and assisted his teacher Facciolati in his new and greatly augmented edition of Calepin's dictionary of seven languages. The two friends then resolved to publish a complete Latindictionary. The execution of this great work, occupying nearly forty years of his life, devolved entirely upon Egidio Forcellini, though he had the counsel and supervision of his old teacher. It was published in four volumes under the title AEgidii Forcellini totius Latinitatis Lexicon, etc at Padua in 1771. Research Egidio Forcellini
Enrico Caterino Davilla was an Italian historian. He was born in 1576 near Padua and died in 1631. Brought up in France, he for a time served with distinction in the French army. In 1599 he entered the Venetian service, gradually rose to the post of governor of Dalmatia, Friuli, and the island of Candia, and was shot while on his journey to take the command of the garrison of Crema. He is principally celebrated for his History of the Civil Wars of France from 1559 to 1598. Research Enrico Davila
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Adrien Balbi
