Alliteration is the repetition of the same letter at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals; as many men many minds; death defies the doctor. 'Apt alliteration's artful aid.' Churchhill. 'Puffs, powders, patches, bibles, billet-doux.' Pope. In the ancient German and Scandinavian and in early English poetry alliteration took the place of terminal rhymes, the alliterative syllables being made to recur with a certain regularity in the same position in successive verses. In the Vision of William Concerning Piers the Ploughman, for instance, it is regularly employed as in
the following lines: -
Hire robe was ful riche of red scarlet engreyned, With ribanes of red gold and of riche stones;
Hire arraye me ravysshed such ricchesse saw I
neyere; I had wondre what she was and whas wyf she
were.
In the hands of some English poets and prose writers of later times alliteration became a mere conceit. It is still employed in Icelandic poetry, and also in Finnish poetry. So far has alliteration sometimes been carried that long compositions have been written every word of which commenced with the same letter. Research Alliteration
A stool of repentance was a seat or pew in the parish churches of Scotland, on which those sentenced to expiate such sins as immorality, lying, evil- speaking, drunkenness, and the like had to appear and remain during the service. The offender was clothed in a long robe of sacking or was wrapped in a white sheet, and was required to stand for one or two Sundays for minor offences or longer for more serious offences. Research Stool of Repentance
The Franciscans are the members of the religious order established by St Francis of Assisi about 1210. They are also called Minorites, or Fratres Minores ('lesser friars'), which was the name given them by their founder in token of humility, and sometimes Gray Friars, from the colour of their garment. The order was distinguished by vows of absolute poverty and a renunciation of the pleasures of the world, and was intended to serve the church by its care of the religious state of the people. The rule of the order destined them to beg and to preach. The popes granted them extensive privileges, and they had an evil repute as spies, frequenting the courts of princes and the houses of noblemen, gentry, etc. Early in the 15th century they split up into two branches, the Conventuals and the Observants or Sabotiers. The former went barefooted, wore a long gray cassock and cloak and hood of large dimensions, covering the breast and back, and a knotted girdle. The Observants wore wooden sandals, a cassock, a narrow hood, a short cloak with a wooden clasp, and a brown robe. In France the members of the order not belonging to any particular sect are called Cordeliers, from the cord which they tie about them. The Capuchins, so called from the peculiar kind of hood or cowl (capuce) which they wear, originated in a reform introduced among the Observantists by Matthew of Baschi in the early part of the 16th century, and although it received the approbation of different popes within a short time after its foundation, it did not receive the right of electing a particular general and become an independent order until 1619.
St Francis himself collected nuns in 1209. St Clara was their prioress; hence they were called the nuns of St Clara. The nuns were also divided into branches, according to the severity of their rules. The Urbanists were a branch founded by PopeUrban IV; they revered St Isabelle, daughter of Louis VIII of France, as their mother. St Francis also founded in 1221 a third order, of both sexes, for persons who did not wish to take the monastic vows, and yet desired to adopt a few of the easier observances. They are called Tertiarians or Tertiaries, and were very numerous in the 13th century. From them proceeded several heretical fraternities, as the Fraticelli and Beghards. The whole number of Franciscans and Capuchins in the 18th century amounted to 115,000 monks, in 7000 convents. At the dissolution of the monasteries in England there were sixty-five houses of the Franciscans. The order has given five popes and more than fifty cardinals to the church. Research Franciscan
Louis Amedee Eugene Achard was a French journalist, novelist, and playwright. He was born in 1814 and died in 1875. He is best known as a novelist and wrote the novels Belle Rose, La Chasse royale, Chateaux en Espagne, Robe de Nessus, Chaines de fer, etc. Research Louis Achard
A bard was an order of druid. The bard's office was to supervise, regulate and to lead. His robe was sky blue, symbolising justice and truth. Research Bard
In Greek mythology Glauce was daughter of King Creon of Corinth, and the second bride of Jason. She was murdered on her wedding day by Medea, whom Jason had deserted, by way of a poisoned wedding robe sent to her as a wedding gift. When she put the robe on she was burned to death, as was her father as he embraced his dying daughter. In Greek mythology, Glauce was a sea nymph, one of the Nereids. Research Glauce
The primitive druid was an order of druid involved with teaching science and religion. His robe was white symbolising light, purity and knowledge. Research Primitive druid
Saturnalia was the ancient Roman festival of the god Saturnus. It was held in the middle of December from the 17th to the 19th and later until the 24th, and was originally a rustic harvest-home. It was a time of general holiday and merry-making and of the interchange of presents between friends, and the streets were full of joyous crowds, dressed not in formal toga, but in a loose robe called a synthesis. Research Saturnalia
The Equestrian Order was an order of Knights in ancient Rome. The equites or knights originally formed the cavalry of the army. They are said by Livy to have been instituted by Romulus, who selected 300 of them from the three principal tribes. About the time of the Gracchi (123 BC) the equites became a distinct order in the state, and the judges and the farmers of the revenue were selected from their ranks. They held their position in virtue of a certain property qualification, and towards the end of the republic they possessed much influence in. the state. They had particular seats assigned to them in the circus and theatre, and the insignia of their rank, in addition to a horse, were a gold ring and a robe with a narrow purple border. Under the later emperors the order disappeared from the stage of political life. Research Equestrian Order
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Alliteration
