Catacombs ( derived from the Greek kata, meaning down, and kumbos, meaning a hollow or recess) are caves or subterranean places for the burial of the dead, the bodies being placed in graves or recesses hollowed out in the sides of the cave. Caves of this kind were common amongst the Phoenicians, Greeks, Persians, and many oriental nations.
In Sicily and Asia Minor numerous excavations have been discovered containing sepulchres, and the catacombs near Naples are remarkably extensive. Those of Rome, however, are the most important. The catacumbae is said to have been originally applied to the district near Rome which contains the chapel of St Sebastian, in the vaults of which, according to tradition, the body of St Peter was first deposited; but (besides its general application) it is now applied in a special way to all the extensive subterranean burial-places in the neighbourhood of Rome, which extend underneath the town itself as well as the neighbouring country, and are said to contain not less than 6,000,000 tombs. They consist of long narrow galleries usually about 2.4 metres high and 1.5 metres wide, which branch off in all directions, forming a perfect maze of corridors. Different stories of galleries lie one below the other. Vertical shafts run up to the outer air, thus introducing light and air, though in small quantity.
The graves or loculi lie longwise in the galleries. They are closed laterally by a slab, on which there is occasionally a brief inscription or a symbol, such as a dove, an anchor, or a palm-branch, and sometimes both. The earliest that can be dated with any certainty belongs to the year 111 AD. It is now regarded as certain that in times of persecution the early Christians frequently took refuge in the catacombs, in order to celebrate there in secret the ceremonies of their religion; but it is not less certain that the catacombs served also as ordinary places of burial to the early Christians, and were for the most part excavated by the Christians themselves.
In early times rich Christians constructed underground burying-places for themselves and their brethren, which they held as private property under the protection of the law. But in course of time, partly by their coming under the control of the church and partly by accidents of proprietorship, these private burying-grounds were connected with each other, and became the property, not of particular individuals, but of the Christian community. In the 3rd century AD there were already several such common burying-places belonging to the Christian congregations, and their number went on increasing until the time of Constantine, when the catacombs ceased to be used as burying-places.
From the time of Constantine down to the 8th century they were used only as places of devotion and worship. But their use as formal places of worship can only have been occasional, for the limited dimensions even of the largest rooms, and the extreme narrowness of the passages, must have made it impossible for any large number to take efficient part in the services at one time. But though the idea of the catacombs as regular places of worship may be carried too far, there is no doubt, from the episcopal chairs, altars, basins, etc, found within them, and from the subjects of the mosaics and carvings on the walls, that the rites of the church, and particularly the eucharist and the sacrament of baptism, were often celebrated there.
They could never have cerved as dwelling-places for any length of time to the Christians, residence in most of them for more than a short time being very dangerous to the health.
During the siege of Rome by the Lombards in the 8th century the catacombs were in part destroyed, and soon became entirely inaccessible, so that they were forgotten, and only the careful and laborious investigations of archaeologists, amongst whom De Rossi (Roma Sotterranea) and Parker (The Catacombs) may be mentioned, have thrown anything like a complete light on the origin and history of the catacombs.
There are extensive catacombs at Paris, consisting of old quarries from which has been obtained much of the material for the building of the city. In them are accumulated bones removed from cemeteries now built over. Research Catacomb
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (also spelled Karl Bach) was a German musician and composer. He was born in 1714 at Weimar and died in 1788. He was the third son of Johann Sebastian Bach and studied law before turning his attention to music and composed cantatas, passions, numerous keyboard and instrumental works. Research Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Circumnavigators is a term usually applied to the early navigators who sailed round the globe. Magellan, a Portuguese in the service of Spain, headed the first expedition which succeeded in circomnavigating the globe, though he did not live to complete the voyage. He sailed with five ships from San Lucar on September the 20th, 1519, passed the straits named after him in November 1520, and was killed in the Philippine Islands in April, 1521, Juan Sebastian del Cano continuing the voyage and reaching San Lucar with the only remaining ship in September 1522. The principal early navigators, after Magellan, who succeeded in making the voyage round the globe were Grijalva and Alvaradi (Spaniards), 1537; Mendana (Spanish), 1567; Drake (English), 1577-80; Cavendish, 1586-88; LeMaire (Dutch), 1615-17; Quiros (Spanish), 1625; Tasman (Dutch), 1642; Cowley, 1683; Dampier, 1689; Cooke, 1708; Clipperton,1719; Roggewein (Dutch), 1721-23; Anson, 1740-44; Byron, 1764-66; Wallis, 1766-68; Carteret, 1766-69; Bougainville, 1766-69; Cook, 1768-71; and Portlocke, 1788. Research Circumnavigators
Sir Colin Campbell, LordClyde, was a Scottish soldier. He was born in 1792 at Glasgow and died in 1863. His father, John M'Liver, a native of Mull, was as a cabinet-maker, his mother's maiden name was Campbell, and she was the daughter of a small proprietor in Islay. By the assistance of his mother's relations he was educated at the High School of Glasgow, and afterwards at the Military Academy, Gosport.
In 1808 he received an ensign's commission in the 9th Regiment of Foot, having previously changed his name to Campbell, at the suggestion of his maternal uncle, an officer in the army. He served in Spain under Sir John Moore and Wellington, being engaged in the battles of Barossa and Vittoria, and having displayed distinguished gallantry at the siege of San Sebastian, where, as well as at the Bidassoa, he was severely wounded.
In 1819-1825 he was in the West Indies. In 1835 he attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1842 he was in China in command of the 98th Regiment, and on the termination of the Chinese war took active service in India, where he acquired such reputation in the second Sikh war as to receive the thanks of parliament and the title of KCB. In 1854 he became major-general, with the command of the Highland Brigade in the Crimean war. His services at the battles of Alma and Balaklava, and during the war generally, were conspicuous, so that on the outbreak of the Indian mutiny he was appointed to the chief command there. Landing at Calcutta on the 29th of August, 1857, he relieved Henry Havelock and Outram at Lucknow, and crushed the rebellion entirely before the end of the year. For his services here Sir Colin Campbell received the thanks of both Houses of Parliament, was created a peer with the title of BaronClyde, and had an income of 2000 pounds a year allotted him. In 1862 he was made field-marshal. Research Colin Campbell
Correggio was the name taken by Antonio Allegri from his birthplace near Modena. He was an Italian painter and was born in 1494 at Corregio and died in 1534. Little is known of his life, which was very retired. Almost the only anecdote told of him is that on seeing the St Cecilia of Raphael he exclaimed 'Anch 'io son pittore' (I also am a painter), but thia is doubtful. Correggio is unrivalled in chiaroscuro and in the grace and rounding of his figures. Among his best pictures are Night, in which the chief light is the glory beaming from the infant Saviour; the St Jerome; the Marriage of St Catherine; several Madonnas, one of them (called La Zingarella, or the Gipsy Girl) said to represent his wife; the Penitent Magdalene; the altar-pieces of St Francis, St George, and St Sebastian; Christ in the Garden of Olives; the fresco of the Ascension in the Church of St John, Parma; the Assumption of the Virgin in the cathedral of the same city; the Ecce Homo, and Cupid, Mercury, and Venus, both in the National Gallery, London. Research Correggio
Fra Bartolommeo (real name Baccio Delia Porta) was an Italian painter. He was born in 1475 near Florence and died in 1517. While young he was admitted to the workshop of the Cosimo Roselli where he met Mariotto Albertinelli. He studied painting in Florence, and acquired a more perfect knowledge of art from the works of Leonardo da Vinci. He was an admirer and follower of Savonarola, on whose death he joined the Dominican order in 1500, though he never became a priest, giving up painting for four years until persuaded to start again. He was the friend of Michael Angelo and Raphael; painted many religious pictures, among them a Saint Mark and Saint Sebastian, which are greatly admired. His colouring, in vigour and brilliancy, comes near to that of Titian and Giorgione. Research Fra Bartolommeo
Johann Agricola was a German theologian. He was born in 1492 at Eisleben and died in 1566. He was the son of a tailor at Eisleben, and was called, from his native city, master of Eisleben. One of the most active among the theologians who propagated the doctrines of Luther, in 1537, when professor in Wittenberg, he stirred up the Antinomian controversy with Luther and Melanchthon. He afterwards lived at Berlin, where he died in 1566, after a life of controversy. Besides his theological works he composed a work explaining the common German proverbs.
Johann Christian Bach was a German composer. He was born in 1735 at Leipzig and died in 1782. He was given his first musical training by his father (Johann Sebastian Bach). In 1750, when his father died, he went to Berlin to study with his brother Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. He spent eight years in Italy, from 1754 to 1760 as music director for Count Antonio Litta in Milan and then from 1760 to 1762 as organist at the MilanCathedral. During this period he also studied in Bologna with the Italian composer Giovanni Battista Martini. In 1762 Bach settled in London and soon became music master to the queen. Part of his success was the result of his mastery of the pleasant, tuneful style of Italian opera, which was then fashionable in London. From 1764 until his death he and another German composer living in London, Carl Friedrich Abel produced a series of concerts that were famous because of the composers who wrote for them. One was the seven-year old prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Bach himself wrote about a dozen operas and many symphonies, concertos, piano pieces, and chamber music. Research Johann Christian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer. He was born in 1685 at Eisenach and died in 1750. Being the son of a musician he was early trained in the art, and soon distinguished himself. In 1703 he was engaged as a player at the court of Weimar, and subsequently he was musical director to the Duke of Anhalt-Kothen, and latterly held an appointment at Leipzig. He paid a visit to Potsdam on the invitation of Frederick the Great. As a player on the harpsichord and organ he had no equal among his contemporaries; but it was not until a century after his death that his greatness as a composer was fully recognized. His compositions breathe an original inspiration, and are largely of the religious kind. They include pieces, vocal and instrumental, for the organ, piano, stringed and keyed instruments; church cantatas, oratorios, masses, passion music, etc. More than fifty musical performers have proceeded from this family. Sebastian himself had eleven sons, all distinguished as musicians. Among his compositions are St Matthew Passion and The Well-Tempered Clavier. Research Johann Sebastian Bach
Abbreviations
Research Catacomb
