(J. S. F.)
GABEL, KRISTOFFER(1617-1673), Danish statesman, was born at Glückstadt, on the 6th of January 1617. His father, Wulbern, originally a landscape painter and subsequently recorder of Glückstadt, was killed at the siege of that fortress by the Imperialists in 1628. Kristoffer is first heard of in 1639, as overseer and accountant at the court of Duke Frederick. When the duke ascended the Danish throne as Frederick III., Gabel followed him to Copenhagen as his private secretary and man of business. Gabel, who veiled under a mysterious reticence considerable financial ability and uncommon shrewdness, had great influence over the irresolute king. During the brief interval between King Charles X.’s first and second attack upon Denmark, Gabel was employed in several secret missions to Sweden; and he took a part in the intrigues which resulted in the autocratic revolution of 1660 (seeDenmark:History). His services on this occasion have certainly been exaggerated; but if not the originator of the revolution, he was certainly the chief intermediary between Frederick III. and the conjoined Estates in the mysterious conspiracy which established absolutism in Denmark. His activity on this occasion won the king’s lifelong gratitude. He was enriched, ennobled, and in 1664 made governor of Copenhagen. From this year must be dated his open and official influence and power, and from 1660 to 1670 he was the most considerable personage at court, and very largely employed in financial and diplomatic affairs. When Frederick III. died, in February 1670, Gabel’s power was at an end. The new ruler, Christian V., hated him, and accusations against him poured in from every quarter. When, on the 18th of April 1670, he was dismissed, nobody sympathized with the man who had grown wealthy at a time when other people found it hard to live. He died on the 13th of October 1673.
See Carl Frederik Bricka,Dansk. Biograf. Lex.art “Gabel” (Copenhagen, 1887, &c.);Danmarks Riges Historie(Copenhagen, 1897-19051905), vol. v.
See Carl Frederik Bricka,Dansk. Biograf. Lex.art “Gabel” (Copenhagen, 1887, &c.);Danmarks Riges Historie(Copenhagen, 1897-19051905), vol. v.
GABELENTZ, HANS CONON VON DER(1807-1874), German linguist and ethnologist, born at Altenburg on the 13th of October 1807, was the only son of Hans Karl Leopold von der Gabelentz, chancellor and privy-councillor of the duchy of Altenburg. From 1821 to 1825 he attended the gymnasium of his native town, where he had Matthiae (the eminent Greek scholar) for teacher, and Hermann Brockhaus and Julius Löbe for schoolfellows. Here, in addition to ordinary school-work, he carried on the private study of Arabic and Chinese; and the latter language continued especially to engage his attention during his undergraduate course, from 1825 to 1828, at the universities of Leipzig and Göttingen. In 1830 he entered the public service of the duchy of Altenburg, where he attained to the rank of privy-councillor in 1843. Four years later he was chosen to fill the post ofLandmarschallin the grand-duchy of Weimar, and in 1848 he attended the Frankfort parliament, and represented the Saxon duchies on the commission for drafting an imperial constitution for Germany. In November of the same year he became president of the Altenburg ministry, but he resigned office in the following August. From 1851 to 1868 he was president of the second chamber of the duchy of Altenburg; but in the latter year he withdrew entirely from public life, that hemight give undivided attention to his learned researches. He died on his estate of Lemnitz, in Saxe-Weimar, on the 3rd of September 1874.
In the course of his life he is said to have learned no fewer than eighty languages, thirty of which he spoke with fluency and elegance. But he was less remarkable for his power of acquisition than for the higher talent which enabled him to turn his knowledge to the genuine advancement of linguistic science. Immediately after quitting the university, he followed up his Chinese researches by a study of the Finno-Ugrian languages, which resulted in the publication of hisÉléments de la grammaire mandchouein 1832. In 1837 he became one of the promoters, and a joint-editor, of theZeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, and through this medium he gave to the world hisVersuch einer mordwinischen Grammatikand other valuable contributions. HisGrundzüge der syrjänischen Grammatikappeared in 1841. In conjunction with his old school friend, Julius Löbe, he brought out a complete edition, with translation, glossary and grammar, of Ulfilas’s Gothic version of the Bible (1843-1846); and from 1847 he began to contribute to theZeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaftthe fruits of his researches into the languages of the Swahilis, the Samoyedes, the Hazaras, the Aimaks, the Formosans and other widely-separated tribes. TheBeiträge zur Sprachenkunde(1852) contain Dyak, Dakota, and Kiriri grammars; to these were added in 1857 aGrammatik u. Wörterbuch der Kassiasprache, and in 1860 a treatise in universal grammar (Über das Passivum). In 1864 he edited the Manchu translations of the Chinese Sse-shu, Shu-king and Shi-king, along with a dictionary; and in 1873 he completed the work which constitutes his most important contribution to philology,Die melanesischen Sprachen nach ihrem grammatischen Bau und ihrer Verwandschaft unter sich und mit den malaiisch-polynesischen Sprachen untersucht(1860-1873). It treats of the language of the Fiji Islands, New Hebrides, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia, &c., and shows their radical affinity with the Polynesian class. He also contributed most of the linguistic articles in Pierer’sConversations-Lexicon.
GABELLE(French, from the Med. Lat.gabulum,gablum, a tax, for the origin of which seeGavelkind), a term which, in France, was originally applied to taxes on all commodities, but was gradually limited to the tax on salt. In process of time it became one of the most hated and most grossly unequal taxes in the country, but, though condemned by all supporters of reform, it was not abolished until 1790. First imposed in 1286, in the reign of Philip IV., as a temporary expedient, it was made a permanent tax by Charles V. Repressive as a state monopoly, it was made doubly so from the fact that the government obliged every individual above the age of eight years to purchase weekly a minimum amount of salt at a fixed price. When first instituted, it was levied uniformly on all the provinces in France, but for the greater part of its history the price varied in different provinces. There were five distinct groups of provinces, classified as follows: (a) thePays de grandes gabelles, in which the tax was heaviest; (b) thePays de petites gabelles, which paid a tax of about half the rate of the former; (c) thePays de salines, in which the tax was levied on the salt extracted from the salt marshes; (d) thePays rédimés, which had purchased redemption in 1549; and (e) thePays exempts, which had stipulated for exemption on entering into union with the kingdom of France.Greniers à sel(dating from 1342) were established in each province, and to these all salt had to be taken by the producer on penalty of confiscation. Thegrenierfixed the price which it paid for the salt and then sold it to retail dealers at a higher rate.
See J.J. Clamagéran,Histoire de l’impôt en France(1876); A. Gasquet,Précis des institutions politiques de l’ancienne France(1885); Necker,Compte rendu(1781).
See J.J. Clamagéran,Histoire de l’impôt en France(1876); A. Gasquet,Précis des institutions politiques de l’ancienne France(1885); Necker,Compte rendu(1781).
GABERDINE,orGabardine, any long, loose over-garment, reaching to the feet and girt round the waist. It was, when made of coarse material, commonly worn in the middle ages by pilgrims, beggars and almsmen. The Jews, conservatively attached to the loose and flowing garments of the East, continued to wear the long upper garment to which the name “gaberdine” could be applied, long after it had ceased to be a common form as worn by non-Jews, and to this day in some parts of Europe,e.g.in Poland, it is still worn, while the tendency to wear the frock-coat very long and loose is a marked characteristic of the race. The fact that in the middle ages the Jews were forbidden to engage in handicrafts also, no doubt, tended to stereotype a form of dress unfitted for manual labour. The idea of the “gaberdine” being enforced by law upon the Jews as a distinctive garment is probably due to Shakespeare’s use in theMerchant of Venice, I. iii. 113. The mark that the Jews were obliged to wear generally on the outer garment was the badge. This was first enforced by the fourth Lateran Council of 1215. The “badge” (Lat.rota; Fr.rouelle, wheel) took generally the shape of a circle of cloth worn on the breast. It varied in colour at different times. In France it was of yellow, later of red and white; in England it took the form of two bands or stripes, first of white, then of yellow. In Edward I.’s reign it was made in the shape of the Tables of the Law (see theJewish Encyclopedia, s.v. “Costume” and “Badge”). The derivation of the word is obscure. It apparently occurs first in O. Fr. in the formsgauverdine,galvardine, and thence into Ital. asgavardina, and Span.gabardina, a form which has influenced the English word. TheNew English Dictionarysuggests a connexion with the O.H. Ger.wallevart, pilgrimage. Skeat (Etym. Dict., 1898) refers it to Span.gaban, coat, cloak;cabaña, hut, cabin.
GABES, a town of Tunisia, at the head of the gulf of the same name, and 70 m. by sea S.W. of Sfax. It occupies the site of the Tacape of the Romans and consists of an open port and European quarter and several small Arab towns built in an oasis of date palms. This oasis is copiously watered by a stream called the Wad Gabes. The European quarter is situated on the right bank of the Wad near its mouth, and adjacent are the Arab towns of Jara and Menzel. The houses of the native towns are built largely of dressed stones and broken columns from the ruins of Tacape. Gabes is the military headquarters for southern Tunisia. The population of the oasis is about 20,000, including some 1500 Europeans. There is a considerable export trade in dates.
Gabes lies at the head of the shat country of Tunisia and is intimately connected with the scheme of Commandant Roudaire to create a Saharan sea by making a channel from the Mediterranean to these shats (large salt lakes below the level of the sea). Roudaire proposed to cut a canal through the belt of high ground between Gabes and the shats, and fixed on Wad Melah, a spot 10 m. N. of Gabes, for the sea end of the channel (seeSahara). The company formed to execute his project became simply an agricultural concern and by the sinking of artesian wells created an oasis of olive and palm trees.
The Gulf of Gabes, theSyrtis Minorof the ancients, is a semi-circular shallow indentation of the Mediterranean, about 50 m. across from the Kerkenna Islands, opposite Sfax on its northern shore, to Jerba Island, which lies at its southern end. The waters of the gulf abound in fish and sponge.
GABII, an ancient city of Latium, between 12 and 13 m. E. of Rome, on the Via Praenestina, which was in early times known as the Via Gabina. The part played by it in the story of the expulsion of the Tarquins is well known; but its importance in the earliest history of Rome rests upon other evidence—the continuance of certain ancient usages which imply a period of hostility between the two cities, such as the adoption of thecinctus Gabinusby the consul when war was to be declared. We hear of a treaty of alliance with Rome in the time of Tarquinius Superbus, the original text of which, written on a bullock’s skin, was said by Dionysius of Halicarnassus to be still extant in his day. Its subsequent history is obscure, and we only hear of it again in the 1st centuryB.C.as a small and insignificant place, though its desolation is no doubt exaggerated by the poets. From inscriptions we learn that from the time of Augustus or Tiberius onwards it enjoyed a municipal organization. Its baths were well known, and Hadrian, who was responsible for much of the renewed prosperity of the small towns of Latium, appears to have been a very liberal patron, building a senate-house (CuriaAelia Augusta) and an aqueduct. After the 3rd century Gabii practically disappears from history, though its bishops continue to be mentioned in ecclesiastical documents till the close of the 9th. The primitive city occupied the eastern bank of the lake, the citadel being now marked by the ruins of the medieval fortress of Castiglione, while the Roman town extended farther to the south. The most conspicuous relic of the latter is a ruined temple, generally attributed to Juno, which had six columns in the front and six on each side. The plan is interesting, but the style of architecture was apparently mixed. To the east of the temple lay the Forum, where excavations were made by Gavin Hamilton in 1792. All the objects found were placed in the Villa Borghese, but many of them were carried off to Paris by Napoleon, and still remain in the Louvre. The statues and busts are especially numerous and interesting; besides the deities Venus, Diana, Nemesis, &c., they comprise Agrippa, Tiberius, Germanicus, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Trajan and Plotina, Hadrian and Sabina, M. Aurelius, Septimius Severus, Geta, Gordianus Pius and others. The inscriptions relate mainly to local and municipal matters.
See E.Q. Visconti,Monumenti Gabini della Villa Pinciana(Rome, 1797, and Milan, 1835); T. Ashby inPapers of the British School at Rome, i. 180 seq.; G. Pinza inBull. Com.(1903), 321 seq.
See E.Q. Visconti,Monumenti Gabini della Villa Pinciana(Rome, 1797, and Milan, 1835); T. Ashby inPapers of the British School at Rome, i. 180 seq.; G. Pinza inBull. Com.(1903), 321 seq.
(T. As.)
GABINIUS, AULUS,Roman statesman and general, and supporter of Pompey, a prominent figure in the later days of the Roman republic. In 67B.C., when tribune of the people, he brought forward the famous law (Lex Gabinia) conferring upon Pompey the command in the war against the Mediterranean pirates, with extensive powers which gave him absolute control over that sea and the coasts for 50 m. inland. By two other measures of Gabinius loans of money to foreign ambassadors in Rome were made non-actionable (as a check on the corruption of the senate) and the senate was ordered to give audience to foreign envoys on certain fixed days (1st of Feb.-1st of March). In 61 Gabinius, then praetor, endeavoured to win the public favour by providing games on a scale of unusual splendour, and in 58 managed to secure the consulship, not without suspicion of bribery. During his term of office he aided Publius Clodius in bringing about the exile of Cicero. In 57 Gabinius went as proconsul to Syria. On his arrival he reinstated Hyrcanus in the high-priesthood at Jerusalem, suppressed revolts, introduced important changes in the government of Judaea, and rebuilt several towns. During his absence in Egypt, whither he had been sent by Pompey, without the consent of the senate, to restore Ptolemy Auletes to his kingdom, Syria had been devastated by robbers, and Alexander, son of Aristobulus, had again taken up arms with the object of depriving Hyrcanus of the high-priesthood. With some difficulty Gabinius restored order, and in 54 handed over the province to his successor, M. Licinius Crassus. The knights, who as farmers of the taxes had suffered heavy losses during the disturbances in Syria, were greatly embittered against Gabinius, and, when he appeared in the senate to give an account of his governorship, he was brought to trial on three counts, all involving a capital offence. On the charge ofmajestas(high treason) incurred by having left his province for Egypt without the consent of the senate and in defiance of the Sibylline books, he was acquitted; it is said that the judges were bribed, and even Cicero, who had recently attacked Gabinius with the utmost virulence, was persuaded by Pompey to say as little as he could in his evidence to damage his former enemy. On the second charge, that ofrepetundae(extortion during the administration of his province), with especial reference to the 10,000 talents paid by Ptolemy for his restoration, he was found guilty, in spite of evidence offered on his behalf by Pompey and witnesses from Alexandria and the eloquence of Cicero, who had been induced to plead his cause. Nothing but Cicero’s wish to do a favour to Pompey could have induced him to take up what must have been a distasteful task; indeed, it is hinted that the half-heartedness of the defence materially contributed to Gabinius’s condemnation. The third charge, that ofambitus(illegalities committed during his canvass for the consulship), was consequently dropped; Gabinius went into exile, and his property was confiscated. After the outbreak of the civil war, he was recalled by Caesar in 49, and entered his service, but took no active part against his old patron Pompey. After the battle of Pharsalus, he was commissioned to transport some recently levied troops to Illyricum. On his way thither by land, he was attacked by the Dalmatians and with difficulty made his way to Salonae (Dalmatia). Here he bravely defended himself against the attacks of the Pompeian commander, Marcus Octavius, but in a few months died of illness (48 or the beginning of 47).
See Dio Cassius xxxvi. 23-36, xxxviii. 13. 30, xxxix. 55-63; Plutarch,Pompey, 25. 48; Josephus,Antiq.xiv. 4-6; Appian,Illyrica, 12,Bell. Civ.ii. 24. 59; Cicero,ad Att.vi. 2,ad Q. Fratrem, ii. 13,Post reditum in senatu, 4-8,Pro lege Manilia, 17, 18, 19; exhaustive article by Bähr in Ersch and Gruber’sAllgemeine Encyclopädie; and monograph by G. Stocchi,Aulo Gabinio e i suoi processi(1892).
See Dio Cassius xxxvi. 23-36, xxxviii. 13. 30, xxxix. 55-63; Plutarch,Pompey, 25. 48; Josephus,Antiq.xiv. 4-6; Appian,Illyrica, 12,Bell. Civ.ii. 24. 59; Cicero,ad Att.vi. 2,ad Q. Fratrem, ii. 13,Post reditum in senatu, 4-8,Pro lege Manilia, 17, 18, 19; exhaustive article by Bähr in Ersch and Gruber’sAllgemeine Encyclopädie; and monograph by G. Stocchi,Aulo Gabinio e i suoi processi(1892).
GABION(a French word derived through Ital.gabbione,gabbia, from Lat.cavea, a cage), a cylindrical basket without top or bottom, used in revetting fortifications and for numerous other purposes of military engineering. The gabion is filled with earth when in position. The ordinary brushwood gabion in the British service has a diameter of 2 ft. and a height of 2 ft. 9 in. There are several forms of gabion in use, the best known being the Willesden paper band gabion and the Jones iron or steel band gabion.
GABLE,in architecture, the upper portion of a wall from the level of the eaves or gutter to the ridge of the roof. The word is a southern English form of the Scottishgāvel, or of an O. Fr. wordgableorjable, both ultimately derived from O. Norwegiangafl. In other Teutonic languages, similar words, such as Ger.Gabeland Dutchgaffel, mean “fork,” cf. Lat.gabalus, gallows, which is Teutonic in origin; “gable” is represented by such forms as Ger.Giebeland Dutchgevel. According to theNew English Dictionarythe primary meaning of all these words is probably “top” or “head,” cf. Gr.κεφαλή, and refers to the forking timbers at the end of a roof. The gable corresponds to the pediment in classic buildings where the roof was of low pitch. If the roof is carried across on the top of the wall so that the purlins project beyond its face, they are masked or hidden by a “barge board,” but as a rule the roof butts up against the back of the wall which is raised so as to form a parapet. In the middle ages the gable end was invariably parallel to the roof and was crowned by coping stones properly weathered on both sides to throw off the rain. In the 16th century in England variety was given to the outline of the gable by a series of alternating semi-circular and ogee curves. In Holland, Belgium and Scotland a succession of steps was employed, which in the latter country are known as crow gables or corbie steps. In Germany and the Netherlands in the 17th and 18th centuries the step gables assume very elaborate forms of an extremely rococo character, and they are sometimes of immense size, with windows in two or three storeys. Designs of a similar rococo character are found in England, but only in crestings such as those which surmount the towers of Wollaton and the gatehouse of Hardwick Hall.
Gabled Towers, in architecture, are those towers which are finished with gables instead of parapets, as at Sompting, Sussex. Many of the German Romanesque towers are gabled.
GABLER, GEORG ANDREAS(1786-1853), German Hegelian philosopher, son of J.P. Gabler (below), was born on the 30th of July 1786, at Altdorf in Bavaria. In 1804 he accompanied his father to Jena, where he completed his studies in philosophy and law, and became an enthusiastic disciple of Hegel. After holding various educational appointments, he was in 1821 appointed rector of the Bayreuth gymnasium, and in 1830 general superintendent of schools. In 1835 he succeeded Hegel in the Berlin chair. He died at Teplitz on the 13th of September 1853. His works includeLehrbuch d. philos. Propädeutik(1st vol., Erlangen, 1827), a popular exposition of the Hegelian system;De verae philosophiae erga religionem Christianam pietate(Berlin, 1836), andDie Hegel’sche Philosophie(ib., 1843), a defence of the Hegelian philosophy against Trendelenburg.
GABLER, JOHANN PHILIPP(1753-1826), German Protestant theologian of the school of J.J. Griesbach and J.G. Eichhorn, was born at Frankfort-on-Main on the 4th of June 1753. In 1772 he entered the university of Jena as a theological student. In 1776 he was on the point of abandoning theological pursuits, when the arrival of Griesbach inspired him with new ardour. After having been successivelyRepetentin Göttingen and teacher in the public schools of Dortmund (Westphalia) and Altdorf (Bavaria), he was, in 1785, appointed second professor of theology in the university of Altdorf, whence he was translated to a chair in Jena in 1804, where he succeeded Griesbach in 1812. Here he died on the 17th of February 1826. At Altdorf Gabler published (1791-1793) a new edition, with introduction and notes, of Eichhorn’sUrgeschichte; this was followed, two years afterwards, by a supplement entitledNeuer Versuch über die mosaische Schöpfungsgeschichte. He was also the author of many essays which were characterized by much critical acumen, and which had considerable influence on the course of German thought on theological and Biblical questions. From 1798 to 1800 he was editor of theNeuestes theologisches Journal, first conjointly with H.K.A. Hänlein (1762-1829), C.F. von Ammon (1766-1850) and H.E.G. Paulus, and afterwards unassisted; from 1801 to 1804 of theJournal für theologische Litteratur; and from 1805 to 1811 of theJournal für auserlesene theologische Litteratur.
Some of his essays were published by his sons (2 vols., 1831); and a memoir appeared in 1827 by W. Schröter.
Some of his essays were published by his sons (2 vols., 1831); and a memoir appeared in 1827 by W. Schröter.
GABLETS(diminutive of “gable”), in architecture, triangular terminations to buttresses, much in use in the Early English and Decorated periods, after which the buttresses generally terminated in pinnacles. The Early English gablets are generally plain, and very sharp in pitch. In the Decorated period they are often enriched with panelling and crockets. They are sometimes finished with small crosses, but of oftener with finials.
GABLONZ(Czech,Jablonec), a town of Bohemia, Austria, 94 m. N.E. of Prague by rail. Pop. (1900) 21,086, mostly German. It is the chief seat of the glass pearl and imitation jewelry manufacture, and has also an important textile industry, and produces large quantities of hardware, papier mâché and other paper goods.
GABORIAU, ÉMILE(1833-1873), French novelist, was born at Saujon (Charente Inférieure) on the 9th of November 1833. He became secretary to Paul Féval, and, after publishing some novels and miscellaneous writings, found his real gift inL’Affaire Lerouge(1866), a detective novel which was published in thePaysand at once made his reputation. The story was produced on the stage in 1872. A long series of novels dealing with the annals of the police court followed, and proved very popular. Among them are:Le Crime d’Orcival(1867),Monsieur Lecoq(1869),La Vie infernale(1870),Les Esclaves de Paris(1869),L’Argent des autres(1874). Gaboriau died in Paris on the 28th of September 1873.
GABRIEL(Heb.גבריאל, man of God), in the Bible, the heavenly messenger (seeAngel) sent to Daniel to explain the vision of the ram and the he-goat, and to communicate the prediction of the Seventy Weeks (Dan. viii. 16, ix. 21). He was also employed to announce the birth of John the Baptist to Zacharias, and that of the Messiah to the Virgin Mary (Luke i. 19, 26). Because he stood in the divine presence (see Luke i. 19; Rev. viii. 2; and cf. Tobit xii. 15), both Jewish and Christian writers generally speak of him as an archangel. In theBook of Enoch“the four great archangels” are Michael, Uriel, Suriel or Raphael, and Gabriel, who is set over “all the powers” and shares the work of intercession. His name frequently occurs in the Jewish literature of the later post-Biblical period. Thus, according to the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, he was the man who showed the way to Joseph (Gen. xxxvii. 15); and in Deut. xxxiv. 6 it is affirmed that he, along with Michael, Uriel, Jophiel, Jephephiah and the Metatron, buried the body of Moses. In the Targum on 2 Chron. xxxii. 21 he is named as the angel who destroyed the host of Sennacherib; and in similar writings of a still later period he is spoken of as the spirit who presides over fire, thunder, the ripening of the fruits of the earth and similar processes. In the Koran great prominence is given to his function as the medium of divine revelation, and, according to the Mahommedan interpreters, he it is who is referred to by the appellations “Holy Spirit” and “Spirit of Truth.” He is specially commemorated in the calendars of the Greek, Coptic and Armenian churches.
GABRIEL HOUNDS,a spectral pack supposed in the North of England to foretell death by their yelping at night. The legend is that they are the souls of unbaptized children wandering through the air till the day of judgment. They are also sometimes called Gabriel or Gabble Ratchet. A very prosaic explanation of this nocturnal noise is given by J.C. Atkinson in hisCleveland Glossary(1868). “This,” he writes, “is the name for a yelping sound heard at night, more or less resembling the cry of hounds or yelping of dogs, probably due to large flocks of wild geese which chance to be flying by night.”
See further Joseph Lucas,Studies in Nidderdale(1882), pp. 156-157.
See further Joseph Lucas,Studies in Nidderdale(1882), pp. 156-157.
GABRIELI, GIOVANNI(1557-1612?), Italian musical composer, was born at Venice in 1557, and was a pupil of his uncle Andrea, a distinguished musician of the contrapuntal school and organist of St Mark’s. He succeeded Claudio Merulo as first organist of the same church in 1585, and died at Venice either in 1612 or 1613. He was remarkable for his compositions for several choirs, writing frequently for 12 or 16 voices, and is important as an early experimenter in chromatic harmony. It was probably for this reason that he made a special point of combining voices with instruments, being thus one of the founders of choral and orchestral composition. Among his pupils was Heinrich Schütz; and the church of St Mark, from the time of the Gabrielis onwards down to that of Lotti, became one of the most important musical schools in Europe.
See also Winterfeld,Johann Gabrieli und seine Zeit(1834).
See also Winterfeld,Johann Gabrieli und seine Zeit(1834).
GABUN,a district on the west coast of Africa, one of the colonies forming French Congo (q.v.). It derives its designation from the settlements on the Gabun river or Rio de Gabão. The Gabun, in reality an estuary of the sea, lies immediately north of the equator. At the entrance, between Cape Joinville or Santa Clara on the N. and Cape Pangara or Sandy Point on the S., it has a width of about 10 m. It maintains a breadth of some 7 m. for a distance of 40 m. inland, when it contracts into what is known as the Rio Olambo, which is not more than 2 or 3 m. from bank to bank. Several rivers, of which the Komo is the chief, discharge their waters into the estuary. The Gabun was discovered by Portuguese navigators towards the close of the 15th century, and was named from its fanciful resemblance to agabãoor cabin. On the small island of Koniké, which lies about the centre of the estuary, scanty remains of a Portuguese fort have been discovered. The three principal tribes in the Gabun are the Mpongwe, the Fang and the Bakalai.
GACE BRULÉ(d.c.1220), Frenchtrouvère, was a native of Champagne. It has generally been asserted that he taught Thibaut of Champagne the art of verse, an assumption which is based on a statement in theChroniques de Saint-Denis: “Si fist entre lui [Thibaut] et Gace Brulé les plus belles chançons et les plus délitables et melodieuses qui onque fussent oïes.” This has been taken as evidence of collaboration between the two poets. The passage will bear the interpretation that with those of Gace the songs of Thibaut were the best hitherto known. Paulin Paris, in theHistoire littéraire de la France(vol. xxiii.), quotes a number of facts that fix an earlier date for Gace’s songs. Gace is the author of the earliest knownjeu parti. The interlocutors are Gace and a count of Brittany who is identified with Geoffrey of Brittany, son of Henry II. of England. Gace appears to have been banished from Champagne and to have found refuge in Brittany. A deed dated 1212 attests a contract between Gatho Bruslé (Gace Brulé) and the Templars for a piece of land in Dreux. It seems most probable that Gace died before 1220, at the latest in 1225.
See Gédéon Busken Huet,Chansons de Gace Brulé, edited for the Société des anciens textes français (1902), with an exhaustive introduction. Dante quotes a song by Gace,Ire d’amor qui en mon cuer repaire, which he attributes erroneously to Thibaut of Navarre (De vulgari eloquentia, p. 151, ed. P. Rajna, Florence, 1895).
See Gédéon Busken Huet,Chansons de Gace Brulé, edited for the Société des anciens textes français (1902), with an exhaustive introduction. Dante quotes a song by Gace,Ire d’amor qui en mon cuer repaire, which he attributes erroneously to Thibaut of Navarre (De vulgari eloquentia, p. 151, ed. P. Rajna, Florence, 1895).
GACHARD, LOUIS PROSPER(1800-1885), Belgian man of letters, was born in Paris on the 12th of March 1800. He entered the administration of the royal archives in 1826, and was appointed director-general, a post which he held for fifty-five years. During this long period he reorganized the service, added to the records by copies taken in other European collections, travelled for purposes of study, and carried on a wide correspondence with other keepers of records, and with historical scholars. He also edited and published many valuable collections of state papers; a full list of his various publications was printed in theAnnuaire de l’académie royale de Belgiqueby Ch. Piot in 1888, pp. 220-236. It includes 246 entries. He was the author of several historical writings, of which the best known areDon Carlos et Philippe II(1867),Études et notices historiques concernant l’histoire des Pays-Bas(1863),Histoire de la Belgique au commencement du XVIIIesiècle(1880),Histoire politique et diplomatique de P.P. Rubens(1877), all published at Brussels. His chief editorial works are theActes des états généraux des Pays-Bas 1576-1585(Brussels, 1861-1866),Collection de documents inédits concernant l’histoire de la Belgique(Brussels, 1833-1835), and theRelations des ambassadeurs Vénitiens sur Charles V et Philippe II(Brussels, 1855). Gachard died in Brussels on the 24th of December 1885.
GAD,in the Bible. 1. A prophet or rather a “seer” (cp. 1 Sam. ix. 9), who was a companion of David from his early days. He is first mentioned in 1 Sam. xxii. 5 as having warned David to take refuge in Judah, and appears again in 2 Sam. xxiv. 11 seq. to make known Yahweh’s displeasure at the numbering of the people. Together with Nathan he is represented in post-exilic tradition as assisting to organize the musical service of the temple (2 Chron. xxix. 25), and like Nathan and Samuel he is said to have written an account of David’s deeds (1 Chron. xxix. 29); a history of David in accordance with later tradition and upon the lines of later prophetic ideas is far from improbable.
2. Son of Jacob, by Zilpah, Leah’s maid; a tribe of Israel (Gen. xxx. 11). The name is that of the god of “luck” or fortune, mentioned in Isa. lxv. 11 (R.V. mg.), and in several names of places,e.g.Baal-Gad (Josh. xi. 17, xii. 7), and possibly also in Dibon-Gad, Migdol-Gad and Nahal-Gad.1There is another etymology in Gen. xlix. 19, where the name is played on: “Gad, a plundering troop (gĕdûd) shall plunder him (yegudennu), but he shall plunder at their heels.” There are no traditions of the personal history of Gad. One of the earliest references to the name is the statement on the inscription of Mesha, king of Moab (about 850B.C.), that the “men of Gad” had occupied Ataroth (E. of Dead Sea) from of old, and that the king of Israel had fortified the city. This is in the district ascribed to Reuben, with which tribe the fortunes of Gad were very closely connected. In Numbers xxxii. 34 sqq., the cities of Gad appear to lie chiefly to the south of Heshbon; in Joshua xiii. 24-28 they lie almost wholly to the north; while other texts present discrepancies which are not easily reconciled with either passage. Possibly some cities were common to both Reuben and Gad, and perhaps others more than once changed hands. That Gad, at one time at least, held territory as far south as Pisgah and Nebo would follow from Deut. xxxiii. 21, if the rendering of the Targums be accepted, “and he looked out the first part for himself, because there was the portion of the buried law-giver.” It is certain, however, that, at a late period, this tribe was localized chiefly in Gilead, in the district which now goes by the name of Jebel Jil‘ād. The traditions encircling this district point, it would seem, to the tribe having been of Aramaean origin (see the story of Jacob); at all events its position was extremely exposed, and its population at the best must have been a mixed one. Its richness and fertility made it a prey to the marauding nomads of the desert; but the allusion in the Blessing of Jacob gives the tribe a character for bravery, and David’s men of Gad (1 Chron. xii. 8) were famous in tradition. Although rarely mentioned by name (the geographical term Gilead is usual), the history of Gad enters into the lives of Jephthah and Saul, and in the wars of Ammon and Moab it must have played some part. It followed Jeroboam in the great revolt against the house of David, and its later fortunes until 734B.C.(1 Chron. v. 26) would be those of the northern kingdom.
See, for a critical discussion of the data, H.W. Hogg,Ency. Bib.cols. 1579 sqq.; alsoGilead;Manasseh;Reuben.
See, for a critical discussion of the data, H.W. Hogg,Ency. Bib.cols. 1579 sqq.; alsoGilead;Manasseh;Reuben.
1See G.B. Gray,Heb. Proper Names, pp. 134 seq., 145.
1See G.B. Gray,Heb. Proper Names, pp. 134 seq., 145.
GADAG,orGarag, a town of British India, in the Dharwar district of Bombay, 43 m. E. of Dharwar town. Pop. (1901) 30,652. It is an important railway junction on the Southern Mahratta system, with a growing trade in raw cotton, and also in the weaving of cotton and silk. There are factories for ginning and pressing cotton, and a spinning mill. The town contains remains of a number of temples, some of which exhibit fine carving, while inscriptions in them indicate the existence of Gadag as early as the 10th century.
GADARA,an ancient town of the Syrian Decapolis, the capital of Peraea, and the political centre of the small district of Gadaris. It was a Greek city, probably entirely non-Syrian in origin. The earliest recorded event in its history is its capture by Antiochus III. of Syria in 218B.C.; how long it may have existed before this date is unknown. About twenty years later it was besieged for ten months by Alexander Jannaeus. It was restored by Pompey, and in 30B.C.was presented by Augustus to Herod the Great; on Herod’s death it was reunited to Syria. The coins of the place bear Greek legends, and such inscriptions as have been found on its site are Greek. Its governing and wealthy classes were probably Greek, the common people being Hellenized and Judaized Aramaeans. The community was Hellenistically organized, and though dependent on Syria and acknowledging the supremacy of Rome it was governed by a democratic senate and managed its own internal affairs. In the Jewish war it surrendered to Vespasian, but in the Byzantine period it again flourished and was the seat of a bishop. It was renowned for its hot sulphur baths; the springs still exist and show the remains of bath-houses. The temperature of the springs is 110° F. This town was the birthplace of Meleager the anthologist. There is a confusion in the narrative of the healing of the demoniac between the very similar namesGadara,GerasaandGergesa; but the probabilities, both textual and geographical, are in favour of the reading of Mark (Gerasenes, ch. v. 1, revised version); and that the miracle has nothing to do with Gadara, but took place atKersa, on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Gadara is now represented byUmm Kais, a group of ruins about 6 m. S.E. of the Sea of Galilee, and 1194 ft. above the sea-level. There are very fine tombs with carved sarcophagi in the neighbourhood. There are the remains of two theatres and (probably) a temple, and many heaps of carved stones, representing ancient buildings of various kinds. The walls are, or were, traceable for a circuit of 2 m., and there are also the remains of a street of columns. The natives are rapidly destroying the ruins by quarrying building material out of them.
(R. A. S. M.)
GADDI.Four painters of the early Florentine school—father, son and two grandsons—bore this name.
1.Gaddo Gaddiwas, according to Vasari, an intimate friend of Cimabue, and afterwards of Giotto. The dates of birth and death have been given as 1239 and about 1312; these are probably too early; he may have been born towards 1260, and may have died in or about 1333. He was a painter and mosaicist, is said to have executed the great mosaic inside the portal of the cathedral of Florence, representing the coronation of the Virgin, and may with more certainty be credited with the mosaics inside the portico of the basilica of S. Maria Maggiore, Rome, relating to the legend of the foundation of that church; their date is probably 1308. In the original cathedral of St Peter in Rome he also executed the mosaics of the choir, and those of the front representing on a colossal scale God the Father, with many other figures; likewise an altarpiece in the church of S. Maria Novella, Florence; these works no longer exist. It is ordinarily held that no picture (as distinct from mosaics) by Gaddo Gaddi is now extant. Messrs Crowe & Cavalcaselle, however, consider that the mosaics of S. Maria Maggiore bear so strong a resemblance in style to four of the frescoes in the upper church of Assisi, representing incidents in the life of St Francis (frescoes 2, 3, 4and especially 5, which shows Francis stripping himself, and protected by the bishop), that those frescoes likewise may, with considerable confidence, be ascribed to Gaddi. Some other extant mosaics are attributed to him, but without full authentication. This artist laid the foundation of a very large fortune, which continued increasing, and placed his progeny in a highly distinguished worldly position.
2.Taddeo Gaddi(about 1300-1366, or later), son of Gaddo, was born in Florence, and is usually said to have been one of Giotto’s most industrious assistants for a period of 24 years. This can hardly be other than an exaggeration; it is probable that he began painting on his own account towards 1330, when Giotto went to Naples. Taddeo also traded as a merchant, and had a branch establishment in Venice. He was a painter, mosaicist and architect. He executed in fresco, in the Baroncelli (now Giugni) chapel, in the Florentine church of S. Croce, the “Virgin and Child between Four Prophets,” on the funeral monument at the entrance, and on the walls various incidents in the legend of the Virgin, from the expulsion of Joachim from the Temple up to the Nativity. In the subject of the “Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple” are the two heads traditionally accepted as portraits of Gaddo Gaddi and Andrea Tafi; they, at any rate, are not likely to be portraits of those artists from the life. On the ceiling of the same chapel are the “Eight Virtues.” In the museum of Berlin is an altarpiece by Taddeo, the “Virgin and Child,” and some other subjects, dated 1334; in the Naples gallery, a triptych, dated 1336, of the “Virgin enthroned along with Four Saints,” the “Baptism of Jesus,” and his “Deposition from the Cross”; in the sacristy of S. Pietro a Megognano, near Poggibonsi, an altarpiece dated 1355, the “Virgin and Child enthroned amid Angels.” A series of paintings, partly from the life of St Francis, which Taddeo executed for the presses in S. Croce, are now divided between the Florentine Academy and the Berlin Museum; the compositions are taken from or founded on Giotto, to whom, indeed, the Berlin authorities have ascribed their examples. Taddeo also painted some frescoes still extant in Pisa, besides many in S. Croce and other Florentine buildings, which have perished. He deservedly ranks as one of the most eminent successors of Giotto; it may be said that he continued working up the material furnished by that great painter, with comparatively feeble inspiration of his own. His figures are vehement in action, long and slender in form; his execution rapid and somewhat conventional. To Taddeo are generally ascribed the celebrated frescoes—those of the ceiling and left or western wall—in the Cappella degli Spagnuoli, in the church of S. Maria Novella, Florence; this is, however, open to considerable doubt, although it may perhaps be conceded that the designs for the ceiling were furnished by Taddeo. Dubious also are the three pictures ascribed to him in the National Gallery, London. In mosaic he has left some work in the baptistery of Florence. As an architect he supplied in 1336 the plans for the present Ponte Vecchio, and those for the original (not the present) Ponte S. Trinita; in 1337 he was engaged on the church of Or San Michele; and he carried on after Giotto’s death the work of the unrivalled Campanile.
3.Agnolo Gaddi, born in Florence, was the son of Taddeo; the date of his birth has been given as 1326, but possibly 1350 is nearer the mark. He was a painter and mosaicist, trained by his father, and a merchant as well; in middle age he settled down to commercial life in Venice, and he added greatly to the family wealth. He died in Florence in October 1396. His paintings show much early promise, hardly sustained as he advanced in life. One of the earliest, at S. Jacopo tra’ Fossi, Florence, represents the “Resurrection of Lazarus.” Another probably youthful performance is the series of frescoes of the Pieve di Prato—legends of the Virgin and of her Sacred Girdle, bestowed upon St Thomas, and brought to Prato in the 11th century by Michele dei Dagomari; the “Marriage of Mary” is one of the best of this series, the later compositions in which have suffered much by renewals. In S. Croce he painted, in eight frescoes, the legend of the Cross, beginning with the archangel Michael giving Seth a branch from the tree of knowledge, and ending with the emperor Heraclius carrying the Cross as he enters Jerusalem; in this picture is a portrait of the painter himself. Agnolo composed his subjects better than Taddeo; he had more dignity and individuality in the figures, and was a clear and bold colourist; the general effect is laudably decorative, but the drawing is poor, and the works show best from a distance. Various other productions of this master exist, and many have perished. Cennino Cennini, the author of the celebrated treatise on painting, was one of his pupils.
4.Giovanni Gaddi, brother of Agnolo, was also a painter of promise. He died young in 1383.