Aldhelm or Adelme, an early English bishop, born in Wessex about 656, educated by Adrian in Kent, embraced the monastic life, and founded the abbey of Malmesbury, of which he was the first abbot. He became bishop of Sherborne 705, and died 709. He is said to have lived a very austere life, "giving him- self entirely to reading and prayer, denying himself in food, and rarely quitting the walls of the monas- tery. If we maj' believe the account of William of Malmesbury, he was also in the habit of immersing himself as far as the shoulders in a fountain hard by the abbey, and did not come forth until he had com- pletely repeated the Psalter; this he did not omit, summer or winter." The first organ used in England is said to have been built under the directions of Aid- helm. According to Camden (Britannia in Wilt. p. 116), he was the first Englishman who wrote in Latin, and taught his people to compose Latin verses. His works have recently been collected and published un- der the title Aldhelmi opera. qwe extant, omnia e codici- bus MSS. emendavit, nonmdla nunc primum edidit J. A. Giles, LL.D. (Oxon. 1844, 8 vo).— Collier, Eccl. Hist. i, 283 ; Cave, Hist. Lit. anno 680 ; Landon, Eccles. Diet. i, 91.
Aldrich, Henry, was born at Westminster, 1647, and studied at Christ Church, Oxford. He was cele- brated for the zeal and ability which he displayed as
a controversialist against the Romish writers of his time. After the Revolution he was made dean of Christ Church, Oxford (1089), and was presented to the liv- ing of Wcm, in Shropshire. He was a great lover of church music, and has left twenty anthems ; he was also the author of the well-known glee, "Hark, the bonny Christ Church Bells." Himself a sound and accomplished scholar, he endeavored by every means in his power to foster the love of classical learning among the students of his college, and presented them annually with an edition of some Greek classic, which he printed for this special purpose. He also published a system of logic for their use, and at his death be- queathed to his college his valuable classical library. Dr. Aldrich was a proficient in more than one of the arts : three sides of what is called Peckwater Quad- rangle, in Christ Church College, and the church and campanile of All Saints in High Street, Oxford, were designed by him ; and he is also said to have furnished the plan, or at least to have had a share in the design of the chapel of Trinity College, Oxford. He died Dec. 14, 1710. Among his writings are, 1. .1 Reply to two Discourses [by Abr. Woodhead] concerning the Adoration of our Blessed Saviour in the Holy Eucharist (1687):— 2. A Defence of the Oxford Reply (1088):— 3. Artis Logical Compendium (1691, and often reprint- ed) ; it is still in use at Oxford as a manual for begin- ners.— English Cyelopmlia, s. v. ; New Gen. Diet, i, 142.
Aleander, Jerome, Cardinal, born February 13, 1480, at Motta, on the confines of Friuli and Istria. Ho studied at Venice, where he became acquainted with Erasmus, and applied himself with great success to the Chaldee and Arabic languages. In 1508 Louis XII called him to France, where he became rector of the university of Paris. In 1519 Pope Leo X sent him as nuncio into Germany to oppose Luther, and, during his absence, in 1520, made him librarian of the Vatican. Aleander, who was papal legate at the diet of Worms, spoke for three hours against Luther, and drew up the edict which condemned him (Munter, Beitr. zur Kirch.-Gesch. p. 48). In 1523 he caused the burning of two monks at Brussels. He afterward be- came archbishop of Brindisi and nuncio in France, and was made prisoner by the Spaniards at the battle of Pavia, 1525. After his liberation he was created car- dinal of St. Chrysogono, 1538, and died at Rome, Feb- ruary 1, 1542. — Landon, Eccles. Diet, i, 227.
Alegambe, Philip, born at Brussels in January, 1592, became a Jesuit at Palermo in 1613, theological professor at Gratz, 1629, and finally prefect of the German Jesuits. He died 1651. He made large ad- ditions to Ribadaneira's Catalogns Scriptt. Soc. Jesu, of which he published a revised edition at Antwerp, 1643. P. Sotuel (Southwell) in 1675 published at Rome a new edition of the book, with the last additions and corrections of Alegambe. He also wrote Heroes et Yictimm charitatis Soc. Jesu (Rome, 1G58, 4to) and Mortes Illustres et Gesta eorum de Soc. Jesu, qui in odium fidei occisi sunt (Rome, 1657, fol.). — Landon, Eccles. Diet, i, 228 ; New General Biog. Diet, i, 148.
Al'ema (only in the dat. plur. iv 'AXiyuo(c), one of the fortified cities in Gilead beyond the Jordan, oc- cupied in the time of Judas Maccabaeus, to the oppres- sion of the Jews, by the Gentiles, in connection with certain neighboring towns (1 Mace, v, 26). Grimm (Handb. zu d. Mace, in loc.) thinks it is probably the Beer-elim (q. v.) of Isa. xv, 8 (cornp. Beer simply in Num. xxi, 16), an identification favored by the as- sociated names (Bozrah and Carnaim) known to be in the same locality.
Alembert, Jean le Rond d', a French mathe- matician and philosopher of the empirical school, was born in Paris, Nov. 16, 1717, and died in the same city Oct. 29, 1783. He was the illegitimate child of the Chevalier Destouches-Canon, and of the celebrated Madame de Tencin, sister of the archbishop of Lyons.