Font, Swaton, Lincolnshii-c, 1010 (.Chambers).
vases of stone, elevated three or four feet from the floor, supported bj' a stone standard, and usually placed before the altar. The_v were frcquentlj' lined with silver, lead, or brass, and were usually adorned with ornamental work in the same style as the church edi- fice, or with bas-reliefs of scriptural scenes. In form, the earh' fonts were sometimes round, and sometimes built in the shape of a cross or of a tombstone (Rom. vii). At first fonts were covered simply with a lid. These were later enlarged into high and highly-orna- mented pinnacles or spires. — Bingham, Orig. Eceles. bk.
FONSECA
GIO
FONTEVRAXJLT
viii, chap, vii; Parker, Glossary of Architecture, s. V. Martign}', Dictionnaire des antiqidtes Chretiennes.
Font, St. Mildred's, Canterbury (Parker).
Ponseca, Pedrq da, a Jesuit and metaphysician, was born at Cortizada, Portugal, 1528. He entered th3 order in 1548, and in a few j-ears was made pro- fessor of philosophy at Coiuibra, and afterwards pro- fessor of theology at Evora. He obtained the name of ths " Portuguese Aristotle." He stood high in the favor of king Philip II and of pops Gregory XIII. He died Nov. 4, 1599. He was the first who publiclj' taught the doctrine relative to the divine prescience kno vvn as scientia media, and which was discussed long and furiously between the adherents of Molina (who w:is a pupil of Fonseca) and the Dominicans. See I'kesciexce. Among his works are Commentarii in Aristutelem (i vols., often reprinted): — Insiiludones Diulecticce (Lisbon, 1564) : — De concord, provldentue et f/ratix Dei cum lihero arbit. horn. (Lisb. 1588). — Hoefer, Xonv. liiiig. Geiurale, xviii, 81.
Fonte Avellana, Okdeu of, a monastic order of the Roman Catholic Church. The name is derived from the desert of Fonte Avellana, near Faenza, where tlie first monastery of the oi-der was established in 1001 liy Ludolf, sul)sequently bishop of Eugubio. The best known member of this order is the abbot Peter Daniiani (q. v.), under whom it made considerable progress. Little is known of its subsequent history, except tliat it greatly degenerated. In 1570, cardinal Jules de l.i Ilovcre, who liad been appointed bj' pope Pius V abbot in commendam of the abbey of Fonte Avellana, caused tlie jnonks to nnite with the Camal- dulenses. — Helj^ot ; Jrligne, Diet, des Ordres Rdi<jimx, s. r. Font-Avellane. (A. J. S.)
Fontein, Pieter, was born in 1708. He enjoyed the instructions of the celebrated Tiberius Hemster- huis and Albert Schultens. His taste for the litera- ture of antiquity was developed under their able tui- tion. His first charge was aTiaptist congregation in Rotterdam, to which he was called in 17.')2. Here he labored seven jsears. From this field of labor he was
transferred to a similar one in Amsterdam, where he remained till his death, which occurred in 17n8 or 1789. The literary taste acquired in early life he continued to cultivate. He became an uncommon proficient in Greek and Roman literature. He edited tlie Charac- teres Ethici of Theophrastus according to a Florentine MS. He was on terms of friendly int*rcourse with the most eminent scholars of the age. His librar}', containing the best editions of the Greek and Roman classics, and enriched with the stores of patristic, the- ological, and philosophical literature, was bequeathed to the Baptist church in Amsterdam. By this Ijequest, which served for the foundation of the valuable libra- ry of the Baptists in that city, he conferred a great and lasting benefit on the canse of theological educa- tion. See Glasius, Godgeleerd Xederland, i Deel, biz. 470 ; also Blaupot ten Cate, Geschiedenis der Doopsge- zinden in Holland enzv. ii Dsel, biz. 15(5 verv. ; S. Mul- ler, Geschiedenis van het onderwijs in de theologie by de Nederl. Doopsgszinden, biz. 70. (J. P. W.)
Fontenay, Pierre Claude, a Jesuit, was born at Paris in KiSo. He became rector of the college at Orleans, but was recilled to Paris to continue Longue- val's Ilistoire de VEglise Gallicane, of \\ hicli lie wrote vols, ix, X. He died at La Fleche, Oct. 15, 1742. — Migne, Diet, de Biog. Chretienne, s. v.
Fontevrault, Order of {Ordo Fronfis Ebraldi), a monastic order of the Roman Catholic Church, found- ed at the close of the 11th -century by Robert of Ar- brissel [see Arrrissel], who in the forest of Craon united a number of hermits under the rule of St. Au- gustine. The number of members rapidly increased, and Arbrissel had to establish several convents for men and women. The latter were divided into three different establishments, namely, 1 {Le Grand' Mou- tier), for virgins and wjdows ; 2 (»S'^ Lazinis), for lep- rous and other sick people ; 3 (St. Magdalen?), for fall- en women who wished to reform. The whole order
Nun of rontcvrault
Monk of Fontevrault.
was devoted to the glorification of the Virgin IMary, and the men of the order were placed under tlie su- preme jurisdiction of the abbess of Fontevrault, who liecanie tlie genenil of the whole order. Hersende, a relative of the duke of Bretagne, was tlie first abbess ; Petronella, baroness of Chemilles, her assistant. The order was confirmed by pope Paschal II (in HOC, and again in 1113). After the death of the founder, the number of convents gradually rose to about sixty, all of which, with the exception of a few in Spain and England, were in France. The history of the order presents no facts of importance ; it soon degenerated to an even higher degree than the majority of tlie niedi- teval orders. Attempts to reform it were made liy the abbesses Maria of Bretagne (1477), Renate of Bourbon