Turret, Touret, or Turette, a small tower: the name is also sometimes given to a large pinnacle. Tur- rets are employed in Gothic architecture for various pur- poses, and are applied in various ways; they also diflPer very greatlj- in their forms, proportions, and decorations. In many cases they are used solely for ornament; they are also often placed at the angles of buildings, especially castles, to increase their strength, serving practically as corner buttresses. Occasionally thej' carry bells or a clock, but one of the most common uses to which they are ajiplied is to contain a newel, or spiral staircase: for this purpose they are usually found attached to church- towers, forming an external projection, which very fre- quently terminates considerably below the top of the tower; but in some districts turrets of this kind general- ly rise above the tower, and are finished with a parapet or small spire. Turrets of all dates are sometipies per- fectly [ilain and sometimes variously ornamented, ac- cording to the character of the prevailing style of archi-
TURRETINI
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Beckley, Oxfordshire.
St. Mary's, Beverley, Yorkshire.
tectnre, the upper part being the most enriched, and not unfrequently formed of open-work. In the No)-man style the lower part is usually square, and this form is continued to the top, but the upper part is sometimes changed to a polygon or circle. Few turrets of this date retain their original terminations, but they appear to have been often finished with low spires, either square, polygonal, or circular, according to the shape of the tur- ret. In the Early English and later styles they are most usually polygonal, but are sometimes square, and occa- sionally circular. The upper terminations are very va- rious; in the Early English st}'le spires prevail, but in the Decorated and Perpendicnlai- not only spires, but par- apets, either plain, battlemented, panelled, or pierced, and pinnacles are used. The peculiar kind of turrets often fi)!Uid attached to small churches and chapels, which have no tower to receive the bells, is designated b\' the term Bell-gahle. — Yaxk^r, Gloss, of Architect, s. v. See Spire; Tower.
Turretini, the name of a family of theologians of Geneva, whose ancestor, Francis Turretin or Turretini, the son of a gonfalonier of Lucca, was expatriated on account of his religion. He came to Geneva in 1579. Among his descendants three men deserve mention in this place.
1. Benedetto was born in 1588 at Zurich, became pastor at Geneva in IGl'i, and professor of theology in 1G18. In 1020 he represented the Church of Geneva at the national synod of Alais, which introduced the decrees of Dort into France, and in the following year he was sent to Holland and the cities of the Hanseatic Leagtie to solicit aid towards fortifying Geneva, a task in which he was eminently successful. He died in )631, leaving to the world a number of sermons and theological writings. See heu, A llc/em. hist. Lexikon, xviii, 375; Senebier, Hist. Lit. de Geneve, ii, 136.
2. Fran^'ois was born in 1023, became pastor of the Italian congregation at Geneva, and in 1653 professor of theology. He was sent to Holland on a similar mission to that formerly undertaken by his father, Benedetto. He is particidarly known as a zealous opponent of the theology of Saumur [see Amyraut], and defender of or- thodoxy in the sense of Dort. He was also one of the originators of the Helvetic Consensus (q. v.) He left numerous works, the more important of which, includ-
ing the Tnstitutio Theol. Elenchiar, w?re reprinted at Edinburgh in 1847 s().
3. Jean Alpfionse, the son of Fran- <;ois, was bcrn in 1671, and became the pupil of the Cartesian Chouct and of the Arminianizing Louis Tronchin (q. v.) at Geneva. In 1691 he went to Holland to study church history under Spanheim, and in 1692 he visited England, where he became acquainted with Newton and acquired the English language. On his return to the Continent he sojourned for a time in Paris, and was admitted to the society of men like Bossuet, Jlabillon, Malebranche, etc. He availed himself of this opportunity to study Arabic under the tuition of the abbe Languerae. In Geneva be was received into the min- istry at the age of twenty-two, and soon afterwards into the Venerable Compagnie des Pastet/rs. His ability as an orator at once commanded attention. He was accustomed to follow the English prac- tice of presenting to the view a leading truth or duty; but he made the applica- tion of his discourse with greater luic-.. tion than the English speakers cultivat- ed, and by thus combining the methods of the Genevan and the P^nglish pulpit he became the originator of a new method. The arrangement of his sermons was nat- ural and logical, his statement clear and simple, his manner dignified. In 1697 he was made professor of church history, and in 1701 became rector of the academy. The latter honor was conferred upon him ten times, to which fact we are indebted for ten important addresses delivered on the successive days of promotion. He followed Tronchin, in 1705, as pro- fessor of systematic theology, though still retaining his own (historical) chair. He wrote upon almost the whole of dogmatics, and connected with these labors exegetical lectures on parts of the New Test.
The influence of Turretini was especially apparent in the management of the enterprise to bring about the abrogation of the Helvetic Consensus as a bind- ing formula. He kept it before the Venerable Com- pany, the council, and the Two Hundred until a major- ity were gained over to that project; and he induced Wake, archbishop of Canterbury, to urge the abroga- tion upon leading men throughout Switzerland, and also to persuade the king of England to address an ap- peal to the cantons in behalf of the same measure. He was also prominent in promoting fraternal relations be- tween Lutherans and Reformed Christians in Geneva, in recognition of which fact he was made a member of the Royal Academy of Berlin, and awarded a gold med- al by the Prussian king.