RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Alcuin Alegumbe
like Homer and Aristotle, as well as with neo- Christian writers such as Prudentius and Sedulius. His works abound in Greek and Latin words, and his style is bombastic. Besides philology, poetiy, music, astronomical calculations, and the like occupied him, and he is said to have written popular hymns. He made Malmesbury a rival of Canterbury as a seat of learning, and princes, abbesses, monks, and nuns from far and near were among his admirers. He is said to have visited Rome during the pontificate of Sergius (687-701) and to have returned with relics, books, and a grant of privileges for his monastery. He supported Wilfrid of York (q.v.) against his enemies, and was prominent in urging the Britons to conform to the Roman tonsure and Easter.
Besides briefer letters, preserved (often only in fragments) by Lul of Mainz, AldhelnVs works include treatises in epistolary form and poems, viz.: (1) an Epistola ad Acircium (King Aldfrid) concerning the number seven, riddles, versification, and the like; (2) an Epistola ad Geruntium (a Welsh prince, Geraint) concerning the Easter question; (3 and 4) a prose work and a poem in praise of virginity, addressed to the abbess and nuns of Barking, closing with a description of eight vices, which contains thrusts at Anglo-Saxon conditions. To his treatise on riddles he added 100 specimens -dealing with nature and art, which are full of a feeling for nature, being herein a prototype of such of his countrymen as Tatwin and Boniface. In his letter to Geraint he holds as worthless good works without connection with the Roman Church. His poetry is flowery, involved, and alliterative. His chief merit was the extension of the faith in the south of England, the education of his native land, and his literary influence on the Continent.
H. Hahn.
Bibliography: Aldhelmi Opera, in PEA, No. 583, Oxford, 1844, reprinted in MPL, lxxxix.; Epistola, in P Jaffe\ BRG, iii. 24-28, Berlin, 1866, and in MQH, Epist., hi. (1892) 231-247; William of Malmesbury, De gestis pontificum Angforum, ed. N. E. S. A. Hamilton, in Rolls Series, No. 52, pp. 332-443, London, 1870, and in MPL, clxxix.; idem, De Gestis Regum Anglorum, 1887-89, in Rolls Series, No. 90; Faricius, Vita Aldhelmi, in J. A. Giles, Vita quorundam Anglo-Saxonum, London, 1854, and in MPL, lxxxix. (Faricius was an Italian, physician to Henry I. of England, a monk of Malmesbury, and abbot of Abingford); Bede, Hist, eccl., v. 18; J. M. Kemble, Codex diplomatics mvi Saxonici, London, 1839; T. Wright, Biograph™ Britannica litteraria, i. 209-222, ii. 47, ib. 1851; Eulogium historiarum, 1858, in Rolls Series, No. 9; Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 1861, ib. No. 23; Registrum Malmesburiense, 1879, ib. No. 72; DNB, i. 78-79, 245-247; H. Hahn, Boniface und Lul, ihre angelsachsischen Korrespomienten, Leipsic, 1883; M. Manitius, Zu Aldhelm und Bceda, Vienna, 1886 (on Aldhelm's literary work); L. Traube, Karolingische Dichtungen, Berlin, 1888; W. S. Teuffel, Geschichte der rbmischen Literatur, 1304, § 500, No. 2, Leipsic, 1890; L. Boenhoff, Aldhelm von Malmesbury, Dresden, 1894; W. Bright, Early English Church History, PP. 294-297, 444-446, 462-469, 471-474, Oxford, 1897; W. B. Wildman, Life of St. Ealdhelm, Sherborne, 1905.
ALEANDRO, GIROLAMO, a"lg-an'dro ji-ro'la-mo (Lat. Hieronymus Aleander) : Italian humanist and cardinal; b. at Motta (30 m. n.e. of Venice) Feb. ■13, 1480; d. in Rome Jan. 31, 1542. He studied in his native town and in Venice, settled in the latter city as a teacher in 1499, and became a contributor to the press of Aldus Manutius. In 1508 I.-8
he went to Paris and there attained great reputation as a classical scholar, being chosen in 1513 rector of the university. In the following year he went to Liege where the influence of Bishop Erard made him chancellor of the see of Chartres. As Erard's representative he went to Rome in 1516 and won the favor of Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, whose private secretary he became. Later, Leo X. appointed him librarian to the Vatican. In 1520 he went as nuncio to the court of Emperor Charles V., charged with the task of combating the heretical teachings of Luther. He procured Luther's condemnation at the Diet of Worms in 1521, and is supposed to have been the author of the edict issued against the great reformer. He was made archbishop of Brindisi in 1524 and was sent as nuncio to the court of Francis I. of France, with whom he was taken prisoner at Pavia.
Till 1531 Aleandro lived without employment, in Venice for the greater part of the time, a refugee from Rome on account of his debts. In 1531 he was sent as papal representative to Charles V., whom he accompanied to the Netherlands and Italy, zealous in inciting the emperor to action against the Protestants. After residing as nuncio in Venice from 1533 to 1535 he was summoned to Rome by Pope Paul III., who, in preparation for a general council, wished to avail himself of Aleandro's historical learning. His services gained him a cardinal's hat in 1538, in which year he went as legate to Venice where the projected council was to be held. Thence he was sent to the court of the German king Ferdinand where he at first exerted himself in favor of a conciliatory policy toward the Protestants, and, when his efforts failed, demanded their ruthless destruction. Of his writings the reports covering his various diplomatic missions are of extreme value for the history of the Reformation. His letters also are of importance, among his correspondents being Aldus Manutius, Erasmus, Ulrich von Hutten, Bembo, Contarini, and Cardinal Pole. His diaries are remarkable for their frank revelation of a life of indulgence in complete contrast with his priestly character.
(T. Brieger.) Bibliography: His papers, declarations, and letters are scattered in A. Mai, Spicilegium Romanum, ii. 231-240, Rome, 1839; H. Ljemmer, Monumenta Vaticana, pp. 77 sqq., 223-241, Freiburg, 1861; J. J. I. von Dollinger, Beitrage zur politischen, kirchlichen und Culturgeschichte, iii. 243-284, Vienna, 1882; P. Balan, Monumenta Reformations Lutherance, 1 sqq., 335 sqq.; P. de Nolhac, Studi e Documenti di Storia e Diritto, ix. 208-217, Rome, 1888; B. Morsolin, II Concilio di Vicenza, Venice, 1889; W. Friedensburg, Legation Aleanders, 15S8-S9, in Nuntiaturberichte aus Deutschland, vols, iii.-iv., Gotha, 1893; H. Omont, Journal autobiographique du . J. Aleandre, pp. 35-98, 113 sqq., Paris, 1895. The foregoing are important for the history of the Reformation. For his life: W Friedensburg, ut sup., iii. 28-41, 44, and Preface, pp. v.-vii.; C. Perocco, Biograflo del cardinale G. Aleandri, Venice, 1839. In general: K. Jansen, Aleander am Reichstage zu Worms, Kiel, 1883; G. M. Mazzuchelli, Gli Scrittori d'ltalia, I. i. 408-424, Brescia, 1753; T. Brieger, Aleander und Luther 1521, part 1, Gotha, 1884.
ALEGAMBE, a"le-gamb', PHILIPPE D' : Jesuit theologian and literary historian; b. in Brussels Jan. 22, 1592; d. in Rome Sept. 6, 1652. He entered the Jesuit order at Palermo in 1613, taught theology at Graz, and accompanied the son
Alemanni Alexander