3SS 



ASSEMANI, GIUSEPPE SIMONE. 



AS3ER. 



3S6 



mission in the corps of engineers. Teachers who had been trained 

 under Assarotti were placed at the head of the schools in Turin, Milan, 

 Pisa, Siena, and Parma. Deaf and dumb schools, it is only right to 

 add, are now pretty general in the chief cities of Italy. 



(Abridged from the Biographical Dictionary of the Society for the 

 Difusion of Useful Knowledge.) 



ASSEMANI, GIUSEPPE SIMONE, a learned Maronite, native of 

 Syria, who came to Rome towards the beginning of the 18th century, 

 was made Archbishop in partibus of Tyre, and keeper of the Vatican 

 library, by Clemens XI. He died at Rome in 1768 in his eighty-first 

 year. He was sent by Pope Clemens on a literary mission to Egypt 

 and Syria in the years 1715-16, and he brought back to Rome many 

 valuable manuscripts. He then set about compiling his ' Bibliotheca 

 Orientalis Clementine Vaticana,' four volumes folio, Rome, 1719-28, 

 being a biographical account of the Syrian writers, divided into three 

 classes, that is, Orthodox, Jacobites, and Nestorians, with copious 

 extracts in the Syriac text, and a Latin version, lists of their works, 

 and comments on the same. He intended to proceed with the Arabian, 

 Copt, and other eastern writers, but nothing appeared in print beyond 

 the Syriac. The fourth volume of the ' Bibliotheca ' is engrossed by 

 a learned dissertation on the Syrian Nestorians. His other more im- 

 portant published works are : ' S. Ephraem Syri Opera omnia qua; 

 extant," six volumes folio, Rome, 1732-46. This edition of the works 

 of St. Ephraem, one of the old Syrian fathers, was begun by Ambarach, 

 another learned Maronite living at Rome, and better known as Father 

 Benedetti, and after his death was completed by Assemani. ' Kalen- 

 daria Ecclesisc Universe, in quibus turn ex vetustis marmoribus, turn 

 ex codicibus, tabulis, parietiuis, pictis, scriptia, sculptisve Sanctorum 

 oomina, imagines et festi per annum dies, Ecclesiarum Orientis et 

 Occidentis, pracmissis unius cujusque Ecclesice originibus, recensentur, 

 describuntur, et notis illustrautur,' six volumes quarto, Rome, 1755-57. 

 This is an elaborate and curious work, which originated out of a request 

 of the Marquis Capponi that Assemani would describe five pictures of 

 saints of the Russo-Greek Church in his collection. Assemaui under- 

 took the task, wrote and published six large quarto volumes, yet left 

 his work unfinished : he had prepared six more quarto volumes, but 

 they were destroyed in a fire which burnt a large number of his manu- 

 scripts in 1768. The first four and part of the fifth of the published 

 volumes are taken up with a learned history of the Slavonian Church. 

 ' Bibliotheca Juris Orientalis Canonici et Civilis,' four volumes quarto, 

 Rome, 1762-64. Some other of his writings were published, yet Vac- 

 colini states that, besides the large number of his manuscripts burnt 

 in the fire already referred to, there is still in the libraries of the 

 Propaganda and the Inquisition at Rome enough in Assemaui' s hand- 

 writing to fill a hundred volumes. 



ASSEMANI, SIMONE, the nephew or grand-nephew of Giuseppe 

 Simone, was born in Syria in 1752. He studied at Rome, and, having 

 taken holy orders, spent some time in travelling in the East. Of this 

 journey he gave what Meneghilli terms a truly oriental account. On 

 his return to Italy he was employed to draw up a catalogue of the 

 oriental manuscripts of Jacopo Nani. He afterwards became professor 

 of oriental languages in the academy of Padua, and in 1807 was raised 

 by Napoleon I. to a similar professorship in the university of that city, 

 which post he held till his death, April 7, 1821. Assemani was regarded 

 during his life, especially in Italy, as a great authority in Oriental lite- 

 rature. He published several works in Italian and in Latin on Arabian 

 literature and history. Of these perhaps the more important are : 

 ' Saggio sull origine, culto, letteratura e costumi degli Arabi, avanti il 

 pseudo profeta Maometto,' 8vo, Padua, 1787 ; ' Catalogo dei codici 

 MSS. Orientali nella biblioteca Naniana,' 4to, Padua, 1787-88 (to this 

 catalogue he added extracts from some of the more remarkable works 

 registered in it); 'Globus Coelestis, Cufico-Arabicus,' 4to, Padua, 1790, 

 being a description of the celestial globe in the Borgia Museum at 

 Velletri, with a dissertation on the astronomy of the Arabs. It was 

 Simone Assemani who first exposed the forgeries of the Maltese Vella, 

 who pretended to have found an Arabic manuscript containing a diplo- 

 matic code of the Sicilian Saracens. Vella's imposture on further 

 inquiry bring made clear, he was sentenced to imprisonment. (Ceaa- 

 rotti fjpere, voL xviiL ; Fvmdgruben da Oriente, vol. i. ; AUyemeincn 

 Literariichen Anzeigm for 1795 ; Sylvestre de Sacy, Biographic Uni- 

 vcrKlle Supplement ; Moschiui, Biografia Univertale, the latter being 

 a new life from original sources.) 



ASSEMANI, STEFANO EVODIO, nephew of Giuseppe Assemani, 

 was born at Tripoli about 1 707. He studied at Rome, and returned 

 to Syria an a missionary of the Propaganda. He was present at the 

 Synod of Lebanon, 1736, at which his uncle acted as legate. Subse- 

 quently he spent some months in England. Having established him- 

 self at Rome, he was employed as assistant to his uncle at the Vatican; 

 and on his uncle's death succeeded him as upper keeper of the library. 

 He also became Bishop of Apamea. His literary reputation is not 

 very high. The only works of any consequence which he published 

 are the following : ' Bibliothecre Mediceo-Laurentianae et Palatinso 

 Codicum MSS. Orientalium Catalogue,' two volumes folio, 1742, with 

 notes by Gori ; ' Acta Sanctorum Martyrum Orientalium et Occidenta- 

 Hum,' two volumes folio, Rome, 1748. To this work, which he com- 

 piled from manuscripts in the Vatican, he added the 'Acts of St. 

 Simon,' called ' Stylite,' in Chaldaic and Latin. He also began a 

 general catalogue of the Vatican manuscripts, divided into three classes, 



I! 10'.. D1V. VOL. L 



Oriental, Greek and Latin, Italian and other modern languages, of 

 which however he published only the first volume in 1756, a fire which 

 broke out in his chambers having destroyed his papers. Mai has 

 continued parts of this catalogue in his ' Scriptorum Veterum nova 

 collectio.' 



ASSER, or more correctly ASHI. Ashi was the principal author of 

 the Babylonian Talmud, so called from the place of his residence. He 

 was born at Babylon A.D. 353 (A.H. 4113), and appears to have been 

 distinguished very early in life by intellectual powers and acquire- 

 ments. His Jewish biographers indeed relate that he was appointed 

 head of the College of Sori, in Babylon, at the age of fourteen ; but it 

 is scarcely necessary to discuss the probability of this unparalleled 

 instance of mental precocity. He held this post till his death in 426. 

 Rabbi Abraham-ben-Dior asserts, in his ' Kabbalah,' p. 68, that since 

 the days of Rabbi Jehuda-Hannasi, or Rabbenu-Hakkadosh, in no one 

 but Ashi had been combined at once knowledge of the law, piety, 

 humility, and magnificence. His fame attracted to his lectures many 

 thousands of students. The expositions of the Mishna which he 

 delivered in his lectures were collected, and form the basis of the 

 Babylonian Talmud. The continuation was the work of his disciplea 

 and followers : it was completed seventy-three years after the death 

 of Ashi by R. Josd, president of the College of Pumbedita in Babylon. 

 (Compare the Tiemach David', first part, in the years 4127 and 4187; 

 Sepher Juchasin, fol. 117; Halichoth Olam, p. 18; Wolfii, Bibliotheca 

 Bebrcea, torn, i., p. 224.) 



ASSER, or ASSERIUS MENEVENSIS, a learned monk of St. 

 David's, whence (the name of that place in Latin being written Menapia, 

 or Menevia) he obtained the appellation of Menevensis. Asser was 

 invited to the court of Alfred the Great, as is generally believed, in or 

 about the year 880, but probably earlier, merely from the reputation 

 of his learning. King Alfred, according to his own statement in the 

 ' Life of Alfred,' first wished him to reside constantly at court ; but as 

 Asser would not consent to this, the king then desired that he would 

 apportion his time between the court and his monastery, passing sis 

 months at each. It was finally arranged, in accordance with a sug- 

 gestion of his brother monks, that he should reside alternate quarters 

 at court and at St. David's. The king was at a place called Leonaford 

 when Asser entered on his new duties. Alfred received him with every 

 mark of distinction, and he remained at court eight months, reading 

 with him such books as the king possessed; and henceforward he was 

 a pretty constant attendant at court, in the manner stipulated. Alfred 

 bestowed several preferments upon Asser, including the church of 

 Exeter. An Asser, bishop of Sherburne, is mentioned in the Saxon 

 Chronicle, and he is generally identified with the author of the ' Life 

 of Alfred," though there are some difficulties in the way of connecting 

 the references in other authorities. It is probable that ho held soino 

 other see prior to that of Sherburne. In the epistle prefixed to Alfred's 

 translation of Gregory's ' Pastorale,' addressed to Wulfsig, bishop of 

 London, the king calls him ' my bishop ;' acknowledging the help 

 received from him and others in that translation. He is also named 

 by king Alfred in his will as a person in whom he had particular con- 

 fidence. Those very doubtful authorities, Matthew of Westminster 

 and William of Malmesbury, make Asser, bishop of Sherburne, to have 

 died during the life of Alfred, in 883 ; but the more uearly contempo- 

 raneous and trustworthy authority, the Saxon Chronicle, assigns his 

 death to 910; and this is the date at which the decease of Asser 

 Menevensis is usually fixed. 



The work which gives Asser his claim to an important place amon<j 

 the early contributors to English history is the Latin ' Life of Alfred,' 

 or, as it is entitled in the best edition, that of Wise (Oxford, 1722, one 

 voL 8vo), ' Annales Reruni Gestarum ^Elfredi Magni.' This is the 

 chief authority for the life of Alfred between the years 849 and 889, 

 and it contains much important information relative to the condition 

 of the country during that period. The work in its present state 

 contains much contradictory matter, and much which is not recon- 

 cilable with other authorities, as well as much which it is difficult to 

 conceive could have been written by a person in Asser's position. But 

 these things were generally regarded as corruptions and interpolations, 

 and the substantial value of the ' Annals' remained unquestioned till 

 1842, when Mr. Thomas Wright, first in the ' Archscologia,' vol. xxix., 

 and subsequently in his ' Biographia Britannica Litteraria ' (Anglo- 

 Saxon period), article ' Asser,' altogether impeached the authenticity 

 of the whole biography ; relying chiefly on the manifest contradictious 

 in the account which Asser gives of himself, his statements respecting 

 certain events, and the fact of the biography breaking oil' some years 

 before Alfred's death, though Asser survived that monarch eight or 

 nine years. The doubts of the genuineness of the ' Annals ' excited 

 much discussion. Mr. Wright's views have been formally and fully 

 met by Lingard in his ' History of the Anglo-Saxon Church,' ii. 426, 

 and by Dr. Pauli in the introduction to his ' Life of Alfred ;' and every 

 recent writer on our Anglo-Saxon history has referred at more or less 

 length to the subject. We think it may be fairly stated that the 

 opinion arrived at by the most competent authorities corresponds 

 pretty nearly to that expressed by one of the highest, Mr. Kemble, in 

 his valuable ' Saxons in England ' (vol. ii., 42), " that there is no good 

 reason to doubt .the authenticity of Asser's 'Annals,' or to attribute 

 them to any other period than the one at which they were professedly 

 composed." 



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