A V I 



108 



A U L 



Avf crania 



I 



Avila. 



AVICENNIA, a genus of plants of the class 

 Didynamia, and order Angiospermia. See Botany. 



AVIGNON, a city of France, and capital of the 

 department of Vaucluse, is situated on the east bank 

 of the Rhone,' and includes a circumference of about 

 three miles and a quarter. It is surrounded with 

 handsome battlements and turrets. The streets and 

 houses are in general irregular and ill built, but the 

 public edifices are solid and grand, and indicate the 

 splendour and magnificence of its former state. The 

 churches of Notre-Dame, and of the Caelestines, con- 

 tain several monuments and paintings equal to the 

 finest in Italy, and their valuable curiosities are par- 

 ticularly deserving the attention of the traveller. In 

 Avignon they reckon seven gates, seven palaces, 

 seven colleges, seven hospitals, and, before the re- 

 volution, it had seven monasteries, and seven nun- 

 neries. Near the Rhone is a large rock, upon 

 which is a platform which overlooks the whole 

 city with its environs; and across the river stand the 

 ruinous and decayed arches of an extensive bridge, 

 which was demolished by an inundation in 1699. 

 About five miles from the city is the fountain Vau- 

 cluse, where Petrarch often retired to indulge his grief 

 and hopeless passion. On the almost inaccessible ex- 

 tremity of a rock which overhangs the fountain, the 

 peasants point to an ancient castle, and call it, // 

 Castello di Petrarca ; and in an obscure corner of 

 the church of the Cordeliers, is shown the almost de- 

 faced tomb of his Laura, and her husband Hugh de 

 Sade. In Avignon there are a considerable number 

 of Jews, who, when thi3 city was under the jurisdic- 

 tion of the popes, were exposed to the most oppres- 

 sive restrictions. They were confined to a distinct 

 quarter of the town, which was so crowded that they 

 could procure accommodation only by building their 

 houses higher; and they durst not stir from home 

 without yellow hats, or head dresses to distinguish 

 them from the Christians. From these oppressions, 

 however, they have been relieved by the annexation 

 of Avignon to France. 



In a crusade against the Albigenses, A. : D. 1226, 

 Avignon was taken by Louis VIII. king of France; 

 and in 1273, it was ceded to the pope, with the adjoin- 

 ing territory, by his grandson Phdip III. In 1309, 

 Clement V. transferred the papal court from Rome 

 to Avignon. From that time its importance began 

 rapidly to increase. Magnificent palaces arose for 

 the accommodation of the pope and cardinals ; new 

 luxuries were introduced, and the simple abodes of 

 the Albigenses were now filled with the vices and 

 corruptions of a profligate priesthood. For 70 years 

 the successors of St Peter had abandoned the sacred 

 walls of the Vatican, and even after the papal see was 

 again removed to the banks of the Tiber, Avignon 

 continued to be the residence of a rival pope, until 

 the accession of Martin V. in 1418. It was then 

 erected into an archbishopric, and continued under 

 the sovereignty of the popes till the late revolution 

 in France, when it was declared a part of the repub- 

 lic. Population 30,009. E. Long. 4 4-8' 2.5", N. 

 Lat. 43 56' 38". (p) 



AVILA, a city of Spain, in the province of Old 

 Castile. It is situated in a beautiful plain on the 



banks of the river Adaja, and is fortified by a wall of 

 9075 feet in circumference, flanked with 26 lofty tur- * 

 rets. Avila is the see of a bishop, suffragan of Com- 

 postella. It litis a university founded in 1 1)5, and a 

 manufacture of cloths which are supposed to be 

 equal to those of Segovia. The streets are in gen 

 regular ; many of the houses are stately and well 

 built; and the surrounding country is covered with 

 orchards and vineyards. Avila has been rendered 

 famous in history by the deposition of Henry IV. in 

 1465. The Castilian nobility, indignant at the feeble 

 and flagitious administration of this prince, and ar- 

 rogating to themselves the right of sitting in judgv 



it upon their sovereign, assembled in tile plain oi 

 Avila. Having placed upon a throne an image of 

 Henry, arrayed in all the insignia of royalty, the se- 

 veral charges of accusation were read, and the sen- 

 tence of deposition pronounced in the of a 

 numerous assembly. The image was then stripped of 

 its robes, and tumbled headlong from the throne ; 

 and Don Alonzo, Henry's brother, was immediately 

 proclaimed king of Castile and Leon. See Robert- 

 son's Hist. Ch. V. vol. i. p. 179. W. Long. \ 3.V, 

 N. Lat. 40 45'. (p) 



AULUS Gellius, (called by some Agellius,) a 

 Roman author of considerable ingenuity and various 

 learning, (wr elegantttsimi eloquii, ac multic el fa- 

 cundtc scientite; Augustin. de Civ. Dei, ix. v.) was 

 born at Rome, and flourished there, as is supposed, 

 in the time of Adrian and the Antonines. 



Of his life and circumstances the commentators 

 have been able to collect few memorials. Having 

 acquired the elementary branches of education in his 

 native city, under the direction of Sulpitius Apolli- 

 naris, Titus Castritius, and Antonius Julianus, he re- 

 paired to Athens, for the purpose of prosecuting his 

 philosophical studies; and during his residence at that 

 celebrated seat of learning and the arts, he enjoyed 

 the advantage of a frequent and familiar intercourse 

 with several of the most eminent literary characters 

 of the age. In the philological and ethical sciences 

 he made considerable progress ; and, it is believed, 

 he embraced the principles of his contemporary Pha- 

 vorinus. After travelling through the states of 

 Greece, he returned to Rome, and devoted himself 

 ^,to the profession of the law ; in which he appears to 

 have attained to respectability and eminence, and was 

 appointed to the situation of a judge extraordinary. 

 (Noct. Alt. xii. 13.) The precise period of his death 

 is uncertain. 



The only work of Aulus Gellius now extant, is his 

 Nodes Attica:, which he began to write during his 

 residence at Athens, with the view, as lie informs us 

 in his preface, of providing a proper species of enter- 

 tainment for himself and his children. It is a learned 

 and amusing miscellany, consisting of a variety of li- 

 terary and philosophical anecdotes, historical and 

 biographical notices, critical and philological remarks, 

 &c. and is of considerable value, on account of the 

 literary incidents and observations which it contains, 

 and the passages of ancient authors which it has pre- 

 served and illustrated. It is valuable also in respect 

 of the occasional information which it conveys, on 

 the subject of ancient manners, customs, and opinions. 



The style of Gellius has been the subject of much 



Aulus. 



