ALT 



above 250 years after Chrift there were no altars in churches, 

 but only tables ; and tliat they were firll introduced by Pope 

 Sixtiis II. and that the canons of the popifli council of Aix, 

 in 1583, are the only ones that can be produced for railing 

 them in. The practice of bowing to the altar, charged on 

 the archbifhop as another innovation, was objeftcd to as 

 popilh, fuperllitious, and idolatrous, being prefcribed only by 

 popifh canons, and introduced to fupport the doftrine of 

 tranfubilantiation, and having no foundation in antiquity, 

 nor approved by any Proteflant writers. Burnet's Hift. Re- 

 form, vol. ii. p. 150 — 159. Strype's Annals, vol. i. p. 160 

 — l6z. Ncai's Hill. Puritans, vol. i. p. 44, Sic. vol. ii. 

 p. 136—145, 4to. 



In the primitive church the a/fjrs were only of wood, as 

 being frequently to be removed from place to place. But the 

 council of Paris, in 509, decreed, that no altar Ihould be 

 built but of ilone. 



At firil there was but one altar in each church ; but the num- 

 ber foon increafcd ; and from the writings of Gregory the 

 Great, who lived in the iixth centm-y, we learn, that there 

 were fometinies in the fame church twelve or thirteen. In 

 the cathedral of Magdeburg there are no lefs than 49 

 altars. 



The altar is fometimes fuftained on a fmgle column, as in 

 the fubten-ancous chapels of St. Cxcilia, at Rome, &c. and 

 fometimes by four columns, as the allar of St. Sebaftian of 

 Crypta Arenaria ; but the cuftomary form is, to be a maf- 

 five of ftone-work fuftaining the altnr-tablc. 



Thefe altars bear a refemblance to tombs : to this pur- 

 pofe, we read in church-hiftory, that the primitive Chriftians 

 chiefly held their meetings at the tombs of the martyrs, and 

 celebrated the myfteries of religion upon them. For which 

 reafon it is a Handing rule to this day in the church of Jiome, 

 never to build an altar without inclofing the rehcs of fome 

 faint in it. 



In lieu of proper altars the Greeks in procefs of time 

 made ufe of antimen'sia. 



Altar of Prothcfis, is a name given by the modern 

 Greeks to a fmalL-r, preparatory kind of altar, wherein they 

 blefs the bread, before it be earned to the large altar where 

 the folemn liturgy is performed. 



F, Goar maintains, that the table oi prothejis was anciently 

 in the facrifty or veilry ; which he makes appear from fome 

 Greek copies, where facrifly is made ufe of in lieu of pro- 

 thefis. 



Altar, is alfo ufed, in Church H'tjiory, for the oblations 

 or contingent incomes of the church.~ 



In ancient days they diftinguifhed between the church and 

 the altar. The tithes, and other fettled revenues, were 

 called the church, ecdcfta ; and the other incidental incomes, 

 the altar. 



Altar, m AJlronomy. See Ara. 



A.i.r A^-thajiCy in our jinderil Laiu Books, denotes a 

 prieft, or parfon of a parifli. In this fenfe the word is fyno- 

 nymous with church-thane. 



ALTARAGE, includes not only the offerings made 

 upon the altar, but alfo the profit that arifes to the priefl. on 

 account of the altar. 



AL.TARIST, altarijla, properly denotes the vicar of a 

 church who ferves the altar, and to whom the altarage 

 or produce of the altar is affigned for his maintenance. Du 

 Cange. 



The altar't/l is fometimes alfo called altarius, fometimes 

 altar pr'iejl. 



Altar I ST is alfo ufed for chaplain. 



ALTASRIF, in Literary H'ljlory, the title of a medici- 



ALT 



nal book written in Arabic, defcribing the method of prac» 

 tice in ufe among the Arabs. 



It was written by Alfaliaravius, an author in the fifteenth 

 century, and trandated into Latin by P. Ricius in 1519. 

 Concerning the hillory and contents of the y// Tafrif, fee 

 Freind, Hift. Phyf. p. ii. p. 1 24, feq. 



ALTAVELA, in Ichthyology, the name of a flat carti- 

 laginous fifli, which, in the Linncaa fyftem, by Gmelln, is a 

 variety of the Raja Pajlinaca ; with its wings, as they are 

 called, that is, its thin and flat fides, broad and obtufc to- 

 wards their lower part. The fiihermen, from the refem- 

 blance thefe flat fides have to wings, have an opinion that 

 this fifii can fly. The tail is very (hurt, fcarce being of half 

 the length of the body. Its fiefh is folid and well tafted, 

 and it always fells well in the markets. It is caught in the 

 Mediterranean, and is frequently brought to market at Rome. 

 Fab. Columna. 



ALTAVELLA, in Geography, a town of Italy, in the 

 kingdom of Naples, and province of Principato Ultra, feven 

 miles fouth of Benevento. 



ALTAVILLA, a town of Naples, in the province of 

 Principato Citra, eighteen miles fouth-eaft of Salerno. 



AL-TAYEF, a town of Hejaz, a diftrift of Arabia Fe- 

 lix, fituate above 60 miles call of Mecca, behind Mount 

 Gazwan, where the air is very wholefome, but the cold 

 more intenfe than in any other part of the diftrift. Its ter- 

 ritory abounds in fountains, and produces excellent raifins. 

 The town is fmall, but furrounded with a wall. 



ALTCHIRCK, or Altkirch, a town of France, in 

 the department of the Upper Rhine, fituate on an eminence 

 near the river 111, five leagues weft of Bale, and nine fouth of 

 Colmar. N. lat. 47° 8'. E. long. 7° 8'. 



ALTDORF, or ALTORFF,a large and handfome town of 

 Swifferland, and capital of the canton of Uri, fituate in the 

 valley of the Reufs, and almoft furrounded by fleep mountains 

 covered with trees, which throw a gloomy fhade over the 

 town. It has two convents, four churches, and feveral cha- 

 pels, one of which was erefted on the fpot where was born 

 William Tell, who is faid to have {hot the apple from his 

 fon's head in this town. Gefler, a tyrannical governor, 

 placed over the free inhabitants of Uri by Albert I. among 

 other oppreflive and initating meafures, fet a hat on a pole 

 at Altdorf, and required the fame refpeft to be paid 

 to it as to his own perfon ; but William Tell refufing to 

 fubmit to this ignominious rcquifition, provoked the indig- 

 nation of the governor, and was obHged to fecure himfelf 

 by flight. This circumftance, as fome have reported, laid 

 the foundation of the liberties of Swifferland, and oecafioned 

 an union of Uri, Schwitz, and Underwald, in 1^08 for 

 throwing off the Auftrian yoke ; and in 1315 thefe three 

 cantons formed a perpetual alliance. This town is 20 miles 

 fouth-eaft of Lucerne, and 33 fouth of Zurich. N. lat. 46"^ 

 SS'. E. long. 8° 24'. 



ALTE' iij bafsc, in Middle Age Writers, denotes fove- 

 reignty, or a thing done with the fupreme power. Du Cange. 



ALTEA, in Geography, a fea-port town of Spain, in the 

 Mediterranean, on the fouth-eaft coaft of Valencia, eight 

 leagues north-eaft of Alicant, and 17 fouth of Valencia. It 

 trades in wine, flax, fiik and honey. It w-as taken in 1705, 

 in favour of the Archdulve Charles, but loft after the battle 

 ofAlmanza. N. lat. 38° 40'. W. long, o" 16'. 



ALTEN, or Altenbotten, a gulf of Norway, on the 

 coaft of Finmark, in the government of Wardhus. 



ALTENA, or Altonb, a fea-port town of Germany, 

 in Holftein, on the Elbe, in a fituation favourable for com- 

 merce. It was burned by the Swedes in 17 12, and after- 

 wards 



