MAR 
-have originated in fome religious cnftom, which ought 
perhaps to be fought for in the ancient worfliip of the 
goddefs Venus, or to be attributed to the community of 
women permitted by the Anfarians, to which tribe the 
inhabitants of Martawan belong.” Travels in Egypt, 
vol. ii. 
MAR/TEL, a town of France, and feat of a tribunal, 
in the department of the Lot, near the Dordogne; twelve 
miles weft-north-weft of St. Cire, and twenty-nine north 
of Cahors. 
MAR/TEL, an ancient caftle of France, in the de¬ 
partment of the Correze, near Turenne. Here, in 11B0, 
died prince Henry, eldeft fon of Henry II, king of Eng¬ 
land, 
To MAR'TEL, v. a. [marteler, Fr.] To hammer; 
Her dreadfull weapon file to him add re ft, 
Which on his helmet mart died Co hard, 
That made him low incline his lofty creft, 
And bow’d his battrsd vifour to his breft. Spcnjir. 
MARTEL' (Charles.) See the article France, vol. vii. 
p. 651, a. 
MARTEL' (Francis), furgeon to Henry IV. of France 
about 159°; he gained his mailer’s confidence by curing 
him of an incipient pleurify by bleeding, at a time when 
none of his phyficians were at hand to give their advice. 
He wrote, 1. Apologie pour les Chirurgiens centre ceux 
qui publient qu’ils ne doivent fe meler de remettre les 
■Os rompus et demis j in which he mentions feveral cures 
he had performed at court. 2. Paradoxes fur la Prac- 
tique de Chirurgie ; in which work, it is faid, are to be 
found many of the improvements of modem practitioners. 
Thefe pieces were printed at Paris in 1635, with the Chi¬ 
rurgie Rationelle of Philip Fieflele. Eloy. Did. Hijl. Med. 
M ARTEL'LI (Lodovico), an Italian poet, was born 
at Florence about 1499. He diltinguilhed himfelf by his 
poetical genius, and would probably have flood among 
the firll of his age and country, had he not died at Sa¬ 
lerno, where he was in the fervice of the prince, in the 
twenty-eighth year of his age. He wrste verfes both fe- 
rious and burlefque. The former were printed at Flo¬ 
rence in 1548, 8vo. the latter were inferred in the fecond 
volume of the Poefie Bernefche. He alfo compofed a 
tragedy entitled Tullia, much elteemed among the early 
productions of the Italian drama. 
MARTEL'LI (Vicenzo), brother of the preceding, 
alfo a poet and a man of letters,, and patronized likewile 
by the prince of Salerno. On forme account he was thrown 
into prifon at that place, on which occafion he made a 
vow to undertake a pilgrimage to Jerufalem ftiould he 
obtain his liberty. This event took place 5 and he finally 
retired to a tranquil life, and died in 1556. A volume 
of his poems and letters was publifhed in 1607 ; and many 
of the latter are met with in the collection of letters of 
illuftridus men, publifhed at Venice in 1564. Tirabofc/ii. 
MARTEL'LI (Pietro-Jacopo), an eminent Italian 
poet, was born in 1665, at Bologna. He was educated 
firft at the Jefuits’ fchool, and afterwards at the univerfity 
cf his native city. His father wifhed to bring him up to 
phyfic, which appears to have been his own profeflion ; 
but, although he confented to attend fome lectures in that 
fcience, yet he could not overcome a difguft to the prac¬ 
tice of it, and gave himfelf up to the ftudy of clafiical li¬ 
terature, and of the early Italian writers. About his 
thirty-fecond year he married, and foon after obtained 
the poft of one of the fecretaries to the fenate of Bologna. 
One ctf his firft compofitions was a poem of the devotional 
kind, entitled, Gli Occke di Gefu, the Eyes of Jefus, He 
then turned his thoughts to tragedy, and carefully flu- 
died both the Greek and the French tragedians. His 
firft production of this kind was La Morte di Nerone, 
written in the common meafure of eleven fyllables : but, 
not fatisfied with the effeft of this kind of verfe, he de¬ 
termined upon a new experiment, and wrote his fubfe- 
.quent tragedies in verfes of fourteen fyllables, with a lone 
Vol. XIV. No, 9.85, 
M A 14 429 
one at every feventh, and terminating rhymes. It was 
thought by the critics that a verfification of this kind 
would prove an infuperabje obftacle to ft age-enunciation ; 
yet feveral of his pieces were a died upon different theatres 
with great appiaufe. In 1707 he was appointed profefTbr 
of the belles lettres in the univerfity of Bologna ; and 
not long after, he was made private fecretary to Aldro- 
vandi, nominated delegate to pope Clement XL At 
Rome he contracted an intimacy with many men of let¬ 
ters 5 and was the means of renewing the meetings of the 
academy of Arcadi, which had for fome years been in¬ 
termitted. He publifhed feveral new tragedies and other 
poems about this time 5 and a lingular dialogue Del Volo,_ 
On Flying, in which he endeavoured to prove that men 
and heavy bodies might be fupported in the air, and gave 
a defeription of a flying fliip which he had projected. 
He alfo wrote nine difeourfes in verfe, concerning the art 
of poetry, in which he particularly propofed as models 
for imitation, the works of Chiabrera and Guicji, of the 
latter of whom he publifhed the life. 
When, in 1713, the pope deputed Aldrovandi as his 
legate to the courts of France and Spain, he applied to 
the fenate of Bologna, for their permillion for Martelli to 
accompany him, without defalcation of the ftipends paid 
to him on the public account. In confequence he pro¬ 
ceeded to Paris, where he became familiarly acquainted 
with the molt diftinguifhed men of letters, and held fre¬ 
quent converfations with them on literary topics. At 
their requeft he Hated at length his opinions “ On ancient 
and modern Tragedy,” in the form of dialogues, which 
were publifhed at Paris by his friends before he had put 
the la ft hand to them. Finding the legantine negotia¬ 
tions at that court drawn out to a tedious length, and 
uneafy at receiving ftipends from his native city without 
any reciprocal fervic.es, he folicited his recal from the 
pope, and returned to Rome, after an abfence of nine 
months. He there publifhed his tragedies, with correc¬ 
tions, in three volumes. Their merit was generally ac¬ 
knowledged, and he was reckoned to have conferred a 
great benefit on Italian literature by reviving a true tafte 
for this fpecies of coinpofition ; but there were very few 
imitators of the form of verfification which he had adopted. 
In 1716 he was diligently occupied at Rome with the 
difpute between the cities of Bologna and Ferrara, con¬ 
cerning the derivation of the waters of the Reno to the 
Po j and fo well did he approve his ability and zeal to 
his fellow-citizens, that in 1718 he was promoted to the 
vacant place of firft private fecretary to the fenate. He 
continued to amufe his leifure with literary compofitions j 
and made a commencement of a projected poem on the 
arrival of Charlemagne in Italy, and his acceflion to the 
wellern empire, which he never finifhed. He alfo wrote 
a kind of mock-heroic poem, entitled Radicone ; and two 
dialogues in profe 5 llTajfo, 0 della Vana Gloria ; and Ilvcro 
Parigino Italiano. He likewife compofed a fatirical work, 
entitled II Femia , againft the marquis Maffei, who had of¬ 
fended him by neglecting to mention his name among 
the Italian writers of tragedy. He died in May 1727, at 
the age of fixty-two. Martelli was a man much beloved 
for the fuavity of his manners, and his facial qualities. 
As a poet he was elevated and fpiendid rather than facile 
and natural, a great-admirer of his own productions, and 
particularly attached to his mode of verfification in tra¬ 
gedy, which he could not bear to fee cenfured. His 
principal works in profe and verfe were printed by Lelio 
Della Volpe, at Bologna, in 9 vols. 8vo. in 1729. In this 
collection are not contained fome which appeared lepa- 
rately, or in other collections. Fabroni Vit.Italor. 
MARTELLIE'RE (Peter de la), a celebrated French 
advocate, was the fan of the lieutenant-general of the 
bailiwick of. Perche. He came to Tours at the time that 
the parliament of Paris held its fittings there j and, en¬ 
tering at the bar, followed the profeflion of a pleader dus¬ 
ing forty-five years with a celebrity that placed him among 
the molt eminent advocates of his time. la i6s 1 he 
5 & pleaded 
