546 MAT 
fufferings in converting great numbers to Chriftianity, he 
obtained the crown of martyrdom ; but by what kind of 
death, is uncertain. They pretend to (how the relics of 
St. Matthias at Rome ; and the famous abbey of St. Mat¬ 
thias nearTreves, boaftsof the fame advantage; but doubt- 
lefs both without any foundation. There was a Gofpel 
afcribed to St. Matthias; but it was univerfally rejefted 
as fpurious. 
• The Greeks place the feftival of St. Matthias on the 
9th of Auguft ; the Latins, whom we follow, on the 24th 
of February. 
MATTHI'AS, fon of Theophilus, high prieft of the 
Jews, fucceeded Simon the fon of Boethus, A. M. 3999, 
four years before the coming of the MelTiah. He was 
high-prieft but one year. His fuccelfor was Joazar, fon 
of his predeceflbr Simon. Herod lire Great depofed Mat¬ 
thias, becaufe he thought him engaged in the confederacy 
with Matthias fon of Margaloth, and Judas fou of Sari- 
pheus, who pulled down from over the gate of the temple 
the golden eagle that prince had let up. 
MATTHI'AS, fon of Ananus, high-prieft of the Jews, 
fucceeded Simon Cantharus, A.M. 4044, A. D. 41. He 
had for fuccelfor 2 Elioneus, fon of Citheus, A. M. 4045, 
having held this dignity but one year. 
MATTHI'AS, fon of Theophilus, high-prieft of the 
Jews, fucceeded Jefus fon of Gamaliel, A. M 4068, A. D. 
65. He was depoled three years afterwards, to make way 
for Phannias, fon of Samuel, the lalt high-prieft of this 
nation ; under whom the temple was taken and burnt by 
the Romans, A.D. 70. Under Matthias the war broke 
out between the Jews and the Romans. He had perfuaded 
the people to let Simon Gorias into Jerufalem, to fet him 
up againlt John, and by that means to balance his power. 
But Simon, feeing himfelf mailer of the city, foon forgot 
his obligation to Matthias, and put him to death, with 
three of his fons, without a hearing, on a falfe accufation 
of being in the intereft of the Romans. Jofephus de Bello Jud. 
lib. v. cap. 33. See alfo, for an account of the dreadful 
lcenes that were acled at this time at Jerufalem, the article 
Jew, vol. x. p. 801. 
MATTHI'AS (St.), in geography, an ifland in the 
Eaft Indian fea, about ninety miles in circumference. 
Lut. 1. 50. E. ion. 144. 30. E. 
MATTHI'AS, Emperor of Germany. See that ar¬ 
ticle, vol. viii. p 492, 3. 
MATTHIEU' (Peter), hiftoriographer of France, was 
born in 1563, at Porentru, of a family in humble life. 
Fie Itudied among the Jefuits, and became principal of 
the college of Verceil, and afterwards was an advocate at 
Lyons. He firft cultivated his talents in poetry and ora¬ 
tory ; but upon coming to Paris he attached himfelf to 
hiltory. He was a very zealous leaguer; and had an in¬ 
tention of writing the hiftory of Alexander prince of Parma, 
•whom he went to vifit in the Low Countries; but he was 
KOt permitted to (lay there long enough to complete his 
defign. He was introduced to Henry IV. by the prefident 
jeannin, and at the death of Du Haillon was made hifto¬ 
riographer of France. He was afliduous in collecting 
memoirs of every kind relative to the times in which Ire 
lived, as well as the earlier periods of French hiftory ; and, 
being continued in his office by Louis XIII. iie accompa¬ 
nied that king in his wars again(t tile Hugonots. He fell 
lick before Montauban ; and, being conveyed to Touloufe, 
died there in 1621. Tire works ofMatthieu were, x. Hii- 
toire des Choies memorables arrivees fous le Regne de 
Henri le Grand, 1624, 8vo. ill-written, but containing 
many curious anecdotes. 2. Hiftoire de la Mort deplo¬ 
rable de Henri le Grand, 1611, folio. 3. Hiftoire de St. 
Louis, 1618, 8vo. 4. Hiitoire de Louis XI. folio. 5. 
Hiftoire de France fous Frangois I. Henri II. Frangois II. 
Charles IX. Henri III. Henri IV. et Louis XIII. 2 vols. 
folio, 1631 ; tliis was publiihed by his Ion, who continued 
tlie hiftory of Louis XIII. to 1621. Matthieu ranks only 
among fubaltern liiitorians 3 yet his works are ufeful for 
M A T 
elucidating the periods on which he treats. He alfo pub- 
liffied fome moral verfes entitled “ Quatrains fur la Vie et 
la Mort ;” and “ La Guifade,” a tragedy. Gen. Biog. 
MATTHI'OLA, f. [fo named by Plumier, from the 
fubjefl of the following article. ] A genus of the ciafs 
pentandria, order monogynia,'natural order of rubiaceae, 
JuJf. Generic characters—Calyx : perianthium cylindric, 
quite entire, erecl, ffiort, permanent. Corolla-, petal one, 
very long, from a (lender tube, ending gradually in an en¬ 
tire border, wit it a repand mouth. Stamina : filaments 
five, awl-fhaped, ffiorterthan the corolla; antherse fnnple. 
Piftilium : germ globular, inferior; iiyle filiform, the 
length of the corolla ; lligma thickifh, blunt. Pericar- 
pium: drupe globular, crowned with the calyx, one- 
celled. Seeds: nut globular; nucleus globular.— EJfential 
CharaEle.r. Calyx entire; corolla tubular, fuperior, un¬ 
divided ; drupe with a globular nucleus. 
Matthiola fcabra, a fingle fpecies: leaves fcattered, 
ovate, brakes pinnate. This tree refts on the authority 
of Plumier, and requires farther enquiry before any thing 
can be determined concerning it. Modern authors think 
that it is a fpecies of Guettarda, and Richard'affirms that 
it is the fame with Guettarda fpeciofa. The Item is as 
thick as that of an apple-tree, with numerous horizontal 
.wideiy-fpreading branches, whofe fubdivifions are oppo- 
fite, round, rough, with fhort grey hairs, and leafy at the 
extremity. Leaves on fliort thick Halks ; they are three 
inches long, and above-an inch broad, rough like the fo¬ 
liage of a fig, obovate, or fomewhat elliptical, flightiy 
wavy ; dark green above, downy and whitiffi beneath. 
Flower-rtalks axillary, fhorter than the leaves, divided at 
the top into two fpreading denfe fpikes of white, filky, 
fhort-lived, highly-fcented, flowers, much refembling a 
jafmine; the limb of the corolla is divided into fix oval 
horizontal fegments, one-third the length of its tube. 
Drupe as big as a cherry, black and bitter; its nut of from 
four to fix cells. Gathered by Plumier in the Weft Indies 0 
Ventenat fays, it is a native of the Caribbee Iflands. 
MATTHI'OLUS, or Matti'oli (Peter Andrew), an 
eminent phyfician, and medical botanift, was born in 
the year 1501, at Sienna in TufCany, where his father 
praftifed the fame profeflion. His early education was 
received at Venice ; and thence he was lent to the uni- 
verfity of Padua, for the purpofe of ftudying the law j 
for which, however, lie conceived an antipathy, and turned 
his attention to medicine. His ftudies were prematurely 
interrupted by the death of his father; but his conduft 
had acquired for him the good opinion of the profeffors, 
who gave him the degree of doHor before his departure 
from the univerfity. He returned to Sienna, where he 
fpeedily fucceeded in finding ample employment. Heap- 
pears, however, to have quitted his native place fubfe- 
quently, and to have gone to Rome ; whence he removed, 
in 1527, to the court of cardinal Bernardo Clefio, prince 
biffiop of Trent, who held him in great eftimation. He 
redded fourteen years in the valley of Anania, in the dif- 
triel of Trent, where he acquired the refpefl: and affec¬ 
tion of the inhabitants to fuch a degree, that, on his de¬ 
parture, men, women, and children, accompanied him on 
his way, calling him their father and benefactor. He 
next fettled as public phyfician at Gorizia, where a An¬ 
gular proof of the efteem in which he was held was like- 
wife given ; when a fire having confumed all his furni¬ 
ture, the people flockedto him the next day, with prefents 
of goods and money, that made him richer than before 5 
and the magiitrates advanced him a year’s falury. After 
a refidence of twelve years at Gorizia, he accepted an in¬ 
vitation from Ferdinand, king of tiie Romans, to take the 
office of phyfician to his fon, the archduke Ferdinand. 
He was greatly honoured at the imperial court, and, in 1562, 
was created aulic-counfellor to the emperor Ferdinand. 
Afterwards Maximilian II. prevailed upon his brother to 
part with him, and made him bis tint phyfician. Finding, 
however, the weight of age prdling upon him, Matthiolus 
j took 
