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Alfonso the Battler | Succession | Succession
thumb|A box (reliquary) containing the bones (relics) of Alfonso the Battler, with the skull centre, facing the viewer. Photograph by Enrique Capella (May 1920).
The testament of Alfonso leaving his kingdom to the three orders was dismissed out of hand by the nobility of his kingdoms, and possible successors were sought. Alfonso's only brother, Ramiro, had been a Benedictine monk since childhood, and his commitment to the church, his temperament and vow of celibacy made him ill-suited to rule a kingdom under constant military threat and in need of a stable line of succession. The step-son of the deceased king, Alfonso VII of León, as reigning monarch and legitimate descendant of Sancho III of Navarre, put himself forward but garnered no local support. The nobility of Navarre aligned behind Pedro de Atarés, the grandson of Alfonso's illegitimate uncle, while the Aragonese nobility rallied around the abbot-bishop Ramiro. A convention was called at Borja in order to develop a consensus. Pedro de Atarés had so alienated his own partisans there with his perceived arrogance that they had abandoned him, yet at the same time were unwilling to accept Alfonso's younger brother Ramiro. The convention then broke up without ever arriving at a compromise, and the two regional factions proceeded to act independently.
The choice of the Navarrese lords fell on García Ramírez, Lord of Monzón, descendant of an illegitimate son of García Sánchez III and protégé of Alfonso VII to be their king. The Aragonese took Ramiro out of a monastery and made him king, marrying him without papal dispensation to Agnes, sister of the Duke of Aquitaine, then betrothing their newborn daughter to Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona, who was then named Ramiro's heir. "The result of the crisis produced by the result of Alfonso I's will was a major reorientation of the peninsula's kingdoms: the separation of Aragon and Navarre, the union of Aragon and Catalonia and – a moot point but stressed particularly by some Castilian historians – the affirmation of 'Castilian hegemony' in Spain" by the rendering of homage for Zaragoza by Alfonso's eventual heir, Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona. |
Alfonso the Battler | Pseudo-Alfonso the Battler | Pseudo-Alfonso the Battler
Sometime during the reign of Alfonso II of Aragon, the Battler's grandnephew, a man came forward claiming to be Alfonso the Battler. The only contemporary references to this event are two letters of Alfonso II addressed to Louis VII of France; they were carried to Louis by Berengar, the Bishop of Lleida, but are not dated.They were first published in the Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France (Correspondance de Louis VII), XV (Paris: 1878), 2nd ed., no. 223–4, pp. 71–2, and utitised extensively by Marcelin Defourneaux, "Louis VII et le souverains espagnols. L'enigme du «pseudo-Alphonse»", in Estudios dedicados a Menéndez Pidal, VI (Madrid: 1956), 647–61. They were published again by Ubieto Arteta (1958), appendices I and II, pp. 37–8. According to the second of these, the pretender was then living in Louis's domains, meaning the Principality of Catalonia, which was ruled by Alfonso under Louis's suzerainty. This pretender was an old man (appropriately, since the Battler had died some decades earlier) and Alfonso II expressed confidence that Louis would arrest him at the earliest possible moment and bring him to justice. The first letter supplies sufficient information to date it approximately, since the Bishop sojourned at the court of Louis on his way to Rome. It is known from other sources that Berengar attended the Third Lateran Council in March 1179. The letters were probably written towards the end of 1178 or in January 1179 at the latest.Ubieto Arteta (1958), 35, cites the evidence for Aragon's early support for Alexander III against the Antipope Victor IV. The earliest possible date at which Berengar could have been travelling to Rome to meet Alexander is after 23 November 1165, when the latter finally took up residence in Rome. According to an annalist source for the years 1089–1196, the pretender was received with honour and pomp in Zaragoza, Calatayud, and Daroca, which the Battler had conquered, but after it was found out that he was false he was executed before the city of Barcelona in 1181.Antonio C. Floriano, "Fragmentos de unos viejos anales (1089–1196). Transcripción y análisis paleográfico. Crítica histórica", Boletín de la Academia de la Historia, CXIV (1929), 153–4, cited in Ubieto Arteta (1958), 36:Vino un ferrero e dixo: «yo so don Alfonso, el que presó a Çaragoça e Cadatayut e Daroqua»; e recebido es en aquellos lugares con grant honra e con grant ponpa. E dice muchas cosas que semeiavam verdat de lo passado quel havia fecho. E era tenido por senyer e por don Alfonso. E despues fue conoscido que non era aquel, e enforcáronlo muy desonradament devant la ciudad de Barcelona. Modern historian Antonio Ubieto Arteta has hypothesised that the Aragonese lords of the tenancies of Zaragoza, Calatayud, and Daroca – Pedro de Luesia, Loferrench de Luna, Pedro de Castillazuelo (lord of Calatayud), Pedro Cornel (lord of Murillo de Gállego), and the majordomo Jimeno de Artusilla, all of whom disappear between 1177 and 1181 in the documentation of their tenancies – supported, at least initially, the pretender.Ubieto Arteta (1958), note 24, who also connects the appearance of the pretender with the economic disasters that befell Aragon in 1174. These lords also appear in the later legend of the Bell of Huesca, which has no historical basis, as the victims of Ramiro II (1136). Since, historically, they were not active in the 1130s, it is possible that the historically based legend of the pseudo-Alfonso had some influence on the genesis of the Bell of Huesca.
The earliest chronicle source for the imposture is Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, writing in the middle of the thirteenth century, who records that there were several legends then current about the death of Alfonso the Battler: some believed he perished in the battle of Fraga, some that his body had never been recovered, others that he was buried in the monastery of Montearagón, and still others that he had fled from Fraga in shame after his defeat and became a pilgrim as an act of penance. Some years later, Rodrigo writes, though he does not give a year, an impostor arose and was received by many as the Battler, though Alfonso II had him arrested and hanged. This is the earliest reference to the impostor's end.The account in De rebus Hispaniae (Madrid: 1793), II, 150–51, quoted in Ubieto Arteta (1958), note 1:[Alfonsus] nam victus occiditur et si occisus inventus fuerit dubitatur. Ab aliquibus enim dicitur corpus eius in montis Aragonis monasterio tumulatum a mauris tamen ante redemptum. Ab aliis dicitur vivus a proelio evasisse et confusionem proelii nequiens tolerare peregrinum se exhibuit huic mundo effigie et habitu immutatus. Et annis aliquot interpositis, quispiam se ostendit qui se eumdem publice fatebatur et multorum Castellae et Aragoniae id ipsum testimonio affirmabant qui cum eo in utroque regno fuerant familiariter conversati et ad memoriam reducebant secreta plurima que ipse olim cum eis habita recolebat et antiquorum assertio ipsum esse firmiter asserebat. Demum tamen quia cum ex regno plurimi sectabantur et de die in diem eorum numerus augebatur. Aldefonsus rex Aragoniae fecit eum suspendio interire. The legend was amplified in later years. According to the fourteenth-century Crónica de los Estados Peninsulares, the Battler went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where he lived for many years.The account in the Crónica de los Estados Peninsulares: texto del siglo XIV, ed. Antonio Ubieto Arteta (Granada: 1955), 128, quoted in Ubieto Arteta (1958), note 2:Otros dicen que de vergüenza que era vencido sent passo la mar a Jerusalem, pero nunca lo trobaron ni muerto ni vivo. Otros dicen que a tiempo vino en Aragon e fablo con algunos que sopieran de sus poridades. Otros que alli se perdio e non fue conoscido.. The Crónica de San Juan de la Peña also recounts the incident, but it depends entirely on Rodrigo and the Estados Peninsulares. It is not until the seventeenth-century historian Jerónimo Zurita penned his Anales de la Corona de Aragón that new details were added to the legend.Zurita's account is found in his second book, twenty-second chapter, and is completely recapitulated by Ubieto Arteta (1958), 29–30. Zurita dates the impostor's appearance to the death of Raymond Berengar IV of Barcelona, who had been exercising power in Aragon, and the succession of the child Alfonso II in 1162. The death of the impostor, by hanging, must have occurred in 1163. |
Alfonso the Battler | Competitors for succession | Competitors for succession
Candidates for the crowns of Navarre and Aragon in 1134 Marriage and legitimate descent Liaison and illegitimate descent |
Alfonso the Battler | Notes | Notes |
Alfonso the Battler | References | References |
Alfonso the Battler | Sources | Sources
Ubieto Arteta, Antonio. "La aparición del falso Alfonso I el Batallador." Argensola, 38 (1958), 29–38.
Category:1070s births
Category:1134 deaths
Category:12th-century Aragonese monarchs
Category:12th-century Navarrese monarchs
Category:Spanish Roman Catholics
Category:12th-century Roman Catholics
Category:Jure uxoris kings
Category:Jure uxoris emperors |
Alfonso the Battler | Table of Content | Short description, Early life, Matrimonial conflicts, Church relations, Military expansion, Death, Succession, Pseudo-Alfonso the Battler, Competitors for succession, Notes, References, Sources |
Amaryllis | Short description | Amaryllis () is the only genus in the subtribe Amaryllidinae (tribe Amaryllideae). It is a small genus of flowering bulbs, with two species. The better known of the two, Amaryllis belladonna, is a native of the Western Cape region of South Africa, particularly the rocky southwest area between the Olifants River Valley and Knysna.
For many years there was confusion among botanists over the generic names Amaryllis and Hippeastrum, one result of which is that the common name 'amaryllis' is mainly used for cultivars of the genus Hippeastrum, widely sold in the winter months for their ability to bloom indoors.
Plants of the genus Amaryllis are known as belladonna lily, Jersey lily, naked lady, amarillo, Easter lily in Southern Australia or, in South Africa, March lily due to its propensity to flower around March. This is one of numerous genera with the common name 'lily' due to their flower shape and growth habit. However, they are only distantly related to the true lily, Lilium. In the Victorian language of flowers, amaryllis means "love, beauty, and determination", and can also represent hope and achievement. |
Amaryllis | Description | Description
thumb|right|Amaryllis belladonna flowers
Amaryllis is a bulbous plant, with each bulb being in diameter. It has several strap-shaped, hysteranthous, green leaves with midrib, long and broad, arranged in two rows.
Each bulb produces one or two leafless, stout, persistent and erect stems tall, each of which bears at the top a cluster of two to twelve zygomorphic, funnel-shaped flowers without a tube. Each flower is in diameter with six spreading tepals (three outer sepals, three inner petals, with similar appearance to each other). The usual color is white with crimson veins, but pink or purple also occur naturally. Stamens are very shortly connate basally, declinate, unequal. Style is declinate, stigma is three-lobed. Ovules are approx. 8 per locule. Seeds are compressed-globose, white to pink. The number of chromosomes is 2n = 22. |
Amaryllis | Taxonomy | Taxonomy
The single genus is in subtribe Amaryllidinae, in the tribe Amaryllideae. The taxonomy of the genus has been controversial. In 1753 Carl Linnaeus created the name Amaryllis belladonna, the type species of the genus Amaryllis. At the time both South African and South American plants were placed in the same genus; subsequently they were separated into two different genera. The key question is whether Linnaeus's type was a South African plant or a South American plant. If the latter, Amaryllis would be the correct name for the genus Hippeastrum, and a different name would have to be used for the genus discussed here. Alan W. Meerow et al. have briefly summarized the debate, which took place from 1938 onwards and involved botanists on both sides of the Atlantic. The outcome was a decision by the 14th International Botanical Congress in 1987 that Amaryllis should be a conserved name (i.e. correct regardless of priority) and ultimately based on a specimen of the South African Amaryllis belladonna from the Clifford Herbarium at the Natural History Museum in London. |
Amaryllis | Species | Species
, Amaryllis had only two accepted species, both native to the Cape Provinces of South Africa:
Amaryllis belladonna – south-west Cape Provinces; introduced into many parts of the world, including California, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand
Amaryllis paradisicola – west Cape Provinces |
Amaryllis | Phylogeny | Phylogeny
Amaryllidinae are placed within Amaryllideae as follow:
These are phylogenetically related as follows: |
Amaryllis | Etymology | Etymology
The name Amaryllis is taken from a shepherdess in Virgil's pastoral Eclogues, (from the Greek .Linné, Carl von. 1737. Hortus Cliffortianus. p. 135
Although the 1987 decision settled the question of the scientific name of the genus, the common name 'amaryllis' continues to be used differently. Bulbs sold as amaryllis and described as "ready to bloom for the holidays" belong to the allied genus Hippeastrum.E.g. The common name "naked lady" comes from the plant's pattern of flowering when the foliage has died down. This name is also used for other bulbs with a similar growth and flowering pattern; some of these have their own widely used and accepted common names, such as the resurrection lily (Lycoris squamigera). |
Amaryllis | Habitat | Habitat
In areas of its native habitat with mountainous fynbos, flowering tends to be suppressed until after bush fires as dense overhead vegetation prevents growth. In more open sandy areas of the Western Cape, the plant flowers annually. Plants tend to be very localized in dense concentrations due to the seeds' large size and heavy weight. Strong winds shake loose the seeds, which fall to ground and immediately start to germinate, aided by the first winter rains. |
Amaryllis | Ecology | Ecology
The leaves are produced in the autumn or early spring in warm climates depending on the onset of rain and eventually die down by late spring. The bulb is then dormant until late summer. The plant is not frost-tolerant, nor does it do well in tropical environments since they require a dry resting period between leaf growth and flower spike production.
One or two leafless stems arise from the bulb in the dry ground in late summer (March in its native habitat and August in USDA zone 7).
The plant has a symbiotic relationship with carpenter bees. It is also visited by noctuid moths at night. The relative importance of these insects as pollinators has not yet been established; however, carpenter bees are thought to be the main pollinators of amaryllis on the Cape Peninsula. The plant's main parasite is the lily borer Brithys crini and/or Diaphone eumela. |
Amaryllis | Cultivation | Cultivation
thumb|right|upright=.7|Amaryllis belladonna, illustration from volume 14, 1861
Amaryllis belladonna was introduced into cultivation at the beginning of the eighteenth century. It reproduces slowly by either bulb division or seeds and has gradually naturalized from plantings in urban and suburban areas throughout the lower elevations and coastal areas in much of the West Coast of the US since these environments mimic their native South African habitat. Hardiness zones 6–8. It is also naturalized in Australia.
There is an Amaryllis belladonna hybrid which was bred in the 1800s in Australia. No one knows the exact species it was crossed with to produce color variations of white, cream, peach, magenta and nearly red hues. The hybrids were crossed back onto the original Amaryllis belladonna and with each other to produce naturally seed-bearing crosses that come in a very wide range of flower sizes, shapes, stem heights and intensities of pink. Pure white varieties with bright green stems were bred as well. The hybrids are quite distinct in that the many shades of pink also have stripes, veining, darkened edges, white centers and light yellow centers, also setting them apart from the original light pink. In addition, the hybrids often produce flowers in a fuller circle rather than the "side-facing" habit of the "old-fashioned" pink. The hybrids are able to adapt to year-round watering and fertilization but can also tolerate completely dry summer conditions if need be.
A. belladonna has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Amaryllis belladonna has been crossed in cultivation with Crinum moorei to produce a hybrid called × Amarcrinum, which has named cultivars. Hybrids said to be between Amaryllis belladonna and Brunsvigia josephinae have been called × Amarygia. Neither hybrid genus name is accepted by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families., search for "Amarcrinum" and "Amarygia" |
Amaryllis | See also | See also
List of plants known as lily |
Amaryllis | References | References |
Amaryllis | Sources | Sources
Category:Amaryllidoideae
Category:Amaryllidaceae genera
Category:Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces
Category:Garden plants of Africa
Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus |
Amaryllis | Table of Content | Short description, Description, Taxonomy, Species, Phylogeny, Etymology, Habitat, Ecology, Cultivation, See also, References, Sources |
Alfonso III of Aragon | short description | Alfonso III (4 November 1265 – 18 June 1291), called the Liberal (el Liberal) and the Free (also "the Frank", from el Franc), was king of Aragon and Valencia, and count of Barcelona (as ) from 1285 until his death. He conquered the Kingdom of Majorca between his succession and 1287. |
Alfonso III of Aragon | Life | Life
Alfonso was the son of King Peter III of Aragon and Constance, daughter and heiress of King Manfred of Sicily.
Soon after assuming the throne, he conducted a campaign to reincorporate the Balearic Islands into the Crown of Aragon, which had been lost due to the division of the realm by his grandfather, James I of Aragon. Thus in 1285 he declared war on his uncle, James II of Majorca, and conquered both Majorca (1285) and Ibiza (1286), effectively reassuming suzerainty over the Kingdom of Majorca. He followed this with the conquest of Menorca – until then an autonomous Muslim state (Manûrqa) within the Kingdom of Majorca – on 17 January 1287, the anniversary of which now serves as Menorca's national holiday.
Alfonso initially sought to maintain Aragonese control over Sicily by supporting the claims of his brother James II to the island. However, he later retracted his support for his brother shortly before his death and instead tried to make peace with the Papal States and with France.
His reign was marred by a constitutional struggle with the Aragonese nobles, which eventually culminated in the articles of the Union of Aragon – the so-called "Magna Carta of Aragon", which devolved several key royal powers into the hands of lesser nobles. His inability to resist the demands of his nobles was to leave a heritage of disunity in Aragon and further dissent amongst the nobility, who increasingly saw little reason to respect the throne, and brought the Kingdom of Aragon close to anarchy.
During his lifetime a dynastic marriage with Eleanor, daughter of King Edward I of England, was arranged. However, Alfonso died before meeting his bride, at the age of 25 in 1291, and was buried in the Franciscan convent in Barcelona; since 1852 his remains have been buried in Barcelona Cathedral. |
Alfonso III of Aragon | In culture | In culture
Dante Alighieri, in the Divine Comedy, recounts that he saw Alfonso's spirit seated outside the gates of Purgatory with the other monarchs whom Dante blamed for the chaotic political state of Europe during the 13th century. |
Alfonso III of Aragon | References | References |
Alfonso III of Aragon | Sources | Sources
Category:1265 births
Category:1291 deaths
Category:13th-century Aragonese monarchs
Category:People from Valencia
Category:Counts of Barcelona
Category:Valencian monarchs
Category:House of Aragon
Category:Burials at Barcelona Cathedral
Category:People of the War of the Sicilian Vespers
Category:Aragonese infantes
Category:Sons of queens regnant |
Alfonso III of Aragon | Table of Content | short description, Life, In culture, References, Sources |
Alfonso IV of Aragon | Short description | Alfonso IV (2 November 1299 – 24 January 1336), called the Kind (also the Gentle or the Nice, ), was King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona (as Alfons III) from 1327 to his death. His reign saw the incorporation of the County of Urgell, Duchy of Athens, and Duchy of Neopatria into the Crown of Aragon. |
Alfonso IV of Aragon | Biography | Biography
Alfonso was born in Naples, the second son of James II and Blanche of Anjou. In 1314, aged 14, he married Teresa d'Entença, heiress of Urgell, who was the same age as him. Teresa's granduncle Ermengol X of Urgell had died childless in La Llitera; before his death, he had agreed to make Alfonso his heir, on condition that Alfonso would marry Teresa, who was his nearest kin. Alfonso was at this time only the second son (and not the heir) of the king of Aragon. He and his father readily agreed to Ermengol's condition, and Alfonso married Teresa in 1314 in the Cathedral of Lleida. The teenage bridegroom is reputed to have been so liberal in the expenses during the wedding, that the local counsels imposed restrictions on how much he could spend. Alfonso and Teresa became the parents of seven children.
Alfonso became heir to the throne in December 1319 after his older brother James renounced his rights to become a monk. During the reign of his father, Alfonso was the procurator-general of the Crown, and in 1323–1324, he undertook the conquest of Sardinia.
Alfonso's father and first wife Teresa died within a few days of each other in 1327. Teresa died in childbirth on 20 October 1327, and James II died on 2 November 1327, whereupon Alfonso became king. In 1329, he began a long war with the Republic of Genoa. The city of Sassari had previously surrendered to Alfonso in 1323, but rebelled three more times; its possession was contested by Genoa, which led to the protracted war.
In February 1329, Alfonso married Eleanor of Castile (1308–1359), the sister of king Alfonso XI of Castile. Eleanor had been briefly married to Alfonso's elder brother James the monk. That marriage, which James had refused to consummate, had been annulled in 1319–20. Eleanor had thereafter retired to a convent (although she never took the veil) and had remained unmarried. By December the same year, the couple were rejoiced to become the parents of a son, Ferdinand, who was followed five years later by another son, John.
Eleanor earnestly sought to advance the interests of her own infant sons over those of her stepson, the Infante Peter, who was the heir-apparent. She convinced her husband to grant very large and significant territories to her sons. on 28 December 1329, Alfonso granted his new-born son Ferdinand the Marquisate of Tortosa and the cities of Albarracín, Orihuela, Callosa d'en Sarrià, Guardamar, Alicante, Monforte, Elda, La Mola, Novelda and Aspe. Eleanor's younger son John, who was born five years later, was also granted several lordships when he was only a toddler: Elche, Biel and Bolsa were all bestowed upon him. These territories would be controlled by Eleanor, who had also received the city of Huesca and some other villages and castles belonging to the Aragonese crown at the time of her wedding. Nor was this all. While all of the above grants had been made from among the possessions of the Aragonese crown, the King also sought to bestow estates located within the Kingdom of Valencia upon the toddler Ferdinand, but he was prevented from doing so. When the King granted Ferdinand the cities of Xàtiva, Alzira, Sagunto, Morella, Burriana and Castellón de la Plana, all located in the Kingdom of Valencia, the local subjects protested, and for this reason the King decided to revoked these patents. These grants of land diminished the territorial patrimony of the crown and mainly affected the Infante Peter, Alfonso's son by his first wife, who however was too young to make any significant protest. However, the issue agitated the court, created a climate of resentment and divided the nobility into two camps.
Alfonso died in January 1336, aged only 36. He was succeeded by Peter IV, his 16-year-old son from his first marriage. |
Alfonso IV of Aragon | Children | Children
By Teresa d'Entença:
Alfonso (1315–1317)
Constance (1318–1346), married in 1336 to James III of Majorca.
Peter IV (1319–1387), successor.
James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347), also inherited Entença and Antillon.
Elizabeth (1323–1327).
Frederick (1325-died young).
Sancho (1327), lived only a few days.
By Eleanor of Castile:
Ferdinand (1329–1363), Marquis of Tortosa and Lord of Albarracín and Fraga; married Maria, Marchioness of Tortosa and was killed by order of his brother Peter IV.
John (1331–1358), Lord of Elche, Biel and Bolsa, married in 1355 to Isabel Núñez de Lara (daughter of Juan Núñez III de Lara) and was killed by order of his cousin Pedro of Castile. |
Alfonso IV of Aragon | Notes | Notes |
Alfonso IV of Aragon | Sources | Sources
Diccionario universal de historia y de geografía, p. 152. By Lucas Alamán, Manuel Orozco y Berra
|
Alfonso IV of Aragon | External links | External links
Category:1299 births
Category:1336 deaths
Category:14th-century Aragonese monarchs
Category:Nobility from Naples
Category:Valencian monarchs
Category:Counts of Barcelona
Category:House of Aragon
Category:Aragonese infantes |
Alfonso IV of Aragon | Table of Content | Short description, Biography, Children, Notes, Sources, External links |
Amasis II | Short description | Amasis II ( ; ḤMS)Schmitz, Philip C.. "Chapter 3. Three Phoenician "Graffiti" at Abu Simbel (CIS I 112)". The Phoenician Diaspora: Epigraphic and Historical Studies, University Park, US: Penn State University Press, 2021, pp. 35-39. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781575066851-005 or Ahmose II was a pharaoh (reigned 570526 BCE) of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt, the successor of Apries at Sais. He was the last great ruler of Egypt before the Persian conquest. |
Amasis II | Life | Life
Most of our information about him is derived from Herodotus (2.161ff) and can only be imperfectly verified by monumental evidence. According to the Greek historian, he was of common origins. He was originally an officer in the Egyptian army. His birthplace was Siuph at Saïs. He took part in a general campaign of Pharaoh Psamtik II in 592 BC in Nubia.
A revolt which broke out among native Egyptian soldiers gave him his opportunity to seize the throne. These troops, returning home from a disastrous military expedition to Cyrene in Libya, suspected that they had been betrayed in order that Apries, the reigning king, might rule more absolutely by means of his Greek mercenaries; many Egyptians fully sympathized with them. General Amasis, sent to meet them and quell the revolt, was proclaimed king by the rebels instead, and Apries, who then had to rely entirely on his mercenaries, was defeated This cites:
W. M. Flinders Petrie, History, vol. iii.
James Henry Breasted, History and Historical Documents, vol. iv. p. 509
Gaston Maspero, Les Empires.
THE ELEPHANTINE STELA OF AMASIS, col. 17-18 (though it is suggested that Apries had more native support than classical sources describe). Apries then fled to an "island" (possibly an elevated or isolated base of Apries within Egypt)Ladynin, Ivan A. (2006). THE ELEPHANTINE STELA OF AMASIS: SOME PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF STUDY, pp. 10-12 and was killed while mounting a final insurrection against Amasis in 567 BCE with the aid of a shipped force (probably Greek and maybe Carian),Ladynin, Ivan A. (2006). THE ELEPHANTINE STELA OF AMASIS: SOME PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF STUDY, pp. 7-11 while the Babylonians also invaded Egypt the same year.The Elephantine Stela of AmasisThe Chronicles of the Babylonian Kings, Nbk 329Ladynin, Ivan A. (2006). THE ELEPHANTINE STELA OF AMASIS: SOME PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF STUDY An inscription confirms the struggle between the native Egyptian and the foreign soldiery, and proves that Apries was killed and honourably buried in the fourth year of Amasis ( BCE). Amasis' revolt against Apries is also alluded to in Jeremiah 44:30. Amasis then married Khedebneithirbinet II, one of the daughters of his predecessor Apries, in order to legitimise his kingship.
Some information is known about the family origins of Amasis: his mother was a certain Tashereniset, as a bust of her, today located in the British Museum, shows. A stone block from Mehallet el-Kubra also establishes that his maternal grandmother—Tashereniset's mother—was a certain Tjenmutetj.
His court is relatively well known. The head of the gate guard Ahmose-sa-Neith appears on numerous monuments, including the location of his sarcophagus. He was referenced on monuments of the 30th Dynasty and apparently had a special significance in his time. Wahibre was 'Leader of the southern foreigners' and 'Head of the doors of foreigners', so he was the highest official for border security. Under Amasis the career of the doctor, Udjahorresnet, began, who was of particular importance to the Persians. Several "heads of the fleet" are known. Psamtek Meryneit and Pasherientaihet / Padineith are the only known viziers.
thumb|Polycrates, Tyrant of Samos, with Pharaoh Amasis II.
Herodotus describes how Amasis II would eventually cause a confrontation with the Persian armies. According to Herodotus, Amasis was asked by Cambyses II or Cyrus the Great for an Egyptian ophthalmologist on good terms. Amasis seems to have complied by forcing an Egyptian physician into mandatory labor, causing him to leave his family behind in Egypt and move to Persia in forced exile. In an attempt to exact revenge for this, the physician grew very close to Cambyses and suggested that Cambyses should ask Amasis for a daughter in marriage in order to solidify his bonds with the Egyptians. Cambyses complied and requested a daughter of Amasis for marriage.
Amasis, worrying that his daughter would be a concubine to the Persian king, refused to give up his offspring; Amasis also was not willing to take on the Persian empire, so he concocted a deception in which he forced the daughter of the ex-pharaoh Apries, whom Herodotus explicitly confirms to have been killed by Amasis, to go to Persia instead of his own offspring.
This daughter of Apries was none other than Nitetis, who was, as per Herodotus's account, "tall and beautiful." Nitetis naturally betrayed Amasis and upon being greeted by the Persian king explained Amasis's trickery and her true origins. This infuriated Cambyses and he vowed to take revenge for it. Amasis died before Cambyses reached him, but his heir and son Psamtik III was defeated by the Persians.
Herodotus also describes how, just like his predecessor, Amasis relied on Greek mercenaries and councilmen. One such figure was Phanes of Halicarnassus, who would later leave Amasis, for reasons that Herodotus does not clearly know, but suspects were personal between the two figures. Amasis sent one of his eunuchs to capture Phanes, but the eunuch was bested by the wise councilman and Phanes fled to Persia, meeting up with Cambyses and providing advice for his invasion of Egypt. Egypt was finally lost to the Persians during the battle of Pelusium in 525 BC. |
Amasis II | Egypt's wealth | Egypt's wealth
thumb|Statue of Tasherenese, mother of king Amasis II, 570-526 BCE, British Museum
Amasis brought Egypt into closer contact with Greece than ever before. Herodotus relates that under his prudent administration, Egypt reached a new level of wealth; Amasis adorned the temples of Lower Egypt especially with splendid monolithic shrines and other monuments (his activity here is proved by existing remains). For example, a shrine built by him was excavated at Tell Nebesha.
Amasis was described by Herodotus as a philhellene. He assigned the commercial colony of Naucratis on the Canopic branch of the Nile to the Greeks, and when the temple of Delphi was burnt, he contributed 1,000 talents to the rebuilding. He also married a Greek princess named Ladice daughter of King Battus III and made alliances with Polycrates of Samos and Croesus of Lydia. Montaigne cites the story by Herodotus that Ladice cured Amasis of his impotence by praying to Aphrodite.
Under Amasis, Egypt's agricultural based economy reached its zenith. Herodotus, who visited Egypt less than a century after Amasis II's death, writes that:
His kingdom consisted probably of Egypt only, as far as the First Cataract, but to this he added Cyprus, and his influence was great in Cyrene, Libya. In his fourth year ( BCE), Egypt was invaded by the Babylonians, under the leadership of Nebuchadnezzar II. It is believed that Amasis managed to repel this invasion, forcing Nebuchadnezzar II to retire plans to conquer his kingdom. (However, some have suggested that Nebuchadnezzar came to defeat Apries, the combined forces of Amasis and Nebuchadnezzar managing to kill him, securing Amasis' throne, though as vassal king.)Josephus, Ant. 10.9.7, §182 Amasis was later faced with another formidable enemy with the rise of Persia under Cyrus who ascended to the throne in 559 BCE; his final years were preoccupied by the threat of the impending Persian onslaught against Egypt.Lloyd. (2002) p.382 With great strategic skill, Cyrus had destroyed Lydia in 546 BCE and finally defeated the Babylonians in 538 BCE which left Amasis with no major Near Eastern allies to counter Persia's increasing military might. Amasis reacted by cultivating closer ties with the Greek states to counter the future Persian invasion into Egypt but died in 526 BCE shortly before the Persians attacked. The final assault instead fell upon his son Psamtik III, whom the Persians defeated in 525 BCE after he had reigned for only six months. |
Amasis II | Tomb and desecration | Tomb and desecration
Amasis II died in 526 BC. He was buried at the royal necropolis of Sais within the temple enclosure of Neith, and while his tomb has not been rediscovered, Herodotus describes it for us:
Herodotus also relates the desecration of Amasis' mummy when the Persian king Cambyses conquered Egypt and thus ended the 26th (Saite) Dynasty: |
Amasis II | Later reputation | Later reputation
thumb|This head probably came from a temple statue of Amasis II. He wears the traditional royal nemes head cloth, with a protective uraeus serpent at the brow. Circa 560 BCE. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.
From the fifth century BCE, there is evidence of stories circulating about Amasis, in Egyptian sources (including a demotic papyrus of the third century BCE), Herodotus, Hellanikos, and Plutarch's Convivium Septem Sapientium. 'In those tales Amasis was presented as a non-conventional Pharaoh, behaving in ways unbecoming to a king but gifted with practical wisdom and cunning, a trickster on the throne or a kind of comic Egyptian Solomon'.
thumb|A bronze footbath from ancient Greece. Circa 400 BCE. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
For example, Herodotus relates that, when the Egyptians disrespected Amasis for having been born a commoner, he had his golden footbath (ποδανιπτήρ) melted down, made into a statue of a god, and placed in the centre of city where people would worship it. After the people of that city had worhsipped and "did great reverence" to it, Amasis gathered them and declared to them that the golden image they now worshipped had once been a footbath where people would vomit, urinate and wash their feet. He claimed that likewise, although he was once a man of the people, he was now their king and they ought to fittingly respect him.
On another occasion, Herodotus tells that Amasis' friends admonished him for spending his time frivolously instead of on governing the country. He responded to them that archers stretch their bows only when they need them, because if they kept them constantly stretched the bows would break. "So also is the state of man: if he should always be in earnest and not relax himself for sport at the due time, he would either go mad or be struck with stupor before he was aware; and knowing this well, I distribute a portion of the time to each of the two ways of living." |
Amasis II | Gallery of images | Gallery of images |
Amasis II | References | References |
Amasis II | Further reading | Further reading
Leo Depuydt: Saite and Persian Egypt, 664 BC–332 BC (Dyns. 26–31, Psammetichus I to Alexander's Conquest of Egypt). In: Erik Hornung, Rolf Krauss, David A. Warburton (Hrsg.): Ancient Egyptian Chronology (= Handbook of Oriental studies. Section One. The Near and Middle East. Band 83). Brill, Leiden/Boston 2006, , S. 265–283 (Online).
Category:6th-century BC pharaohs
Category:Pharaohs of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt
Category:520s BC deaths
Category:Kings of Egypt in Herodotus
Category:Year of birth unknown
Category:Philhellenes |
Amasis II | Table of Content | Short description, Life, Egypt's wealth, Tomb and desecration, Later reputation, Gallery of images, References, Further reading |
Alfonso V of Aragon | Short description | Alfonso the Magnanimous (Alfons el Magnànim in Catalan) (139627 June 1458) was King of Aragon and King of Sicily (as Alfons V) and the ruler of the Crown of Aragon from 1416 and King of Naples (as Alfons I) from 1442 until his death. He was involved with struggles to the throne of the Kingdom of Naples with Louis III of Anjou, Joanna II of Naples and their supporters, but ultimately failed and lost Naples in 1424. He recaptured it in 1442 and was crowned king of Naples. He had good relations with his vassal, Stjepan Kosača, and his ally, Skanderbeg, providing assistance in their struggles in the Balkans. He led diplomatic contacts with the Ethiopian Empire and was a prominent political figure of the early Renaissance, being a supporter of literature as well as commissioning several constructions for the Castel Nuovo. |
Alfonso V of Aragon | Early life | Early life
Born at Medina del Campo, he was the son of Ferdinand of Trastámara and Eleanor of Alburquerque. Ferdinand was the brother of King Henry III of Castile, and Alfonso was betrothed to his uncle King Henry's daughter Maria in 1408. In 1412, Ferdinand was selected to succeed to the territories of the Crown of Aragon. Alfonso and Maria's marriage was celebrated in Valencia on 12 June 1415.
King Ferdinand died on 2 April 1416, and Alfonso succeeded him as king of Aragon, Valencia, and Majorca and count of Barcelona. He also claimed the island of Sardinia, though it was then in the possession of Genoa. Alfonso was also in possession of much of Corsica by the 1420s.
Alfonso's marriage with Maria was childless. His mistress Lucrezia d'Alagno served as a de facto queen at the Neapolitan court as well as an inspiring muse. With another mistress, , Alfonso had three children: Ferdinand (1423–1494), Maria (who married Leonello d'Este), and Eleanor (who married Mariano Marzano). With
the last mistress Ippolita, married de'Giudici, Alfonso had one daughther Colia (1430-1473/5) married in 1445 with Emanuele d'Appiano, Lord of Piombino, Count of Holy Roman Empire. The d'Appiano d'Aragona family received, in 1509 the title of Prince of Holy Roman Empire.
Alfonso was the object of diplomatic contacts from the Empire of Ethiopia. In 1428, he received a letter from Yeshaq I of Ethiopia, borne by two dignitaries, which proposed an alliance against the Muslims and would be sealed by a dual marriage that would require Alfonso's brother Peter to bring a group of artisans to Ethiopia where he would marry Yeshaq's daughter. In return, Alfonso sent a party of 13 craftsmen, all of whom perished on the way to Ethiopia.Girma Beshah and Merid Wolde Aregay, The Question of the Union of the Churches in Luso-Ethiopian Relations (1500–1632) (Lisbon: Junta de Investigações do Ultramar and Centro de Estudos Históricos Ultramarinos, 1964), pp.13–4. He later sent a letter to Yeshaq's successor Zara Yaqob in 1450, in which he wrote that he would be happy to send artisans to Ethiopia if their safe arrival could be guaranteed, but it probably never reached Zara Yaqob.Girma Beshah and Merid Wolde Aregay, The Question of the Union of the Churches, pp.14.O. G. S. Crawford (editor), Ethiopian Itineraries, circa 14001524 (Cambridge: the Hakluyt Society, 1958), pp. 12f. |
Alfonso V of Aragon | Struggle for Naples | Struggle for Naples |
Alfonso V of Aragon | First attempt | First attempt
thumb|Coat of arms in Satyrarum hecatostichon by Francesco Filelfo (1449)
In 1421 the childless Queen Joanna II of Naples adopted and named him as heir to the Kingdom of Naples, and Alfonso went to Naples. Here he hired the condottiero Braccio da Montone with the task of reducing the resistance of his rival claimant, Louis III of Anjou, and his forces led by Muzio Attendolo Sforza. With Pope Martin V supporting Sforza, Alfonso switched his religious allegiance to the Aragonese antipope Benedict XIII. When Sforza abandoned Louis' cause, Alfonso seemed to have all his problems solved; however, his relationship with Joanna suddenly worsened, and in May 1423 he had her lover, Gianni Caracciolo, a powerful figure in the Neapolitan court, arrested.
After an attempt to arrest the queen herself had failed, Joan called on Sforza who defeated the Aragonese militias near Castel Capuano in Naples. Alfonso fled to Castel Nuovo, but the help of a fleet of 22 galleys led by Giovanni da Cardona improved his situation. Sforza and Joanna ransomed Caracciolo and retreated to the fortress of Aversa. Here she repudiated her earlier adoption of Alfonso and, with the backing of Martin V, named Louis III as her heir instead.
The duke of Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti, joined the anti-Aragonese coalition. Alfonso requested support from Braccio da Montone, who was besieging Joanna's troops in L'Aquila, but had to set sail for Spain, where a war had broken out between his brothers and the Kingdom of Castile. On his way towards Barcelona, Alfonso sacked Marseille, a possession of Louis III.
In late 1423 the Genoese fleet of Filippo Maria Visconti moved in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea, rapidly conquering Gaeta, Procida, Castellammare and Sorrento. Naples, which was held by Alfonso's brother, Pedro de Aragon, was besieged in 1424 by the Genoese ships and Joanna's troops, now led by Francesco Sforza, the son of Muzio Sforza (who had met his death at L'Aquila). The city fell in April 1424. Pedro, after a short resistance in Castel Nuovo, fled to Sicily in August. Joanna II and Louis III again took possession of the realm, although the true power was in the hands of Gianni Caracciolo. |
Alfonso V of Aragon | Second attempt | Second attempt
An opportunity for Alfonso to reconquer Naples occurred in 1432, when Caracciolo was killed in a conspiracy. Alfonso tried to regain the favour of the queen, but failed, and had to wait for the death of both Louis (at Cosenza in 1434) and Joanna herself (February 1435). In her will, she bequeathed her realm to René of Anjou, Louis III's younger brother. This solution was opposed by the new pope, Eugene IV, who was the feudal overlord of the Kingdom of Naples. The Neapolitans having called in the French, Alfonso decided to intervene and, with the support of several barons of the kingdom, captured Capua and besieged the important sea fortress of Gaeta. His fleet of 25 galleys was met by the Genoese ships sent by Visconti, led by Biagio Assereto. In the Battle of Ponza that ensued, Alfonso was defeated and taken prisoner.
In Milan, Alfonso impressed his captor with his cultured demeanor and persuaded him to let him go by persuading that it was not in Milan's interest to prevent the victory of the Aragonese party in Naples. Helped by a Sicilian fleet, Alfonso recaptured Capua and set his base in Gaeta in February 1436. Meanwhile, papal troops had invaded the Neapolitan kingdom, but Alfonso bribed their commander, Cardinal Giovanni Vitelleschi, and their successes waned.
In the meantime, René had managed to reach Naples on 19 May 1438. Alfonso tried to besiege the city in the following September, but failed. His brother Pedro was killed during the battle. Castel Nuovo, where an Aragonese garrison resisted, fell to the Angevine mercenaries in August 1439. After the death of his condottiero Jacopo Caldora, however, René's fortune started to decline: Alfonso could easily capture Aversa, Salerno, Benevento, Manfredonia and Bitonto. René, whose possession included now only part of the Abruzzi and Naples, obtained 10,000 men from the pope, but the cardinal leading them signed a truce with Alfonso. Giovanni Sforza came with a reduced corps, as troops sent by Eugene IV had halted his father Francesco in the Marche.
Alfonso, provided with the most impressive artillery of the times, again besieged Naples. The siege began on 10 November 1441, ending on 2 June the following year. After the return of René to Provence, Alfonso easily reduced the remaining resistance and made his triumphal entrance in Naples on 26 February 1443, as the monarch of a pacified kingdom.
Alfonso then reunited under his dominion the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, divided since the Sicilian Vespers. After the personal union, he began to call himself Rex Utriusque Siciliae; this was then used by other kings and his successors who ruled over those territories. |
Alfonso V of Aragon | Art and administration | Art and administration
thumb|The triumphal arch entrance of Castel Nuovo.Like many Renaissance rulers, Alfonso V was a patron of the arts. He founded the academy of Naples under Giovanni Pontano, and for his entrance into the city in 1443 had a magnificent triumphal arch added to the main gate of Castel Nuovo. Alfonso V supplied the theme of Renaissance sculptures over the west entrance.
Alfonso was particularly attracted to classical literature. He reportedly brought copies of the works of Livy and Julius Caesar on his campaigns; the poet Antonio Beccadelli even claimed that Alfonso was cured of a disease by the reading of a few pages from Quintus Curtius Rufus' history of Alexander the Great. Although this reputed erudition attracted scholars to his court, Alfonso apparently enjoyed pitting them against each other in spectacles of bawdy Latin rhetoric.
After his conquest of Naples in 1442, Alfonso ruled primarily through his mercenaries and political lackeys. In his Italian kingdom, he maintained the former political and administrative institutions. His holdings in Spain were governed by his wife Maria.
A unified General Chancellorship for the whole Aragonese realm was set up in Naples, although the main functionaries were of Aragonese nationality. Apart from financial, administrative and artistic improvements, his other accomplishments in the Sicilian kingdom include the restoration of the aqueducts, the drainage of marshy areas, and the paving of streets.
Alfonso founded the first university of Sicily, the Siciliae Studium Generale. |
Alfonso V of Aragon | Later life | Later life
Alfonso was also a powerful and faithful supporter of Skanderbeg, whom he decided to take under his protection as a vassal in 1451, shortly after the latter had scored his second victory against Murad II. In addition to financial assistance, he supplied the Albanian leader with troops, military equipment, and sanctuary for himself and his family if such a need should arise. This was because in 1448, while Skanderbeg was fighting off the Turkish invasions, three military columns, commanded by Demetrio Reres along with his sons Giorgio and Basilio, had been dispatched to help Alfonso V defeat the barons of Naples who had rebelled against him.
He also supported Bosnian duke, Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, who turned to the king for help in his affairs in Bosnia. Alfonso made him "Knight of the Virgin", but did not provide any troops. On 15 February 1444, Stjepan signed a treaty with the king of Aragon and Naples, becoming his vassal in exchange for Alfonso's help against his enemies—Stephen Thomas and Ivaniš Pavlović (1441–1450) of the Pavlović noble family as well as the Republic of Venice. In the same treaty, Stjepan promised to pay Alfonso regular tribute instead of paying the Ottoman sultan as he had done until then.
Alfonso, by formally submitting his reign to the Papacy, obtained the consent of Pope Eugene IV that the Kingdom of Naples would go to his illegitimate son, Ferdinand. He died in Castel dell'Ovo in 1458, while he was planning the conquest of Genoa. At the time, Alfonso was at odds with Pope Callixtus III, who died shortly afterwards. Alfonso's Iberian possessions had been ruled for him by his brother, who succeeded him as John II of Aragon. Sicily and Sardinia were also inherited by John II. |
Alfonso V of Aragon | Marriage and issue | Marriage and issue
Alfonso had been betrothed to his first cousin Maria of Castile (1401–1458; sister of John II of Castile) in Valladolid in 1408; the marriage was celebrated in Valencia on 12 June 1415. They failed to produce children. Alfonso had been in love with a woman of noble family named Lucrezia d'Alagno, who served as a de facto queen at the Neapolitan court as well as an inspiring muse.
Genealogical records in the Old Occitan Chronicle of Montpellier in Le petit Thalamus de Montpellier indicate that Alphonso's relationship with his mistress, Giraldona Carlino (daughter of Enrique Carlino and his wife, Isabel), produced three children:
His successor in Naples, King Ferdinand I of Naples, (born 1423; reigned 1458–1494).
(1425–1449) (died 1449, aged around 23 or 24). She had married in 1444 Leonello d'Este, deceased 1450.
Leonora d'Aragona, who married c. 1443, Mariano Marzano, Duke of Squillace, Prince of Rossano. Her daughter Francesca married Leonardo III Tocco. |
Alfonso V of Aragon | Notes | Notes |
Alfonso V of Aragon | References | References |
Alfonso V of Aragon | Sources | Sources
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Alfonso V of Aragon | Further reading | Further reading
Category:1396 births
Category:1458 deaths
Category:15th-century Aragonese monarchs
Category:15th-century kings of Sicily
Category:15th-century monarchs of Naples
Category:People from Medina del Campo
Category:House of Trastámara
Category:Aragonese infantes
Category:Monarchs of Naples
Category:Monarchs of Majorca
Category:Valencian monarchs
Category:Patrons of literature
Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece
Category:Counts of Barcelona
Category:Knights of the Garter
Category:Knights of the Dragon
Category:Burials at the Poblet Monastery
Category:Patrons of the visual arts
Category:Counts of Malta
Category:University and college founders |
Alfonso V of Aragon | Table of Content | Short description, Early life, Struggle for Naples, First attempt, Second attempt, Art and administration, Later life, Marriage and issue, Notes, References, Sources, Further reading |
Amathus | for-multi | Amathus or Amathous () was an ancient city and one of the ancient royal cities of Cyprus until about 300 BC. Some of its remains can be seen today on the southern coast in front of Agios Tychonas, about east of Limassol and west of Larnaca. Its ancient cult sanctuary of Aphrodite was the second most important in Cyprus, her homeland, after Paphos.Walter Burkert, Greek Religion 1985, p. 153; John Karageorghis, La grande déesse de Chypre et son culte, 1977.
Archaeological work has recently been continued at the site and many finds are exhibited in the Limassol Museum. |
Amathus | History | History |
Amathus | Pre-history and ancient era | Pre-history and ancient era
thumb|Ancient kingdoms of Cyprus
The pre-history of Amathus survives in both myth and archaeology.T. Petit, "Eteocypriot myth and Amathousian reality," JMA 12 (1999:108-20) No traces of human activity was detected in the site before the earliest Iron Age, BC,M. Iacovou, "Amathous, an early Iron Age polity in Cyprus: the chronology of its foundation", Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus (2002) pp 101-22. and no town is mentioned in the space between Kition and Kourion in the list of Cypriot cities from Medinet Habu.
The city's legendary founder was Cinyras, linked with the birth of Adonis, who called the city after his mother Amathous.Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Amathous According to a version of the Ariadne legend noted by Plutarch,Plutarch, vita of Theseus (20.3-.5), citing the lost text of an obscure Amathusan mythographer, Paeon. Theseus abandoned Ariadne at Amathousa, where she died giving birth to her child and was buried in a sacred tomb. According to Plutarch's source, Amathousians called the sacred grove where her shrine was situated the Wood of Aphrodite Ariadne. myth would have Amathus settled instead by one of the sons of Heracles, named Amathes (Ἀμάθης),A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Amathes thus accounting for the fact that he was worshiped there.
It was said in antiquity that the people of Amathus were autochthonous, most likely Eteocyprian or "Pelasgian". Their non-Greek language is confirmed on the site by Eteocypriot inscriptions in the Cypriot syllabary which alone in the Aegean world survived the Bronze Age collapse and continued to be used down to the 4th century BC.Baurain, C. 1984. Réflexions sur les origines d’Amathonte d’après les sources littéraires, in P. Aupert and M.- C. Hellmann (eds) Amathonte I. Testimonia 1. Auteurs ancients, Monnayage, Voyageurs, Fouilles, Origines, Géographie: 109–117. Paris: École Française d’Athènes/Éditions Recherche sur les Civilisations.
Amathus was built on the coastal cliffs with a natural harbour and flourished at an early date, soon requiring several cemeteries. Greeks from Euboea left their pottery at Amathus from the 10th century BC. During the post-Phoenician era of the 8th century BC, a palace was erected and a port was also constructed, which served the trade with the Greeks and the Levantines. A special burial ground for infants, a tophetAgelarakis A., Kanta A., and N. Ch. Stampolidis, “The Osseous Record in the Western Necropolis of Amathous: an Archaeo-Anthropological Investigation”, Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus-Dodecanese-Crete 16th-6th c. B.C., Proceedings of the International Symposium: The Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus-Dodecanese-Crete 16th-6th c. B.C., Rethymnon, Crete, 1998: 217-232Agelarakis A., “The Amathous (tophet) cremations in Cyprus”, In D. Christou on “Human Cremations at the Western Necropolis of Amathous” <Cremations in Bronze and Early Iron Age>, Proceedings of Int. Symposium. Ministries of the Aegean and of Culture, Greece, 2001: 201-204 served the culture of the Phoenicians. For the Hellenes, high on the cliff a temple was built, which became a worship site devoted to Aphrodite, in her particular local presence as Aphrodite Amathusia along with a bearded male Aphrodite called Aphroditos.Macrobius, Saturnalia III, 8. Hesychius s.v Ἀφρόδιτος. Catullus 68, 51, calling the Amathusian Aphrodite duplex, confirms the attribution to Amathus. The excavators discovered the final stage of the Temple of Aphrodite, also known as Aphrodisias, which dates approximately to the 1st century BC. According to the legend, it was where festive Adonia took place, in which athletes competed in hunting wild boars during sport competitions; they also competed in dancing and singing, all to the honour of Adonis.
thumb|Fish, polychromic terracotta, 5th century BCE, found in Amathus, depicting a grey triggerfish (Balistes capriscus)
The earliest remains hitherto found on the site are tombs of the early Iron Age period of Graeco-Phoenician influences (1000-600 BC). Amathus is sometimes identifiedFor example by E. Oberhummer, Die Insel Cypern, i., 1902, pp. 13-14. with Qartiḫadasti (Phoenician "New-Town") in the Cypriote tribute-list of Esarhaddon of Assyria (668 BC) and some Phoenician inscriptions from the island, although others identify this Qartiḫadasti with Kition or a part of it. It certainly maintained strong Phoenician sympathies, for it was its refusal to join the philhellene league of Onesilos of Salamis which provoked the revolt of Cyprus from Achaemenid Persia in 500-494 BC,Herodotus, v. 105 when Amathus was besieged unsuccessfully and avenged itself by the capture and execution of Onesilos. Herodotus reports
"Because he had besieged them, the Amathusians cut off Onesilos’ head and brought it to Amathous, where they hung it above the gates. As it hung there empty, a swarm of bees entered it and filled it with honeycomb.The mytheme of bees in the carcase, familiar from the legend of Samson ( Judges 14:8, a lion's carcase) and the Greek myth of Aristaeus (a bullock carcase), and in Virgil's Georgics, is examined by Othniel Margalith, "Samson's Riddle and Samson's Magic Locks" Vetus Testamentum, 36.2 (1986:. When they sought advice about this event, an oracle told them to take the head down and bury it, and to make annual sacrifice to Onesilos as a hero, saying that it would be better for them if they did this. The Amathusians did as they were told and still perform these rites in my day." (Histories 5.114)
Amathus was a rich and densely populated kingdom with a flourishing agriculture (grainStrabo 340, quoting the mid-6th century writer Hipponax. and sheep) and copper mines situated very close to the northeast Kalavasos.See Ovid, Metamorphoses x. 220, 227. 531.G. Mariti, i. 187; L. Ross, Inselreise, iv. 195; W. H. Engel, Kypros, i. 111 ff.
thumb|5th century BC Amathus sarcophagus found in Amathus integrates Greek, Eteocypriot and Oriental features |
Amathus | Hellenistic era | Hellenistic era
thumb|A coin of king Lysandros (𐠓𐠨𐠰𐠦 – lu-sa-do-ro) of Amathus
About 385-380 BC, the philhellene Evagoras of Salamis was similarly opposed by Amathus, allied with Citium and Soli;Diodorus Siculus xiv. 98. and even after Alexander the city resisted annexation, and was bound over to give hostages to Seleucus.Diodorus Siculus xix. 62. Its political importance was now ended but its temple of Adonis and Aphrodite Amathusia remained famous in Roman times. The epithet Amathusia in Roman poetry often means little more than "Cypriote," but attesting to the fame of the city.
From the 4th century BC the pedestals of two sculptures donated by the last Basileus of Amathous, Androkles, representing his two sons, Orestheus and Andragoras, have survived. Their inscriptions are in both Eteocyprian and Greek languages.
The decline of Amathus is often measured by the Ptolemaic gifts to Argos, where Amathus donated only 40 drachmas in 170-160 BC, but Kition and Salamis gave 208, Kourion 172, and Paphos 100. However, this figure contradicts the archaeologic evidence of new buildings in this period including a balneion, a bath, a gymnasium, as well as fortifications of the Acropolis, including a new tower. The port of Paphos appears to have lost traffic compared to Amathus in the Ptolemaic period, an indication that Paphos, as the capital of the island, perhaps offered fewer drachmas than the other cities for different reasons, like Amathus.Giorgos Papantoniou: Religion and Social Transformations in Cyprus. From the Cypriot Basileis to the Hellenistic Strategos, Brill, 2012, S. 221. |
Amathus | Roman era | Roman era
In the Roman era Amathus became the capital of one of the four administrative regions of Cyprus.
A Roman temple was built in the 1st century AD on top of the Hellenistic predecessor. The temple facilities remained so important in Roman times that 'Amathusia' was used as a synonym for 'Cypriot'. |
Amathus | Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages | Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages
Later, in the 4th century AD, Amasus became the see of a Christian bishop and continued to flourish until the Byzantine period. Of its bishops, Heliodorus was at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and Alexander at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. In the late 6th century, Saint Ioannis Eleimonas (John the Charitable), protector of the Knights of St. John, was born in Amathus and after 614 sent Theodorus, bishop of Amathus, to Jerusalem to ransom some slaves.Michel Lequien, Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus, Paris 1740, Vol. II, coll. 1063-1066Siméon Vailhé, v. 1. Amathus, in Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. II, Paris 1914, coll. 982-983
Today, Amathus is a see of the Church of Cyprus and is also listed (under the name "Amathus in Cypro", to distinguish it from "Amathus in Transjordan") as a titular see by the Catholic Church, which however, in line with the practice adopted after the Second Vatican Council, has made no appointments to the bishopric since the death of the last Latin titular bishop in 1984.Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 830
Anastasius Sinaita, the famous 7th-century prolific monk of Saint Catherine's Monastery, was born here. It is thought that he left Cyprus after the 649 Arab conquest of the island, setting out for the Holy Land, and eventually becoming a monk on Sinai.A. Binggeli, 'Anastasius of Sinai' in D. Thomas (ed.) et al., Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History. Volume 1 (600-900). Brill 2009, pp. 193-202; K.H. Uthemann, 'Anastasius the Sinaite' in A. Di Berardino, Patrology: the Eastern fathers from the Council of Chalcedon (451) to John of Damascus (+750). Cambridge 2006, 313-331
Amathus declined and was already almost deserted when Richard Plantagenet won Cyprus by a victory there over Isaac Comnenus in 1191. The tombs were plundered and the stones from the beautiful edifices were brought to Limassol to be used for new constructions. Much later, in 1869, a great number of blocks of stone from Amathus were used for the construction of the Suez Canal. A ruined Byzantine church marks its site. |
Amathus | In modern times | In modern times
A new settlement close to Amathus but further inland, Agios Tychonas, is named after the bishop Saint Tychon of Amathus. The site of the ruins is within the borders of this village, though the expansion of the Limassol tourist area has threatened the ruins: it is speculated that some of the hotels are on top of the Amathus necropolis. |
Amathus | The site and archaeology | The site and archaeology |
Amathus | The Swedish Cyprus Expedition | The Swedish Cyprus Expedition
left|thumb|Bichrome III Plate.From tomb 19, Amathus. ca. 1050–850 B.C. Can be seen at Medelhavsmuseet.
From April to May 1930 The Swedish Cyprus Expedition excavated a necropolis on both sides of Amathus'acropolis. Amathus was known and visited during the 18th century and 19th centuries by travelers and archaeologists. Earlier excavators, such as General Luigi Palma Di Cesnola, the first American consul in Cyprus, excavated the necropolis' large tombs situated north of the acropolis and the tombs in the necropolis west of the acropolis hill. Since he did not publish any plans or drawings John Lindros illustrated two of the tombs from the old excavations that were still possible to visit. The necropolis had partly been excavated by the English Expedition to Cyprus in 1893-94 and published in Excavations in Cyprus, London 1900. The Swedish Cyprus Expedition excavated around 25 tombs.
thumb|The inside of tomb 2, Amathus.
thumb|Feeding bottle from tomb 9, Amathus. Ca. 600-475 B.C. Can be seen at Medelhavsmuseet.
The tombs excavated are shaft tombs with a dromos, which are rather rare in Cyprus. Variations of the shaft tombs occur, mostly because of the various circumstances of space and economics as well as difficulties in cutting the rock. The archaeologist identified six different styles. It is the shape of the dromos that differs the most between the different styles. Tombs 1 and 2 differ from the others in the sense of construction and quality and might have been created for wealthier people, maybe royals. Tomb 3 is more reminiscent of the other graves found in Cyprus since it is a chamber tomb. Tomb no. 26 had a large tumulus and might have been related to other Hellenistic tumuli. It contained a stone pithos with an alabastron in which a burnt skeleton was found. Around the rim of the alabastron a wreath of gilded myrtle leaves was placed. The excavator thought it might have been a Ptolemaic official who died in Amathus and was buried according to a foreign burial custom.
Otherwise, the same burial customs were observed in most of the tombs. Many were reused multiple times, in which case the burial gifts were pushed into the corner of the tomb. Later, during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, Amathus was once again used for burial. These burials did not damage or alternate the earlier tombs since they were usually somewhere in the upper layers. The tombs are dated from the Cypro-Geometric I to the Roman period. |
Amathus | Later Excavations | Later Excavations
The city had vanished, except for fragments of wall and of a great stone urn on the acropolis, dating from the 6th century BC of which a similar vessel was taken to the Musée du Louvre in 1867. It is tall and weighs 14 tons. It was made from a single piece of stone and has four curved handles carved with bulls. In the 1870s, Luigi Palma di Cesnola excavated the necropolis of Amathus, as elsewhere in Cyprus, enriching the early collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; some objects went to the British Museum. More modern archaeological joint Cypriote-French excavations started in 1980 and still continue. The Acropolis, the Temple of Aphrodite, the agora, the city's walls, the basilica and the port have all been excavated.
Further archaeological objects found during the excavations are preserved at both the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia and the Limassol District Archaeological Museum.
In the agora there are marble columns decorated with spirals and a huge paved squares. On the coastal side of the city there is an Early Christian basilica with mosaic floors decorated with semi-precious stones. Further, near the terraced road leading to the Temple, situated on the top of the cliff, several houses built in a row dating to the Hellenistic period have been discovered. At the east and west extremes of the city the two acropoleis are situated where a number of tombs have been found, many of which are intact.
Two small sanctuaries, with terracotta votive offerings of Graeco-Phoenician age, lie not far off, but the location of the great shrines of Adonis and Aphrodite have not been identified (M. Ohnefalsch-Richter, Kypros, i. ch.1). |
Amathus | Gallery | Gallery |
Amathus | Notes | Notes |
Amathus | References | References
Richard Stillwell, ed. Princeton Encyclopaedia of Classical Sites, 1976: "Amathous, Cyprus"
Municipality of Limassol |
Amathus | External links | External links
http://www.mcw.gov.cy/mcw/DA/DA.nsf/0/D20ED526826AB796C225719B00374A92?OpenDocument
Agias Tychonas: Amathus (English)
http://www.anastasiosofsinai.org/index.html (English)
StoryMap about Amathous (A. Cannavò, A. Rabot)
Category:Cities in ancient Cyprus
Category:Archaeological sites in Cyprus
Category:Former populated places in Cyprus |
Amathus | Table of Content | for-multi, History, Pre-history and ancient era, Hellenistic era, Roman era, Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, In modern times, The site and archaeology, The Swedish Cyprus Expedition, Later Excavations, Gallery, Notes, References, External links |
Alphons | redirect | Alphons (Latinized Alphonsus, Adelphonsus, or Adefonsus) is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic Kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. In the later medieval period it became a standard name in the Hispanic and Portuguese royal families.
It is derived from a Gothic name, or a conflation of several Gothic names; from *Aþalfuns, composed of the elements aþal "noble" and funs "eager, brave, ready", and perhaps influenced by names such as *Alafuns, *Adefuns and *Hildefuns.
It is recorded as Adefonsus in the 9th and 10th century,In the genitive, Adefonsi. and as Adelfonsus, Adelphonsus in the 10th to 11th. The reduced form Alfonso is recorded in the late 9th century, and the Portuguese form Afonso from the early 11thJosé Pedro Machado, Dicionário Onomástico Etimológico da Língua PortuguesaE. Förstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuch (1856:133, 145). and Anfós in Catalan from the 12th century until the 15th.Diccionari d'Història de Catalunya; 62nd ed.; Barcelona; 1998; ; p. 25.
Variants of the name include: Alonso (Spanish), Alfonso (Spanish and Italian), Alfons (Dutch, German, Catalan, Polish, Croatian and Scandinavian), Afonso (Portuguese and Galician), Alphonse, Alfonse (French and English), etc. |
Alphons | Middle Ages | Middle Ages |
Alphons | Iberian royal families | Iberian royal families
Asturias/Leon/Castile/Spain
Alfonso I of Asturias (739–757)
Alfonso II of Asturias (791–842)
Alfonso III of León (866–910)
Alfonso Fróilaz (925–926)
Alfonso IV of León (925–931)
Alfonso V of León (999–1028)
Alfonso VI of León (1065–1109)
Alfonso VII of León (1126–1157)
Alfonso VIII of Castile (1158–1214)
Alfonso IX of León (1188–1230)
Alfonso X of Castile (1252–1284)
Alfonso XI of Castile (1312–1350)
Aragon & Naples
Alfonso I of Aragon (1104–1134), known as el Batallador (The Battler)
Alfonso II of Aragon (1162–1196)
Alfonso III of Aragon (1285–1291)
Alfonso IV of Aragon (1327–1336)
Alfonso V of Aragon (1416–1458), also king of Naples and Sicily
Alfonso II of Naples (1448–1495) |
Alphons | Other | Other
Alfonso Jordan (1103–1148)
Alphonse, Count of Poitiers (1220–1271)
Alfonso of Valladolid (c. 1270 – c. 1347), Jewish convert to Christianity, philosopher, and mathematician
Alphonso, Earl of Chester (1273–1284), first son of Edward I of England, named after his godfather Alfonso X of Castile; died in childhood
Juan Alfonso de Baena (c. 1375 – c. 1434), Castilian troubadour |
Alphons | Early modern period | Early modern period
Alphonse Daudet, French novelist and historian
Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara
Alphonse de Tonty, Baron de Paludy (c. 1659 – 1727)
Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara
Alfonso II, Count of Provence, second son of Alfonso II of Aragon
Alfonso III d'Este, Duke of Modena and Reggio
Alfonso of Castile, Prince of Asturias, figurehead of rebelling magnates against his brother King Henry IV of Castile
Alfonso of Hauteville, Prince of Capua
Alphonsus Liguori, Roman Catholic theologian (1696–1787)
Joseph-Alphonse Esménard (1770–1811) |
Alphons | Modern period | Modern period |
Alphons | Iberian/Sicilian nobility | Iberian/Sicilian nobility
Prince Alfonso, Count of Caserta (1841–1934), duke of Calabria and head of the royal house of the Two Sicilies
Alfonso XII of Spain (1857–1885) (ordinal numbering continues from the kings of Castile)
Alfonso XIII of Spain (1886–1931)
Infante Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, claimant to the title of the head of House of Bourbon Two Sicilies
Alfonso of Spain, Prince of Asturias, heir-apparent of the throne of Spain
Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1924–2003), Spanish playboy and businessman
Infante Alfonso of Spain, younger brother of King Juan Carlos of Spain
Fadrique Alfonso of Castile, fifth illegitimate child of Alfonso XI of Castile |
Alphons | Alfons | Alfons
Alfons Almi (1904–1991), Finnish opera singer and administrator
Alfons van Blaaderen (born 1963), Dutch physicist
Alfons Geleyns (1887–1914), Belgian private
Alfons Goppel (1905–1991), German politician
Alfons Gorbach (1898–1972), Austrian politician
Alfons Jēgers (1919–1999), Latvian football and hockey player
Alfons Karpiński (1875–1961), Polish painter
Alfons Rebane (1908–1976), Estonian military commander
Alfons Rissberger (born 1948), German author |
Alphons | Alphonse | Alphonse
Alphonse Gabriel Capone (1899–1947), Chicago gangster |
Alphons | Alfonso | Alfonso
Alfonso Cuarón, Mexican cinematographer
Alfonso Calderon (activist), Spanish-born gun control activist
Alfonso Calderón (poet), Chilean poet and writer
Alfonso Soriano, American baseball player
Alfonso Lizarazo, Colombian host and politician
Alfonso Mejia-Arias, Mexican musician, writer, social activist and politician
Alfonso Ribeiro, Caribbean-American actor and game show host
Alfonso John Romero, American video-game designer
Alfonso Pérez, Spanish football player
Alfonso Oiterong, Palauan politician, vice president
Alicia Alfonso (born 1963), Uruguayan actress
Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist
José Alfonso Belloso y Sánchez (1873–1938), Salvadorean archbishop
Miguel Alfonso Pérez Aracil, Spanish football player |
Alphons | Alfonse | Alfonse
Alfonse D'Amato (born 1937), American politician from New York
Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (1761–1849), Swiss-American politician
Alphonse Mucha (1860–1939), Czech artist |
Alphons | Alphonso | Alphonso
Alphonso Davies, Canadian soccer player born in Ghana, who grew up in Edmonton |
Alphons | As a surname | As a surname
Alphonse, Alphonso, Alfonso is occasionally seen as a surname derived from the given name, the latter descending from Asturias and Cantabria.
Celestino Alfonso (1916–1944), Spanish republican and volunteer fighter in the French resistance during World War II
Roland Alphonso (1931–1998), Jamaican saxophonist
Kristian Alfonso (born 1963), Puerto Rican American soap opera actress
Michael Lee Alfonso (1965–2007), ring name "Mike Awesome", American professional wrestler
Equis Alfonso, known as X-Alfonso, Cuban hip-hop and afro-rock musician
Ozzie Alfonso, Cuban-American TV director and producer
Sadda Vidda Rajapakse Palanga Pathira Ambakumarage Ranjan Leo Sylvester Alphonsu, Sri Lankan Sinhala politician, actor, singer, writer |
Alphons | Pseudonym | Pseudonym
Bill Alfonso, ring name of William Matthew Sierra, former professional wrestling referee & manager |
Alphons | Stage name | Stage name
Alfons, the stage name of Emmanuel Peterfalvi, a French comedian |
Alphons | Fictional characters | Fictional characters
Alphonso, protagonist in Alfonso und Estrella, an opera by Franz Schubert
Don Alfonso, character in Mozart's opera Così fan tutte
Alphonso MacKenzie, fictional character in the Marvel Universe
Alfie Atkins, known as Alfons Åberg in Swedish, character created by Gunilla Bergström from Sweden
Alfonzo Dominico Jones, a dog in the Australian television series SeaChange
Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice, character in the comic strip Dick Tracy
Alphonse and Gaston, French duo in a comic strip created by Frederick Burr Opper
Alphonse Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist
Alfons Heiderich from Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa
Alphonse Mephisto, fictional character in the animated television series South Park
Alphonso Ali, minor character in Bloom County
Monsieur Alfonse, character in the BBC sitcom Allo 'Allo! played by the actor Kenneth Connor
The name of a number of pets and the Patlabor of Noa Izumi from the anime Patlabor
Oren Pierre Alfonso from Kamen Rider Gaim
Alfonso "French" Sosa, a main character from The OA |
Alphons | See also | See also
Afonso
Ildefonso (disambiguation) |
Alphons | References | References
Category:Italian masculine given names
Category:Masculine given names
Category:Spanish masculine given names
Category:Portuguese masculine given names
Category:Spanish surnames of Germanic origin |
Alphons | Table of Content | redirect, Middle Ages, Iberian royal families, Other, Early modern period, Modern period, Iberian/Sicilian nobility, Alfons, Alphonse, Alfonso, Alfonse, Alphonso, As a surname, Pseudonym, Stage name, Fictional characters, See also, References |
Alfonso I | '''Alfonso I''' | Alfonso I may refer to:
Alfonso I of Asturias (739–757), king of Asturias
Afonso I of Portugal (1094–1185), king of Portugal
Alfonso Jordan (1103–1148), count of Toulouse
Alfonso I of Aragon (1104–1134), known as Alfonso the Battler, king of Aragon and Navarre
Alfonso I, Duke of Gandia (1332–1412)
Alfonso V of Aragon (1396–1458), king of Naples as Alfonso I
Afonso I of Kongo (1456–1543), first Christian king of the Kingdom of Kongo
Alfonso I Piccolomini (1468–1498), duke of Amalfi
Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara (1476–1534)
Alfonso XIII of Spain (1886–1941), known to French Legitimists as "Alphonse I" |
Alfonso I | Table of Content | '''Alfonso I''' |
Amati | Short description | thumb|upright=0.85|This Andrea Amati violin, now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, may have been part of a set made for the marriage of Philip II of Spain to Elisabeth of Valois in 1559, which would make it one of the earliest known violins in existence
Amati (, ) is the last name of a family of Italian violin makers who lived at Cremona from about 1538 to 1740. Their importance is considered equal to those of the Bergonzi, Guarneri, and Stradivari families. Today, violins created by Nicolò Amati are valued at around $600,000.Violin Price Histories , violinadvisor.com, accessed 18 martie 2014 Because of their age and rarity, Amati instruments are mostly kept in a museum or private collections and are seldom played in public. |
Amati | Family members | Family members |
Amati | Andrea Amati | Andrea Amati
Andrea Amati (20 December 1577) designed and created the violin, viola and cello known as the "violin family". Based in Cremona, Italy, he standardized the basic form, shape, size, materials and method of construction. Makers from nearby Brescia experimented, such as Gasparo da Salò, Micheli, Zanetto and Pellegrino, but it was Andrea Amati who gave the modern violin family their definitive profile.
A claim that Andrea Amati received the first order for a violin from Lorenzo de' Medici in 1555 is invalid as Lorenzo de' Medici died in 1492. A number of Andrea Amati's instruments survived for some time, dating between 1538 (Amati made the first Cello called "The King" in 1538) and 1574. The largest number of these are from 1560, a set for an entire orchestra of 38 ordered by Catherine de Médicis the regent queen of France and bore hand painted royal French decorations in gold including the motto and coat of arms of her son Charles IX of France. Of these 38 instruments ordered, Amati created violins of two sizes, violas of two sizes and large-sized cellos. They were in use until the French revolution of 1789 and only 14 of these instruments survived. His work is marked by selection of the finest materials, great elegance in execution, soft clear amber, soft translucent varnish, and an in depth use of acoustic and geometrical principles in design.
Dilworth, John. "The Violin and Bow-Origins and Development." The Cambridge Companion to the Violin. Ed. Robin Stowell. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. 1–29. |
Amati | Antonio and Girolamo Amati | Antonio and Girolamo Amati
Andrea Amati was succeeded by his sons Antonio Amati (–1607) and Girolamo Amati (–1630). "The Brothers Amati", as they were known, implemented far-reaching innovations in design, including the perfection of the shape of the f-holes. They are also thought to have pioneered the modern alto format of viola, in contrast to older tenor violas, but the widespread belief that they were the first ones to do so |
Amati | Nicolò Amati | Nicolò Amati
Nicolò Amati (3 December 159612 April 1684) was the son of Girolamo Amati. Often considered the most eminent violin maker of the family, he improved the model adopted by the rest of the Amatis and produced instruments capable of yielding greater power of tone. His pattern was unusually small, but he also made a wider model now known as the "Grand Amati", which have become his most sought-after violins.
Of his pupils, the most famous were Antonio Stradivari and Andrea Guarneri, the first of the Guarneri family of violin makers. (There is much controversy regarding the apprenticeship of Antonio Stradivari. While the label on Stradivari's first known violin states that he was a pupil of Amati, the validity of his statement is questioned. |
Amati | Girolamo Amati (Hieronymus II) | Girolamo Amati (Hieronymus II)
The last maker of the family was Nicolò's son, Girolamo Amati, known as Hieronymus II (26 February 164921 February 1740). He improved the arching of his father's instruments. |
Amati | Extant Amati instruments | Extant Amati instruments
Amati instruments include some of the oldest extant examples of the violin family, dating to as far back as the mid-16th century. , they are only occasionally played in public. |
Amati | United Kingdom | United Kingdom
Instruments in the UK include Andrea Amati violins from the set delivered to Charles IX of France in 1564.
Amati instruments at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
Andrea Amati
Violin, 1564 (ex–French royal collection)
Viola
Amati instruments at the Royal Academy of Music Museum, London
Amati instrument at the Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle
Andrea Amati
Violin, 1564 (ex French royal collection)
Nicolò Amati
Double bass of 1631 played by Chi-chi Nwanoku |
Amati | United States | United States
Amati instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York)
Andrea Amati:
Violin,
Nicolò Amati:
Violin, 1669
Amati instruments at the National Music Museum (University of South Dakota):
Andrea Amati:
"The King", circa 1545, the world's oldest extant cello
Viola, 1560
Violin, 1560
Violin, 1574
Girolamo Amati:
Double bass, 1680
Violin, 1604
Violin, 7/8-size, 1609
Violino piccolo, 1613
Nicolò Amati:
Violin, 1628 |
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