ARDCHATTAN
roo
AREOPAGUS
Balldearg, also prince of Thomond, whom St. Patrick
baptized. Brecan had the gift of prophecy. lie
died, Petrie says, early in the sixth centurj' (but
Ware states not till after 650) and was interred in
Templebrecan, a church he founded in the Great
Isle of Arran. Petrie copied the inscription on his
tombstone discovered early in the nineteenth cen-
tury. The "Martyrology of Donegal" calls him
Bi.stiop of Ardbraccan; but the founder of that see
was St. Ultan, who succeeded him as abbot. Ultan's
charity towards children was remarkable. He
wrote "lives of Sts. Brigid and Patrick, and died 657.
Tirechiln, who succeeded him, compiled the " Acts of
8t. Patrick" received from the hps of Ultan. Be-
tween the ninth and the twelfth century Ardbrac-
can was often pillaged and burned by Danes and
natives. The succes.sion of abbot-bishops continued
till the English invasion, when abbey and town
declined. After the Synod of Kells (1152) Ard-
braccan and other small sees of the kingdom of
Meath were united under the title of Meath, and the
episcopal residence was fixed there at an early date.
Annals ol the Four Masters, ed. by O'Donovan (Dublin, 1856);
Archdall, Munasticon Hibernicum (Dublin, 1786); Ware-
Harris, works concerning Ireland (Dublin, 1739); Lewis,
Topogr. Did. of Ireland (Dublin, 1847); Lanigan, Eccl. Hist,
of Ireland (Dublin, 1822); Cogan, Diocese of Mealh (Dublin,
1862).
J. J. Ryan.
Ardchattan, The Priory of. — An Argyllshire house, one of the three in Scotland belonging to the Order of Vallis Caulium, or Val des Choux (the Valley of Cabbages), founded by Duncan Mackoul about A. d. 12.30 and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. John Baptist, as were all the houses of this Or- der. It took its name from Chattan, one of the companions of St. Columba, the prefix ard signifying "promontory". The local tradition is that there was a chapel on this spot in the earliest ages of Scottish Cliristianity, centuries before the monks of Vallis Caulium erected their priory and church. The monastery was built on a sheltered spot on the shore of Loch Etive, almost overshadowed by the stupen- dous mass of Ben Cruachan. Some time before the dissolution of religious houses it was incorporated into the Cistercian Order, and at the Reformation the temporalities were bestowed upon one of the Campbell family, whose descendants (the Campbell- Prestons of Ardchattan) still own the place. Parts of the church, and also of the domestic buildings of the priory, still remain and are actually utilized at tliis day — the only example of this in Scotland — as the mansion-house of the present proprietor.
Batten, Beauty Friorj/, with notices of the Priories of Pluscarden and Ardchattan (Grampian Club, 1877); Originea Parochiales Scotia (Edinburgh, 1854); Ordinate Conventus Vatlii Caulium (London, 1900); .Spottiswood, Hist, of the Church of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1850); Ardchattan Charters.
D. O. Hunter-Blair. Arden, Edward, an English Catholic, executed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, b. 1542 (?); d. 158.3. He was the iiead of a family which had been prominent in Warwickshire for six centuries, ha\"ing succeeded to the estates on the deatli of his grand- father, Thomas Arden, in 1563. In 1575 he was high sherifT of the county. His father, William Arden, was a second cousin of Mary Arden, of Wilm- cote, the mother of Sliakospcare. In 158.3, Arden \yas indicted in Warwick for plotting against the life of the Queen, as were idso his wife, his son-in-law, John .Somervillc, and I'allier Hugh Hall, a chaplain whom lie maintained in tlio disguise of a gardener at his home. Park Hall. Somervillc, who was said to be weak-minded, was incensed over the wrongs of Mary, (^ueen of Scots, and openly uttered threats against Elizabeth. He was arrested and when put on the rack implicated the others in a conspiracy to assa-ssinate the Queen. They were arrested "and Arden waa taken to London, where he was arraigned
in the Guildhall, 16 December, 15S.3. He was
convicted, ciiiefly on the evidence of Hall, and was
executed at Smithfield, 30 December, 1583. Somer-
villc, who was also condemned to die on the same
day, was found strangled in his cell the day before.
Mrs. Arden and Hall were released. It is generally
conceded that Arden was the innocent victim of a
plot. He died protesting his innocence and declar-
ing that liis only crime was the profession of the
Catliohc reUgion. Dugdale, quoting from Cannlen's
"Annals of Queen Elizabetli", attributes Arden 's
prosecution to the malice of Leicester, whose dis-
pleasure he had incurred by open criticism of the
Earl's relations ^\^th the Countess of Essex before
their marriage. He had further irritated Leicester
by disdaining to wear his Uvery and by denouncing
him as an upstart. It is supposed that Hall was
suborned to involve Arden in the alleged plot.
Harrison, in Diet. Nat. Biog., II, 74; Gillow, Diet, Eng. CatJu, I, 57.
Thomas Gaffney Taaffe.
Ardfert and Aghadoe. See Kerry.
Ardilliers, Notre Dame des (Lat. argilla, Fr. arg'de, colloquial ardille. clay), a statue, fountain, and Church of Our Lady at Saumur, France. In ancient times the fountain was often the scene of pagan sacrifices. A monastery founded by Cliarlemagne at Saumur was destroyed by the Normans and the one surviving monk retired to a cave near the spring of Ardilhers, a statue of Our Lady his sole remain- ing treasure. A small statue discovered near the spring in 1454 is believed to be identical with the one just mentioned. The miracles wrought in con- nection with this image caused the erection of a small arch for it above the spring, whose waters were found to have healing virtues. A chapel was built and dedicated (1553) attaining magnificent propor- tions as successive additions were made, notably by Cardinal Richelieu. The Oratorians were placed in charge (1614). Devotion to Notre Dame des Ar- dilliers was widespread, and many miracles were wrought. Her clients number such illustrious per- sonages as Louis XIII, Anne of Austria, Marie de' Medici, Henrietta of England, Cardinal Richelieu, and many others. Mme. de Montespan led a hfe of penance in a modest dwelling near the church. The founders of the Sulpician Company went there for inspiration, and the Ven. Grignon de Montfort to beg divine blessings on the institutes of the Fathers of the Holy Ghost and the Daughters of Wisdom he was about to found. Cities placed themselves under the protection of Notre Dame des Ardilliers, promising annual deputations of pilgrims. During the Revolution the churcli was despoiled of its treas- ures, but was not destroyed, and the image was left unharmed. In 1S49 the ravages of time necessitated the renovation of the chapel, which had been built by Richelieu, and pilgrimages became more frequent than ever.
Leroy, Ilistoire des -pilerinages de la Sainte Yierge en France (Paris, 1873-75), I, 513 sqq.; AcUi SS., 1 May.
F. M. RUDGE.
Ardo. See Smaragdus.
Aremberg, Prince Charles d', Definitor-general and Coiumissaiy of the Capuchins; d. at Brussels 5 June, 1669. He is the author of " Flores Seraphici ", biographies of eminent Capuchins from 1525 to 1612 (Cologne and Antwerp, 2 vols., 1640) and "Clypeus Seraphicus " (Cologne, 1643), a defence of the "An- nates Capucinoruni" of Boverius.
BucHBERGKR, Kirchl, Ilandlex., I. 321.
Thomas J. Shahan. Arenaria. See Catacombs. Areopagita, Dionysius. See Dionysius the Pskudo-Areopagitb. Areopagus ('Apcios irdyos), the name of (1) the
