ABB (4) ABD
the Monks ; and were particularly offended, that in Synods and Councils there was no Distinction between 'em. On this Occasion, Pope Clement IV. order'd, that the Abbots should only wear their Mitres embroider'd with Gold, and leave Jewels to the Bishops. See MITRE.
Crozier'd ABBOTS, are those who bear the Crozier, or Pastoral Staff. See CROZIER.
There are some Crozier'd and not Mitred ; as the Abbot of the BenediBine Abbey at Bourges : and others, both the one and the other.
Among the Greeks, some even took the Quality of Oecumenical Abbots, or Universal Abbots, in Imitation of the Patriarch of Cmjhatttinople. See OECUMENICAL.
Nor have the Latins been much behind 'em in that respect : The Abbot of Cluny, in a Council held at Rome, assum'd the Title of Abbas Abbatum. Abbot of Abbots ; and Pope Calixtus, gave the same Abbot the Title of Cardinal Abbot. See CLUNY.
To say nothing of other Cardinal Abbots, thus denomi- nated from their being the principal Abbots of Monasteries, which came to be separated.
Abbots, again, are now chiefly distinguish'd into Regular, and Commendatory.
ABBOTS Regular, are real Monks, or Religious, who have taken the Vows, and wear the Habit of the Order. See REGULAR, RELIGIOUS, VOW, &c.
Such are all Abbots presum'd to be ; it being expresly provided by the Canons, that none but a Monk have the Command over Monks.
ABBOTS in Commendam, are Seculars ; tho they have un- dergone the Tonsure, and are oblig'd by their Bulls to take Orders when they come of Age. See SECULAR, TONSURE, &c.
Tho the Term Commendam insinuates, that they have only the Administration of their Abbies for a Time ; yet do they hold, and reap the Fruits of 'em for ever ; as well as the Regular Abbots.
Their Bulls give 'em a full Power tam in Spiritualibus, quara in Temporalibus. And yet, 'tis true, that Commendatory Abbots do not perform any Spiritual Offices ; nor have they any Spiritual Jurisdiction over their Monks. So that the Phrase in Spiritualibus, is rather something of the Roman Stile, than a Reality.
Some of their best Canonists rank the Commendam in the Number of Benefices, inter titulos Beneficiorum. 'Tis no more than a Canonical Title, or Provision to enjoy the Fruits of a Benefice : But as such Provisions are contrary to the antient Canons, none but the Pope, by dispensing with the old Law, can grant 'em. See COMMENDAM, BENEFICE, &c.
Our own History speaks very little of these Commendatory Abbots ; and 'tis probable the Practice never prevail'd much among us. Hence, many of our Writers have been led into the Mistake, of supposing that all Abbots are Monks. Of this we have a remarkable Instance, at which many of our Countrymen have stumbled, in that Dispute about the Inventor of the Lines for transforming of Geometrical Figures, call'd by the French the Robervallian Lines. Dr. Gregory, in the Philosophical Transactions, Anno 1694. rallies the Abbot Galloys, who held the Abbey of S. Martin de Cores, in Commendam, with being a Monk : "The good Father, says he, imagines we are return'd into that fabulous Age where in a Monk might be allow'd to say what he pleas'd." Which Passage the Abbot takes hold of, and returns the Raillery, with Inrerest, on the Doctor, in the Memoirs de l'Academ. Anno 1703.
The Ceremony whereby Abbots are created, is properly call'd Benediction ; or sometimes, tho abusively, Consecration. See BENEDICTION, and CONSECRATION.
It antiently consisted in cloathing him with the Habit call'd Cuculla, Cowl ; putting the Pastoral Staff in his Hand, and the Shoes call'd Pedales, or Pedules, on his Feet. These Particularities we learn from the Ordo Romanus of Theodore Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Title Abbot has also been given to certain Bishops, by reason their Sees had originally been Abbeys ; and that they were even elected by the Monks : Such are those of Cutanea and Montreal, in Sicily. See BISHOP.
The same Appellation is extended to the Superiors or Generals of some Congregations of Regular Canons ; as that of S. Genevieve at Paris. See CANON, GENEVIEVE, &c.
Abbot is also a Title bore by several Magistrates, and other Lay-Persons. Among the Genoesc, one of their principal Magistrates was call'd the Abbot of the People.
In France, particularly about the Time of Charlemaign, there were several Lords and Courtiers, who having the Inspection of certain Abbeys committed to them, were styI'd Abba-Comites, or Abbey Counts. See ABBEY, COUNT, &c.
ABBREVIATURE, or ABBREVIATION, a Contraction of a Word, or Passage ; made by dropping some of the Letters, and substituting certain Marks, or Characters in their Place. See SYMBOL.
Lawyers, Physicians, &c. use abundance of Abbreviatures ; partly for the sake of Expedition, and partly for that of Mystery. A List of the principal Abbreviatures in the several Arts and Faculties, see under the Article CHARACTER.
Of all People, the Rabbins are the greatest Dealers in this way ; their Writings are unintelligible, without an Explication of the Hebrew Abbreviatures. The Jewish Authors and Copists don't content themselves to abbreviate Words, like the Greeks and Latins, by retrenching some of the Letters, or Syllables thereof; but they frequently take away all but the initial Letter. Thus, ך stands for Rabbi, and א stands for לא, יב׀ךא or ךמא according to the Place it is found in.
But what is more, they frequently take the initial Letters of several succeeding Words, join 'em together, and adding Vowels to 'em, make a barbarous sort of Word, represenrative of all the Words thus abridg'd. Thus, Rabbi Schelemoh Jarrhi, in the Jargon of the Hebrew Abbreviature, is call'd Rafi ; and Rabbi Moses ben Maiemon, Rambam. And thus again, א׀במ is put for א׀במ...Donum in abdito evertit Iram.
Mercerus, David de Pomis, Schindler, Buxtorf, &c. have given Explications of this sort of Ciphers. The most copious Collection of Roman Abbreviations, is that of Sertonus Ursatus, at the End of the Marmora Arundelia ; Sertorii Ursati Equitis de Notis Romanorum Commentarim. The Word is deriv'd from the Latin brevis, of the Greek GREEK, Short.
ABBREUVOIR, or ABREVOIR, in Masonry, the Joint, or Joncture of two Stones ; or the Interstice, or Space left between 'em to be fill'd up with Mortar. See STONE, MORTAR, MASONRY", &c. The Word is French, and literally denotes a Watering-place.
ABBROACHMENT, an obsolete Term in some of our antient Law-Books, for the Act of ingrossing, or buying up a Commodity by Wholesale, in order to sell it off by Retail. See FORESTALLING.
ABBUTALS, among Law-Writers, denote the Buttings or Boundings of a piece of Land ; expressing on what other Lands, Highways, or the like, the several Extremes thereof do abut, or terminate. Thus, in Croke, the Plaintiff is said to fail in his Abbutals, i. e. in setting forth how the Land is bounded.
In strictness, 'tis only the extreme Corners are said to abut ; the Sides are said to be adjacent. Latera autem nunquam aiunt Abuttare ; sed terrain proximam adjacere. Camden.
The Word is apparently form'd of the French abouter, to terminate upon. Tho Camden advances another Etymology.---- "They who have wrote of Limits, say, that certain Hillocks of Earth, term'd Botentines, were placed therein, by way of Marks : whence, perhaps, our Buttings, and Boundings."
ABDICATION, the Act whereby a Magistrate, or Person in Office renounces and gives up the same, for himself and his Heirs. See RENUNCIATION.
Abdication is frequently confounded with Resignation ; but, strictly speaking, there is a difference : Abdication being done purely and simply ; whereas Resignation is done in favour of some third Person. See RESIGNATION.
In this Sense, Diocletian, and Charles V. are said to have abdicated the Crown; Philip IV. of Spain resign'd it. The Parliament voted King James's Violation of the Laws, and his quitting the Kingdom, without providing for the due Administration of Affairs in his absence, to import an Abdication of the Crown.
Among the Romans, Abdication was also us'd in opposition to Adoption : Thus, a Father was said to abdicate his disobedient Son. See ADOPTION.
It disser 'd from Exheredation, Disinheriting, in this Circumstance, that the abdicated Son was banisti'd his Father's Family, and cut off from the Succession by a solemn Act, during the Father's Life: whereas Exheredation only took place in virtue of his Testament. See EXHEREDATION.
ABDOMEN, in Anatomy, the lower Belly, or that Part of the Body between the Hips and the Diaphragm. See BODY.
Anatomists divide the Body into three Regions, or Venters ; the Head ; the Thorax, or Breast ; and the Abdomen, or Belly, absolutely so call'd ; being the lowest Part of the Trunk. 'Tis separated from the Thorax by the Diaphragm, and reaches to the Ossa pubis. See VENTER.
It is called Abdomen, from the Latin abdo, I hide ; by reason that in its Cavity are wrapp'd up and conceal'd many of the principal Fiscera, viz. the Stomach, Omentum, Interims, Liver, Spleen, Bladder, &c. See STOMACH, OMENTUM, INTESTINES, &c.
The Abdomen is lined internally with a thin, soft Membrane ; which inverting all the Viscera above mention'd, contains and keeps 'em in their Place, call'd the Peritoneum : upon a Rupture or Dilatation whereos, they are apt to sal),. and form those Tumors call'd Hernias. See PERITONÆUM, and HERNIA.
