Osnabrück for preaching the doctrines of Luther, and became conspicuous for his learning and his eloquence. He served the Reformation well by his zeal and talents. Amid many public duties, he found time to write a number of learned works on historical and other subjects. The "Historia ecclesiastica renati Evangelii" and the "Oldenburgische Chronicon," in 3 vols. folio, were useful and important books.—B. H. C.
HAMERANI, sometimes written by Italian authors Emerani, the name of a family of medallists, whose labours for nearly a century and a half contributed to maintain the high character of the papal coins and medals. The following are the most distinguished:—
Albert Hamerani, the founder of the family, was a German. He appears to have been first employed in the papal service under Alexander VII. (1655-67). He engraved several excellent medals of that pope and his successors, Clement IX., Clement X., and Clement XI., and died in 1672.
Giovanni Hamerani, son and scholar of Albert, was medallist to the Popes Innocent XI., Alexander VIII., Innocent XII., and Clement XI. He died in 1705.
Ermengild Hamerani, son and successor of Giovanni, was born at Rome in 1683, and died there in 1744. He alone, or in conjuction with his brother Otto, executed a vast number of medals as well as coins, including those of Clement XI., Innocent XIII., Benedict XIII., Clement XII., and Benedict XIV.
Otto Hamerani, younger brother and scholar of Ermengild, born at Rome in 1694; died about 1753.
Beatrice Hamerani, who gave promise of eminent skill in the family calling, daughter of Giovanni, died in 1703, in her twenty-fourth year.
Giacomo Hamerani, the last of the family, was medallist to Pius VI., and was involved in the ruin which the French revolution brought upon his master.—J. T—e.
HAMILCAR BARCA, father of the great Hannibal, and himself one of the most celebrated of the Carthaginian generals, was appointed to the command of the Carthaginian forces in Sicily in the eighteenth year of the first Punic war, b.c. 247. He maintained his position in the island, defying all the exertions of the Romans, for nearly five years; but at length the total defeat of the Carthaginian admiral in a naval battle which was fought off the Ægates, decided the fate of the war, and Hamilcar was compelled to give his reluctant consent to a treaty by which it was agreed that the Carthaginians should evacuate Sicily. He returned to Carthage filled with intense animosity against Rome, and brooding over plans of future vengeance. The execution of these he was obliged to postpone for some time on account of a great revolt of the mercenary troops and native Africans, which broke out immediately after his return from Sicily, and by which Carthage was brought to the brink of ruin. The command of the government forces was at first intrusted to Hanno, a leading aristocrat, but the numerous reverses which he experienced compelled the senate to appoint the popular general, Hamilcar, as his colleague; and it was chiefly by the skill and energy of the latter that the revolt was at length completely suppressed, after it had lasted three years and four months. Hamilcar, with the army under his command, then crossed over into Spain, which he intended to constitute the basis of his future operations against the Romans. To this step he was now prompted, not only in revenge for the loss of Sicily, but also for the cession of Sardinia, which the Romans had ungenerously extorted from the Carthaginians during the war in Africa. With this view he carried his arms into the heart of the country, subdued a considerable part of it, and founded a great city, which some suppose to have been Barcelona, and others New Carthage. At the same time he is said to have acquired vast treasures, not only by levying contributions on the inhabitants, but also by working the rich silver mines for which Spain was at that time celebrated. His object in this was to accumulate the sinews of war, with a view to his long-cherished designs against Rome; and there is no doubt that the same resources were afterwards industriously turned to account by his son Hannibal. It appears that Hamilcar himself contemplated crossing the Alps, when he was slain in a battle against the Vettones, b.c. 229, leaving three sons, Hannibal, Hasdrubal, and Mago, all of whom bore a distinguished part in the second Punic war.—G. BL.
HAMILTON, the name of one of the most illustrious Scottish noble families, the head of which is premier peer of Scotland, and nearest heir to the crown after the present royal house. The first mention of the name in Scottish records occurs in 1272, but it was Sir James Hamilton, the sixth baron of Cadyow, created Lord Hamilton in 1445, who gained for his house a position in the foremost rank of the nobles of the land. He appears to have been a man of great prudence and sagacity, and his well-timed desertion of the earl of Douglas in the memorable struggle between that formidable baron and James II. in 1454, contributed greatly to the overthrow of the Douglases, and was rewarded with liberal grants from their forfeited possessions. On the downfall of the Boyds in 1469 Lord Hamilton rose upon their ruin; and in 1474 the princess Mary, eldest daughter of James II., who had married Thomas Boyd, earl of Arran, and had accompanied him in his exile, was recalled from the continent by her brother, James III., compelled to submit to a divorce, and remarried to Lord Hamilton, who must then have approached his grand climacteric, while the age of the princess could not have exceeded twenty-four. The descendants of Lord Hamilton by this marriage became the nearest heirs to the Scottish crown. The earldom of Arran, forfeited by Thomas Boyd, was conferred by James IV. in 1503 on James, second Lord Hamilton, as a reward for his success in negotiating a marriage between the Scottish king and Margaret, daughter of Henry VII. of England. He was subsequently appointed lord high-admiral of Scotland, and obtained the command of the expedition sent by James in 1513 to the assistance of the king of France. But, owing to his incapacity and disobedience of orders, the expedition terminated in a disgraceful failure. He appears to have been afraid to return to Scotland during the lifetime of James; but, after the death of his sovereign at Flodden, he made an unsuccessful attempt to grasp the regency. His conduct during the troubled minority of James, was exceedingly turbulent, unpatriotic, and fickle. When the regent Albany returned to France in 1517, Arran, in consequence of his high birth and great feudal influence, was appointed lieutenant-general of the kingdom, warden of the marches, and one of the lords of regency; but the inferiority of his talents and the fickleness of his character rendered him totally unfit for these high offices. He was for some time bitterly at feud with the earl of Angus, and the violence and bloodshed on both sides reduced the country to a state of almost total disorganization. In 1520 the famous skirmish called "Clear the Causeway," for which Arran and his son were mainly to blame, was fought between these two fierce factions in the streets of Edinburgh, and terminated in the total defeat of the partisans of Arran. The earl and his illegitimate son, Hamilton of Finnart, were in such peril that they were fain to make their escape, mounted on a coal horse from which they threw the load. A few years later, Arran became reconciled to his former rival Angus, and, in the interest of the Douglases, fought the battle of Linlithgow in 1526. He died early in 1529.
John Hamilton, the last Roman catholic archbishop of St. Andrews, was a natural son of the first earl of Arran. He was appointed in succession abbot of Paisley, privy seal, high treasurer, and primate of Scotland. He was an able but ambitious and intriguing man, and had great influence over his brother the regent. He was the soul of Queen Mary's party during her confinement in Lochleven, and was deep in the intrigues for her restoration to the throne. He was taken prisoner when Dumbarton castle was captured in 1571, and was hanged at Stirling as an accomplice in the murder of Regent Moray.
Another natural son of the earl was Sir James Hamilton of Finnart, a very able and accomplished, but fierce, turbulent, and bloodthirsty man. He was a skilful architect, and built Craignethan and other baronial and royal castles. He was a favourite councillor and friend of James V.; but ultimately was tried, convicted, and executed for treason, 16th August, 1540.
James Hamilton, second earl of Arran, son of James first earl, on the death of James V. in 1542 was unanimously chosen regent of Scotland to the exclusion of Cardinal Beaton, who alleged that he had been appointed to this high office by the will of the late king. The earl was of a timid and vacillating character, however, penurious in his habits, and altogether destitute of the talent and energy requisite for the government of the country at that crisis of its affairs. He was at first favourable to an alliance with England, and to the marriage of the infant-queen Mary to Prince Edward, and was assiduously courted by Henry, who
