was translated to the archbishopric of Turin. He died in 1520. His principal works are translations into French of the writings of Eusebius, Thucydides, Appian, Diodorus, &c.; a history entitled "Grand Monarchie de France," published in 1519, and translated by Sleidan into Latin, curious for the constitutional view the writer takes of the relation between the king and parliament; and an "Account of the Reign of Louis XII." Seyssel is said to have been the first who maintained that the Salic law influenced the succession to the crown of France.—W. J. P.
SFORZA: a house famous in mediæval history, which gave a line of dukes to Milan, and produced sundry remarkable personages. Note the following:—Jacopo or Giacomuzzo Attendolo, received the surname of Sforza, expressive of his prowess, founded the family of that name, and was styled the Great; captain of Condottieri; born in humble circumstances (his father being a peasant, or perhaps a shoemaker) at Cotignola in Romagna, 28th May, 1369; drowned whilst on a military expedition in fording the river Aterno (since called Pescara), 3rd January, 1424. He first enlisted as a common soldier in the ranks, but distinguishing himself by bravery, mounted step by step, and at length had seven thousand men at his beck. His sword was at the command of the highest bidder, and was wielded in the battles of Visconti, lord of Milan; of Florence and Ferrara; and of Giovanna II., queen of Naples; whilst the services he rendered to the Roman power obtained for him the gift of his native Cotignola in fief, and the title of count. He was also appointed gonfalonier to the Holy See. Jacopo Sforza was four times married, and had a numerous family of children.—Francesco Sforza, first duke of Milan, son of Jacopo and his first wife, but born out of wedlock; born 25th July, 1401; died March, 1466. Trained by his father in the art of war, dignified by Giovanna II. with the title of count, and endowed by her with the paternal estates, Francesco proved himself a great captain and a dexterous politician. Naples, Milan, and Venice allied with Florence, successively hired his services; and he seized the moment when his conquests had overawed Filippo Maria Visconti, duke of Milan, to obtain in marriage the hand of his daughter Bianca, who brought him the city and territory of Cremona. Visconti dead, Sforza aimed at the dukedom; other claimants arose; whilst the Milanese declared themselves for a republic. His sword and his talents unscrupulously employed made Sforza master of the occasion; and having outwitted both Venice and Milan, he was proclaimed duke in 1450. Many private virtues are ascribed to him, and to his munificence Milan owes various valuable public works and edifices. He was a patron of letters, and wisely discouraged astrologers, whom his father-in-law and predecessor had encouraged.—Galeazzo Maria Sforza, second duke, eldest son of Francesco; born 14th January, 1444; stabbed either in church or on his way thither, December, 1476. A monster of cruelty and licentiousness, he was at last cut off by a conspiracy. His horoscope, a curious and elaborate document, was preserved in Milan.—Giovanni Galeazzo Sforza, third duke, son of Galeazzo Maria; born about 1470; died, not without suspicion of poison, at Pavia, 1494. He nominally succeeded to the dukedom on his father's death, but the government was vested first in his mother. Bona of Savoy; secondly in his uncle, Lodovico, who deprived Bona of the regency. Giovanni Galeazzo was a man of weak capacity.—Lodovico Sforza, fourth duke, surnamed il Moro (the Moor), on account of his dark complexion, son of Francesco, first duke, and uncle of Giovanni Galeazzo, whose premature death made way for Lodovico to mount the throne. Despite the prior claim of Francesco, son of Giovanni Galeazzo, the emperor confirmed Lodovico in the dukedom; but France, Rome, and Venice leagued against him, and he was forced in 1499 to take refuge in Germany. In 1500 he regained his dominions, only to lose them again in the same year: finally, as a state prisoner of France, he died in the castle of Loches about 1509. Lodovico opened a theatre, established a musical academy, and otherwise embellished his city of Milan. Being himself a diligent student, he encouraged learning, and drew around him a concourse of eminent scholars and artists, amongst whom was Leonardo da Vinci.—Massimiliano Sforza, fifth duke, son of Lodovico, ascended the throne in 1512; after losing the battle of Marignano, ceded Milan to France in consideration of an annual revenue; and died in Paris, 1530.—Francesco, sixth and last Duke Sforza, brother of Massimiliano; died without issue, 1505. Besides the founder of the House of Sforza and the six dukes, his descendants, the following members of the family deserve to be recorded:—Alessandro Sforza, son of Jacopo Attendolo, lord of Pesaro, and father of that Battista, duchess of Urbino, whose learning and accomplishments are recorded in the Amadig of Bernardo Tasso.—Bosio Sforza, half brother of Alessandro, first count of Santa Fiora and governor of Orvieto.—Carlo Sforza, half brother of Bosio, general of the Augustine order, and archbishop of Milan.—Ascanio Maria Sforza, son of Duke Francesco I., bishop of Pavia and Cremona, and cardinal.—Ippolita Sforza, sister of Ascanio; married Alfonso II., king of Naples, and was noted for learning—Caterina Sforza, illegitimate daughter of Duke Galeazzo Maria; married first a prince of Forlì, and secondly Giovanni de' Medici, father of Cosimo, styled the Great. Her first husband having been murdered in a revolt, she obtained entrance by stratagem into her faithful fortress of Rimini, and there with masculine intrepidity defied her enemies. In after life, however, a siege sustained by her in Forlì ended in her discomfiture.—C. G. R.
SGRAVESANDE, William Jacob, a Dutch philosopher and mathematician, was born at Bois-le-Duc in 1688. After studying law at Leyden, he practised for some time as a barrister at the Hague, and subsequently became professor of mathematics and astronomy in the university of Leyden. He was the first who publicly taught the Newtonian philosophy on the continent. He wrote a considerable number of scientific and philosophic works, and died in 1742.
SHADWELL, Thomas, an English dramatist, and the hero of Dryden's celebrated satire, MacFlecknoe, was born of a good family at Santon hall, Norfolk, in 1640. Educated at Caius college, Cambridge, he entered the Middle temple for the study of the law, which he neglected for poetry and other light literature. His address to the prince of Orange on landing, and one to Queen Mary, are specimens of his heroic verse, which fully justify Dryden's severe satire. His plays, which are seventeen in number, are better than his poems. The characters are really dramatic, and the manners of the age are well drawn. His imitation of Ben Jonson and his coarseness have excited the remarks of later critics. As a whig he supported the duke of Monmouth and Lord Shaftesbury, and was rewarded after the Revolution with the offices of laureate and historiographer, to the great disgust of Dryden. His death, which took place on the 19th November, 1692, is said to have been hastened by an overdose of opium, to the use of which he was addicted, taking the precaution, according to Dr. Brady, always to say his prayers before he took his dose.—R. H.
SHAFEI, Mohammed Ibn Idris Al, born in 767 at Gazah in Syria, founded one of the four orthodox Mahometan sects. He was educated at Mecca; and being gifted with a memory of unusual power, he made great attainments in jurisprudence, poetry, and theology. His principal work is on the "Ossul," or fundamental principles of Islam. He died in Egypt in 819.
SHAFTESBURY, Anthony Ashley Cooper, first earl of, Lord-chancellor of England, was born on the 23rd July, 1621, at Wimborne St. Giles' in Dorsetshire. His father was a Hampshire baronet. Sir John Cooper of Rockborne; and his mother was the daughter of Sir Anthony Ashley, clerk of the council during the reign of Elizabeth and James, and who is said to have introduced the cultivation of the cabbage into this country from Holland. The young Cooper was educated by Guerden, a noted puritan and having lost both his parents in 1628, he was sent, the inheritor of large estates, to Exeter college, Oxford, in 1637. At the university he made considerable progress in his studies. Lavish and conciliatory, he already began to display some skill in forming parties and in managing men. Physically feeble, he put himself at the head of the athletes of his college, and manœuvred them to victory in more than one academic enterprise requiring bodily vigour and courage for its achievement. In 1637 he was entered at Lincoln's inn, but without any intention of practising as a barrister. By marrying a daughter of Lord-keeper Coventry in 1639, he formed a connection with the court party. In March, 1640, he was elected one of the members for Tewkesbury, and sat in the Short parliament of that year; but even the researches of his diligent biographer, Mr. Christie, have failed to discover the character of his parliamentary policy, if he had one. In the same year he was elected member for Downton in the Long parliament, but the return was a double one. He petitioned, and although the seat seems to have been clearly his, yet no report was made to the house; and it was not until the second restoration of the Rump in 1659, nineteen years after-
