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GILBERTINES GILBERTINES, an English religious order, so called from the founder, St. Gilbert of Sem- pringham (born in 1083, died Feb. 4, 1189). They were also called the " Order of Sempringham." Gilbert, who was by birth lord of Sempring- ham and Tirington, had become as a priest pas- tor of both places. He first built a convent near the church of St. Andrew for seven poor maidens, which became so flourishing that he was called upon to establish several others in various parts of the kingdom. Having in vain endeavored to unite these houses to the order of Oiteaux, Gilbert built a monastery of canons regular near each convent, gave to the canons the rule of St. Augustine, to the nuns that of St. Benedict, and placed the lay brethren who served them under the rule of Oiteaux. This order with its constitutions was approved by Eugenius III., and confirmed by his successors. It numbered at the founder's death 13 double convents, besides hospitals for the sick and ' asylums for widows, orphans, and the poor, with 800 monks and upward of 1,200 nuns. The Giibertines were confined to England. Sempringham afforded an asylum to Thomas a Becket during his quarrel with Henry II. At the suppression of monasteries under Henry VIII. the order possessed 21 houses and 11 ^ double convents. The Gilbertine rule is given* in full by Holstenius. See also Hurter, Ge- schichte des Papstes Innocenz III. und seiner Zeitgenossen. GILBERT ISLANDS, or Kingsmill Group, a clus- ter of coral islands in the Pacific, on both sides of the equator, between Ion. 172 and 174 30' E. ; pop. estimated at 60,000. The largest are Taputeouea or Drummond, and Tarawa or Cook islands, the former 30 m. long by about -J- or f m. wide, and the latter 20 m. long. Almost the only cultivated products are the cocoanut and pandanus, which form the sta- ples of food, and a species of taro (arum cordi- folium), highly prized by the natives. The breadfruit is found on the northern, though not on the southern islands. The climate is equable, and though warm is not very oppres- sive. The inhabitants resemble the Malays. The people are divided into three classes, chiefs, landholders, and slaves. There is no general authority recognized throughout the group, but there are several kings, one of whom rules over three of the islands, while others are scarcely respected in any. In some places the government is administered by pub- lic assemblies. The islanders are fond of war and prone to suicide, but they are kind to their children, generous, hospitable, and more considerate of women than is usual among savages. They are said to eat human flesh occasionally, but are not habitual cannibals. Their clothing is made of the leaves of the pandanus; their houses and canoes, though constructed of rude materials, are superior in size, strength, and elegance to any others in the Pacific. The islands have several good harbors, but are seldom visited by vessels. GILDING 807 GILBOA, a mountain in Palestine, between the river Jordan and the plain of Esdraelon, the scene of the defeat and death of Saul and Jonathan. The name Gilboa signifies a bub- bling fountain, and was probably taken from a large fountain at the northern base, called in Scripture the well of Harod, or the fountain of Jezreel. The ancient name is preserved in the village on the mountain, called now Jelbun, and in the time of Jerome Gelbus. The foun- tain is now known as Ain Jalud. The moun- tain rises not more than 600 ft. above the plain, but extends E. and W. about 10 m. Its sides are white and barren. Near the fountain of Jezreel was the ancient city of that name, and at this place the Israelites encamped before the battle ; while the Philistines pitched at Shunem (now Solam), 8 or 1Q m. north, upon the op- posite rising ground. The battle was fought, according to the common chronology, in the year 1055 B. 0. GILDAS, surnamed "the Wise," a British historian, born, according to some authorities, in 493, according to others in 511, died in 570 or 590. He was the son of Caw, a British prince who emigrated to Wales to avoid sub- jection to the Anglo-Saxons, and the Welsh bard Aneurin is supposed to have been the same person or his brother. (See ANEURIN.) His only complete work extant is a short Latin composition on British history, entitled De Calamitate, Excidio et Conquestu Britannia, in which he mourns over the ruin of his coun- try, and inveighs against the British kings and clergy. It was first published by Polydore Vergil in 1525, and has been often reprinted. The best edition is by Stevenson, under the care of the English historical society (London, 1838). Translations have been published by Habington (1638), and by Dr. Giles in " Bonn's Antiquarian Library" (1848). It is said by Wright that there is no independent authority for the existence of Gildas, or for the historical truth of the work attributed to him, which he regards as a forgery of the 7th century. GILDEMEISTER, Otto, a German writer, born in Bremen, March 13, 1823. He studied at the university of Bonn, and became in 1845 connected with and in 1850 editor-in-chief of the Weserzeitung. In 1852 he was chosen secretary of the Bremen senate, in 1857 sena- tor, in 1866 representative in the diet of the North German confederation, and in October, 1871, burgomaster. He has translated into German the complete works of Byron (6 vols., Berlin, 1864), and many plays of Shakespeare for Bodenstedt's complete edition ; and his version of Shakespeare's sonnets was published in 1871. GILDING, the covering of the surfaces of bodies with a thin coating of gold. This method of economizing the precious metal, and imparting to solid bodies the appearance of being wholly composed of it, was practised at very remote periods. The sacred books al- lude to it ; in Exod. xxvi. 29 there is a com-