ABBAS'SIDES, The (Ar. al-‘Abbasiyjah). Caliphs of Bagdad, and the most celebrated Moslem dynasty, although their rule never extended over the whole of Islam, as had that of the Ommiads (q.v.). It was never acknowledged in Spain and only nominally in Africa outside of Egypt. Theirs was, however, the true caliphate, notwithstanding the rival claims of Cordova. The Abbassides claimed descent from Abbas, the uncle and adviser of Mohammed (566-652 A.D.). The rivalry between the family of Abbas and the Ommiads broke out into open war. In 747 Ibrahim, the head of the Abbasside faction, was overthrown by the Caliph Merwan and put to death, but three years later his brother, Abu al-Abbas, who had proclaimed himself rightful Caliph, defeated Merwan in a great battle near the river Zab and established his line firmly on the throne. In Spain, however, Abd al-Rahman, one of the Ommiads, who had escaped from the general destruction of his house, succeeded in establishing the great independent emirate, or kingdom (subsequently caliphate) of Cordova. It was long before the rulers of Spain assumed the title of Caliph. The successor of Abu al-Abbas, Almansur, made Bagdad the capital of his empire. Under his followers the empire enjoyed comparative peace and attained to a splendid development. The caliphs became the patrons of literature, art, and learning, and their courts were the homes of the most extreme luxury. The caliphs Harun al-Rashid (786-809) and al-Mamun (813-833) were famous throughout the world for their wealth, their splendor, and their munificence. But the martial vigor of the Arabs was sapped by the influence of Persian luxury, and they gradually ceased to be relied upon for military service. In Africa and in the northeastern part of Persia, emirs seized the opportunity to declare themselves independent; in the west the Greek Empire showed a revival of energy; but the real danger came, as with the Roman Empire, from an alien soldiery. Mutasim (833-842) had formed a body-guard of Turks, and these in time seized upon the real powers of government. They assassinated Mutawakkil, the son of Mutasim, in 861, and in the following century forced the caliphs to delegate the chief powers of government to their commander. Gradually the empire of the Abassides became contracted, until it was finally narrowed down to Bagdad and the surrounding territory. In 1258 Hulaku Khan, the Mongol ruler of Persia, burned Bagdad and put the ruling Caliph to death. Deprived of all political power, the Abbassides found refuge with the Mameluke rulers of Egypt, who paid them respect as the spiritual heads of the Mohammedan world. The last of the Abbassides, Mutawakkil III., died in 1538 at Cairo, where he was living under the protection of the Turkish Sultan. Consult: Muir, The Caliphate (London, 1891); Syed Ameer Ali, A Short History of the Saracens (New York, 1899); and the more elaborate work, Weil, Geschichte der Chalifen (Mannheim and Stuttgart, 1846-62).
ABBATE, ab-bii'ta, or ABATI, a-ba'te, Nic-
COLO dkll' (1.512-71). An Italian painter, who was born at Modena and died at Fontaine-
bleau. He was an able and skillful artist
in fresco-painting, and was a follower both of
Raphael and Correggio : yet he rather blended the
two styles in one than imitated either separately.
His earlier works are to be seen at Modena, his
later ones at Bologna, among which is his
"Adoration of the Shepherds," considered his
finest ; but he is best known by the frescoes which
he executed for the palace of Fontainebleau,
from the designs of Primaticeio. His "Martyr-
dom of St. Peter and St. Paul" is in the Dresden
Gallery,
ABBAZIA, il'ba-tse'a. An Austrian health
resort, charmingly situated at the head of the
Gulf of Quarnero ( Adriatic Sea ) . nine miles west-
northwest of Fiume (Map: Austi-ia, D 4). Well
sheltered, Abbazia is a favorite summer and win-
ter resort, with a mean temperature of 50° F.
in winter and 77° F. in summer. It has a Kur-
haus, various bathing institutions, and the Carol
Promenade, built in 1896 at the expense of the
King of Rumania. The population is about
1200. mostly Croats.
ABBÉ, a'ba'. The French name for an abbot
( q.v. ) , but often used in the general sense of an
unbeneficed Roman Catholic , priest. By the
famous Concordat of Bologna between Pope Leo
X. and Francis I. ( August 18, 1510) . the French
king had the right to nominate upward of 200
ahbcs commendatairea, who, without having any
duty to perform, drew a considerable proportion
of the revenues of the convents. The hope of
obtaining one of those sinecures led multitudes
of young men, many of them of noble birth, to
enter the clerical career, who, however, seldom
went further than taking the inferior orders
(see Orders, Holy) ; and it became customary
to call all such aspirants abbes — jocularly, "abbes
of St. Hope." They formed a considerable and
influential class in society; and an abbe, distin-
guished by a short black or violet-colored frock,
and a peculiar style of wearing the hair, was
found as friend or ghostly adviser in almost
every family of consequence. "hen a candidate
obtained an abbey, he was enjoined to take holy
orders; but many procured dispensation, and
continued to draw the revenues as secular or lay-
abbots. In Italy the same class of unbeneficed
clergy are called abbate.
AB'BE, Cleveland. LL.D. (1838 — ). An American astronomer and meteorologist, born in New York City. He graduated in 1857 at the Free Academy (now the College of the City of New York) , and studied astronomy with F. Brünnow at Ann Arbor (1858-60) and with B. A. Gould at Cambridge (1800-04). From 1804 to 1806 he resided at the observatory at Pulkova, Russia, and from 1868 to 1873 was director of the Cincinnati Observatory, where he inaugurated a system of daily weather forecasts based upon simultaneous meteorological observations reported by telegraph. This led to the establishment of a similar system b}' the Government ; and in December, 1870, Professor Abbe was called to Washington to prepare the official weather predictions and storm warnings, and was appointed professor of meteorology in the Weather Bureau. To him is due the initiation in May. 1879. of the movement toward the introduction of the present system of standard time and hourly meridians. In January, 1873, he prepared the first official Monlhlij Weather lieinetc, which has continued under his editorship. He is professor of meteorology in Columbian University, Washington, lecturer on meteorology in Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He received the degree of LL.D. from the University of Michigan in 1887,
