Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/804

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AQUINAS.
690
ARABESQUE.

boasted of by his Order as their great ornament, excited the "jealousy of the Franciscans against him. In the beginning of the Fourteenth Cen- tury, Duns Scotus (q.v.), a Franciscan, came forward as the dechired opponent of the doc- trines of Aquinas, and founded the philosophieo- theological scliool of the Seotists, to wlioni the Thomists, mostly Dominieaiis, stood opposed. The Thomists leaned in philosophy to nominal- ism (q.v.), although they held the abstract form to be the essence of things; they followed the doctrines of Augustine as to grace, and disputed the doctrine of the immaculate conception of the Virgin. The Seotists, again, inclined to realism and to the views of the'Semipelagians, and up- held the immaculate conception.

Pope Leo XIII. in his Encyclical, ".Eterni patris" (August 4, 1879), declared that the phi- losophy and theology of Aquinas was the proper basis for all such teaching in Catholic Christen- dom. His life was spent in such great toil, not only as an author but as a teacher and as the trusted servant of his order and the adviser of popes, that it was comparatively brief. Yet its literary product was enormous. His mind was remarkablv clear, so that although he was the very embodiment of the scholastic method of endless analysis and questionings, he wrote in a way intelligible and interesting to the modern reader. One of his great services is the promi- nence he gives to Aristotle, upon whose works he wrote elaborate commentaries. Plato also was his master, and to the fathers he yielded loyal submission. He also was a profound Bible student, as he showed in his Catena Atirea, which is an exhaustive theological interpretation of the Gospels. In fact, take him all in all, there is no theologian of the past who deserves and rewards study more than he, and the Roman Church does well in accepting him as her great master in theology.

His works, all written in Latin, were first printed bv Pope Pius V. (Eome, 1570-71, 17 vols., folio; mod. ed., Paris, 1871-80, 34 vols., 8vo. ; probablv final form, sanctioned by Pope Leo XIII., Rome, 1882). The greatest of the works, the .S'»»ima Theolorii<e, was reprinted in eight volumes (Paris, ISfiO) ; German trans- lation, 12 volumes (Ratisbon, 1886-92). The Summa de Vcritate Caiholicw Fidei has been published in French, with Latin text (Paris, 1854). Modern English translations of parts of all the works have been published as fol- lows: Catena Aurea (8 volumes, London, 1841-45) : On the liulers and Members of Chris- tian States, from De Regimine Prindinim (Lon- don, 1860); Homilies upon the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays of the Christian Year, and the Festival Jlomilies (London, 1873) ; On the Tiro Commandments of Charity and the Ten Commandments of the Law (London, 1880) ; Xotes on the Angels (London, 1888) ; Maxims and Prayers and the Little Office (London, 1800) ; On the Sacrament (Lon- don, 1890^ ; A'luinas Ethicus, or the Moral Teachinfjs of Saint Thomas (London, 1892) ; The Lord's Prayer, made up of parts of the Summa, in condensed transhation (London, 1892). For interpretation of his work in gen- eral, consult: L. Schtitz, Lexicon. Sammlung, Vebersetzung und Erkliirung der in s.ammtlichen Vi'erken des heilifirn Thomas von .Aquinas vor- kommenden l unstausdriicK-c und tcisscnschafl- lichen AussprUche (Paderborn, 1895). For hia biographv, consult: In English, R. B. Vaughan (London," 1893), Pius Cavanagh (1890); in German, C. Werner (Regensburg, 1858-59), J. Tansen (Kevelaer, 1898); in Dutch, H. J. Schaepman (Utrecht, 1898).

AQ'UITA'NIA. The Latin name of a part of Gaul, originally including the country be- tween the Pyrenees and the Garonne, peopled by Iberian tribes. Augustus, when he divided Gaul into four provinces, added to Aquitania the country lying between the rivers Garonne and Loire. Shortly before the extinction of the Roman Empire, Aquitania passed into the hands of the West Goths. In 507 it was conquered by Clovis, King of the Franks, and during the Jlerovingian dynasty became an indejiendent duchy. Though subjugated by Charlemagne, the Duchy again claimed independence under the weak monarchs of the Carlovingian dynasty. In 1137 Aquitania (or Aquitaine, a name later supplanted by the name (luienne) was united to the crown of France by the marriage of Louis A'll. with Eleanor, heiress of Aquitania. In 1154 it was united with England, as the result of the marriage (11.52) of Henry Plantagenet with Eleanor, whom Louis had divorced, and a long series of disputes took place between Eng- land and France respecting Aquitania, which was at length ultimately united to the crown of France by Charles VII. in 1451.

ARA, ii'ra. or' Arar. (local native name). The great black cockatoo {Microgtossa ater- rima) of the Malayan Islands and the north coast of Australia. It is the largest knouTi parrot, reaching a length of about thirty inches, and when fully adult is wholly black, except the bare, bright-red cheeks. Its beak is of ex- traordinary thickness and power, enabling it to live largely on the stone-hard, oily fruit of the kanari tree (Canarium commune) : it al-i eats palm '"cabbage," and hence has been callfi the great palm cockatoo. It lives in the forest. in pairs rather than in flocks, is shy. and utters a low, double whistle. It is rarely kept in captivity. See Cockatoo, and plate of Cocka- toos AND Macaws.

ARABAH, a'ra-b;i. The valley of the Dead Sea, as far as the Gulf of Akabah (Heb. — Deut. i. 1). This name is also applied to the valley of the Lake of Galilee (Deut. iii. 17), and many therefore originally have been used to designate the entire length of the depression. At present El-Arabah is confined to the southern part, while the Jordan Valley is called El Ghor. See El- Aabah.

AR'ABA'TA (native South American name). The straw-colored howler. See Howler.

ARABESQUE, ar'a-besk' (Fr.). A term which means merely after the Arabian manner; and, so far as etymology is concerned, might therefore be general in its application. In practice, however, it is used to characterize any kind of carved or painted decoration, especially in conjunction with architecture, which is not in close imitation of natural forms, either animal or vegetable, but admits of schematic, heraldic, and fantastic devices. It was originally used of the purely geometric ornamentation of Mohannnedan architecture, but is equally applicable to the decorative work of the Alexandrian Greeks, and especially that of the