Links to other EB articles: Links to articles residing in other EB volumes will be made available when the respective volumes are introduced online.
THE ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA
A DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES, LITERATURE AND GENERAL INFORMATION
ELEVENTH EDITION
VOLUME IX SLICE II
Ehud to Electroscope
Articles in This Slice
EHUD ELBERFELD EIBENSTOCK ELBEUF EICHBERG, JULIUS ELBING EICHENDORFF, JOSEPH, FREIHERR VON ELBOW EICHHORN, JOHANN GOTTFRIED ELBURZ EICHHORN, KARL FRIEDRICH ELCHE EICHSTÄTT ELCHINGEN EICHWALD, KARL EDUARD VON ELDAD BEN MAḤLI EIDER (river of Prussia) ELDER (ruler or officer) EIDER (duck) ELDER (shrubs and trees) EIFEL ELDON, JOHN SCOTT EIFFEL TOWER EL DORADO EILDON HILLS ELDUAYEN, JOSÉ DE EILENBURG ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE EINBECK ELEATIC SCHOOL EINDHOVEN ELECAMPANE EINHARD ELECTION (politics) EINHORN, DAVID ELECTION (English law choice)EHUD, in the Bible, a “judge” who delivered Israel from the Moabites (Judg. iii. 12-30). He was sent from Ephraim to bear tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who had crossed over the Jordan and seized the district around Jericho. Being, like the Benjamites, left-handed (cf. xx. 16), he was able to conceal a dagger and strike down the king before his intentions were suspected. He locked Eglon in his chamber and escaped. The men from Mt
EIBENSTOCK, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Saxony, near the Mulde, on the borders of Bohemia, 17 m. by rail S.S.E. of Zwickau. Pop. (1905) 7460. It is a principal seat of the tambour embroidery which was introduced in 1775 by Clara Angermann. It possesses chemical and tobacco manufactories, and tin and iron works. It has also a large cattle market. Eibenstock, together with Schwarzenberg, was acquired by purchase in 1533 by Saxony and was granted municipal rights in the following year.
EICHBERG, JULIUS (1824-1893), German musical composer, was born at Düsseldorf on the 13th of June 1824. When he was nineteen he entered the Brussels Conservatoire, where he took first prizes for violin-playing and composition. For eleven years he occupied the post of professor in the Conservatoire of Geneva. In 1857 he went to the United States, staying two years in New York and then proceeding to Boston, where he became director of the orchestra at the Boston Museum. In 1867 he founded the Boston Conservatory of Music. Eichberg published several educational works on music; and his four operettas, The Doctor of Alcantara, The Rose of Tyrol, The Two Cadis and A Night in Rome, were highly popular. He died in Boston on the 18th of January 1893.
EICHENDORFF, JOSEPH, FREIHERR VON (1788-1857), German poet and romance-writer, was born at Lubowitz, near Ratibor, in Silesia, on the 10th of March 1788. He studied law at Halle and Heidelberg from 1805 to 1808. After a visit to Paris he went to Vienna, where he resided until 1813, when he joined the Prussian army as a volunteer in the famous Lützow corps. When peace was concluded in 1815, he left the army, and in the following year he was appointed to a judicial office at Breslau. He subsequently held similar offices at Danzig, Königsberg and Berlin. Retiring from public service in 1844, he lived successively in Danzig, Vienna, Dresden and Berlin. He died at Neisse on the 26th of November 1857. Eichendorff was one of the most distinguished of the later members of the German romantic school. His genius was essentially lyrical. Thus he is most successful in his shorter romances and dramas, where constructive power is least called for. His first work, written in 1811, was a romance, Ahnung und Gegenwart (1815). This was followed at short intervals by several others, among which the foremost place is by general consent assigned to Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts (1826), which has often been reprinted. Of his dramas may be mentioned Ezzelin von Romano (1828); and Der letzte Held von Marienburg (1830), both tragedies; and a comedy, Die Freier (1833). He also translated several of Calderon’s religious dramas (Geistliche Schauspiele, 1846). It is, however, through his lyrics (Gedichte, first collected 1837) that Eichendorff is best known; he is the greatest lyric poet of the romantic movement. No one has given more beautiful expression than he to the poetry of a wandering life; often, again, his lyrics are exquisite word pictures interpreting the mystic meaning of the moods of nature, as in Nachts, or the old-time mystery which yet haunts the twilight forests and feudal castles of Germany, as in the dramatic lyric Waldesgespräch or Auf einer Burg. Their language is simple and musical, which makes them very suitable for singing, and they have been often set, notably by Schubert and Schumann.
In the later years of his life Eichendorff published several works on subjects in literary history and criticism such as Über die ethische und religiöse Bedeutung der neuen romantischen Poesie in Deutschland (1847), Der deutsche Roman des 18. Jahrhunderts in seinem Verhältniss zum Christenthum (1851), and Geschichte der poetischen Litteratur Deutschlands (1856), but the value of these works is impaired by the author’s reactionary standpoint. An edition of his collected works in six volumes, appeared at Leipzig in 1870.
Eichendorff’s Sämtliche Werke appeared in 6 vols., 1864 (reprinted 1869-1870); his Sämtliche poetische Werke in 4 vols. (1883). The latest edition is that edited by R. von Gottschall in 4 vols. (1901). A good selection edited by M. Kaoch will be found in vol. 145 of Kürschner’s Deutsche Nationalliteratur (1893). Eichendorff’s critical writings were collected in 1866 under the title Vermischte Schriften (5 vols.). Cp. H. von Eichendorff’s biographical introduction to the Sämtliche Werke; also H. Keiter, Joseph von Eichendorff (Cologne, 1887); H.A. Krüger, Der junge Eichendorff (Oppeln, 1898).
EICHHORN, JOHANN GOTTFRIED (1752-1827), German theologian, was born at Dörrenzimmern, in the principality of Hohenlohe-Oehringen, on the 16th of October 1752. He was educated at the state school in Weikersheim, where his father was superintendent, at the gymnasium at Heilbronn and at the university of Göttingen (1770-1774), studying under J.D. Michaelis. In 1774 he received the rectorship of the gymnasium at Ohrdruf, in the duchy of Gotha, and in the following year was made professor of Oriental languages at Jena. On the death of Michaelis in 1788 he was elected professor ordinarius at Göttingen, where he lectured not only on Oriental languages and on the exegesis of the Old and New Testaments, but also on political history. His health was shattered in 1825, but he continued his lectures until attacked by fever on the 14th of June 1827. He died on the 27th of that month. Eichhorn has been called “the founder of modern Old Testament criticism.” He first properly recognized its scope and problems, and began many of its most important discussions. “My greatest trouble,” he says in the preface to the second edition of his Einleitung, “I had to bestow on a hitherto unworked field—on the investigation of the inner nature of the Old Testament with the help of the Higher Criticism (not a new name to any humanist).” His investigations led him to the conclusion that “most of the writings of the Hebrews have passed through several hands.” He took for granted that all the so-called supernatural facts relating to the Old and New Testaments were explicable on natural principles. He sought to judge them from the standpoint of the ancient world, and to account for them by the superstitious beliefs which were then generally in vogue. He did not perceive in the biblical books any religious ideas of much importance for modern times; they interested him merely historically and for the light they cast upon antiquity. He regarded many books of the Old Testament as spurious, questioned the genuineness of 2 Peter and Jude, denied the Pauline authorship of Timothy and Titus, and suggested that the canonical gospels were based upon various translations and editions of a primary Aramaic gospel. He did not appreciate as sufficiently as David Strauss and the Tübingen critics the difficulties which a
His principal works were—Geschichte des Ostindischen Handels vor Mohammed (Gotha, 1775); Allgemeine Bibliothek der biblischen Literatur (10 vols., Leipzig, 1787-1801); Einleitung in das Alte Testament (3 vols., Leipzig, 1780-1783); Einleitung in das Neue Testament (1804-1812); Einleitung in die apokryphischen Bücher des Alten Testaments (Gött., 1795); Commentarius in apocalypsin Joannis (2 vols., Gött., 1791); Die Hebr. Propheten (3 vols., Gött., 1816-1819); Allgemeine Geschichte der Cultur und Literatur des neuern Europa (2 vols., Gött., 1796-1799); Literärgeschichte (1st vol., Gött., 1799, 2nd ed. 1813, 2nd vol. 1814); Geschichte der Literatur von ihrem Anfange bis auf die neuesten Zeiten (5 vols., Gött., 1805-1812); Übersicht der Französischen Revolution (2 vols., Gött., 1797); Weltgeschichte (3rd ed., 5 vols., Gött., 1819-1820); Geschichte der drei letzten Jahrhunderte (3rd ed., 6 vols., Hanover, 1817-1818); Urgeschichte des erlauchten Hauses der Welfen (Hanover, 1817).
See R.W. Mackay, The Tübingen School and its Antecedents (1863), pp. 103 ff.; Otto Pfleiderer, Development of Theology (1890), p. 209; T.K. Cheyne, Founders of Old Testament Criticism (1893), pp. 13 ff.
EICHHORN, KARL FRIEDRICH (1781-1854), German jurist, son of the preceding, was born at Jena on the 20th of November 1781. He entered the university of Göttingen in 1797. In 1805 he obtained the professorship of law at Frankfort-on-Oder, holding it till 1811, when he accepted the same chair at Berlin. On the call to arms in 1813 he became a captain of horse, and received at the end of the war the decoration of the Iron Cross. In 1817 he was offered the chair of law at Göttingen, and, preferring it to the Berlin professorship, taught there with great success till ill-health compelled him to resign in 1828. His successor in the Berlin chair having died in 1832, he again entered on its duties, but resigned two years afterwards. In 1832 he also received an appointment in the ministry of foreign affairs, which, with his labours on many state committees and his legal researches and writings, occupied him till his death at Cologne on the 4th of July 1854. Eichhorn is regarded as one of the principal authorities on German constitutional law. His chief work is Deutsche Staats- und Rechtsgeschichte (Göttingen, 1808-1823, 5th ed. 1843-1844). In company with Savigny and J.F.L. Göschen he founded the Zeitschrift für geschichtliche Rechtswissenschaft. He was the author besides of Einleitung in das deutsche Privatrecht mit Einschluss des Lehnrechts (Gött., 1823) and the Grundsätze des Kirchenrechts der Katholischen und der Evangelischen Religionspartei in Deutschland, 2 Bde. (ib., 1831-1833).
See Schulte, Karl Friedrich Eichhorn, sein Leben und Wirken (1884).
EICHSTÄTT, a town and episcopal see of Germany, in the kingdom of Bavaria, in the deep and romantic valley of the Altmühl, 35 m. S. of Nuremberg, on the railway to Ingolstadt and Munich. Pop. (1905) 7701. The town, with its numerous spires and remains of medieval fortifications, is very picturesque. It has an Evangelical and seven Roman Catholic churches, among the latter the cathedral of St Wilibald (first bishop of Eichstätt),—with the tomb of the saint and numerous pictures and relics,—the church of St Walpurgis, sister of Wilibald, whose remains rest in the choir, and the Capuchin church, a copy of the Holy Sepulchre. Of its secular buildings the most noticeable are the town hall and the Leuchtenberg palace, once the residence of the prince bishops and later of the dukes of Leuchtenberg (now occupied by the court of justice of the district), with beautiful grounds. The Wilibaldsburg, built on a neighbouring hill in the 14th century by Bishop Bertold of Hohenzollern, was long the residence of the prince bishops of Eichstätt, and now contains an historical museum. There are an episcopal lyceum, a clerical seminary, a classical and a modern school, and numerous religious houses. The industries of the town include bootmaking, brewing and the production of lithographic stones.
Eichstätt (Lat. Aureatum or Rubilocus) was originally a Roman station which, after the foundation of the bishopric by Boniface in 745, developed into a considerable town, which was surrounded with walls in 908. The bishops of Eichstätt were princes of the Empire, subject to the spiritual jurisdiction of the archbishops of Mainz, and ruled over considerable territories in the Circle of Franconia. In 1802 the see was secularized and incorporated in Bavaria. In 1817 it was given, with the duchy of Leuchtenberg, as a mediatized domain under the Bavarian crown, by the king of Bavaria to his son-in-law Eugène de Beauharnais, ex-viceroy of Italy, henceforth styled duke of Leuchtenberg. In 1855 it reverted to the Bavarian crown.
EICHWALD, KARL EDUARD VON (1795-1876), Russian geologist and physician, was born at Mitau in Courland on the 4th of July 1795. He became doctor of medicine and professor of zoology in Kazañ in 1823; four years later professor of zoology and comparative anatomy at Vilna; in 1838 professor of zoology, mineralogy and medicine at St Petersburg; and finally professor of palaeontology in the institute of mines in that city. He travelled much in the Russian empire, and was a keen observer of its natural history and geology. He died at St Petersburg on the 10th of November 1876. His published works include Reise auf dem Caspischen Meere und in den Caucasus, 2 vols. (Stuttgart and Tübingen, 1834-1838); Die Urwelt Russlands (St Petersburg, 1840-1845); Lethaea Rossica, ou paléontologie de la Russie, 3 vols. (Stuttgart, 1852-1868), with Atlases.
EIDER, a river of Prussia, in the province of Schleswig-Holstein. It rises to the south of Kiel, in Lake Redder, flows first north, then west (with wide-sweeping curves), and after a course of 117 m. enters the North Sea at Tönning. It is navigable up to Rendsburg, and is embanked through the marshes across which it runs in its lower course. Since the reign of Charlemagne, the Eider (originally Ägyr Dör—Neptune’s gate) was known as Romani terminus imperii and was recognized as the boundary of the Empire in 1027 by the emperor Conrad II., the founder of the Salian dynasty. In the controversy arising out of the Schleswig-Holstein Question, which culminated in the war of Austria and Prussia against Denmark in 1864, the Eider gave its name to the “Eider Danes,” the intransigeant Danish party which maintained that Schleswig (Sonderjylland, South Jutland) was by nature and historical tradition an integral part of Denmark. The Eider Canal (Eider-Kanal), which was constructed between 1777 and 1784, leaves the Eider at the point where the river turns to the west and enters the Bay of Kiel at Holtenau. It was hampered by six sluices, but was used annually by some 4000 vessels, and until its conversion in 1887-1895 into the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal afforded the only direct connexion between the North Sea and the Baltic.
EIDER (Icelandic, Ædur), a large marine duck, the Somateria mollissima of ornithologists, famous for its down, which, from its extreme lightness and elasticity, is in great request for filling bed-coverlets. This bird generally frequents low rocky islets near the coast, and in Iceland and Norway has long been afforded every encouragement and protection, a fine being inflicted for killing it during the
EIFEL, a district of Germany, in the Prussian Rhine Province, between the Rhine, the Moselle and the frontier of the grand duchy of Luxemburg. It is a hilly region, most elevated in the eastern part (Hohe Eifel), where there are several points from 2000 up to 2410 ft. above sea-level. In the west is the Schneifels or Schnee-Eifel; and the southern part, where the most picturesque scenery and chief geological interest is found, is called the Vorder Eifel.
The Eifel is an ancient massif of folded Devonian rocks upon the margins of which, near Hillesheim and towards Bitburg and Trier, rest unconformably the nearly undisturbed sandstones, marls and limestones of the Trias. On the southern border, at Wittlich, the terrestrial deposits of the Permian Rothliegende are also met with. The slates and sandstones of the Lower Devonian form by far the greater part of the region; but folded amongst these, in a series of troughs running from south-west to north-east lie the fossiliferous limestones of the Middle Devonian, and occasionally, as for example near Büdesheim, a few small patches of the Upper Devonian. Upon the ancient floor of folded Devonian strata stand numerous small volcanic cones, many of which, though long extinct, are still very perfect in form. The precise age of the eruptions is uncertain. The only sign of any remaining volcanic activity is the emission in many places of carbon dioxide and of heated waters. There is no historic or legendary record of any eruption, but nevertheless the eruptions must have continued to a very recent geological period. The lavas of Papenkaule are clearly posterior to the excavation of the valley of the Kyll, and an outflow of basalt has forced the Uess to seek a new course. The volcanic rocks occur both as tuffs and as lava-flows. They are chiefly leucite and nepheline rocks, such as leucitite, leucitophyre and nephelinite, but basalt and trachyte also occur. The leucite lavas of Niedermendig contain haüyne in abundance. The most extensive and continuous area of volcanic rocks is that surrounding the Laacher See and extending eastwards to Neuwied and Coblenz and even beyond the Rhine.
The numerous so-called crater-lakes or maare of the Eifel present several features of interest. They do not, as a rule, lie in true craters at the summit of volcanic cones, but rather in hollows which have been formed by explosions. The most remarkable group is that of Daun, where the three depressions of Gemünd, Weinfeld and Schalkenmehren have been hollowed out in the Lower Devonian strata. The first of these shows no sign of either lavas or scoriae, but volcanic rocks occur on the margins of the other two. The two largest lakes in the Eifel region, however, are the Laacher See in the hills west of Andernach on the Rhine, and the Pulvermaar S.E. of the Daun group, with its shores of peculiar volcanic sand, which also appears in its waters as a black powder (pulver).
EIFFEL TOWER. Erected for the exposition of 1889, the Eiffel Tower, in the Champ de Mars, Paris, is by far the highest artificial structure in the world, and its height of 300 metres (984 ft.) surpasses that of the obelisk at Washington by 429 ft., and that of St Paul’s cathedral by 580 ft. Its framework is composed essentially of four uprights, which rise from the corners of a square measuring 100 metres on the side; thus the area it covers at its base is nearly 2½ acres. These uprights are supported on huge piers of masonry and concrete, the foundations for which were carried down, by the aid of iron caissons and compressed air, to a depth of about 15 metres on the side next the Seine, and about 9 metres on the other side. At first they curve upwards at an angle of 54°; then they gradually become straighter, until they unite in a single shaft rather more than half-way up. The first platform, at a height of 57 metres, has an area of 5860 sq. yds., and is reached either by staircases or lifts. The next, accessible by lifts only, is 115 metres up, and has an area of 32 sq. yds; while the third, at 276, supports a pavilion capable of holding 800 persons. Nearly 25 metres higher up still is the lantern, with a gallery 5 metres in diameter. The work of building this structure, which is mainly composed of iron lattice-work, was begun on the 28th of January 1887, and the full height was reached on the 13th of March 1889. Besides being one of the sights of
EILDON HILLS, a group of three conical hills, of volcanic origin, in Roxburghshire, Scotland, 1 m. S. by E. of Melrose, about equidistant from Melrose and St Boswells stations on the North British railway. They were once known as Eldune—the Eldunum of Simeon of Durham (fl. 1130)—probably derived from the Gaelic aill, “rock,” and dun, “hill”; but the name is also said to be a corruption of the Cymric moeldun, “bald hill.” The northern peak is 1327 ft. high, the central 1385 ft. and the southern 1216 ft. Whether or not the Roman station of Trimontium was situated here is matter of controversy. According to General William Roy (1726-1790) Trimontium—so called, according to this theory, from the triple Eildon heights—was Old Melrose; other authorities incline to place the station on the northern shore of the Solway Firth. The Eildons have been the subject of much legendary lore. Michael Scot (1175-1234), acting as a confederate of the Evil One (so the fable runs) cleft Eildon Hill, then a single cone, into the three existing peaks. Another legend states that Arthur and his knights sleep in a vault beneath the Eildons. A third legend centres in Thomas of Erceldoune. The Eildon Tree Stone, a large moss-covered boulder, lying on the high road as it bends towards the west within 2 m. of Melrose, marks the spot where the Fairy Queen led him into her realms in the heart of the hills. Other places associated with this legend may still be identified. Huntly Banks, where “true Thomas” lay and watched the queen’s approach, is half a mile west of the Eildon Tree Stone, and on the west side of the hills is Bogle Burn, a streamlet that feeds the Tweed and probably derives its name from his ghostly visitor. Here, too, is Rhymer’s glen, although the name was invented by Sir Walter Scott, who added the dell to his Abbotsford estate. Bowden, to the south of the hills, was the birthplace of the poets Thomas Aird (1802-1876) and James Thomson, and its parish church contains the burial-place of the dukes of Roxburghe. Eildon Hall is a seat of the duke of Buccleuch.
EILENBURG, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Saxony, on an island formed by the Mulde, 31 m. E. from Halle, at the junction of the railways Halle-Cottbus and Leipzig-Eilenburg. Pop. (1905) 15,145. There are three churches, two Evangelical and one Roman Catholic. The industries of the town include the manufacture of chemicals, cloth, quilting, calico, cigars and agricultural implements, bleaching, dyeing, basket-making, carriage-building and trade in cattle. In the neighbourhood is the iron foundry of Erwinhof. Opposite the town, on the steep left bank of the Mulde, is the castle from which it derives its name, the original seat of the noble family of Eulenburg. This castle (Ilburg) is mentioned in records of the reigns of Henry the Fowler as an important outpost against the Sorbs and Wends. The town itself, originally called Mildenau, is of great antiquity. It is first mentioned as a town in 981, when it belonged to the house of Wettin and was the chief town of the East Mark. In 1386 it was incorporated in the margraviate of Meissen. In 1815 it passed to Prussia.
See Gundermann, Chronik der Stadt Eilenburg (Eilenburg, 1879).
EINBECK, or Eimbeck, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Hanover, on the Ilm, 50 m. by rail S. of Hanover. Pop. (1905) 8709. It is an old-fashioned town with many quaint wooden houses, notable among them the “Northeimhaus,” a beautiful specimen of medieval architecture. There are several churches, among them the Alexanderkirche, containing the tombs of the princes of Grubenhagen, and a synagogue. The schools include a Realgymnasium (i.e. predominantly for “modern” subjects), technical schools for the advanced study of machine-making, for weaving and for the textile industries, a preparatory training-college and a police school. The industries include brewing, weaving and the manufacture of cloth, carpets, tobacco, sugar, leather-grease, toys and roofing-felt.
Einbeck grew up originally round the monastery of St Alexander (founded 1080), famous for its relic of the True Blood. It is first recorded as a town in 1274, and in the 14th century was the seat of the princes of Grubenhagen, a branch of the ducal house of Brunswick. The town subsequently joined the Hanseatic League. In the 15th century it became famous for its beer (“Eimbecker,” whence the familiar “Bock”). In 1540 the Reformation was introduced by Duke Philip of Brunswick-Saltzderhelden (d. 1551), with the death of whose son Philip II. (1596) the Grubenhagen line became extinct. In 1626, during the Thirty Years’ War, Einbeck was taken by Pappenheim and in October 1641 by Piccolomini. In 1643 it was evacuated by the Imperialists. In 1761 its walls were razed by the French.
See H.L. Harland, Gesch. der Stadt Einbeck, 2 Bde. (Einbeck, 1854-1859; abridgment, ib. 1881).
EINDHOVEN, a town in the province of North Brabant, Holland, and a railway junction 8 m. by rail W. by S. of Helmond. Pop. (1900) 4730. Like Tilburg and Helmond it has developed in modern times into a flourishing industrial centre, having linen, woollen, cotton, tobacco and cigar, matches, &c., factories and several breweries.
EINHARD (c. 770-840), the friend and biographer of Charlemagne; he is also called Einhartus, Ainhardus or Heinhardus, in some of the early manuscripts. About the 10th century the name was altered into Agenardus, and then to Eginhardus, or Eginhartus, but, although these variations were largely used in the English and French languages, the form Einhardus, or Einhartus, is unquestionably the right one.
According to the statement of Walafrid Strabo, Einhard was born in the district which is watered by the river Main, and his birth has been fixed at about 770. His parents were of noble birth, and were probably named Einhart and Engilfrit; and their son was educated in the monastery of Fulda, where he was certainly residing in 788 and in 791. Owing to his intelligence and ability he was transferred, not later than 796, from Fulda to the palace of Charlemagne by abbot Baugulf; and he soon became very intimate with the king and his family, and undertook various important duties, one writer calling him domesticus palatii regalis. He was a member of the group of scholars who gathered around Charlemagne and was entrusted with the charge of the public buildings, receiving, according to a fashion then prevalent, the scriptural name of Bezaleel (Exodus xxxi. 2 and xxxv. 30-35) owing to his artistic skill. It has been supposed that he was responsible for the erection of the basilica at Aix-la-Chapelle, where he resided with the emperor, and the other buildings mentioned in chapter xvii. of his Vita Karoli Magni, but there is no express statement to this effect. In 806 Charlemagne sent him to Rome to obtain the signature of Pope Leo III. to a will which he had made concerning the division of his empire; and it was possibly owing to Einhard’s
During the quarrels which took place between Louis I. and his sons, in consequence of the emperor’s second marriage, Einhard’s efforts were directed to making peace, but after a time he grew tired of the troubles and intrigues of court life. In 818 he had given his estate at Michelstadt to the abbey of Lorsch, but he retained Mulinheim, where about 827 he founded an abbey and erected a church, to which he transported some relics of St Peter and St Marcellinus, which he had procured from Rome. To Mulinheim, which was afterwards called Seligenstadt, he finally retired in 830. His wife, who had been his constant helper, and whom he had not put away on becoming an abbot, died in 836, and after receiving a visit from the emperor, Einhard died on the 14th of March 840. He was buried at Seligenstadt, and his epitaph was written by Hrabanus Maurus. Einhard was a man of very short stature, a feature on which Alcuin wrote an epigram. Consequently he was called Nardulus, a diminutive form of Einhardus, and his great industry and activity caused him to be likened to an ant. He was also a man of learning and culture. Reaping the benefits of the revival of learning brought about by Charlemagne, he was on intimate terms with Alcuin, was well versed in Latin literature, and knew some Greek. His most famous work is his Vita Karoli Magni, to which a prologue was added by Walafrid Strabo. Written in imitation of the De vitis Caesarum of Suetonius, this is the best contemporary account of the life of Charlemagne, and could only have been written by one who was very intimate with the emperor and his court. It is, moreover, a work of some artistic merit, although not free from inaccuracies. It was written before 821, and having been very popular during the middle ages, was first printed at Cologne in 1521. G.H. Pertz collated more than sixty manuscripts for his edition of 1829, and others have since come to light. Other works by Einhard are: Epistolae, which are of considerable importance for the history of the times; Historia translationis beatorum Christi martyrum Marcellini et Petri, which gives a curious account of how the bones of these martyrs were stolen and conveyed to Seligenstadt, and what miracles they wrought; and De adoranda cruce, a treatise which has only recently come to light, and which has been published by E. Dümmler in the Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde, Band xi. (Hanover, 1886). It has been asserted that Einhard was the author of some of the Frankish annals, and especially of part of the annals of Lorsch (Annales Laurissenses majores), and part of the annals of Fulda (Annales Fuldenses). Much discussion has taken place on this question, and several of the most eminent of German historians, Ranke among them, have taken part therein, but no certain decision has been reached.