questions, and gives a chronological table of leading events. For history, consult “Les Compagnies de colonisation en Afrique occidental sous Colbert,” by P. Chemin-Dupontes, in Revue colonial (1902–1903 and 1903–1904); J. Machat, Documents sur les établissements français de l’Afrique occidentale au XVIIIᵉ siècle (Paris, 1906); and J. Ancelle, Les Explorations au Sénégal et dans les contrées voisines depuis l’antiquité jusqu’à nos jours (Paris, 1906). For a summary of the military operations see the Jnl. Roy. United Service Inst., vol. 38 (1894) and vol. 44 (1900), containing articles by Capt. S. Pasfield Oliver and Capt. A. Hilliard-Atteridge.
For the countries of the Niger see Le Haut Sénégal et Niger (Paris, 1908), an official compilation; H. Barth, Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa (London, 1857–1858), a standard authority; L. Desplagnes, Le Plateau central-nigérien: une mission archéologique et ethnographique au Soudan français (Paris, 1907), another standard work; P. L. Monteil, De St-Louis à Tripoli . . . voyage au travers du Soudan . . . [Paris, N.D. (1895) J. G. Binger, Du Niger au golfe de Guinée par le pays de Kong et le Mossi (Paris, 1892); Lady Lugard, A Tropical Dependency (London, 1905), L. Marc, Le Pays Mossi (Paris, 1909). Consult also for native history “Légendes historiques du pays de Nioro (Sahel)” by M. G. Adam in Revue colonial (1903–1904). For Mauretania see La Mauritanie (Paris, 1908), an official record of the France protectorate, and A. Gruvel and R. Chudeau, À Travers la Mauritanie occidentale (Paris, 1909). See further the works of Faidherbe and Gallieni quoted in their biographies, and the reports on the trade, &c., of French West Africa issued by the British Foreign Office. (F. R. C.)
SENEGAMBIA, a term used to denote the region between the rivers Senegal and Gambia on the west coast of Africa. The country south of the Gambia as far as Sierra Leone was formerly also regarded as part of Senegambia. As a geographical expression Senegambia fell into disuse towards the end of the 19th century. Part of the hinterland is included in the French colony of Upper Senegal and Niger (see Senegal, II.)
SENESCHAL (the O. Fr. form, mod. sénéchal, of the Low
Lat. senescalcus, a word of Teutonic origin, meaning “old
or senior servant,” Goth. sini- old; cf. Lat. senex and scalks,
servant; Du Cange’s derivation from seneste, Bock, herd, must
be rejected), the title of an official equivalent to “steward.”
The seneschal began presumably by being the major-domo of
the German barbarian princes who settled in the empire, and
was therefore the predecessor of the mayors of the palace of the
Merovingian kings. But the name seneschal became prominent
in France under the third or Capetian dynasty. The seneschal,
called in medieval Latin the dapifer (from daps, a feast, and
ferre, to carry), was the chief of the five great officers of state of
the French court between the 11th and the 13th centuries, the
others being the butler, the chamberlain, the constable and the
chancellor. His functions were described by the term major
regiae domus, and regni Franciae procurator-major-domo of
the royal household, and agent of the kingdom of France. The
English equivalent was the lord high steward, but the office never
attained the same importance in England as in France. Under
the earlier Capetian sovereigns the seneschal was the second
person in the kingdom. He inherited the power and position
of the mayor of the palace-had a general right of supervision
over the king’s service, was commander-in-chief of the military
forces (princeps militiae regis, or Francorum), was steward of
the household and presided in the king’s court in the absence
of the king. Under weak rulers the seneschal would no doubt
have played the same part as the mayors of the palace of the
Carolingian line. It was the vast possibilities of the office which
must be presumed to have tempted the counts of Anjou of the
Plantagenet line to claim the hereditary dapifership of France,
and to support their claim by forgeries. A count of Anjou
who was also in effective possession of the office would soon
have reduced his feudal lord to absolute insignificance. French
historical scholars have shown that the pretension of the Anjevins
was unfounded, and. that the treatise concocted to support it—the
De majoratu et senescalia Franciae, attributed to Hugues
de Clères—is a medieval forgery. At the close of the 11th century
the seneschalship was in the hands of the family of Rochefort,
and in the early part of the following century it passed from them
to the family of Garlande. The power of the office was a perpetual
temptation to the vassal, and a cause of jealousy to the king.
The Garlandes came to open conflict with the king, and were
forcibly suppressed by Louis VI. in 1127. After their fall the
seneschalship was conferred only on great feudatories who were
the king’s kinsmen—on Raoul of Vermandois till 1152, and on
Thibaut of Blois till 1191. From that time forward no seneschal
was appointed except to act as steward at the coronation of the
king. The name of the seneschal was added with those of the
other great officers to the kings in charters, and when the office
was not filled the words dapifero vacante were written instead.
The great vassals had seneschals of their own, and when the
great fiefs, Anjou, Touraine, Maine, Poitou, Saintonge, Guienne,
were regained by the crown, the office was allowed to survive
by the king. In the south of France, Périgord, Quercy, Toulouse,
Agenais, Rouergue, Beaucaire and Carcassonne were royal
sénéchaussées. In Languedoc the landlords' agent and judicial
officer, known in the north of France as a bailli, was called
sénéchal. The office and title existed till the Revolution.
See Du Cange, Glossarium mediae et infimae Latinitatis (Paris, 1840–1850); A. Luchaire, Histoire des institutions monarchiques de la France sous les premiers Capétiens (Paris, 1883–1885); Manuel des institutions françaises (Paris, 1892); Paul Viollet, Droit publique—Hist. des institutions politiques et administratives de la France (Paris, 1890–1898).
SENIGALLIA, or Sinigaglia (anc. Sena Gallica), a city and
episcopal see of the Marches, Italy, in the province of Ancona,
on the coast of the Adriatic, 15 m. by rail N. of Ancona. Pop.
(1901) 5556 (town), 23,195 (commune). It is situated at 14 ft.
above sea-level, and, despite its ancient origin, presents a modern
appearance, with wide streets. The Palazzo Comunale dates
from the 17th century. The cathedral was erected after 1787.
The castle, of Gothic origin, was restored by Baccio Pontelli,
a famous military architect, in 1492. The church of S Maria
delle Grazie outside the town is one of the only two churches
which he is known to have executed (the other is at Orciano
near Mondavio, about 15 m. to the west by road). The small
port is formed by the lower reaches of the Misa, a stream which
flows through the town between embankments constructed
of Istrian marble. The inhabitants are chiefly occupied in
fishing, and in the summer the town is greatly frequented by
visitors for the good sea-bathing. Senigallia used to hold one
of the largest fairs in Italy, which dated originally from 1200,
when Sergius, count of Senigallia, received from the count of
Marseilles, to whose daughter he was affianced, certain relics
of Mary Magdalene; this fair used to be visited by merchants
from France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and especially the
Levant. Senigallia is the residence of the Mastai-Ferretti
family; the house in which Pope Pius IX. was born is preserved,
and contains a few memorials of him.
The ancient Sena Gallica was a city of Umbria. A colony was founded there by the Romans after their victory over the Senones, rather before 280 B.C. The place is also mentioned in connexion with Hasdrubal’s defeat at the Metaurus (q.v.) in 207 B.C. It was destroyed by Pompey in 82 B.C., and is not often mentioned afterwards. No ancient remains and very few inscriptions exist. The name Gallica distinguishes it from Saena (Siena) in Etruria. Ravaged by Alaric, fortified by the exarch Longinus, and again laid waste by the Lombards in the 8th century and by the Saracens in the 9th, Senigallia was at length brought so low by the Guelph and Ghibelline wars, and especially by the severities of Guido de Montefeltro, that it was chosen by Dante as the typical instance of a ruined city. In the 15th century it was captured and recaptured again and again by the Malatesta and their opponents. Sigismondo Malatesta of Rimini erected strong fortifications round the town in 1450–1455. The lordship of Senigallia was bestowed by Pius II. on his nephew Antonio Piccolomini, but the people of the town in 1464 placed themselves anew under Paul II., and Giacomo Piccolomini in 1472 failed in his attempt to seize the place. Sixtus IV. assigned the lordship to the Della Rovere family, from whom it was transferred to Lorenzo de Medici in 1516. After 1624 it formed part of the legation of Urbino.
SENIOR, NASSAU WILLIAM (1790–1864), English economist,
was born at Compton, Berks, on the 26th of September 1790,
