BENEDICT BENEDICTINES 519 King Oswin, at which he held a distinguished position, and devoted himself to the study of theology and monastic discipline. For this purpose he made three journeys to Rome, and then founded the monasteries of Wearmouth and Yarrow, of which he retained the direc- tion. He encouraged the monks in the acqui- sition of learning, especially with a collection of Greek and Roman authors which he had made upon his travels, and in chanting, intro- ducing the Gregorian chant into England. He also built a stone church at Wearmouth in the Italian style, and furnished its windows with glass brought from France. Among his wri- tings a " Treatise on the Celebration of Feasts " is still extant. His life was written by the Venerable Bede, who was one of his disciples. BENEDICT, abbot of Peterborough, an Eng- lish monk and historian, died in 1193. He studied at Oxford, became prior of the monas- tery of Christ Church in Canterbury, shared the friendship both of Becket and King Henry, assisted at the coronation of Richard I., under whom he was keeper of the great seal, and wrote a history of the two kings and a life of the prelate, which are still extant. BENEDICT, Sir Julius, a German composer, born in Stuttgart, Nov. 27, 1804. Having early developed a talent for music, he was placed by his father, a rich Jewish banker, un- der the instruction of Louis Abeille, concert master to the king of Wiirtemberg. At the age of 12 he had made astonishing progress upon the pianoforte, but his father insisted that his musical pursuits should not be al- lowed to interfere with his literary studies. These latter being concluded in 1819, Benedict was sent to Weimar and placed under the di- rection of Hummel. In 1820 he went to Dres- den to receive lessons from Weber, then en- gaged in the composition of his Euryanthe. With this composer Benedict formed an inti- mate friendship, accompanying him to Berlin, Vienna, and other cities where Weber's operas were produced. In 1824 Benedict was ap- pointed director of the German opera at Vi- enna. He went to Naples in 1825, and directed music at one of the theatres in that city for sev- eral years, producing his first opera, Oiticinta ed Ernesto, there in 1827. In 1830 he went to Paris for a short time, and finally in 1835 to London, which city thenceforth became his home. He was soon very popular there as a pianoforte instructor, and held successively and for short periods the position of musical director at the lyceum and at Drury Lane. In 1838 he produced his first English opera, " The Gypsy's Warning," which was succeeded by " The Brides of Venice " and " The Crusaders," all of which were well received and kept the stage for long periods. In 1850 Benedict accom- panied Jenny Lind as accompanist and director of the orchestra on her tour in the United States. Returning to Europe in 1851, he had the misfortune to lose both his wife and his eldest child in the same year, while on a trip to Italy. Resuming his musical labors in Lon- don in 1852, he devoted himself in great part to composition, producing many works for piano- forte, for stringed instruments, and for orches- tra, and acting as conductor at the Italian opera in London and at many of the great English festivals. In 1860 his cantata "Un- dine " was produced at the Norwich festival. His " Lily of Killarney " was brought out in 1862, his cantata "Richard Cosur de Lion" in 1863, and his operetta " The Bride of Song " in 1864, Among his later works are a concerto for the pianoforte, his " Legend of St. Cecilia," and his oratorio of " St. Peter," which latter was produced at the Birmingham festival of 1870. In 1871 he was knighted. BENEDICT, Saint, born at Nursia in Umbria in 480, died March 21, 543. His parents sent him to Rome to study, but, disgusted with the vices and temptations he found there, he fled to the desert of Subiaco, between Tivoli and Sora. After a time he could no longer con- ceal himself, and finally built a monastery on Monte Casino, where he laid the foundation of the Benedictine order, and presided as abbot during 14 years. BENEDICT OF AMANE, a Roman Catholic saint, born in Languedoc about 750, died near Aix- la-Chapelle, Feb. 11, 821. Having forsaken the court of Charlemagne, he established himself in a hermitage upon the bank of the Aniane in Languedoc. Such was the austerity of his life that disciples gathered around him, and in 782 he constructed a monastery for their reception. Here he instituted a reform in monastic disci- pline which was extensively adopted in other convents, and afterward was introduced into all the monasteries of Aquitaine in pursuance of authority received from Louis le Debonnaire. He finally assumed the direction of a monastery which was built expressly for him near Aix-la- Chapelle, and there passed the remainder of his life. He induced the monks who were un- der his control to copy the works of the best authors, and thus rendered an important ser- vice to the cause of civilization. His code of rules was published at Paris in 1663. BENEDICTINES, an order of monks in the Roman Catholic church. The rules drawn up by St. Benedict gradually superseded those of St. Columban and others which had previously prevailed. His order, founded early in the 6th century, spread rapidly and widely. Its monks planted Christianity in Saxon England, Friesland, and Germany, and Father Boil, a Benedictine, was sent out with Columbus on his second voyage as vicar apostolic of the new world. The order claims 24 popes, 15,000 bishops, and 40,000 beatified or canonized saints. The rules were few and simple. The Benedictines were at first laics, and employed chiefly in manual labor ; but gradually the order became a body of learned priests. During the middle ages they were the great preservers of ancient learning and assiduous cultivators of science and art, copying and preserving the
