EZEKIEL EZZELINO between the French under Napoleon, 85,000 strong with 350 guns, and the Russians and Prussians, 75,000 strong with 460 guns. The total number of killed and wounded was near- ly 40,000, and both sides claimed the victory. In this battle Napoleon was nearly made pris- oner, but was saved by his own presence of mind and the heroism of his little body guard of 100 men. This town is called Preussisch Eylau, to distinguish it from Deutsch Eylau, a small town of West Prussia, in the district of Marienwerder, 70 m. S. S. W. of the former, at the S. extremity of Lake Geserich. EZEKIEL, the third of the great Hebrew prophets, and contemporary with Jeremiah and Daniel, lived in the 7th and 6th centuries B. 0. He was still young when he went into captivity, following King Jehoiachin to Baby- lon. There, on the banks of the Chebar, sup- posed to be the Ohaboras in Mesopotamia, in the fifth year of his exile, he began his pro- phetic career, declaring to his fellow exiles the misfortunes which were besetting and threat- ening Jerusalem and the country of Judah. In the 25th year of his exile he described the new temple which was to rise in Jerusalem after the redemption of his people. This is one of the last prophecies remaining from him, and there is no account of him beyond the 27th year of the captivity of Jehoiachin. Accord- ing to a doubtful tradition, he was assassinated by one of the exiled princes, and during the middle ages his tomb was pointed out between the Euphrates and the Chebar. His book, which abounds in visions, poetical images, and allegories, is divided into three parts : the first (ch. i. to xxiv.) was written before the de- struction of Jerusalem ; the second (ch. xxv. to xxxii.) contains prophecies against foreign na- tions ; the third (xxxii. to xfviii.) foretells the resurrection of Israel and the erection of the new temple. The genuineness of the book has never been doubted ; but our present Hebrew text is among the most corrupt of the books of the Old Testament. The best commentaries are those of Umbreit (1843), Havernick (1843), Hitzig (1847), and Ewald (2d ed., 1868). EZRA, a Jewish scribe and priest, accord- ing to Josephus, high priest of the Jews in Babylon. Under his guidance, the second ex- pedition of the Jews proceeded from Babylon to Palestine, under the reign of Artaxerxes I., about 458 B. 0. The important services rendered by Ezra to his countrymen on that occasion, and also in arranging and settling the canon of Scripture, are specially acknowledged by the Jews, so that he is even regarded as the second founder of the nation. Josephus says that Ezra died at Jerusalem, and was buried there with great magnificence ; according to others, he returned to Babylon and died there, at the age of 120. Ezra is said by some of the iM>is to have introduced the present square Hebrew characters, and, in conjunction with of the elders, to have made the Masora, the punctuation and accentuation of the Bible. Besides the book of Ezra, he was supposed to be the author of the two books of Chronicles, and some writers attribute to him also the books of Nehemiah and Esther, though they differ in style from his acknowledged writings. The book of Ezra contains an account of the favors bestowed upon the Jews by the Persian kings, the rebuilding of the temple, the mission of Ezra to Jerusalem, and the various regula- tions and reforms introduced by him. The the- ologians of the liberal school generally attribute the last revision of the book to a later hand than that of Ezra. Bertheau (in Schenkel's Bibellexicon, 1868) puts the date of the last re- vision about 300 B. C. ; others, after the exam- ple of Spinoza, in the time of the Maccabees. Parts of the book are written in Chaldee (iv. 8 to vi. 18, and vii. 12 to 26). Eor a full dis- cussion of the questions relating to the book of Ezra, see the introductions of Berthold, De Wette, Keil, and Havernick, and the commen- tary of Bertheau (1862). In ancient manu- scripts there are four books of Ezra, viz., the one just spoken of, the book of Nehemiah, and the two books which in the English version are called 1st and 2d Esdras, and placed among the apocryphal books. (See ESDEAS.) EZZELINO (or Eccelino) DA ROMANO, a leader of the Ghibellines in Italy, born at Onaro, April 26, 1194, died at Soncino, Sept. 26, 1259. He belonged to a German family which in the llth century had acquired large feudal possessions in Lombardy, and whose principal seat was the castle of Romano near Padua. He was the fourth of his name, and is known in history as Ezzelino the Tyrant. From his youth he en- tered into the quarrels of the time, and war having become general in Lombardy, he re- mained faithful to the emperor Frederick II. His lands being ravaged by the Guelphs, he in- vited the help of the emperor, who relieved him and gained noteworthy advantages. In 1236 Ezzelino, with his brother Alberic, gained possession of Yerona and Vicenza, and he be- came podesta of Verona, and his brother of Vi- cenza. In February, 1237, after the return of the emperor to Germany, he took Padua. He subsequently captured Treviso, and imprisoned many eminent people on suspicion of disaffec- tion to him ; and from this time his oppression and cruelty became conspicuous. The em- peror returned with reinforcements, and they gained the victory of Cortenuova, Nov. 27, 1237. The following spring he married a natural daughter of Frederick. In 1239 he was excommunicated by the pope. In 1240 he was intrusted with the conduct of the war in Lombardy, and lost Ferrara ; but in 1246 he repulsed the marquis of Este, and subsequent- ly he took Verona, Feltre, Belluno, and even Este. By 1250, when the emperor died, he had extended his control from the Adriatic to the suburbs of Milan. A league was formed against him in 1252 by most of the Lombard cities, the marquis of Este, and others, inclu- ding his own brother Alberic, and in 1256 a
