granted it to Agrippa II. (See also Lysanias.) (2) A city in Perea, now Ābil-ez-Zeit.
ABILDGAARD, NIKOLAJ ABRAHAM (1744–1809), called “the Father of Danish Painting,” was born at Copenhagen, the son of Sören Abildgaard, an antiquarian draughtsman of repute. He formed his style on that of Claude and of Nicolas Poussin, and was a cold theorist, inspired not by nature but by art. As a technical painter he attained remarkable success, his tone being very harmonious and even, but the effect, to a foreigner’s eye, is rarely interesting. His works are scarcely known out of Copenhagen, where he won an immense fame in his own generation. He was the founder of the Danish school of painting, and the master of Thorwaldsen and Eckersberg.
ABIMELECH (Hebrew for “father of [or is] the king”). (1) A king of Gerar in South Palestine with whom Isaac, in the Bible, had relations. The patriarch, during his sojourn there, alleged that his wife Rebekah was his sister, but the king doubting this remonstrated with him and pointed out how easily adultery might have been unintentionally committed (Gen. xxvi.). Abimelech is called “king of the Philistines,” but the title is clearly an anachronism. A very similar story is told of Abraham and Sarah (ch. xx.), but here Abimelech takes Sarah to wife, although he is warned by a divine vision before the crime is actually committed. The incident is fuller and shows a great advance in ideas of morality. Of a more primitive character, however, is another parallel story of Abraham at the court of Pharaoh, king of Egypt (xii. 10-20), where Sarah his wife is taken into the royal household, and the plagues sent by Yahweh lead to the discovery of the truth. Further incidents in Isaac’s life at Gerar are narrated in Gen. xxvi. (cp. xxi. 22-34, time of Abraham), notably a covenant with Abimelech at Beer-sheba (whence the name is explained “well of the oath”); (see Abraham). By a pure error, or perhaps through a confusion in the traditions, Achish the Philistine (of Gath, 1 Sam. xxi., xxvii.), to whom David fled, is called Abimelech in the superscription to Psalm xxxiv.
(2) A son of Jerubbaal or Gideon (q.v.), by his Shechemite concubine (Judges viii. 31, ix.). On the death of Gideon, Abimelech set himself to assert the authority which his father had earned, and through the influence of his mother’s clan won over the citizens of Shechem. Furnished with money from the treasury of the temple of Baal-berith, he hired a band of followers and slew seventy (cp. 2 Kings x. 7) of his brethren at Ophrah, his father’s home. This is one of the earliest recorded instances of a practice common enough on the accession of Oriental despots. Abimelech thus became king, and extended his authority over central Palestine. But his success was short-lived, and the subsequent discord between Abimelech and the Shechemites was regarded as a just reward for his atrocious massacre. Jotham, the only one who is said to have escaped, boldly appeared on Mount Gerizim and denounced the ingratitude of the townsmen towards the legitimate sons of the man who had saved them from Midian. “Jotham’s fable” of the trees who desired a king may be foreign to the context; it is a piece of popular lore, and cannot be pressed too far: the nobler trees have no wish to rule over others, only the bramble is self-confident. The “fable” appears to be antagonistic to ideas of monarchy. The origin of the conflicts which subsequently arose is not clear. Gaal, a new-comer, took the opportunity at the time of the vintage, when there was a festival in the temple, to head a revolt and seized Shechem. Abimelech, warned by his deputy Zebul, left his residence at Arumah and approached the city. In a fine bit of realism we are told how Gaal observed the approaching foe and was told by Zebul, “You see the shadow of the hills as men,” and as they drew nearer Zebul’s ironical remark became a taunt, “Where is now thy mouth? is not this the people thou didst despise? go now and fight them!” This revolt, which Abimelech successfully quelled, appears to be only an isolated episode. Another account tells of marauding bands of Shechemites which disturbed the district. The king disposed his men (the whole chapter is specially interesting for the full details it gives of the nature of ancient military operations), and after totally destroying Shechem, proceeded against Thebez, which had also revolted. Here, while storming the citadel, he was struck on the head by a fragment of a millstone thrown from the wall by a woman. To avoid the disgrace of perishing by a woman’s hand, he begged his armour-bearer to run him through the body, but his memory was not saved from the ignominy he dreaded (2 Sam. xi. 21). It is usual to regard Abimelech’s reign as the first attempt to establish a monarchy in Israel, but the story is mainly that of the rivalries of a half-developed petty state, and of the ingratitude of a community towards the descendants of its deliverer. (See, further, Jews, Judges.) (S. A. C.)
ABINGDON, a market town and municipal borough in the Abingdon parliamentary division of Berkshire, England, 6 m. S. of Oxford, the terminus of a branch of the Great Western railway from Radley. Pop. (1901) 6480. It lies in the fiat valley of the Thames, on the west (right) bank, where the small river Ock flows in from the Vale of White Horse. The church of St Helen stands near the river, and its fine Early English tower with Perpendicular spire is the principal object in the pleasant views of the town from the river. The body of the church, which has five aisles, is principally Perpendicular. The smaller church of St Nicholas is Perpendicular in appearance, though parts of the fabric are older. Of a Benedictine abbey there remain a beautiful Perpendicular gateway, and ruins of buildings called the prior’s house, mainly Early English, and the guest house, with other fragments. The picturesque narrow-arched bridge over the Thames near St Helen’s church dates originally from 1416. There may be mentioned further the old buildings of the grammar school, founded in 1563, and of the charity called Christ’s Hospital (1583); while the town-hall in the market-place, dating from 1677, is attributed to Inigo Jones. The grammar school now occupies modern buildings, and ranks among the lesser public schools of England, having scholarships at Pembroke College, Oxford. St Peter’s College, Radley, 2 m. from Abingdon, is one of the principal modern public schools. It was opened in 1847. The buildings lie close to the Thames, and the school is famous for rowing, sending an eight to the regatta at Henley each year. Abingdon has manufactures of clothing and carpets and a large agricultural trade. The borough is under a mayor, four aldermen and twelve councillors. Area, 730 acres.
Abingdon (Abbedun, Abendun) was famous for its abbey, which was of great wealth and importance, and is believed to have been founded in A.D. 675 by Cissa, one of the subreguli of Centwin. Abundant charters from early Saxon monarchs are extant confirming various laws and privileges to the abbey; and the earliest of these, from King Ceadwalla, was granted before A.D. 688. In the reign of Alfred the abbey was destroyed by the Danes, but it was restored by Edred, and an imposing list of possessions in the Domesday survey evidences recovered prosperity. William the Conqueror in 1084 celebrated Easter at Abingdon, and left his son, afterwards Henry I., to be educated at the abbey. After the dissolution in 1538 the town sank into decay, and in 1555, on a representation of its pitiable condition, Queen Mary granted a charter establishing it as a free borough corporate with a common council consisting of a mayor, two bailiffs, twelve chief burgesses, and sixteen secondary burgesses, the mayor to be clerk of the market, coroner and a justice of the peace. The council was empowered to elect one burgess to parliament, and this right continued until the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885. A town clerk and other officers were also appointed, and the town boundaries described in great detail. Later charters from Elizabeth, James I., James II., George II. and George III. made no considerable change. James II. changed the style of the corporation to that of a mayor, twelve aldermen and twelve burgesses. The abbot seems to have held a market from very early times, and charters for the holding of markets and fairs were granted by various sovereigns from Edward I. to George II. In the 13th and 14th centuries Abingdon was a flourishing agricultural centre with an extensive trade in wool, and a famous weaving and clothing manufacture. The latter industry declined before the reign of Queen Mary, but has since been revived.
The present Christ’s Hospital originally belonged to the Gild of the Holy Cross, on the dissolution of which Edward VI. founded the hospital under its present name.
See Victoria County History, Berkshire; Joseph Stevenson, Chronicon Monasterii de Abingdon, A.D. 201–1189 (Rolls Series, 2 vols., London, 1858).
ABINGER, JAMES SCARLETT, 1st Baron (1769–1844),
