had named his heir, assumed the title of caliph, and, by a decisive victory near the river Zab (750), effected the overthrow of the Ommiad dynasty. Merwan fled to Egypt, but was pursued and put to death, and the vanquished family was treated with a severity which gained for Abul-Abbas the surname of Al-Saffah, the Blood-shedder. From this time the house of Abbas was fully established in the government, but the Spanish provinces were lost to the empire by the erection of an independent caliphate of Cordova, under Abderrahman.
On the death of Abul-Abbas, Almansur succeeded to the throne, and founded Baghdad as the seat of empire. He and his son Mohdi waged war successfully against the Turkomans and Greeks of Asia Minor; but from this time the rule of the Abbassides is marked rather by the development of the liberal arts than by extension of territory. The strictness of the Mohammedan religion was relaxed, and the faithful yielded to the seductions of luxury. The caliphs Harun Al-Rashid (78G-809) and Al-Mamun (813-833) attained a world-wide celebrity by their gorgeous palaces, their vast treasures, and their brilliant and numerous equipages, in all which their splendour contrasted strikingly with the poverty of European sovereigns. The former is known as one of the heroes of the Arabian Nights; the latter more worthily still as a liberal patron of literature and science. It is a mistake, however, to look in the rale of these caliphs for the lenity of modern civilisation. "No Christian government," says Hallam, "except perhaps that of Constantinople, exhibits such a series of tyrants as the caliphs of Baghdad, if deeds of blood, wrought through unbridled passion or jealous policy, may challenge the name of tyranny."
The territory of the Abbassides soon suffered dismemberment, and their power began to decay. Rival sovereignties (Ashlabites, Edrisites, &c.) arose in Africa, and an independent government was constituted in Khorasan (820), under the Taherites. In the West, again, the Greeks encroached upon the possessions of the Saracens in Asia Minor. Ruin, however, came from a less civilised race. The caliphs had continually been waging war with the Tartar hordes of Turkestan, and many captives taken in these wars were dispersed throughout the empire. Attracted by their bravery and fearing rebellion among his subjects, Motassem (833-342), the founder of Samarah, and successful opponent of the Grecian forces under Theophilus, formed bodyguards of the Turkish prisoners, who became from that time the real governors of the Saracen empire. Motawakkel, son of Motassem, was assassinated by them in the palace (861); and succeeding caliphs became mere puppets in their hands. Radhi (934-941) was compelled by the disorganised condition of his kingdom to delegate to Mohammed ben Rayek (936 A.D.), under the title of Emir-al-Omara, commander of the commanders, the government of the army and the other functions of the caliphate. Province after province proclaimed itself independent; the caliph's rule became narrowed to Baghdad and its vicinity; and the house of Abbas lost its power in the East for ever, when Hulagu, prince of the Mongols, set Baghdad on fire, and slew Motassem, the reigning caliph (20th Feb. 1258). The Abbassides continued to hold a semblance of power in the merely nominal caliphate of Egypt, and feebly attempted to recover their ancient seat. The last of them, Motawakkel III., was taken by Sultan Selim I., the conqueror of Egypt, to Constantinople, and detained there, for some time as a prisoner. He afterwards returned to Egypt, and died at Cairo a pensionary of the Ottoman government, in 1538.
ABBÉ is the French word corresponding to Abbot, but, from the middle of the sixteenth century to the time of the French Revolution, the term had a wider application. The assumption by a numerous class of the name and style of abbé appears to have originated in the right conceded to the King of France, by a concordat between Pope Leo X. and Francis I., to appoint abbés commendataires to 225 abbeys, that is, to most of the abbeys in France. This kind of appointment, whereby the living was commended to some one till a proper election could take place, though ostensibly provisional, really put the nominee in full and permanent possession of the benefice. He received about one-third of the revenues of the abbey, but had no share, in its government, the charge of the house being intrusted to a resident officer, the prieur claustral. The abbés commendataires were not necessarily priests; the papal bull required indeed that they should take orders within a stated time after their appointment, but there seems to have been no difficulty in procuring relief from that obligation. The expectation of obtaining these sinecures drew young men towards the Church in considerable numbers, and the class of abbés so formed—abbés de cour they were sometimes called, and sometimes (ironically) abbés de sainte espérance, abbés of St Hope—came to hold a recognised position, that perhaps proved as great an attraction as the hope of preferment. The connection many of them had with the Church was of the slenderest kind, consisting mainly in adopting the name of abbé, after a remarkably moderate course of theological study; practising celibacy; and wearing a distinctive dress—a short dark-violet coat with narrow collar. Being men of presumed learning and undoubted leisure, many of the class found admission to the houses of the French nobility as tutors or advisers. Nearly every great family had its abbé. As might be imagined from the objectless sort of life the class led, many of the abbes were of indifferent character; but there are not a few instances of abbés attaining eminence, both in political life and in the walks of literature and science. The Abbé Sieyès may be taken as a prominent example of the latter type.
ABBEOKUTA, or Abeokuta, a town of West Africa in the Yoruba Country, situated in 7°8′N 3°25′E / 7.133°N 3.417°E, on the Ogun River, about 50 miles north of Lagos, in a direct line, or 81 miles by water. It lies in a beautiful and fertile country, the surface of which is broken by masses of grey granite. Like most African towns, Abbeokuta is spread over an extensive area, being surrounded by mud walls, 18 miles in extent. The houses are also of mud, and the streets mostly narrow and filthy. There are numerous markets in which native products and articles of European manufacture are exposed for sale. Palm-oil and shea-butter are the chief articles of export, and it is expected that the cotton of the country will become a valuable article of commerce. The slave trade and human sacrifices have been abolished; but not withstanding the efforts of English and American missionaries, the natives are still idle and degraded. The state called Egbaland, of which Abbeokuta is the capital, has an area of about 3000 square miles. Its progress has been much hindered by frequent wars with the king of Dahomey. Population of the town, about 150,000; of the state or adjacent territory, 50,000. (See Burton's Abbeokuta and the Cameroon Mountains, 2 vols.)
ABBESS, the female superior of an abbey or convent of nuns. The mode of election, position, rights, and authority of an abbess, correspond generally with those of an abbot. The office was elective, the choice being by the secret votes of the sisters from their own body. The abbess was solemnly admitted to her office by episcopal benediction, together with the conferring of a staff and pectoral, and held it for life, though liable to be deprived for misconduct. The Council of Trent fixes the qualifying age at forty, with eight years of profession. Abbesses had
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