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TACITUS, Cornelius. (c.late lst century early 2nd century). Roman historian. He rose from being a pleader at the Roman bar to be practor in 88. He gained fame with the younger Pliny for their joint prosecution of Marius Priscus in 99. Tacitus was esteemed in his lifetime as a historian. His publications were Dialogue on Orators, the Life of Agricola, the Germany, The Histories and the appendix thereto, the Annals. His histories give an accurate account of the events of the reigns of Galba, Otho and Vitellius, and the Annals are equally valuable dealing with the years 14 to 68. the Life of Agricola contains an account of Roman Britain, and Germany though geographically inaccurate gives a detailed account of the customs of that land and sings the praises of the independence of the German tribes as compared with the decadence of Rome.
TACITUS, Marcus Claudius (d. 276). Roman emperor. Claimed descent from the historian Tacitus, he was consul in 273, and was chosen emperor by the senate in 275, after the murder of Aurelian. He tried to restore the power of the senate and to check extravagance by law, but he fell victim to a conspiracy in 276 after defeating the Goths in Cilicia.
TAFT, William Howard (1857-1930). American statesman. Judge of the superior court of Ohio, 1887-90, and then became U.S. solicitor-general. Judge of appeal in 1892-1900, and became president of the Phillippine commission 1900-04, Secretary of war 1904-08, then president of the U.S.A., 1908. His Tariff acts of 1910 made him unpopular. the withdrawal of Roosevelt's support led to his defeat in 1912. He then became professor of law at Yale University, and was appointed chief justice of the supreme court of the U.S.A. in 1921.
TAGLIONI, Maria (1804-84). Italian dancer. She made her first appearance in Vienna at the age of 18. After an appearance in Paris in 1827 she became the most famous ballet dancer in Europe over the next 20 years.
TAILLEFER (d.1066). Norman minstrel. He accompanied William the conqueror to England and fell at the battle of Hastings. He appears in the Bayeux tapestry.
TAINE, Hippolyte Adolphe (1828-93). French historian. He won distinction early with his doctor's thesis on La Fontaine et ses Fables, 1853, and a prize essay for the Accademy on Livy. Other works were Les Philosophes du XIXeme siecle, and the Histoire de la litterature Anglaise, 1863-64. His religious and moral standpoints were unpopular with the authorities and he was not appointed to a professorship of aesthetics at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris until 1864. He published 4 volumes of lectures on the philosopjy of art, 1880, and his Theorie de l'Intelligence in 1870. His most famous work was Origines de la France contemporaine which he worked on in 1884 after resigning his professorship. It was still uncompleted at his death. This work gives an account of the process of centralisation in France and of the evils pertaining thereto.
TAIT, Archibald Campbell (1811-82). British prelate. Ordained in the church of England in 1836, headmaster of Rugby in 1842, and bishop of London in 1856, archbishop of Canterbury in 1868. Did well as Bishop of London but not so well as archbishop of Canterbury, due to his insistence on ritual and legislation on the subject of the connexion of Chuirch and state.
TAIT, Peter Guthrie (1831-1901). Scottish physicist. Created professor of mathematics at Queen's College, Belfast, 1854, and professor of natural philosophy at Edinburgh, 1860. Became prominent for his works in collaboration with others, Elementary Treatise on Quaternions, 1867; Introduction ot Quaternions, 1873, the unfinished treatise on Naatural Philosophy; and The Unseen Universor or Physical Speculation on a Future State, 1875. The latter book caused much controbersy. He made important contributions to thermodynamics, to the theory of the dissipation of energy, and the kinetic theory of gases.
TALAAT PASHA (1872-1921) Turkish politician. Starting as a humble telegraphist in the Adrianople post office he rose to prominence in the Committee of Union and Progress. He became minister of the interior 1909-11 and 1913. Grand Vizier in 1916 but left Turkey in 1918 being assassinated in Berlin in 1921.
TALBOT, Edward Stuart (1844-1934). English prelate. Ordained in 1870 and made the first warden of Keble College, Oxford. Became vicar of Leeds in 1889 and bishop of Rochester in 1894, first bishop of Southwark in 1904 and bishop of Winchester in 1911, retiring in 1934. Largely responsible for the separation of the dioceses of Rochester and Southwark. His publications include an essay on the Preparation for the gospel in History, in the Lux Mundi; The fullness of Christ; and The War and Conscience. Memories of Early Life appeared in 1924.
TALBOT, William Henry Fox (1800-77). English inventor. He was the first to discover in 1833 the principles of photography through he did not publish them till after Daguerre had made a similar discovery in 1839. He invented the calotype or Talbotype process in 1841. He was an archaelogist and also wrote The Pencil of Nataure and other books.
TALLEYRAND-PERIGORD, Charles Maurice De (1754-1838). Born an aristocrat, and destined for the military, but a fall as a child lamed him and he was trained for the church instead, becoming a priest in 1778. He became known as an advocate of reform and as agent-general of the clergy protested against the taxing of the parish cures. He became bishop of Autun in 1789. He put forward a reform program to the States General and allied himself with Mirabeau, supporting the appropriation of church lands for the use of the nation, and was one of the four bishops who accepted the Constitution of the Clergy in 1790 He was excommunicated in 1791. He was sent as an envoy to England, and for a while was also an adviser to the French ambassador Chauvelin. After the king's execution and the fact that as a noble he would be executed in France he found it safer to travel to theU.S.A. not returning until1795. He was made foreign minister in 1797 through the influence of Barras, resigning 2 years later thus being a free agent at the time of Napoleon's coup d'etat. He became involved in the reorganisation of France. He persuaded the Italian notables to accept Napoleon as president of the Cisalpine Republic and took part in the secularisation of the empire. As a pacifist he disagreed with Napoleon's warlike policy after 1805 and resigned his office. While still retained on Napoleon's council he worked steadily to checkmate his policy. He arranged the Emperor's Austrian marriage. When the Allies entered Paris in 1814 he used his influence with the Tsar to secure the restoration of the Bourbons. At the Congress of Vienna he secured the support of Austria and England, and secured for France a position of equality, becoming foreign minister once more and then lord high chamberlain. Supporting Louis Phillipp's assumption of the throne in 1830 he then became ambassador to London, where he helpedto settle the question of Belgian independence and promoted an alliance between France, England, Spain and Portugal, thus putting an end to French isolation. He resigned in 1834. With his charm, intellectual powers, and immense adaptability he was a good servant of France.
TALLIEN, Jean Lambert (c.1767-1820) French politician. He was a notary's clerk, and entered the national convention in 1792 where he was noted for his violent attacks on the king. He defended Marat in 1793 and was sent to suppress an insurrection in Gironde. In 1794 he became president of the convention, being largely responsible for the downfall of Robespierre. He then entered the committee of public safety, suppressing the Revolutionary Tribunal and the Jacobin Club. He was one of the council of five Hundred from 1795-98.
TALLIS, Thomas (c.1515-1585) English composer. Organist of the Chapel Royal, London. He published in 1575 34 motets with his pupil W. Byrd, 16 of these were by Tallis. He wrote a large amount of church music and is regarded as the father of English church music.
TALMA, Francois Joseph (1763-1826) French actor. He made his debut in 1787 at the Comedie Francaise. Two years later he created excitement in Chenier's Charles IX. He founded the Theatre de la Republique, and became the greatest tragedian of his time. Napoleon was his patron, and in 1808 took him to Erfurt where he acted La Mort de Cesar before an audience of Kings, and to Dresden in 1813.
TALMAGE, Thomas de Wit (1832-1902) American preacher. He entered the Presbyterian Church in 1856, and became preacher at the Reformed Dutch church, Brooklyn in 1869, where he attained great fame for his sensational sermons. He was pastor at the First Presbyterian Church, Washington, 1895-99, and edited many religious periodicals.
TAMERLANE (1336-1405). Tartar conqueror. Timur, known as Timur i leng, Timur the Lame, was born near Samarkand, his father being head of the Berlas tribe. On the conquest of Turkestan, by Tughlak Timur in 1360, he made submission and was appointed governor of Kesh, but having helped to expel Tughlak in 1365, he made himself sole ruler of Turkestan in 1369. He then began the series of conquests which made his name famous in the medieval world. His victorious armies reached the Caspian, subdued most of Persia, and routed the Golden Horde. In 1395 he invaded India and sacked Delhi. His victorious war against the turks and Egyptians resulted in the capture of Damascus and Aleppo, and culminated in the defeat and capture of Bayazid I, 1402. Tamerlane then planned the invasion of China, but died in the midst of his preparations.
TANAKA, Gi-ichi, Baron (1863-1929). Japanese statesman. He entered the army in 1886. Director of the bureau of military affairs, 1910-12, he became chief of the general staff in 1915. He was made a baron and a general in 1920, and subsequently as leader of the Seiyakai party, representing landowner interests, became minister of war, 1925. he was prime minister and foreign minister, 1927-29.
TANCRED (c. 1050-1112]. Crusader. Accompanying his uncle the Prince of Tarentum to Constantinople in 1096, he entered the service of the emperor Alexius, and set out for the Holy Land. On his way there he seized Tarsus, but was driven out by his rival Baldwin. He then joined forces with the army of Crusaders before the walls of Antioch. Both there and later at the siege of Jerusalem he performed so courageously that after the battle of Ascolan he was made Prince of Galilee 1099. After Baldwin took the throne of Jerusalem he retired to Antioch where he acted as Regent for his uncle until he was released from captivity 1103. Later he became ruler of Cilicia and for a while of Edessa. He was a formidable opponent of the Turks in northern Syria. In 1111 he became Prince of Antioch.
TANDY, James Napier [1740-1803]. Irish patriot. He helped Wolf Tone found the Society of United Irishmen 1791, of which he was Secretary. He organized the Irish National Guard, after whose suppression in 1792, he fled to America and in 1798 to France. He landed in Aran 1798 to raise a rebellion, but this failed, so he fled to Hamburg. He was then handed over to the British government. Although found guilty of treason he was reprieved and returned to France.
TANNER, Thomas (1674-1735). English antiquary. He was bishop of St. Asaph, 1732-35, but is best known as the author of Notitia Monastica, 1695, and the famous Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica, published in 1748, an exhaustive account of all the early 17th century British authors.
TANNHAUSER. German poet. He flourished in the 13th century, was a native either of Bavaria or Salzburg, and became attached as a minnesinger to the duke of Bavaria. He also went on the Crusades, and his later adventurous life in Germany led to the legend of Tannhauser, immortalized by Wagner.
TANSILLO, Luigi (1510-68). Italian poet. He served in the army of the viceroy of Naples against the Turks, and also in Charles V's expedition against Tunis. Later he became a judge at Gaeta and won fame by his lyrics and satirical writings. His witty but licentious poem Il Vendemmiatore, 1534, was condemned by the Inquisition, but his epic, The Tears of St. Peter, 1539, caused his name to be removed from the Index.. Author of many fine lyrics, he is especially notable for two prophetic sonnets on the sensation of flying.
TARLTON, Richard (d.1588) English actor. His origins are obscure, but he became the favourite clown of Queen Elizabeth, and chief comedian of her company of players. He was famous for his gift of improvising doggerel verses, which became known as "Tarletonizing." He was probably the original of Shakespeare's "poor Yorick."
TARNOWSKI, Jan (1488-1561). Polish soldier. His victories in the Moldavian campaigns of 1509-12 brought him to prominence. He later commanded the Portuguese forces against the Moors, and was created Count of the Empire by Charles V. Made commander-in-chief of the Polish armies in 1526, he defeated the allied forces of Moldavians, Turks and Tatars at the great battle of Obertyn, 1531. He also proved himself an able administrator.
TARTAGLIA, Niccolo (c. 1506-1559). Italian mathematician. He was a lecturer at Verona, and later professor of mathematics at Venice. His reputation rests upon his studies of cubic equations, the theory of falling bodies, and the range of projectiles. His chief works were Nuova Scienza, 1537; Quesiti of inventioni diverse de Niccolo Tartaglia; dedicated to Henry VIII of England, 1546; and Trattato generale de numeri e misure, 1556-60.
TARTINI, Giuseppe (1692-1770). Italian composer. He secretly married the niece of the archbishop of Padua after a mis-spent youth, and then fled to a monastery at Assisi, where he mended his ways and revealed himself as a violinist of great excellence. Reconciled with the archbishop, he became solo violinist at S.Antonio, Padua, where in 1628 he founded a violin school, and where, after living in Rome and Bologna he died. Tartini's numerous compositions include church music, many sonatas, including the well-known Trillo del Diavolo, and much chamber music. He is chiefly known as the discoverer of differential tones in music known as "Tartini's Tones," which were explained in his Trattato di musica, 1754, and other works.
TASMAN, Abel Janszoon (c. 1602-1659). Dutch explorer. He became a sailor in his youth and was given in 1642 command of an expedition sent out by Van Diemen, governor-general of the Dutch East India Company, to explore the "South Land." Circumnavigating Australia, he discovered, November 24, 1642, land which he called Van Diemen's Land, but which was renamed Tasmania in 1853. He also discovered New Zealand, the Friendly, and the Fiji Islands. On a second voyage in 1644, he made the first complete exploration of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Made a member of the council of justice of Batavia, he commanded a trade expedition to Siam, (now Thialand) 1647, and led an attack on the Spanish owned Phillipine Islands 1648-49. He died in Batavia.
TASSIE, James (1735-99). Scottish gem modeller. In company with Henry Quin at Dublin he invented a vitreous paste for the reproduction of gems, and in 1766 he settled in London. Besides gems he produced many portrait medallions cast in the same paste. The beauty of his imitation gems enabled fraudulent dealers frequently to pass them off as originals.
TASSO, Torquato (1544-95). Italian poet. He was brought up in Naples and received his education from the Jesuits. On the death of his mother in 1556, he joined his father Bernardo Tasso, then a political exile in Rome, and they proceeded the following year to Urbino, where the elder Tasso was given a court appointment. There Torquato grew up in a literary and artistic atmosphere, and in 1562 completed his first narrative poem, Rinaldo, which established his reputation. Given a post in the retinue of Cardinal Luigi d'Este at Ferrara, in 1565, he soon became the central figure at that court, and the protege of the cardinal's sisters, Leonora and Lucrezia. In 1571 he entered the court of Alfonso II, duke of Ferrara. Two years later his Aminta appeared and in 1574 he completed the epic Gerusalemme Liberata, his most famous work. Discontented with his court position and disappointed at the adverse comments on his great work, Tasso began to suffer from hallucinations and other symptons of strain, and thinking that his enemies were trying to poison him sought to leave Ferrara. Alfonso refused to his permission and the poet remained practically a prisoner until he made his escape to Sorrento in 1577. His passion for Leonora d'Este which was in some measure responsible for his mental state, made his self-imposed exile unbearable, and after two years wandering he returned to Ferrara, where the duke fearing for his sanity, shut him up in the bedlam of St. Anna for seven years. He was well treated there and lived in some state. To this period belongs most of his prose, consisting mainly of philosophical dialogues. He heard that his Gerusalemme was being published from the MS, taken from him when he was imprisoned and the whole work appeared without his seeing a page or receiving money for it. All his sonnets and odes were also published. In 1586 he was released, and after passing a few months at the Gonzaga court at Mantua, began once again his uneasy life of wandering between Rome, Naples and Florence. Though honoured he was unable due to his insanity to rest. He did not produce any great works during this period except the tragedy Torrismondo. He settled in Rome in 1594, at the invitation of Cardinal Aldobrandini, receiving a pension and honours from the pope and his court.
TATA, Jamsetjee Nasarwanjee (1839-1904). Indian industrialist. A Parsee from Baroda, he did great service in developing the resources and the industrial prosperity of the Central Provinces and the Mysore District. He built and endowed the Research Institution at Bangalore. Of his sons Sir Dorabji Jamsetjee Tata (1859-1932) carried out many of his father schemes, greatly developing the latter's cotton mills. He discovered with his cousin Shapurji Saklatvala, a vast deposit of iron in the district of Orissa, which formed the basis of his iron and steel works at Jamshedpur. He also, by his hydroelectric installations on the Western Ghauts, made possible the rapid industrialisation of Bombay. Knighted in 1910, he endowed various charitable undertakings to the extent of over 2,000,000 pounds. Sir Ratan Tata (1871-1918) assisted his brother in his industrial enterprises, and established a department of social science and administration at the London School of Economics. He was knighted in 1916.
TATE, Sir Henry (1819-99). English merchant. , while employed in a sugar refinery at Liverpool, he patented a device for cutting sugar loaves into small cubes, which enabled him to found the firm of Henry Tate and Sons, and to make a large fortune. A generous benefactor to hospitals, public libraries, and to University College, Liverpool, he was also a collector of modern pictures, which he gave, with 80,000 pounds to the nation and which formed the nucleus of the National Gallery of British Art, Millbank, opened in 1897and commonly known as the Tate Gallery. Created a baronet in 1898.
TATE, Nahum (1`652-1715).Irish writer. He was a prolific adapter of plays, including Shakespeare's King Lear. Panacea or a Poem on Tea, 1700 his only notable original poem. His fame rests chiefly on his New Version of The Psalms, published 1696, in collaboration with Nicolas Brady. Tate was appointed poet laureate in 1692.
TATTERSALL, Richard (1724-95). English auctioneer. He became stud groom to the Duke of Kingston, and in 1766 set up as a horse auctioneer in premises at Hyde Park corner, London. These rapidly became and remained, when moved to Knightsbridge in 1865, the chief auction mart for horses in England. The subscription rooms which he instituted in the same premises attracted all the chief betting and sporting men of the country. He was known as 'old Tatt'.
TAUCHNITZ, Karl Christopher Traugott (1761-1836). German publisher. He began printing books in 1796 at Leipzig. His editions of Greek and Latin classics were widely famed for cheapness and accuracy. His nephew Christian Bernhard Tauchnitz (1816-95), founded the better knownTauchnitz publishing house in 1837.
TAULER, Johann (c. 1300-1361). German mystic. He acquired a high reputation as a preacher in his native Strasbourg. Closely associated with the mystic fraternity of the Friends of God of Basel, his sermons were models of nobility of expression.
TAUNTON, Henry Labouchere, Baron (1798-1869). British politician. He entered Parliament as a liberal in 1826. He was president of the board of trade 1839-41, and again 1847-52, and secretary for the colonies 1855-58. He was also a chief Secretary for Ireland 1846-47. He was created Baron Taunton in 1859, but the title became extinct when he died.
TAUSEN, Hans (1494-1561). Danish reformer. He became a friar, and later studied at Wittenberg the reformed doctrines, which on his return despite imprisonment and the violent opposition of the religious orders he preached at Viborg and elsewhere. Supported by the people and by the burghers of Viborg, he was made Chaplin to King Frederick I in 1526. He became bishop of Ribe in 1542 and lived to see the reformed church established in Denmark.