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 separated as Tinoceras. Uintatheres were huge creatures, with long narrow skulls, of which the elongated facial portion carried three pairs of bony horn-cores, probably covered with short horns in life, the hind-pair being much the largest. The dental formula is i., c. , p. , m. ; the upper canines being long sabre-like weapons, protected by a descending flange on each side of the front of the lower jaw.

In the basal Eocene of North America the Amblypoda were represented by extremely primitive, five-toed, small ungulates such as Periptychus and Pantolambda, each of these typifying a family. The full typical series of 44 teeth was developed in each, but whereas in the Periptychidae the upper molars were bunodont and tritubercular, in the Pantolambdidae they have assumed a selenodont structure. Creodont characters (see ) are displayed in the skeleton.

AMBO, or (Gr. , from  , to walk up ) , the reading-desk of early Basilican churches, also called. Originally small and movable, it was afterwards made of large proportions and fixed in one place. In the Byzantine and early Romanesque periods it was an essential part of church furniture; but during the middle ages it was gradually superseded in the Western Church by the pulpit and lectern. The gospel and epistle are still read from the ambo in the Ambrosian rite at Milan. The position of the ambo was not absolutely uniform; sometimes in the central point between the sanctuary and the nave, sometimes in the middle of the church, and sometimes at one or both of the sides of the chancel. The normal ambo, when the church contained only one, had three stages or degrees, one above the other, and it was usually mounted by a flight of steps at each end. The uppermost stage was reserved for the deacon who sang the gospel (facing the congregation); for promulgating episcopal edicts; reciting the names inscribed on the diptychs (see ); announcing fasts, vigils and feasts; reading ecclesiastical letters or acts of the martyrs celebrated on that day; announcing new miracles for popular edification, professions by new converts or recantations by heretics; and (for priests and deacons) preaching sermons,&mdash;bishops as a general rule preaching from their own throne. The second stage was for the sub-deacon who read the epistle (facing the altar); and the third for the subordinate clergy who read other parts of scripture. The inconvenience of having a single ambo led to the substitution of two separate ambones, between which these various functions were divided, one on the south side of the chancel being for the reading of the gospel, and one on the north for reading the epistle. In the Russian Orthodox Church the term “ambo” is used of the semicircular steps leading to the platform in front of the (q.v.), but in cathedrals the bishop has an ambo in the centre of the church. In the Greek Church the older form remains, usually placed at the side. In the Uniate Greek Catholic Church the “ambo” has become a table, on which are placed a crucifix and lights, before the doors of the iconostasis; here baptisms, marriages and confirmations take place.

Ambones were made of wood or else of costly marbles, and were decorated with mosaics, reliefs, gilding, &c.; sometimes also covered with canopies supported on columns. They were often of enormous size; that at St Sophia in Constantinople was large enough for the ceremonial of coronation.

The churches in Rome possess many fine examples of ambones in marble, of which the oldest is probably that in S. Clemente, reconstructed in the beginning of the 12th century. Those of slightly later date are enriched with marble mosaic known as Cosmati work, of which the examples in S. Maria-in-Ara-Coeli, S. Maria-in-Cosmedin and S. Lorenzo are those which are best known. Some early ambones are found in Ravenna, and in the south of Italy are many fine examples; the epistle ambo in the cathedral at Ravello (1130), which is perhaps the earliest, shows a Scandinavian influence in the design of its mosaic inlay, an influence which is found in Sicilian work and may be a Norman importation. The two ambones in the cathedral of Salerno, which are different in design, are magnificent in effect and are enriched with sculpture as well as with mosaic. In the gospel ambo in the cathedral of Ravello (1272), and also in that of the convent of the Trinita della Cava near Salerno, the spiral columns inlaid with mosaic stand on the backs of lions. In the epistle ambo at Salerno and the gospel ambones at Cava and San Giovanni del Toro in Ravello, the columns support segmental arches carrying the ambones; the epistle ambo at Ravello and all those in Rome are raised on solid marble bases.

AMBOISE, GEORGES D’ (1460–1510), French cardinal and minister of state, belonged to a noble family possessed of considerable influence. His father, Pierre d’Amboise, seigneur de Chaumont, was chamberlain to Charles VII. and Louis XI. and ambassador at Rome. His eldest brother, Charles d’Amboise, was governor of the Isle of France, Champagne and Burgundy, and councillor of Louis XI. Georges d’Amboise was only fourteen when his father procured for him the bishopric of Montauban, and Louis XI. appointed him one of his almoners. On arriving at manhood d’Amboise attached himself to the party of the duke of Orleans, in whose cause he suffered imprisonment, and on whose return to the royal favour he was elevated to the archbishopric of Narbonne, which after some time he changed for that of Rouen (1493). On the appointment of the duke of Orleans as governor of Normandy, d’Amboise became his lieutenant-general. In 1498 the duke of Orleans mounted the throne as Louis XII., and d’Amboise was suddenly raised to the high position of cardinal and prime minister. His administration was, in many respects, well-intentioned and useful. Having the good fortune to serve a king who was both economical and just, he was able to diminish the imposts, to introduce order among the soldiery, and above all, by the ordinances of 1499, to improve the organization of justice. He was also zealous for the reform of the church, and particularly for the reform of the monasteries; and it is greatly to his credit that he did not avail himself of the extremely favourable opportunities he possessed of becoming a pluralist. He regularly spent a large income in charity, and he laboured strenuously to stay the progress of the plague and famine which broke out in 1504. His foreign policy, less happy and less wise, was animated by two aims—to increase the French power in Italy and to seat himself on the papal throne; and these aims he sought to achieve by diplomacy, not by force. He, however, sympathized with, and took part in, the campaign which was begun in 1499 for the conquest of Milan. In 1500 he was named lieutenant-general in Italy and charged with the organization of the conquest. On the death of Alexander VI. he aspired to the papacy. He had French troops at the gates of Rome, by means of which he could easily have frightened the conclave and induced them to elect him; but he was persuaded to trust to his influence; the troops were dismissed, and an Italian was appointed as Pius III.; and again, on the death of Pius within the month, another Italian, Julius II., was chosen (1503). D’Amboise received in compensation the title of legate for life in France and in the Comtat Venaissin. He was one of the negotiators of the disastrous treaties of Blois (1504), and in 1508 of the League of Cambrai against Venice. In 1509 he again accompanied Louis XII. into Italy, but on his return he was seized at the city of Lyons with a fatal attack of gout in the stomach. He died there on the 25th of May 1510. His body was removed to Rouen, and a magnificent tomb, on which he is represented kneeling in the attitude of prayer, was erected to his memory in the cathedral of that town. Throughout his life he was an enlightened patron of letters and art, and it was at his orders that the château of Gaillon near Rouen was built.

See ''Lettres du roi Louis XII. et du cardinal d’Amboise (Brussels, 1712); L. Legendre, Vie du cardinal d’Amboise (Rouen, 1726); E. Lavisse, Histoire de France'' (vol. v. by H. Lemonnier, Paris, 1903);