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 was a man of very short stature, a feature on which Alcuin wrote an epigram. Consequently he was called Nardulus, a diminutive form of Einhardus, and his great industry and activity caused him to be likened to an ant. He was also a man of learning and culture. Reaping the benefits of the revival of learning brought about by Charlemagne, he was on intimate terms with Alcuin, was well versed in Latin literature, and knew some Greek. His most famous work is his Vita Karoli Magni, to which a prologue was added by Walafrid Strabo. Written in imitation of the De vitis Caesarum of Suetonius, this is the best contemporary account of the life of Charlemagne, and could only have been written by one who was very intimate with the emperor and his court. It is, moreover, a work of some artistic merit, although not free from inaccuracies. It was written before 821, and having been very popular during the middle ages, was first printed at Cologne in 1521. G. H. Pertz collated more than sixty manuscripts for his edition of 1829, and others have since come to light. Other works by Einhard are: Epistolae, which are of considerable importance for the history of the times; Historia translationis beatorum Christi martyrum Marcellini et Petri, which gives a curious account of how the bones of these martyrs were stolen and conveyed to Seligenstadt, and what miracles they wrought; and De adoranda cruce, a treatise which has only recently come to light, and which has been published by E. Dümmler in the Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde, Band xi. (Hanover, 1886). It has been asserted that Einhard was the author of some of the Frankish annals, and especially of part of the annals of Lorsch (Annales Laurissenses majores), and part of the annals of Fulda (Annales Fuldenses). Much discussion has taken place on this question, and several of the most eminent of German historians, Ranke among them, have taken part therein, but no certain decision has been reached.

 EINHORN, DAVID (1809–1879), leader of the Jewish reform movement in the United States of America, was born in Bavaria. He was a supporter of the principles of (q.v.), and while still in Germany advocated the introduction of prayers in the vernacular, the exclusion of nationalistic hopes from the synagogue service, and other ritual modifications. In 1855 he migrated to America, where he became the acknowledged leader of reform, and laid the foundation of the régime under which the mass of American Jews (excepting the newly arrived Russians) now worship. In 1858 he published his revised prayer book, which has formed the model for all subsequent revisions. In 1861 he strongly supported the anti-slavery party, and was forced to leave Baltimore where he then ministered. He continued his work first in Philadelphia and later in New York.

 EINSIEDELN, the most populous town in the Swiss canton of Schwyz. It is built on the right bank of the Alpbach (an affluent of the Sihl), at a height of 2908 ft. above the sea-level on a rather bare moorland, and by rail is 25 m. S.E. of Zürich, or by a roundabout railway route about 38 m. north of Schwyz, with which it communicates directly over the Hacken Pass (4649 ft.) or the Holzegg Pass (4616 ft.). In 1900 the population was 8496, all (save 75) Romanists and all (save 111) German-speaking. The town is entirely dependent on the great Benedictine abbey that rises slightly above it to the east. Close to its present site Meinrad, a hermit, was murdered in 861 by two robbers, whose crime was made known by Meinrad’s two pet ravens. Early in the 10th century Benno, a hermit, rebuilt the holy man’s cell, but the abbey proper was not founded till about 934, the church having been consecrated (it is said by Christ Himself) in 948. In 1274 the dignity of a prince of the Holy Roman Empire was confirmed by the emperor to the reigning abbot. Originally under the protection of the counts of Rapperswil (to which town on the lake of Zürich the old pilgrims’ way still leads over the Etzel Pass, 3146 ft., with its chapel and inn), this position passed by marriage with their heiress in 1295 to the Laufenburg or cadet line of the Habsburgs, but from 1386 was permanently occupied by Schwyz. A black wooden image of the Virgin and the fame of St Meinrad caused the throngs of pilgrims to resort to Einsiedeln in the middle ages, and even now it is much frequented, particularly about the 14th of September. The existing buildings date from the 18th century only, while the treasury and the library still contain many precious objects, despite the sack by the French in 1798. There are now about 100 fully professed monks, who direct several educational institutions. The Black Virgin has a special chapel in the stately church. Zwingli was the parish priest of Einsiedeln 1516–1518 (before he became a Protestant), while near the town Paracelsus (1493–1541), the celebrated philosopher, was born.

 EISENACH, a town of Germany, second capital of the grand-duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, lies at the north-west foot of the Thuringian forest, at the confluence of the Nesse and Hörsel, 32 m. by rail W. from Erfurt. Pop. (1905) 35,123. The town mainly consists of a long street, running from east to west. Off this are the market square, containing the grand-ducal palace, built in 1742, where the duchess Hélène of Orleans long resided, the town-hall, and the late Gothic St Georgenkirche; and the square on which stands the Nikolaikirche, a fine Romanesque building, built about 1150 and restored in 1887. Noteworthy are also the Klemda, a small castle dating from 1260; the Lutherhaus, in which the reformer stayed with the Cotta family in 1498; the house in which Sebastian Bach was born, and that (now a museum) in which Fritz Reuter lived (1863–1874). There are monuments to the two former in the town, while the resting-place of the latter in the cemetery is marked by a less pretentious memorial. Eisenach has a school of forestry, a school of design, a classical school (Gymnasium) and modern school (Realgymnasium), a deaf and dumb school, a teachers’ seminary, a theatre and a Wagner museum. The most important industries of the town are worsted-spinning, carriage and wagon building, and the making of colours and pottery. Among others are the manufacture of cigars, cement pipes, iron-ware and machines, alabaster ware, shoes, leather, &c., cabinet-making, brewing, granite quarrying and working, tile-making, and saw- and corn-milling.

The natural beauty of its surroundings and the extensive forests of the district have of late years attracted many summer residents. Magnificently situated on a precipitous hill, 600 ft. above the town to the south, is the historic (q.v.), the ancient castle of the landgraves of Thuringia, famous as the scene of the contest of Minnesingers immortalized in Wagner’s Tannhäuser, and as the place where Luther, on his return from the diet of Worms in 1521, was kept in hiding and made his translation of the Bible. On a high rock adjacent to the Wartburg are the ruins of the castle of Mädelstein.

Eisenach (Isenacum) was founded in 1070 by Louis II. the Springer, landgrave of Thuringia, and its history during the middle ages was closely bound up with that of the Wartburg, the seat of the landgraves. The Klemda, mentioned above, was built by Sophia (d. 1284), daughter of the landgrave Louis IV., and wife of Duke Henry II. of Brabant, to defend the town against Henry III., margrave of Meissen, during the succession contest that followed the extinction of the male line of the Thuringian landgraves in 1247. The principality of Eisenach fell to the Saxon house of Wettin in 1440, and in the partition of 1485 formed part of the territories given to the Ernestine line. It was a separate Saxon duchy from 1596 to 1638, from 1640