Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/173

Rh dc Estrella in ; a number of interesting churches, such as Santo Tomas, with the beautiful tomb of Prince Juan, San Vincenti, with its remarkable carving, and Nuestra Seraf. Madre Santa Teresa, built over the birthplace of the patroness of Spain (who here founded the convent of St Joseph); as well as several monasteries and schools, an infirmary, and a foundling hospital. It was formerly the seat of a university, which was founded in 1482, and changed into the college of St Thomas in 1807. The only manufacture of any importance is the spinning of the wool furnished by the native sheep. Population, 6892.

 AVILA, GIL GONZALEZ D, a Spanish biographer and antiquary, was born at Avila about the year 1577, and died there in 1658. He was made historiographer of Castile in 1612, and of the Indies in 1641. Of his numerous works, the most valuable are his Teatro de las Grandezas de Madrid (Madrid, 1623, sqq.}, and his Teatro Eclesiastico, descriptive of the metropolitan churches and cathedrals of Castile, with lives of the prelates (Madrid, 1645-53, 4 vols. 4to).

  author of a Spanish history of the wars of Charles V. Nothing is known as to the place or date either of his birth or of his death. He was probably of low origin, but married a wealthy heiress of the house of Zuniga, whose name he added to his own. He rose rapidly in the favour of the Emperor Charles V., served in the army and as ambassador to Rome, and was present at the funeral of Charles in 1558. His work is entitled Comentarios de la Guerra de Alemaña, hecha de Carlos V. en el año de 1546 y 1547, and appears to have been printed in 1548. It became very popular, and was translated into English, French, Dutch, German, Italian, and Latin. As was to be expected from the position of the author, the book gave a rather one-sided account of Charles, and its misrepresentations have been severely criticised.  AVILES, (the Latin Flavionavia), a of, in the province of, about a  from the -, in  ,   It has a considerable trade by means of its , which affords good anchorage for all classes of s. There are here some  works and  , and the   are extensive and productive. Aviles has two es, a, and a. , 3297.

 AVLONA, or (the ancient Αὐλών), a and seaport of, in the  of. It stands on an eminence near the Gulf of Avlona, an inlet of the, almost surrounded by s. The port, which is protected by the of , the ancient Saso, is the best on the n. It is visited weekly by n, and carries on considerable intercourse with , &c. The town is about a mile and a half from the sea, and has rather a pleasant appearance with its s and its, surrounded with gardens and -groves. The population, of which a considerable proportion are, is largely engaged in &thinsp;; while the   len stuffs and. The material imported into for, under the name of Valonia, is the  of an  produced in the district. Avlona played an important part in the wars between the and the. In 1464 it was taken by the ; and after being in possession in 1690, was restored to them in 1691. In 1851 it suffered severely from an.

 AVOIRDUPOIS, or, the name of a system of weights, commonly supposed to be derived from the, , to have weight. The suggested derivation from averer, to verify, seems, however, more probable, averdupois being the earlier form of the word. Avoirdupois weight is used for all except the, , and. The pound avoirdupois, which is equal to 7000, or 453·54 s, is divided into 16 s, and the ounce into 16 s. See.

 AVOLA, a city on the coast of Sicily, in the province of Syracuse, with 11,912 inhabitants. It manufactures straw-mats, and has trade in wine, grain, oil, honey, &c.; and there are sugar plantations.

 AVON, the name of several rivers in,, and. The word is, appearing in as ', in as aon, and in  as abhuinn (pronounced avain), and is radically identical with the  ap, water, and the Latin ' and. The root appears more or less disguised in a vast number of river names all over the Celtic area in. Thus, besides such forms as Evan, Aune, Anne, Ive, Auney, Inney, &c., in the British Islands, we have Aff and Aven in, Avenza and Avens in , Avia in , and Avono in &thinsp;; while the terminal syllable of a large proportion of the , such as the Sequana, the Matrona, the Garumna, and so on, seems originally to have been the same word. The names, , &c., show the root in a clearer shape. (See Taylor's Words and Places.) Of the principal English rivers of this name in its full form three belong to the basin of the. The Upper or an Avon, rising in, near the battlefield of , flows through , , and , past , , , and , and joins the larger river at &thinsp;; while the Lower Avon has its sources on the borders of , and enters the estuary of the at King's Roads, after passing , , and. (See Ireland's Upper Avon&thinsp;; Lewis's Book of English Rivers, 1855.) The Middle or Little Avon has its whole course in, and reaches the Severn a short distance below the town of. Another river of this name rises in, and flows past to the. In one is a tributary of the, another belongs to the basin of the , and a third joins its waters with the , while an Aven is a confluent of the. In there are two &ldquo;&thinsp;Avons&rdquo; in the system of the, and two in that of the.

<section end="AVON" /> <section begin="AVRANCHES" />AVRANCHES (ancient Abrincatce, or Ingena], a town of France, in the department of Manche. It was an important military station of the Romans, and has in more modern times sustained several sieges, the most noticeable of which was the result of its opposition to Henry IV. It stands on a wooded hill, commanding a fine view of the bay and rock of St Michel, about three miles distant. At the foot of the hill flows the river Sée, which at high tide is navigable from the sea. The principal trade is in corn, cider, and salt ; and candles, lace, nails, parchment, leather, &c., are manufactured. Avranches was formerly a bishop s see ; and its cathedral, destroyed as insecure in the time of the first French Revolution, was the finest in Normandy. Its site is now occupied by an open place, called after the celebrated Huet, bishop of Avranches ; and one stone remains with an inscription marking it out as the spot where Henry II. received absolution for the murder of A Becket. Saint-Saturnin's church dates from the 13th century, and has a remarkable gateway. The ancient episcopal palace is now used as a museum of antiquities ; and an extensive public library is kept in the &ldquo;mairie.&rdquo; A new cathedral is in course of erection. The agreeable situation and climate of this town make it a favourite residence of English families. Population in 1872, 8137.

<section end="AVRANCHES" /> <section begin="AXHOLM" />AXHOLM, or AXELHOLM, an island in the N.W. part of Lincolnshire, England, formed by the rivers Trent, Idle, and Don. It consists mainly of a plateau of slight elevation, <section end="AXHOLM" />