Page:Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography Volume 1.pdf/943

CAN waiwode of Moldavia; he was detested by his subjects, and fled to Poland in 1679. He was restored only to be again deposed—this time by Ibrahim Pacha in 1685.  CANTACUZENE, V., emperor of the East, and one of the Byzantine historians, was born about 1295. He held high office under Andronicus the elder, and attained the highest importance in the state when his grandson Andronicus came to the throne in 1328. He did eminent service to the empire under this younger prince, and on his death in 1341, was appointed regent during the minority of John Palæologus. Exposed to the intrigues of the empress dowager, the patriarch, and some of the nobles, he in self defence, and at the entreaty of the army, assumed the purple, and was crowned at Hadrianople in 1342. It was not, however, till after a civil war of live years that he entered Constantinople, and was acknowledged as joint emperor with John Palæologus. The union was not lasting, for in 1353 jealousies sprang up, and a new war began, which lasted till 1355, when Cantacuzene abdicated and retired to a monastery. He then took the name of Joasaphus Christodulus, and wrote in four books a "History of the Byzantine empire from 1320 to 1355," which forms one of the series of Byzantine histories. He also wrote an apology for the christian faith against Jews and Mohammedans. It is said that he lived more than a hundred years, but the date of his death is uncertain.—J. B.  CANTACUZENE,, son of John V., born in 1325. He continued the civil war after his father's death, and was forced by John Palæologus to renounce his title to the throne.  CANTACUZENE,, who made a doubtful claim of descent from John V., was a native of Wallachia, of which he rose to be waiwode in 1678. He long aspired to the throne of Constantinople, and was imprisoned in 1672. Released by the Turks, and holding office under them, he nevertheless conceived the design of driving them from Europe, and coming to the throne of his ancestors. He plotted with the Emperor Leopold and the Czar of Muscovy, but his scheme had just been discovered when he died in 1685.—J. B.  CANTACUZENE, III., son of Constantine Cantacuzene, succeeded his cousin, Constantine Brancovan, in 1714. (See .) Chosen as a pretext for the deposition of his cousin, the Turks immediately determined to get rid of him also. He was executed at Constantinople in 1716, and with him perished the native line of princes.  CANTARINI,, was of the family of the Chasanim, of which word Cantarini is a translation. This great scholar was a native of Padua, where his father had occupied an honourable position. Isaac Cantarini studied medicine at the university of his native city, and although the religious affairs of the congregation over which he was appointed rabbi claimed his principal attention, he never relinquished entirely the practice of medicine, in which, indeed, he arrived at considerable eminence, according to the testimony of contemporary authorities. Some of his Hebrew writings have a mystic tendency, and are composed in a correspondingly obscure although elaborate style. Of this character is "Eth Kez" (The Time of the End), in which the advent of the Messiah is calculated, although investigations of this kind are discountenanced by the rabbinical law. His "Pakad Yitzchak" (The Awe of Isaac), gives an account of the persecution suffered by the Jews at Padua on August 20, 1684. Wolf attributes to Cantarini the authorship of Vindex Sanguinis, an apology, in Latin, of the Jews against the absurd accusation of using christian blood in the making of the unleavened passover-bread.—T. T.  CANTARINI,, called , was born in 1612. He attained to unquestionable eminence, both as a painter and an engraver. He studied under Giovanni Giacomo Pandulfi, Claudio Ridolfi, and afterwards under Guido Reni. He endeavoured to establish a school at Bologna, but, failing to obtain pupils, in great disgust he set out for Mantua. The duke proffered the sunshine of his patronage, and ordered a portrait. For some cause, either from a want of honesty, or too much of it in the picture, the duke was by no means satisfied. Cantarini's insolent and irritable temper of mind could not bear up under this disappointment. He died in 1648 at Verona, where he had retreated. Stories were told of his having been poisoned by a jealous rival, but of this nothing certain has been ascertained. Cantarini had great talent, but it was of the imitative character merely. He came very near to Guido, not because he could create like him, but because he could copy him. His etchings are very spirited and clever, but still reflective of a greater man's spirit and cleverness. His saints' heads have been called prodigies of beauty.—W. T.  CANTE DEL GABRIELLI D'AGOBBIO, became podestat of Florence in 1301. Allied with Charles of Valois, he had already rendered himself odious by his part in the massacre of the Bianchi. His rule was mercilessly severe; and in the records of his numberless decrees of banishment appear the names of Dante, and of Petraccio, the father of Petrarch. <section end="943H" /> <section begin="943I" />CANTEMIR,, a Russian poet, fourth son of Demetrius, born in 1709; died in 1744. Having been carefully educated for the imperial service, Cantemir, while still a youth, was rapidly promoted. In 1730, when Anne of Courland came to the throne, his prudence defended her from the machinations of the aristocracy. He was sent as ambassador to London, and afterwards to France. His last years were devoted to study. <section end="943I" /> <section begin="943J" />CANTEMIR,, waiwode of Moldavia in the seventeenth century. He served after his father's death in the Polish army, and having returned to Moldavia, ultimately, in 1684, became waiwode of that province. In the war between Sobieski and the Turks, he, being a christian, remained neutral, except so far as to succour the former in his retreat. By means of his political cunning and ability he deluded the Turks, and died on his throne—the latter a rare thing among waiwodes. <section end="943J" /> <section begin="943K" />CANTEMIR,, son of the prince of Moldavia, was born in 1673. He was disappointed in his hope of succeeding to his father's dignity, but in 1710 was made governor of Moldavia and sent to defend it against Peter of Russia. He conceived the design of betraying it to the enemy, and when the Russian arms failed, left the territory and became a follower of the czar, receiving large estates and lucrative appointments under his new master. He died in 1723. Cantemir was a learned man, and has left several works, of which the most important is, "A History of the growth and decay of the Ottoman Empire," of which an English translation appeared in London in 1734. Gibbon says this history is full of blunders, and it is now known to have been taken from an inaccurate abridgement of Saad-ed-deen's Turkish history.—J. B. <section end="943K" /> <section begin="943L" />CANTER,, born at Utrecht in 1542; died in 1575. After the usual courses of study in Holland, he learned Greek at Paris from Jean Dorat, and then travelled in Germany and Italy. He is described as on his return from his travels refusing all public employment, and giving himself entirely to his studies—never visiting a friend or receiving a visit. Lipsias describes him as always with an hourglass or clepsydra before his eyes, and devoting each hour to some separate branch of study. He published eight books of what he styled "Novæ Lectiones," being suggested emendations and explanations of passages of Latin writers. He edited Euripides, Sophocles, and Æschylus. His early death is ascribed to overwork.—Two brothers of his are also mentioned as distinguished scholars—, who published some classical tracts; and, whose name is found in lists of learned children.—J. A., D. <section end="943L" /> <section begin="943M" />CANTON,, born at Stroud in 1718, died in 1772; an eminent cultivator of physics. His researches lay chiefly in the field of electricity. We owe him the pith-ball electrometer, and other instruments. He demonstrated the compressibility of water, and he recognized the important fact that clouds are in opposite electric states.—J. P. N. <section end="943M" /> <section begin="943O" />CANTONI,, an Italian architect who died in 1818. He was a native of Maggio, and having studied at Rome, settled at Milan, where, as well as at Como and Bergamo, he erected some noble mansions. He rebuilt the great council hall in the ducal palace of Genoa, destroyed by fire in 1777. <section end="943O" /> <section begin="943Zcontin" />* CANTU,, an Italian historian, born in the village of Brisio, near Milan, in 1805. His father, Celsio, having died suddenly in 1828, he became the head and only support of a very large family. At the age of eighteen he obtained a professorship of belles-lettres, first at Soadrio, then at Como, and finally at Milan. His first work, a tale entitled "L'Algisa della mole dell' Ildegondo," he published when only twenty-two years of age. This was followed by a continuation of the history of Como, some comments on the history of Lombardy, and a variety of treatises and essays, and some poems, the most remarkable of which is the "Madonna of Imbevero." His ode, "The Exile," the Lombard peasants sung triumphantly as they were driven from their homes after the defeat of the Piedmontese army in 1848. If he had written nothing more than his <section end="943Zcontin" />