Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/733

 CANTABRIA CANTACUZENUS 723 first edition of the New Testament printed with type kept permanently standing, and sol- dered together at their lower ends. In 1716 he printed the whole Bible by the same meth- od; in 1717 a still larger edition appeared in a larger size; and in 1722, after his death, Polish and Bohemian translations also ap- peared. These wore the beginnings of the Can- stein Bible establishment, which in 1735 took still more definite form through the erection of a special printing office, and rapidly increased its facilities for the printing of large editions by the adoption of the stereotype process and the purchase of the best presses. He also published a concordance of the Gospels (Halle, 1718), and a biography of Spener (1729). The history of the Canstein establishment, by Bertram, was published at Halle in 1863. (See BIBLE SO- CIETIES.) < AYI'AKRIA, a district of ancient Spain, bor- dering on the S. coast of the bay of Biscay, and including, according to some of the earlier geographers, what are now the provinces of Oviedo, Santander, Biscay, and Guipuzcoa. After the Roman invasion the name was re- stricted to the western half, included in that part of the peninsula known as Hispania Tar- raconensis. On the east were the territories of the Autrigones, Varduli, and Vascones; on the west the river Salia separated it from the country of the Astures; and the southern boundary was formed by the Oantabrian moun- tains. The river Ebro (Iberus) takes its rise near the district occupied by the Tuisi, one of the five principal tribes (the Pleutauri, Var- duli, Autrigones, Conisci or Ooncani, and Tuisi) into which the inhabitants were divided. Pliny mentions nine cities of Cantabria, of which Juliobriga alone was of any importance. The Cantabri were a warlike people, and of all the Iberian nations opposed the stoutest resistance to the Romans, and, though more than once forced into nominal subjection, were never wholly subdued. A portion of them acknowledged the supremacy of Augustus, but the bulk of the nation preserved their inde- pendence among the fastnesses of their moun- tains. After their first partial subjection, 25 B. 0., they several times revolted, and were almost exterminated by Agrippa in 1 9. r Ttltum MOUNTAINS, a range in the K part of Spain, formed by a W. prolongation of the Pyrenees, and extending from that chain parallel with the S. shore of the bay of Biscay, W. to Cape Finisterre. They bear various names in the different provinces through which they pass, the best known being those of Sierras de Aralar, Salvada, and Cobadongo, mountains of Asturias, and Sierra de Pefiama- rella. Some of the summits are rugged, pre- cipitous, and clad with magnificent forests ; others are crowned with perpetual snow. The maximum elevation is about 10,000 ft. < T Ul /KM s, or Cantaeuzene, the name of a distinguished Grseco-Wallachian family, claim- ing direct descent from the Byzantine emperor John Cantacuzenus. They have for several cen- turies occupied a prominent position, generally in connection with the affairs of the Danubian dependencies of Turkey. I. Serban, waywode of Wallachia, under the title of Serban II., born about 1640, died in 1688. His father, Con- stantine, had married the daughter of Serban I., and had acquired an influence in the princi- pality which roused the fear of Gregory Ghika, a waywode in his time. Constantine was as- sassinated, but his death only served to direct the popular indignation against Gregory, and to contribute to the advancement of Serban. Gregory, who betrayed his suzerain, the sul- tan, soon after fled from the country, but was reinstated on the fall of his successor Drakula, and the Cantacuzene family was' exposed to long-continued persecutions; but after some years Ghika was again deposed, and Serban returned, became prime minister, and in 1679 was appointed waywode. He improved the administration of justice, and promoted indus- try and education; but finding all his plans for the advancement of the country defeated by Turkish oppression, he formed a plan to secure the independence of the principality. He took advantage of the defeat of the Turks before Vienna, where he and his countrymen assisted the enemy while pretending to aid the Ottoman army, to enter into negotiations with Germany and Russia, both powers giving him hopes of assistance. He raised a considerable army, but died on the eve of executing his schemes. II. Demetrius, brother of the prece- ding, hospodar of Moldavia, appointed in 1673. He had to contend with rivals, and his weak- ness and tyranny rendered him so odious to the Moldavians that in 1679 they revolted against his government and obliged him to take refuge in Poland. Though in disfavor at the Turkish court, he was in 1684 restored to power by the sultan's aid ; but in 1685 the grand vizier Ibrahim Pasha finally removed him from his office. III. Stephen, waywode of Wallachia, appointed in 1714. His intrigues with the court of Vienna, having for their ob- ject the release of the principality from the Turkish yoke, excited suspicion at Constanti- nople, and he was arrested, deposed, and exe- cuted in 1716. IV. Alexander and George, offi- cers in the army of Russia, in which country the family had taken up their residence after the execution of Stephen, distinguished them- selves as members of the Heteeria before and during the Greek revolution of 1821. They served in Moldavia under Ypsilanti ; and both wrote accounts of the conflict, and works in aid of the cause. CANTACUZEMS, Johannes, a Byzantine empe- ror and historian, born in Constantinople in the beginning of the 14th century. During the reign of Andronicus II. he was " great domes- tic," or first lord of the bedchamber. He was a relative of the imperial family, and his talents gained for him the confidence of the people. Andronicus and his grandson and legitimate