Part 284 (1/2)
LEO, the name of six emperors of the East, of which the chief was Leo III., surnamed the Isaurian, born in Isauria; raised to the imperial throne by the army, defeated by sea and land the Saracens who threatened Constantinople; ruled peacefully for nine years, when he headed the ICONOCLAST MOVEMENT (Q. V.), which provoked hostility and led to the revolt of Italy from the Greek empire; _d_. 741.
LEO, the names of 13 popes: L. I., ST., Pope from 410 to 461; L. II., ST., pope from 682 to 683; L. III., Pope from 795 to 816; L. IV., pope from 847 to 855; L. V., Pope in 903; L.
VI., Pope from 928 to 929; L. VII., Pope from 936 to 939; L.
VIII., Pope from 963 to 965; L. IX., ST., Pope from 1049 to 1054; L. X., pope from 1513 to 1521; L. XI., Pope in 1605; L.
XII., Pope from 1823 to 1829; L. XIII., Pope since 1878. Of these only the following deserve mention:--
LEO I., saint, surnamed the GREAT; was distinguished for his zeal against heretics, presided at two councils, and persuaded Attila to retire from Rome on his invasion of Italy, as he persuaded Genseric four years later to moderate the outrages of his troops in the city; his letters are in evidence of the jurisdiction of the Roman over the universal Church. Festival, Nov. 10.
LEO III., proclaimed Charlemagne emperor of the West in 800; driven in 799 from the papal chair by a conspiracy, he was reinstated by Charlemagne, who next year visited the city and was crowned by him emperor.
LEO IX., saint; was elected at the Diet of Worms in 1048, welcomed at Rome, and applied himself zealously to the reform of Church discipline; being defeated in the field by Guiscard, suffered a 10 years'
imprisonment, fell ill and died.
LEO X., Giovanni de' Medici, son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, sovereign of Florence; was distinguished as a patron of art, science, and letters, and as occupant of the chair of St. Peter at the outbreak of the Reformation, and as by his issue of indulgences for the replenishment of his treasure provoking the movement and rousing the ire of Luther, which set the rest of Europe on fire.
LEO XIII., 257th Pope of Rome, born at Carpineto; distinguished at college in mathematics, physics, and philosophy; took holy orders in 1837, was nuncio to Belgium in 1843, became bishop of Perugia in 1846, cardinal 1853, and Pope in 1878; holds to his rights as Pope both secular and spiritual; believes in the Catholic Church as the only regenerator of society, and hails every show of encroach it makes on the domain of Protestantism as promise of its universal restoration; _b_. 1810.
LEON, an ancient kingdom in the NE. of Spain, united with Castile in 1230, with a capital of the same name 256 m. NW. of Madrid. Also the name of a city in Nicaragua and another in Mexico.
LEONARDO DA VINCI, celebrated painter and sculptor of the Florentine school, born at Vinci in the Val d'Arno; showed early a wonderful apt.i.tude for art; studied under Andrea del Verrocchio, but so surpa.s.sed him in his work as to drive him to renounce the painter's art; his great work, executed by him at Milan, was the famous picture of the ”Last Supper,” which he painted in oil about 1497 on the wall of the refectory of the Dominican convent of the Madonna delle Grazie; it perished from the dampness of the wall almost as soon as it was finished, but happily copies were taken of it before decay had ruined it; besides, Leonardo did in 1503 at Florence the famous cartoon of the Battle of the Standard; he was a man of imposing personal appearance, of very wide range of ability, and distinguished himself in engineering as well as art; he wrote a ”Treatise on Painting,” which has been widely translated (1452-1519).
LEONIDAS, king of Sparta from 491 to 480 B.C.; opposed Xerxes, the Persian, who threatened Greece with a large army, and kept him at bay at the Pa.s.s of Thermopylae with 300 Spartans and 5000 auxiliaries till he was betrayed by EPHIALTES (q. v.), when he and his 300 threw themselves valiantly on the large host, and perished fighting to the last man.
LEONIDS, meteors which descend in showers during November in certain years, their chief centre being the constellation Leo.
LEOPARDI, GIACOMO, modern Italian poet, born near Ancona; a precocious genius; an omnivorous reader as a boy, and devoted to literature; of a weakly const.i.tution, he became a confirmed invalid, and died suddenly; had sceptical leanings; wrote lyrics inspired by a certain sombre melancholy (1788-1837).
LEOPOLD I., king of the Belgians, son of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg; in his youth served in the Russian army; visited England in 1815, and married Princess Charlotte, who died two years later; he declined the throne of Greece in 1830, but accepted that of the Belgians in 1831, and proved a wise, firm, const.i.tutional sovereign; in 1832 he married the French princess Louise; he was succeeded by his son Leopold II.
(1790-1865).
LEOPOLD II., king of the Belgians, born at Brussels, son and successor of Leopold I.; has travelled much in Europe and Asia Minor; founded, and is now ruler of, the Congo Free State; married in 1853 the Archd.u.c.h.ess Maria of Austria, by whom he has had three daughters; _b_.
1835.