TAPIS
450
TARANTO
Tapis, EsTEBAN, b. at Santa Coloma de Fames,
Catalonia, Spain, 25 Aug., 1754; d. 3 Nov., 1825.
He entered the Franciscan Order at Gerona, 27 Jan.,
1778, and joined the missionary College of San
J'ernando, Mexico, in 1786. Reaching California in
1790, he was in succession stationed at the Indian
missions of San Luis Obispo till 1793; Santa liarbara
till 1806; San Carlos till 1811; Purisima Concepci6n
till 1813; Santa Ines in 1814; San Juan Bautista to
the day of his death. He was three times elected
preside/i/e,orsuperior, of the California missions, hold-
ing the office from 1803 to 1812. During the same
period he was also vicario foraneo of the Bishop of
Sonora for Cahfomia. Father Tapis was familiar with
several Inthan languages, and noted for his fondness
for teaching Indian boys to read and write. He was
a tnily evangelical man, and was held in the highest
esteem by the missionaries for his learning and piety.
Numerous letters from his hand are still extant. His
best and longest hterary effort was his defence of
the missionary fathers and their missionary system
against the accusations of Captain Goyoeehea of the
Santa Barbara presidio. The argimients proved so
crushing that the Goveniment deemed it advisable to
promote the officer to a post in Mexico. Father
Tapis strenuously opposed taking the oath of alle-
giance to the so-called Republic of Mexico, which to
him was nothing but an attempt at putting Voltairean
principles into practice.
Santa Barbara Mission Archives; Mission Records of various missiona, notably San Juan Bautista; Engelhardt, The Missions and Missionaries of California. II (San Francisco, 1912); The Franciscans in California (Harbor Springs, Mich., 1S97).
Zephyrin Engelhardt.
Tarabotti, Helena, nun and authoress, b. at Venice, 1605; d. there 1652. Obliged by her father, who was descended from a family of Bergamo, to enter the Convent of Sta. Anna at ^'enice, at the age of eleven years, she remained there, under the name of Arcangela, without any religious vocation. In earn- est study, her keen spirit found its element, and through various works she became an authoress of some repute. Her first books betray an unsettled state of mind, but later she wrote treatises on the spiritual life in which, through the influence of Car- dinal Cornaro, Patriarch of Venice, she finally found peace. Her more worldly works, partly pseudony- mous, are:"Antisatira d'A[rcangela]T[arabotti] in ris- posta alia satira Menippea contro il lusso donnesco di Francesco Buonin.segni", Venice, 1644; "Lettere familiari e di complemento", Venice, 1650; "Difesa delle donne contro Orazio Plata", Venice, 1651; "La semplicita ingannata", Leyden, 1654; the last two were written under the name of Galerana Barcitotti. The books referring to spiritual life are: "La luce monacale"; "Via per andare al cielo"; "Paradiso monacale"; "Purgatorio delle mal maritate"; "Con- templazioni dell' anima amante".
ClcoGN.i, Delle Tuscrizioni Veneziane (Venice, 1824-65), I, 135-36, 164, 359; II, 430; V, 536-37; VI. 807-08; Dizionario geografico storico biografico italiano, part II (Florence, 1848), 1610; CilNTfr. Porini e ta Lombardia (Milan, 1854), 119.
LlVARIDS OlIGER.
Tarachus, Probus, and Andronicus, Saints, martjT.s of the Diocletian persecution (about 304). The " Martyrologium Hieronymian." contains the names of these three martyrs on four different days (the four days 8-11 October evidently signify no more than the date of a single day), with the topographical identification: "In Tarso Cilicie", on 27 Sept. (ed. De Ros.si-Duchesne, 126), to which corresponds the expression, "In Cilicia", given on the two days of 5 April, and 8-11 October. The expression, "In Pales- tina", given under 13 May (ibid., 60), is either an error or refers to a special shrine of the martyrs in Palestine. There are two accounts of the glorious martyrdom of these three witnesses by blood, the first account being held by Ruinart (Acta MartjTum, ed. Ratisbon,
448 sq.) to be entirely authentic. According to these
Acts, Tarachus, a native of Claudiopolis in Isauria,
Probus of Side in Pamiihyha.and Andronicus, who be-
longed to a prominent family of Ephesus, were tried
and horribly tortured three times in various cities, at
Tai-sus, and at Anazarbus of Cilicia. They were
then condemned to death by wild beasts, and when
the animals would not touch them in the amphitheatre
they were put to death with the sword. Harnack,
however, expressed doubts as to the genuineness of the
account (Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur, pt.
II: Die Chronologic, I, 479 sq., note 5), and Dele-
haye (Les 16gendes hagiographiques, 135 sq.) puts
the martyrdom in the class of legends of martyrs that
he calls "historical romances". At the same time,
however, there can be no doubt as to the actual exist-
ence of the three martyrs. Their feast is celebrated
in the Latin Church on 1 1 October, and in the Greek
Church on 12 October.
Acta SS.^ October. V, 566 sq., earliest form of the Acts, P. G., CXV. 1068 sq., second form, Bibliotheca hagiographica grteca, ed. B0LL.1ND. (2nd ed.), 220; Qcentin, Les martyrologes his- toriques (Paris, 1908), 279.
J. P. KiRSCH.
Taranto, Diocese of (Tarentina), in southern Italy, on a bay in the Gulf of Taranto. The ancient city was situated on an island, joined by two bridges with the mainland, where the new city i.s built. Two islets, S. Pietro and S. Paolo, protect the bay (Mar grande), the commercial port, while the old city forms another bay (Mar piccolo), a miUtary port next in strategic importance to Spezzia; the coast and islets are therefore very strongly fortified. The city has a large export trade and extensive works connected with the construction of warships, while the fishing industry, especially in the Mar piccolo, is flourishing. The cathedral dates from the eleventh century, but has been partially reconstructed in modern times. The high altar has a silver statue of St. Cathaldus; the saint's chapel, rich in marble and statues, with a cupola decorated with a fresco of Paolo de Matteis, is due to the munificence of Archbishops Lelio Brancac- cio, Sarria, and Pignatelh.
Tarentum, called Taras by the Greeks, was founded in 707 B. c. by some Spartans, who, the sons of free women and enslaved fathers, were born during the Messenian War. They succeeded in conquering the Menapii and Lucani. Like Sparta, Tarentum was an ajistocratic republic, but became democratic when the ancient nobility dwindled. Its government was praised by Aristotle. The people were industrious and commercial, employing a mercenary army com- manded by foreign leaders, like the King of Sparta Arohidamus II, Cleonymus, and later Pyrrhus. Alexander, King of Epirus, tried in vain to capture the city; he then became an ally of the Romans, and his death in a new ex])edition against the Tarentines led to the first dispute between the two republics. War resulted from the violation of a maritime treaty by the Romans (281). Tarentum engaged the services of Pyrrhus, who, victorious at first, was finally con- quered at Beneventum (275); in 272 the city was taken by the Romans and included in the federation. Even in those early days it was renowned for its beautiful climate. In 208 it sided with Hannibal, but was retaken in 205, losing its hberty and its art treasures, including the statue of Victory. In ancient times its poets Apollodorus and Clinias, its painter Zeuxis, and its mathematician Archytas were renowned. The Byzantines captured Taranto in 545 during the Gothic wars, but abandoned it in 552. In 668 it belonged to Romuald, Duke of Beneventum. In 882 the Saracens, having been invited by Duke Radelchis to assist him, captured it and held it for some time. It was retaken bv the Byzantines, who were forced to cede it to (^tto H'in 982; in lO.SO it fell into the hands of Robert Guiscard, who made it the capital
