6IRARD0N
570
GIRGENTI
method, in fact, which fliraid applied, was opposed Ijy
the bishop and tlie civil authorities of Fribourg, in
1823. Girard abandoned his school and went to Lu-
cerne as professor of philosophy in the gymnasium.
In 1834 he returned to Fribourg, where he remained
till his death, engaged in educational pursuits and in
the publication of some of his works. He had a great
reputation in France, being a Knight of the Legion of
Honour, and a corresponding member of the Acaddmie
des Sciences morales et politiques.
Besides many reports and memoirs, his principal writings are: "Cours de philosophie fait au Lycee de Lucerne" (1829-31); "Des moyens de stimuler I'ac- tivit^ dans les ^coles" (1835); " Parallcle entre la philosophie et la physique" (1840); and "Cours 6du- catif de langue maternelle" (Paris, 1840-48). These works banish abstractions tliat are above the child's intelligence, principles and rules being taught chiefly by means of concrete examples, and difficulties being introduced gradually. They contain the foundation of modern educational textbooks, and are still well worth studying. Pere Girard ranks next to Pestalozzi among Swiss pedagogues.
Michel, Biographie du Pere Girard in L'cducation pratique (Paris, 1839-40); CoMPAYRE in La Grande Encyclopahe, s. v.; Daguet in BuissON, Dictionnaire de pedagogie (Paris, 1887),
C. A. DUBRAY.
Girardon, Fr.\ncois, noted sculptor of the reign of Louis XIV, b. at Troyes, France, 1630; d. at Paris, 171.5. The son of a bronze-founder, he studied first under the sculptor Frangois Anguier and afterwards at Rome. Returning to France he was taken into the service of the king, working under Lebrun, whose fav- ourite he was. After Lebrun's death in 1690 he exerted great influence as professor of the academy of sculp- ture and painting, of which institution he later became the chancellor. Like the other sculptors of his time he followed in the footsteps of Bernini, but the influ- ence of the old school of Fontainebleau was also per- ceptible in his work. The Louvre possesses the model of his spirited equestrian statue of the king which was erected in the Place Vendome and destroyed during the Revolution. One of his finest works is the monu- ment to Richelieu, in the church of the Sorbonne; the dying cardinal lies on a richly draped sarcophagus, supported by the figure of religion, while the figure of science mourns at his feet. Among his other sepul- chral monuments are those in memory of his wife, the Princess de Conti, and the minister Louvois. The bust of Boileau is forceful, but the wig on the beardless head reveals the tendency of the art of the age of Louis XIV to weaken its stateliness by effeminacy. Both these qualities are seen in the "Rape of Proser- pine", an imitation of Bernini, which relies on the effect of contrast. The "Nymphs Bathing", a relief intended, like the work just mentioned, for the park of Versailles, is a good e.xample of his decorative, volup- tuous style. Among other figures in the park of Ver- sailles, either produced by him or under his direction, attention may be called to the allegorical statue, "Winter as an Old Man".
CoRRARD DE Breban, Notice sur la vie et les ceuvres de Fr. Girardon (Paris and Troyes, 1850).
G. GlETMAN.V.
Giiaud de Borneil, a Provencal troubadour, b. about the middle of the twelfth century, at Excideuil in the Viscounty of Limoges. The precise dates of his life are not known, but according to the best authori- ties, it fell between 1160 and 1219. Although of hum- ble birth Giraud de Borneil counted among his patrons many kings, as: Richard Cceur de Lion, whom he accompanied to Palestine, on the Third Crusade; Bohe- mond III, Prince of Antioch; Fernando III of Castile; Alfonso IX of Loon; Podro II of Aragon. to whom he addressed several poems, and Sancho, King of Na- varre, who did not deserve the admiration the poet
bestowed upon him. With his feudal lord, Gui V,
Vi.scount of Limoges, however, he was not always on
good terras. His life was simple and studious. In
winter he frequented the schools of learning and
studied literature under the most celebrated teachers
of the period. In summer, accompanied by two singers
who recited his songs, he visited the courts of his royal
patrons. He never married, and at death divided his
property between some poor relations and his parish
church of Saint-Gervais. Giraud enjoyed in his time a
very high reputation. Dante, in the " De vulgari elo-
quio" (II, 2), reckons him one of the three great trou-
badours, Arnaud Daniel and Bertrand de Born being
the other two. An anonymous Provenr;al biographer
of the thirteenth century goes so far as to say: "He
was the best troubadour of those who lived before him
or came after him, and for that reason was called the
master of the troubadours, a title which is still applied
to him in the opinion of those who know something
about poetry and love." Dante, however, challenges
this verdict and places Arnaud Daniel far above Giraud
de Borneil (Purgatory, XXVI). No complete edition
of Giraud de Borneil's works has as yet appeared.
The eighty poems ascribed to him with some certainty
are scattered through various collections, including:
Raynouard, "Choix des poesies originales des trouba-
dours" (Paris, 1816), and Millot, "Histoire litt^raire
des troubadours" (Paris, 1774). His early poems, in
which the influence of Arnaud Daniel is felt, belong to
that form called in Provencal trobar dus, in which the
meaning is involved and obscure. He soon rejected
this manner and claimed in a tenson (poem in form of a
dialogue) that "easy and simple poetry is more es-
teemed and liked". Among the best of his poems
are: an alba (song at daybreak), where he makes a
graceful compromise between the popular and the
studied forms of poetry; the love songs addressed to
Alamanda d'Estanc; a few sirventes (political and
satirical poems), in which the poet gives expression to
the chivalrous ideals of the age, and some pastorelas.
DiEZ. Ldten und Werke der Troubadours (Zwiclcau, 1829);
Hi^loire Hlleraire de la France (Paris, 1832). XVII ; Millot,
Hisloire litlcraire dea troubadours (Paris, 1774 ), II : La Ckoix du
Maine, Bibliographic fran^aise (Paris, 1772).
Louis N. Delamarre.
Girba, a titular see in the province of African Tri- poli. It is an island, in ancient times called Meninx, and included three principal cities, Meninx, Tipasa, and Girba, whence its present name. At least two bishops of Girba are known, Monnulus and Vincent, who as- sisted at the Councils of Carthage in 255 and 525 (Tou- lotte, G(5ographie de I'Afrique chr^tienne Proconsu- laire, Paris, 1892, pp. 353 and 380). In the seventh century it is again found under the name of Terepi- ton, a corrupt form for Gergiton or Gerbiton (Byzant. Zeitschrift, II, 1893, 26, 31). During the Middle Ages the Christians of Sicily and Aragon disputed its pos- session with the Arabs, and the Spaniards seized upon it several times during the sixteenth century, notably in 1510 and 1535. In 1560 the Corsair Dragut sur- prised the Spanish fleet, w'hich lost thirty vessels and five thousand men. The garrison was put to death, and with the bones of the slain the Turks built a pyra- mid called Bordj-cr-Rious, the fortress of the skulls, which existed until the middle of the nineteenth cen- tury, when the bones were removed to the Christian cemetery of Houmt-Souk. To-day the island of Djcrba numbers forty thousand souls, several hun- dreds of whom are Maltese Catholics who earn a liveli- hood as sponge-fishers. The climate is mild and the soil well cultivated. The island belongs to the re- gency of Tunis, which is under French protectorate.
Smith, Diet, of Gr. and Roman Geog. (London, 1828). II, 329, s. V. Meninx. S. VaILHE.
Girdle. See Cincture.
Glrgenti, Diocese of (Agrigentina). — Girgenti is the capital of a province in Sicily and is situated about
