HARTMANN VON AUE (c. 1170–c. 1210), one of the chief Middle High German poets. He belonged to the lower nobility of Swabia, where he was born about 1170. After receiving a monastic education, he became retainer (dienstman) of a nobleman whose domain, Aue, has been identified with Obernau on the Neckar. He also took part in the Crusade of 1196–97. The date of his death is as uncertain as that of his birth; he is mentioned by Gottfried von Strassburg (c. 1210) as still alive, and in the Krone of Heinrich von dem Türlin, written about 1220, he is mourned for as dead. Hartmann was the author of four narrative poems which are of importance for the evolution of the Middle High German court epic. The oldest of these, Erec, which may have been written as early as 1191 or 1192, and the latest and ripest, Iwein, belong to the Arthurian cycle and are based on epics by Chrétien de Troyes (q.v.); between them lie the romance, Gregorius, also an adaptation of a French epic, and Der arme Heinrich, one of the most charming specimens of medieval German poetry. The theme of the latter—the cure of the leper, Heinrich, by a young girl who is willing to sacrifice her life for him—Hartmann had evidently found in the annals of the family in whose service he stood. Hartmann’s most conspicuous merit as a poet lies in his style; his language is carefully chosen, his narrative lucid, flowing and characterized by a sense of balance and proportion which is rarely to be found in German medieval poetry. Gregorius, Der arme Heinrich and his lyrics, which are all fervidly religious in tone, imply a tendency towards asceticism, but, on the whole, Hartmann’s striving seems rather to have been to reconcile the extremes of life; to establish a middle way of human conduct between the worldly pursuits of knighthood and the ascetic ideals of medieval religion.
Erec has been edited by M. Haupt (2nd ed., Leipzig, 1871); Gregorius, by H. Paul (2nd ed., Halle, 1900); Der arme Heinrich, by W. Wackernagel and W. Toischer (Basel, 1885) and by H. Paul (2nd ed., Halle, 1893); by J. G. Robertson (London, 1895), with English notes; Iwein, by G. F. Benecke and K. Lachmann (4th ed., Berlin, 1877) and E. Henrici (Halle, 1891–1893). A convenient edition of all Hartmann’s poems by F. Bech, 3 vols. (3rd ed., Leipzig, 1891–1893, vol. 3 in 4th ed., 1902).
The literature on Hartmann is extensive. See especially L. Schmid, Des Minnesingers Hartmann von Aue Stand, Heimat und Geschlecht (Tübingen, 1874); H. Rötteken, Die epische Kunst Heinrichs von Veldeke und Hartmanns von Aue (Halle, 1887); F. Saran, Hartmann von Aue als Lyriker (Halle, 1889); A. E. Schönbach, Über Hartmann von Aue (Graz, 1894); F. Piquet, Étude sur Hartmann d’Aue (Paris, 1898). Translations have been made into modern German of all Hartmann’s poems, while Der arme Heinrich has repeatedly attracted the attention of modern poets, both English (Longfellow, Rossetti) and German (notably, Gerhart Hauptmann). See H. Tardel, Der arme Heinrich in der neueren Dichtung (Berlin, 1905).
HARTSHORN, SPIRITS OF, a name signifying originally the
ammoniacal liquor obtained by the distillation of horn shavings,
afterwards applied to the partially purified similar products of the
action of heat on nitrogenous animal matter generally, and now
popularly used to designate the aqueous solution of ammonia (q.v.).
HARTZENBUSCH, JUAN EUGENIO (1806–1880), Spanish
dramatist, was born at Madrid on the 6th of September 1806.
The son of a German carpenter, he was educated for the priesthood,
but he had no religious vocation and, on leaving school,
followed his father’s trade till 1830, when he learned shorthand
and joined the staff of the Gaceta. His earliest dramatic essays
were translations from Molière, Voltaire and the elder Dumas;
he next recast old Spanish plays, and in 1837 produced his first
original play, Los Amantes de Teruel, the subject of which had
been used by Rey de Artieda, Tirso de Molina and Perez de
Montalbán. Los Amantes de Teruel at once made the author’s
reputation, which was scarcely maintained by Doña Mencia
(1839) and Alfonso el Casto (1841); it was not till 1845 that he
approached his former success with La Jura en Santa Gadea.
Hartzenbusch was chief of the National Library from 1862 to
1875, and was an indefatigable—though not very judicious—editor
of many national classics. Inferior in inspiration to other
contemporary Spanish dramatists, Hartzenbusch excels his
rivals in versatility and in conscientious workmanship.
HĀRŪN AL-RASHĪD (763 or 766–809), i.e. “Hārūn the
Orthodox,” the fifth of the ʽAbbasid caliphs of Bagdad, and the
second son of the third caliph Mahdi. His full name was Hārūn
ibn Muhammad ibn ʽAbdallah ibn Muḥammad ibn ʽAli ibn
ʽAbdallah ibn ʽAbbās. He was born at Rai (Rhagae) on the 20th
of March A.D. 763, according to some accounts, and according
to others on the 15th of February A.D. 766. Hārūn al-Rashīd
was twenty-two years old when he ascended the throne. His
father Mahdi just before his death conceived the idea of
superseding his elder son Mūsa (afterwards known as Hādī,
the fourth caliph) by Hārūn. But on Mahdi’s death Hārūn
gave way to his brother. For the campaigns in which he
took part prior to his accession see Caliphate, section C,
The Abbasids, §§ 3 and 4.
Rashīd owed his succession to the throne to the prudence and sagacity of Yahyā b. Khālid the Barmecide, his secretary, whom on his accession he appointed his lieutenant and grand vizier (see Barmecides). Under his guidance the empire flourished on the whole, in spite of several revolts in the provinces by members of the old Alid family. Successful wars were waged with the rulers of Byzantium and the Khazars. In 803, however, Hārūn became suspicious of the Barmecides, whom with only a single exception he caused to be executed. Henceforward the chief power was exercised by Fadl b. Rabiʽ, who had been chamberlain not only under Hārūn himself but under his predecessors, Mansūr, Madhi and Hādī. In the later years of Hārūn’s reign troubles arose in the eastern parts of the empire. These troubles assumed proportions so serious that Hārūn himself decided to go to Khorasan. He died, however, at Tus in March 809.
The reign of Hārūn (see Caliphate, section C, § 5) was one of the most brilliant in the annals of the caliphate, in spite of losses in north-west Africa and Transoxiana. His fame spread to the West, and Charlemagne and he exchanged gifts and compliments as masters respectively of the West and the East. No caliph ever gathered round him so great a number of learned men, poets, jurists, grammarians, cadis and scribes, to say nothing of the wits and musicians who enjoyed his patronage. Hārūn himself was a scholar and poet, and was well versed in history, tradition and poetry. He possessed taste and discernment, and his dignified demeanour is extolled by the historians. In religion he was extremely strict; he prostrated himself a hundred times daily, and nine or ten times made the pilgrimage to Mecca. At the same time he cannot be regarded as a great administrator. He seems to have left everything to his viziers Yahyā and Fadl, to the former of whom especially was due the prosperous condition of the empire. Hārūn is best known to Western readers as the hero of many of the stories in the Arabian Nights; and in Arabic literature he is the central figure of numberless anecdotes and humorous stories. Of his incognito walks through Bagdad, however, the authentic histories say nothing. His Arabic biographers are unanimous in describing him as noble and generous, but there is little doubt that he was in fact a man of little force of character, suspicious, untrustworthy and on occasions cruel.
See the Arabic histories of Ibn al-Athir and Ibn Khaldūn. Among modern works see Sir W. Muir, The Caliphate (London, 1891); R. D. Osborn, Islam under the Khalifs of Bagdad (London, 1878); Gustav Weil, Geschichte der Chalifen (Mannheim and Stuttgart, 1846–1862); G. le Strange, Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate (Oxford, 1900); A. Müller, Der Islam, vol. i. (Berlin, 1885); E. H. Palmer, The Caliph Haroun Alraschid (London, 1880); J. B. Bury’s edition of Gibbon’s Decline and Fall (London, 1898), vol. vi. pp. 34 foll.
HARUSPICES, or Aruspices (perhaps “entrail observers,”
cf. Skt. hira, Gr. χορδή), a class of soothsayers in Rome. Their
art (disciplina) consisted especially in deducing the will of the
gods from the appearance presented by the entrails of the slain
victim. They also interpreted all portents or unusual phenomena
of nature, especially thunder and lightning, and prescribed the
expiatory ceremonies after such events. To please the god, the
victim must be without spot or blemish, and the practice of observing
whether the entrails presented any abnormal appearance,
