AMAT, Felix, a Spanish ecclesiastical historian, was born at Sabadell, in the diocese of Barcelona, 10th August 1750. He entered the church in 1767, and after taking his doctor’s degree at Grenada in 1770, was made professor of philosophy and librarian in the episcopal seminary at Barcelona. In these offices, and in that of director of the seminary, which he subsequently held, his talents and energy did much to advance the efficiency of the institution. In 1803 he was made archbishop of Palmyra by the pope, and in the same year the king, Charles IV., created him abbot of St Ildefonso. When the war with France broke out in 1794, Amat was at first looked upon as an undoubted patriot, but latterly he was suspected, and with some reason, of favouring the French cause. He was compelled to leave Madrid on the entry of the British in 1812; and was subsequently, in 1814, banished to Catalonia. He died in a Franciscan convent near Salent on 28th September 1824. Amat’s chief work is his Ecclesiastical History, from the birth of Christ to the end of the 18th century, originally published in twelve volumes (1793-1803). It was condemned by the Inquisition, but rather on political than on religious grounds. His other works are numerous, the most important being his Observations on Ecclesiastical Power and his Six Letters to Irenicus, in which he attacked the theory that consent of the subjects is the necessary foundation of sovereignty. Amat was a man of gigantic stature, being, it is said, at the age of seventeen, 7 feet 2 inches in height. AMATI, the name of a family of violin-makers who flourished at Cremona from about 1550 to 1692. According to Fétis, Andrea and Nicolo Amati, two brothers, were the first Italians who made violins. They were succeeded by Antonio and Geronimo, ...

AMATI, the name of a family of violin-makers who flourished at Cremona from about 1550 to 1692. According to Fétis, Andrea and Nicolo Amati, two brothers, were the first Italians who made violins. They were succeeded by Antonio and Geronimo, sons of Nicolo. Another Nicolo, son of Geronimo, was alive in 1692. The violins made by this family are distinguished by their small size, exquisite finish, and the mathematical proportion of the parts. Their tone is soft and sweet, but deficient in intensity, owing to the flatness of their model. Stradivari was a pupil of the Amatis.

AMATITLAN, the name of a lake and town in Guatemala, Central America. The lake is 18 miles from the city of Guatemala, and is about 9 miles long and 3 broad. The town, which is sometimes called St Juan d’Amatitlan, is situated on the shores of the lake. The houses are all of one storey, and are mostly built of mud. The Jesuits formerly had extensive sugar plantations at Amatitlan, but the chief industry now is the raising of the cochineal. The wells of the town are strongly impregnated with salt and alum, and in the vicinity there are several hot springs. Population about 10,000, chiefly mulattoes and samboes.