ised to the bishopric of Agen, a
town in which he resided for many years before his death in 1562. Bandello
wrote a number of poems, but his fame rests entirely upon his extensive
collection of _Novelle_, or tales (1554, 1573), which have been extremely
popular. They belong to that species of literature of which Boccaccio's
_Decameron_ and the queen of Navarre's _Heptameron_ are, perhaps, the best
known examples. The common origin of them all is to be found in the old
French _fabliaux_, though some well-known tales are evidently Eastern, and
others classical. Bandello's novels are esteemed the best of those written
in imitation of the _Decameron_, though Italian critics find fault with
them for negligence and inelegance of style. They have little value from a
purely literary point of view, and many of them are disfigured by the
grossest obscenity. Historically, however, they are of no little interest,
not only from the insight into the social life of the period which they
afford, but from the important influence they exercised on the Elizabethan
drama. The stories on which Shakespeare based several of his plays were
supplied by Bandello, probably through Belleforest or Paynter.

BANDER ABB[=A]SI (also BENDER ABBAS, and other forms), a town of Persia, on
the northern shore of the Persian Gulf in 27deg 11' N., and 56deg 17' E.,
forming part of the administrative division of the "Persian Gulf ports,"
whose governor resides at Bushire. It has a population of about 10,000, an
insalubrious climate and bad water.

Bander Abb[=a]si was called Gombrun (Gombroon, Gamaroon; Cambarao, Comorao
of Portuguese writers) until 1622, when it received its present name (the
"port of Abbas") in honour of the reigning shah, Abbas I., who had expelled
the Portuguese in 1614, and destroyed the fort built by them in 1612. The
English, however, were permitted to build a factory there, and about 1620
the Dutch obtained the same privilege. On the capture of the island of
Hormuz (Ormus) in 1622 by the English and Persians a large portion of its
trade was transferred to Bander Abb[=a]si. During the remainder of the 17th
century the traffic was considerable, but in the 18th prosperity declined
and most of the trade was removed to Bushire. In 1759 the English factory
was destroyed by the French, and though afterwards re-established it has
long been abandoned. The ruins of the factory and other buildings lie west
of the present town. About 1740 Nadir Sha