anesque cathedral, originally founded in 742, was rebuilt in
the early 12th century and consecrated in 1106; it suffered from
restoration in 1706, but has been brought back to its original form. It
contains some good pictures. The church of S. Domenico is a good
Renaissance edifice, and there are some fine palaces. The church of S.
Ilario is said to occupy the site of a pagan temple, but the name of the
ancient town (if any) which occupied this site is not known. About 10 m.
distant is the Sacro Monte di Crea, with eighteen chapels on its slopes
containing terra-cotta groups of statues, resembling those at Varallo.
Casale Monferrato was given by Charlemagne to the church of Vercelli,
but obtained its liberty from Frederick I. (Barbarossa). It was sacked
by the troops of Vercelli, Alessandria and Milan in 1215, but rebuilt
and fortified in 1220. It fell under the power of its marquises in 1292,
and became the chief town of a small state. In 1536 it passed to the
Gonzagas of Mantua, who fortified it very strongly. It has since been of
considerable importance as a fortress: it successfully resisted the
Austrians in 1849, and was strengthened in 1852. There is a large
Portland cement factory here.

CASAMARI, a Cistercian abbey in the province of Rome, 6 m. E.S.E. of
Veroli. It marks the site of Cereatae, the birthplace of Marius,
afterwards known, as inscriptions attest, as Cereatae Marianae, having
been separated perhaps by the triumvirs, from the territory of Arpinum.
We find it under the early empire as an independent community. The abbey
is a fine example of Burgundian early-Gothic (1203-1217), paralleled in
Italy by Fossanuova alone (which is almost contemporary with it), and is
very well preserved.

See C. Enlart, "Origines francaises de l'architecture gothique en
Italie" (_Bibliotheque des ecoles francaises d'Athenes et de Rome_,
fasc. 66), (Paris, 1894).

CASANOVA DE SEINGALT, GIOVANNI JACOPO (1725-1798), Italian adventurer,
was born at Venice in 1725. His father belonged to an ancient and even
noble family, but alienated his friends by embracing the dramatic
profession early in life. He made a runaway marriage with Zanetta
Farusi, the beautiful daughter of a Venetian shoemaker; and Giovanni was
their eldest child. When he was but a year old, his parents, taking a
journey to London, left him in charge of his grandmother, who,
perceiving his precocious and lively intellect, had him educated far
a