the crime; and
Beatrice, who at first denied everything, even under torture, also ended
by confessing. Great efforts were made to obtain mercy for the accused,
but the crime was considered too heinous, and the pope (Clement VIII.)
refused to grant a pardon; on the 11th of September 1599, Beatrice and
Lucrezia were beheaded, and Giacomo, after having been tortured with
red-hot pincers, was killed with a mace, drawn and quartered. Bernardo's
penalty, on account of his youth, was commuted to perpetual
imprisonment, and after a year's confinement he was pardoned. The
property of the family was confiscated.

The romantic character of the history of this family has been the
subject of poems, dramas and novels. Shelley's tragedy is well known
as a magnificent piece of writing, although the author adopts a purely
fictitious version of the story. Nor is F.D. Guerrazzi's novel,
_Beatrice Cenci_ (Milan, 1872), more trustworthy. The first attempt to
deal with the subject on documentary evidence is A. Bertolotti's
_Francesco Cenci e la sua famiglia_ (2nd ed., Florence, 1879),
containing a number of interesting documents which place the events in
their true light; cf. Labruzzi's article in the _Nuova Antologia_,
1879, vol. xiv., and another in the _Edinburgh Review_, January 1879.

CENOBITES (from Gr. [Greek: koinos], common, and [Greek: bios], life),
monks who lived together in a convent or community under a rule and a
superior,--in contrast to hermits or anchorets who live in isolation.
The Basilians (q.v.) in the East and the Benedictines (q.v.) in the West
are the chief cenobitical orders (see MONASTICISM).

CENOMANI, a branch of the Aulerci in Gallia Celtica, whose territory
corresponded generally to Maine in the modern department of Sarthe.
Their chief town was Vindinum or Suindinum (corrupted into Subdinnum),
afterwards Civitas Cenomanorum (whence Le Mans), the original name of
the town, as usual in the case of Gallic cities, being replaced by that
of the people. According to Caesar (_Bell. Gall._ vii. 75. 3), they
assisted Vercingetorix in the great rising (52 B.C.) with a force of
5000 men. Under Augustus they formed a _civitas stipendiaria_ of Gallia
Lugdunensis, and in the 4th century part of Gallia Lugdunensis iii.
About 400 B.C., under the leadership of Elitovius (Livy v. 35), a large
number of the Cenomani crossed into Italy, drove the Etruscans
southwards, and occupied their territory