materials and studying the scenes of the events he was to describe, and in
1468 he completed the chronicle. Alphonso corresponded with Azurara on
terms of affectionate intimacy, and no less than three _commendas_ of the
order of Christ rewarded his literary services. He has little of the
picturesque ingenuousness of Lopes, and loved to display his erudition by
quotations and philosophical reflections, showing that he wrote under the
influence of the first Renaissance. Nearly all the leading classical, early
Christian and medieval writers figure in his pages, and he was acquainted
with the notable chronicles and romances of Europe and had studied the best
Italian and Spanish authors. In addition, he had mastered the geographical
system of the ancients and their astrology. As an historian he is
laborious, accurate and conscientious, though his position did not allow
him to tell the whole truth about his hero, Prince Henry.

His works include: (1) _Chronica del Rei D. Joam I. Terceira parte em que
se contem a tomada de Ceuta_ (Lisbon, 1644); (2) _Chronica do Descobrimento
e Conquista de Guine_ (Paris, 1841; Eng. version in 2 vols. issued by the
Hakluyt Society, London, 1896-1899); (3) _Chronica do Conde D. Pedro (de
Menezes)_, printed in the _Ineditos de Historia Portugueza_, vol. ii.
(Lisbon, 1792); (4) _Chronica do Conde D. Duarte de Menezes_, printed in
the _Ineditos_, vol. iii. (Lisbon, 1793). The preface to the English
version of the _Chronicle of Guinea_ contains a full account of the life
and writings of Azurara and cites all the authorities.

(E. PR.)

AZURE (derived, through the Romance languages, from the Arabic
_al-lazward_, for the precious stone _lapis lazuli_, the initial _l_ having
dropped), the lapis lazuli; and so its colour, blue.

[Illustration]

AZURITE, or CHESSYLITE, a mineral which is a basic copper carbonate,
2CuCO_3.Cu(OH)_2. In its vivid blue colour it contrasts strikingly with the
emerald-green malachite, also a basic copper carbonate, but containing
rather more water and less carbon dioxide. It was known to Pliny under the
name _caeruleum_, and the modern name azurite (given by F. S. Beudant in
1824) also has reference to the azure-blue colour; the name chessylite,
also in common use, is of later date (1852), and is from the locality,
Chessy near Lyons, which has supplied the best crystallized specimens of
the mineral. Crystals of azurite belong to the monoclinic system; they have
a vitreou