ISODORIAN DECRETALS, a body of ecclesiastical decretals imposed upon the Church under the name of ISODORE OF SEVILLE (q. v.).

ISOLDE, the wife of King Mark of Cornwall, who, under the potency of some philter which she had inadvertently taken, conceived an illicit passion for Sir Tristram, her husband’s nephew, the story of which is celebrated in mediaeval romance.

ISPAHAN (60), the ancient capital of Persia, 226 m.  S. of Teheran, on the river Zenderud, which, as its greatest glory, is spanned by a noble bridge of 34 arches; it stands in a fertile plain abounding in groves and orchards, amid ruins of its former grandeur, and is a centre of Mohammedan learning; the inhabitants are said to have at one time numbered a million; it produces rich brocades and velvets, firearms, sword-blades, and much ornamental ware; there are many fine buildings, and signs of returning prosperity.

ISRAEL, KINGDOM OF, the name given to the northern kingdom of the 10 tribes of the Israelites which revolted from the kingdom of Judah after the death of Solomon.

ISRAeELS, JOSEF, a Dutch oil and water-colour artist and etcher, born in Groeningen; studied in Amsterdam and Paris; devoting himself to genre subjects, he has depicted the pathetic side of the life of the Dutch fisher-folks with great sympathy and power; he won a grand prix at the Paris Exhibition of 1889; b. 1824.

ISRAFEEL, in the Mohammedan mythology an angel whose office it will be to sound the trumpet on the resurrection morning.

ISSUS, a river in Cilicia, Asia Minor, where Alexander the Great defeated Darius, 333 B.C.

ISSY (12), a village 1/2 m.  SW. of Paris, where Davout was defeated by Bluecher on 3rd July 1815, and which suffered severely during the siege of Paris by the Germans in 1870-71.

ISTAMBOUL, the Turkish name for Constantinople.

ISTHMIAN GAMES, one of the four Pan-Hellenic festivals; they were periodically celebrated in honour of Poseidon or Neptune at the isthmus of Corinth, in Greece, whence the name.

ISTRIA (299), a mountainous territory of Austria, in the NE. corner of the Adriatic; yields olive-oil, figs, and vines, though often swept by sirocco and bora winds.

ISUMBRAS, ST., a hero of mediaeval romance, a proud man subdued by God’s justice into a penitent and a humble.

ITALIAN ARCHITECTURE.  The style of architecture called Italian was first developed by Filippo Bruneschelli, and flourished during the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries; it was an adaptation of classical circular-arch form to modern requirements.  In Rome it conformed most to ancient types; in Venice it assumed its most graceful form.  It was more suitable to domestic than to ecclesiastical work; but the dome is an impressive feature, and St. Peter’s a noble church.

ITALIC SCHOOL, the name given to the school of PYTHAGORAS (q. v.) who taught philosophy in Italy.