ditating his escape, when, through the interest of the Duke of Bretagne, and with the consent of the abbot of St. Denys, he was elected superior of the monastery of St.
The spot which he chose was a vale in the forest of Champagne, near Nogent upon the Seine, where, accompanied by only one ecclesiastic, he erected a small oratory, which he dedicated to the Trinity, but afterwards enlarged, and consecrated it to the Third Person, the Comforter, or Paraclete. In this asylum he was soon discovered, and followed by a train of scholars. A rustic college arose in the forest, and the number of his pupils soon increased to six hundred. But his enemies St. Norbert and St. Bernard, who enjoyed great popularity in this neighbourhood, conspired to bring him into discredit, and he was meditating his escape, when, through the interest of the Duke of Bretagne, and with the consent of the abbot of St. Denys, he was elected superior of the monastery of St. Gildas, in the diocese of Vannes, where he remained several years.
About this time Suger, the abbot of St. Denys, on the plea of an ancient right, obtained a grant
About this time Suger, the abbot of St. Denys, on the plea of an ancient right, obtained a grant for annexing the convent of Argenteuil, of which Heloise was now prioress, to St. Denys, and the nuns, who were accused of irregular practices, were dispersed. Abelard, informed of the distressed situation of Heloise, invited her, with her companions, eight in number, to take possession of the Paraclete. Happy in being thus remembered in the moment of distress by the man of her affections, she joyfully accepted the proposal; a new institution was established; Heloise was chosen abbess; and, in 1127, the donation was confirmed by the king. Abelard, now abbot of St. Gildas, paid frequent visits to the Paraclete, till he was obliged to discontinue them through fear of his enemies the monks, who not only endeavoured to injure him by gross, insinuations, but carried their hostility so far as to make repeated attempts upon his life.
ard probably wrote his “Theology,” or revised it, which again subjected him to prosecution. William, abbot of St. Thievry, the friend f Bernard, now abbot of Clairvaux,
It was during Abelard’s residence at St. Gildas, that the
interesting correspondence passed between him and Heloise, which is still extant, and that he wrote the memoirs
of his life which came down to the year 1134. The letters
of Heloise, in this correspondence, abound with proofs of
genius, learning, and taste, which might have graced a
Better age. It is upon these letters that Mr. Pope formed
his “Epistle from Eloisa to Abelard,
” which, however,
deviates in some particulars from the genuine character
and story of Heloise, and is yet more seriously censurable
on account of its immoral tendency. Here, too, Abelard
probably wrote his “Theology,
” or revised it, which again
subjected him to prosecution. William, abbot of St.
Thievry, the friend f Bernard, now abbot of Clairvaux,
brought a formal charge against him for heresy in thirteen
articles, copied from the “Theology.
” Bernard, after an
unsuccessful private remonstrance, accused Abelard to
pope Innocent II. of noxious errors and mischievous designs. Abelard, with the concurrence of the archbishop
of Sens, challenged his accuser to appear in a public assembly, shortly to be held in that city, and make good his
accusation. The abbot at first declined accepting the
challenge; but afterwards made his appearance, and
delivered to the assembly the heads of his accusation.
Abelard, instead of replying, appealed to Rome, which
did not prevent the council from examining the charges,
and pronouncing his opinions heretical. It was, however, judged necessary to inform the bishop of Rome of
the proceedings, and to request his confirmation of the
sentence. In the mean time, Bernard, by letters written
to the Roman prelates, strongly urged them to silence,
without delay, this dangerous innovator. His importunity
succeeded; for the pope, without waiting for the arrival
of Abelard, pronounced his opinions heretical, and sentenced him to perpetual silence and confinement. Immediately upon being informed of the decision, Abelard set
out for Rome, in hopes of being permitted to plead his
cause before his holiness. In his way he called at Cluni, a
monastery on the confines of Burgundy, where he found a
2ealous friend in Peter Maurice, the abbot, and also in
Reinardus, the abbot of Citeaux, who negociated a reconciliation between him and Bernard, while Peter, by his
earnest remonstrances, procured his pardon at Rome, and
he was permitted to end his days in the monastery of
Cluni.
sed he was an Englishman. He was, however, a Canon-regular of the order of St. Augustine, and second abbot of St. Victor at Paris. He was preferred to the bishoprick of
, bishop of Avranches in Normandy, usually
surnamed St. Victor, flourished in the twelfth century.
His birth-place is much contested; but it appears most
probable that he was a Norman, of a noble family; and as
Normandy was at that time subject to the King of England,
it was supposed he was an Englishman. He was, however, a Canon-regular of the order of St. Augustine, and
second abbot of St. Victor at Paris. He was preferred to
the bishoprick of Avranches in 1162 by the interest of
King Henry II. of England, with whom he appears to
have been a favourite, as he stood god-father to Eleanor,
daughter to that prince, and afterwards wife of Alphonso
Jx. king of Castile. He died March 29, 1172, and was
interred in the church of the Holy Trinity, belonging to
the abbey of Luzerne, in the diocese of Avranches. His
epitaph, which, the authors of the General Dictionary say,
is still remaining, speaks his character: “Here lies bishop
Achard, by whose charity our poverty was enriched.
” He
was a person of great eminence for piety and learning.
His younger years he spent in the study of polite literature and philosophy, and the latter part of his life in
intense application. His works were: “De Tentatione
Christi,
” a ms. in the library of St. Victor at Paris.
“De divisione Animae & Spiritus,
” in the same library;
copies of which are in the public library at Cambridge,
and in that of Bene't. His “Sermons
” are in the library of
Clairvaux. He likewise wrote “The Life of St. Geselin,
”
which was published at Douay, 12mo,
and took the name of Adrian. When the news of his promotion reached England, Henry II. sent Robert, abbot of St. Alban’s, and three bishops, to Rome, to congratulate
In 1148 Eugenius sent him legate to Denmark and Norway; where, by his fervent preaching and diligent instructions, he converted those barbarous nations to the Christian
faith; and we are told, that he erected the church of Upsal
into an archiepiscopal see. On his return to Rome, he was
received by the pope and cardinals with great marks of
honour: and pope Anastatius, who succeeded Eugenius,
happening to die at this time, Nicholas was unanimously
chosen to the holy see, in November, 1154, and took the
name of Adrian. When the news of his promotion reached
England, Henry II. sent Robert, abbot of St. Alban’s, and
three bishops, to Rome, to congratulate him on his election;
upon which occasion Adrian granted to the monastery of
St. Alban’s, the privilege of being exempt front all episcopal jurisdiction except that of Rome. Next year, king
Henry having solicited the pope’s consent that he might
undertake the conquest of Ireland, Adrian very readily complied, and sent him a bull for that purpose, of which the
following is a translation: “Adrian, bishop, servant of the
servants of God, to his most dear son in Christ, the illustrious king of England, sendeth greeting and apostolical
benediction. Your magnificence is very careful to spread
your glorious name in the world, and to merit an immortal
crown in heaven, whilst, as a good catholic prince, you form
a design of extending the bounds of the church, of instructing ignorant and barbarous people in the Christian
faith, and of reforming the licentious and immoral; and the
more effectually to put this design in execution, you desire
the advice and assistance of the holy see. We are confident, that, by the blessing of God, the success will answer
the wisdom and discretion of the undertaking. You have
advertised us, dear son, of your intended expedition into
Ireland, to reduce that people to the obedience of the
Christian faith; and that you are willing to pay for every
house a yearly acknowledgment of one penny to St. Peter,
promising to maintain the rights of those churches in the
fullest manner. We therefore, being willing to assist you
in this pious and laudable design, and consenting to your
petition, do grant you full liberty to make a descent upon
that island, in order to enlarge the borders of the church,
to check the progress of immorality, and to promote the
spiritual happiness of the natives: and we command the
people of that country to receire and acknowledge you as
their sovereign lord; provided the rights of the churches be
inviolably preserved, and the Peter pence duly paid: for
indeed it is certain (and your highness acknowledges it)
that all the islands, which are enlightened by Christ, the
sun of righteousness, and have embraced the doctrines of
Christianity, are unquestionably St. Peter’s right, and belong to the holy Roman church. If, therefore, you resolve
to put your designs in execution, be careful to reform the
manners of that people; and commit the government of the
churches to able and virtuous persons, that the Christian
religion may grow and flourish, and the honour of God and
the preservation of souls be effectually promoted; so shall
you deserve an everlasting reward in heaven, and leave a
glorious name to all posterity.
” His indulgence to this
prince was so great, that he even consented to absolve him
from the oath he had taken not to set aside any part of his
father’s will. The reason of this was, that Geoffry Plantagenet, earl of Anjou, had by the empress Maud, three
sons, Henry, Geoffry, and William. This prince, being
sensible that his ovrn dominions would of course descend to
his eldest son Henry, and that the kingdom of England and
duchy of Normandy would likewise fall to him in right of
his mother, thought fit to devise the earldom of Anjou to his
second son Geoffry; and to render this the more valid, he
exacted an oath of the bishops and nobility, not to suffer
his corpse to be buried till his son Henry had sworn to fulfil
every part of his will. When Henry came to attend his
father’s funeral, the oath was tendered to him; but for some
time he refused to swear to a writing, with the contents of
which he was unacquainted. Howerer, being reproached
with the scandal of letting his father lie unburied, he at last
took the oath with great reluctance. But after his accession
to the throne, upon a complaint to pope Adrian that the
oath was forced upon him, he procured a dispensation from
his holiness, absolving him from the obligation he had laid
himself under: and in consequence thereof, he dispossessed
his brother Geoffry of the dominions of Anjou, allowing
him only a yearly pension for his maintenance.
fathers, the first volume of his “Homilies.” After remaining in this place about a year, he was made abbot of St. Alban’s in the year 988, and composed a liturgy for the
, successively bishop of Wilton and archbishop
of Canterbury, and one of the greatest luminaries of his
dark era, was the son of an earl of Kent, and after receiving a few scanty instructions from an ignorant secular
priest, assumed the habit of the Benedictine order of
monks in the monastery at Abingdon, over which Athelwold then presided, having been appointed abbot in the
year 955. Athelwold, being created bishop of Winchester
in the year 693, settled several of the Abingdon monks in
his cathedral. Among these was Ælfric; who, in return
for the benefit which he had formerly derived from the
instructions of Alhelwold, was now eager to show his gratitude, by forwarding the wishes of his benefactor to instruct the youth of his diocese. With this view he drew
tip his “Latin-Saxon Vocabulary,
” and some “Latin
Colloquies.
” The former of these works was published by
Somner, under the title of a Glossary, Oxon. 1659 (See Somner). During his residence in this city, Ælfric translated, from the Latin into the Saxon language, most of the
historical books of the Old Testament: the greatest part of
which translations has reached our time, having been printed at Oxford in 1698. Here, likewise, at the request of Wulfsine, bishop of Sherborn, he drew up what has been called
his “Canons,
” but might more properly be styled, a charge
to be delivered by the bishops to their clergy. They are
preserved in the first volume of Spelman’s Councils, and
were composed, between the years 980 and 987. Some
time about this last year, Ælfric was removed to Cerne
Abbey, to instruct the monks, and regulate the affairs of
that monastery. Here it was that he translated, from the
Latin fathers, the first volume of his “Homilies.
” After
remaining in this place about a year, he was made abbot
of St. Alban’s in the year 988, and composed a liturgy for
the service of his abbey, which continued to be used there
till Leland’s time. In the year 989 he was created Lishop
of Wilton, and during his continuance in that see, translated, about the latter end of the year 991, a second volume of “Homilies.
” These are the volumes of which
Mrs. Elstob issued proposals for a translation, in 1713, accompanied with the original, but did not live to publish the
work. Here also Ælfric wrote his “Grammar,
” a supplement to his Homilies, and, probably, a tract dedicated to
Sigeward or Sigeferth, containing two epistles oil the Old
and New Testament, which his biographer concludes to
have been written between the years 987 and 991. In
994, he was translated to Canterbury, where, after exerting himself for some years, with equal spirit and prudence,
in defending his diocese against the incursions of the Danes,
he died Nov. 16, 1005. He was buried at Abingdon, the
place where he first embraced the profession of a monk,
whence his remains were afterwards transferred to Canterbury, in the reign of Canute.
one of the most learned men of his age. He flourished about the middle of the ninth century, and was abbot of St. Mary’s trans Tiberim. His chief work, the “Liber Pontincalis,”
, so called because he
was librarian of the church of Rome, was a native of Greece,
and one of the most learned men of his age. He flourished
about the middle of the ninth century, and was abbot of
St. Mary’s trans Tiberim. His chief work, the “Liber
Pontincalis,
” or the lives of the Popes from St. Peter to
Nicholas I. is of a doubtful character: Blondel and Salmasius bestow great encomiums on it, while Hailing, a
Roman catholic writer of note, depreciates it as much. To
the last edition of this book is joined Ciampinius’s examination of the validity of the facts therein mentioned; and
from this we learn that he wrote only the lives of Gregory
IV. Sergius II. Leo IV. Benedict III. and Nicholas I. and
that the lives of the other popes in that book were done by
different authors. Anastasius is said to have assisted at the
eighth general council held at Constantinople in the year
869, of which he translated the acts and canons from Greek
into Latin. The time of his death is a disputed point, as
indeed are many particulars relating to him. Bayle has a
very elaborate article on his history, which Cave had previously examined, and Blondel, in his “Familier eclaircissement,
” and Boeder in his “Bibl. critica,
” have likewise
entered deeply into the controversy. He wrote a great
number of translations, more valued for their fidelity than
elegance, yet they have all been admitted into the popish
collections of ecclesiastical memoirs and antiquities. The
first edition of the “Liber Pontincalis
” was printed at
Mentz,
ich the Sorbonne was built, and began to study the law; but, at the persuasion of his mother and the abbot of St. Cyran, he resolved to apply himself to divinity. He accordingly
, doctor of the Sorbonne, and
brother of the preceding, was born at Paris the 6th of
February 1612. He studied philosophy in the college of
Calvi, on the ruins of which the Sorbonne was built, and
began to study the law; but, at the persuasion of his mother and the abbot of St. Cyran, he resolved to apply
himself to divinity. He accordingly studied in the college
of the Sorbonne, under Mr. l‘Escot. This professor gave
lectures concerning grace; but Arnauld, not approving of
his sentiments upon this subject, read St. Augustin, whose
system of grace he greatly preferred to that of Mr. l’Escot:
and publicly testified his opinion in his thesis, when he
was examined in 1636, for his bachelor’s degree. After
he had spent two years more in study, which, according
to the laws of the faculty of Paris, must be between the
first examination and the license, he began the acts of his
license at Easter 1638, and continued them to Lent, 1640.
He maintained the act of vespers the 18th of December
1641, and the following day put on the doctor’s cap. He
had begun his license without being entered in form at the
Sorbonne, and was thereby rendered incapable of being
admitted, according to the ordinary rules. The society,
however, on account of his extraordinary merit, requested
of cardinal Richelieu, their provisor, that he might be admitted, though contrary to form; which was refused by
that cardinal, but, the year after his death, he obtained
this honour. In 1643, he published his treatise on Frequent Communion, which highly displeased the Jesuits.
They refuted it both from the pulpit and the press, representing it as containing a most pernicious doctrine: and
the disputes upon grace, which broke out at this time in
the university of Paris, helped to increase the animosity
between the Jesuits and Mr. Arnauld, who took part with
the Jansenists, and supported their tenets with great zeal.
But nothing raised so great a clamour against him, as the
two letters which he wrote upon absolution having been
refused by a priest to the duke of Liancour, a great friend
of the Port Royal. This duke educated his grand-daughter at Port Royal, and kept in his house the abbé de Bourzays. It happened in 1655, that the duke offered himself
for confession to a priest of St. Sulpice, who refused to
give him absolution, unless he would take his daughter
from Port Royal, and break off all commerce with that
society, and discard the abbé. Mr. Arnauld therefore was
prevailed upon to write a letter in defence of Liancour.
A great number of pamphlets were written against this
letter, and Mr. Arnauld thought himself obliged to
confute the falsities and calumnies with which they were
filled, by printing a second letter, which contains an
answer to nine of those pieces. But in this second letter
the faculty of divinity found two propositions which theycondemned, and Mr. Arnauld was excluded from that society. Upon this he retired, and it was during this retreat, which lasted near 25 years, that he composed that
variety of works which are extant of his, on grammar,
geometry, logic, metaphysics, and theology. He continued in this retired life till the controversy of the Jansenists was eaded; in 1668. Arnauld now came forth from,
his retreat, and was presented to the king, kindly received
by the pope’s nuncio, and by the public esteemed a father
of the church. From this time he resolved to enter the
lists only against the Calvinists, and he published his book
entitled “La perpetuite de la Foi,
” in which he was assisted by M. Nicole: and which gave rise to that grand
controversy between them and Claude the minister.
um pension which he refused, insisting on a greater sum. The chancellor was more successful with the abbot of St. Osithes in Essex, with whom he dealt personally and,
, descended of an
ancient and honourable family, of the county of Essex,
was born in 1488. He was by nature endowed with great
abilities, from his ancestors inherited an ample fortune,
and was happy in a regular education, but whether at
Oxford or Cambridge is not certain. At what time he was
entered of the Inner-Temple, does not appear, but in
1526 he was autumn reader of that house, and is thought
to have read on the statute of privileges, which he handled
with so much learniag and eloquence, as to acquire great
reputation. This, with the duke of Suffolk’s recommendation, to whom he was chancellor, brought him to the'
knowledge of his sovereign, who at that time wanted men
of learning and some pliability he was, accordingly, by
the king’s influence, chosen speaker of that parliament,
which sat first on the third of November, 1529, and is by
some styled the Black Parliament, and by others, on account of its duration, the Long Parliament. Great complaints were made in the house of commons against the
clergy, and the proceedings in ecclesiastical courts, and
several bills were ordered to be brought in, which alarmed
some of the prelates. Fisher, bishop of Rochester,
inveighed boldly against these transactions, in the house of
lords, with which the house of commons were so much
offended, that they thought proper to complain of it, by
their speaker, to the king, and Fisher had some difficulty
in excusing himself. The best historians agree, that great
care was taken by the king, or at least by his ministry, to
have such persons chosen into this house of commons as
would proceed therein readily and effectually, and with
this view Audley was chosen to supply the place of sir
Thomas More, now speaker of the lords’ house, and chancellor of England. The new house and its speaker justified
his majesty’s expectations, by the whole tenor of their behaviour, but especially by the passing of a law, not nowfound among our statutes. The king, having borrowed
very large sums of money of particular subjects, and entered into obligations for the repayment of the said sums,
the house brought in, and passed a bill, in the preamble of
which they declared, that inasmuch as those sums had been
applied by his majesty to public uses, therefore they cancelled and discharged the said obligations, &c. and the
king, finding the convenience of such a parliament, it sat
again in the month of January, 1530-1. In this session
also many extraordinary things were done amongst the
rest, there was a law introduced in the house of lords, by
which the clergy were exempted from the penalties they
had incurred, by submitting to the legatine power of
Wolsey. On this occasion the commons moved a clause in
favour of the laity, many of themselves having also incurred the penalties of the statute. But the king insisted
that acts of grace ought to flow spontaneously, and that this
was not the method of obtaining what they wanted; and the
house, notwithstanding the intercession of its speaker, and
several of its members, who were the king’s servants, was
obliged to pass the bill without the clause, and immediately
the king granted them likewise a pardon, which reconciled
all parties. In the recess, the king thought it necessary
to have a letter written to the pope by the lords and commons, or rather by the three estates in parliament, which
letter was drawn up and signed by cardinal Wolsey, the
archbishop of Canterbury, four bishops, two dukes, two
marquisses, thirteen earls, two viscounts, twenty-three
barons, twenty-two abbots, and eleven members of the
house of commons. Thepurport of this letter, dated
July 13, above three weeks after the parliament rose, was
to iMigage the pope to grant the king’s desire in the divorce
business, for the sake of preventing a civil war, on account of the succession, and to threaten him if he did not,
to take some other way. To gratify the speaker for the
great pains he had already taken, and to encourage him to
proceed in the same way, the king made him this year
attorney for the duchy of Lancaster, advanced him in
Michaelmas term to the state and degree of a serjeant at
law, and on the 14th of November following, to that of
his own serjeant. In January, 1531-2, the parliament had
its third session, wherein the grievances occasioned by the
excessive power of the ecclesiastics and their courts, were
regularly digested into a book, which was presented by
the speaker, Audley, to the king. The king’s answer was,
He would take advice, hear the parties accused speak, and
then proceed to reformation. Jn this session, a bill was
brought into the house of lords, for the better securing the
rights of his majesty, and other persons interested in the
eare of wards, which rights, it was alleged, were injured
by fraudulent wills and contracts. This bill, when it came
into the house of commons, was violently opposed, and the
members expressed a desire of being dissolved, which the
king would not permit but after they had done some
business, they had a recess to the month of April. When
they next met, the king sent for the speaker, and delivered
to him the answer which had been made to the roll of
grievances, presented at their last sitting, which afforded
very little satisfaction, and they seemed now less subset
viciit. Towards the close of the month, one Mr. Themse
moved, That the house would intercede with the king, to
take back his queen again. The king, extremely alarmed
at this, on the 30th of April, 1532, sent for the speaker, to
whom he repeated the plea of conscience, which had induced him to repudiate the queen, and urged that the
opinion of the learned doctors, &c. was on his side. On
the 11th of May the king sent for the speaker again, and
told him, that he had found that the clergy of his realm
were but half his subjects, or scarcely so much, every
bishop and abbot at the entering into his dignity, taking
an oath to the pope, derogatory to that of their fidelity
to the king, which contradiction he desired his parliament to take away. Upon this motion of the king’s, the
two oaths he mentioned were read in the house of commons and they would probably have complied, if the plague
bad not put an end to the session abruptly, on the 14th
of May; and two days after, sir Thomas More, knt. then
lord chancellor of England, went suddenly, without acquainting any body with his intention, to court, his majesty being then at York Place, and surrendered up the
seals to the king. The king going out of town to EastGreenwich, carried the seals with him, and on Monday,
May 20, delivered them to Thomas Audley, esq, with the
title of lord keeper, and at the same time conferred on him
the honour of knighthood. September 6, sir Thomas delivered the old seal, which was much worn, and received a
new one in its stead, yet with no -higher title: but on
January 26, 1533, he again delivered the seal to the king,
who kept it a quarter of an hour, and then returned it with
the title of lord chancellor. A little after, the king
granted to him the site of the priory of Christ Church,
Aldgate, together with all the church plate, and lands belonging to that house. When chancellor he complied with
the king’s pleasure as effectually as when speaker of the
house of commons. For in July 1535, he sat in judgment
on sir Thomas More, his predecessor, (as he had before on bishop Fisher,) who was now indicted of high-treason upon
which indictment the jury found him gnilty, and the lord
chancellor, Audley, pronounced judgment of death upon
him. This done, we are told, that sir Thomas More said,
that he had for seven years bent his mind and study upon
this cause, but as yet he found it no where writ by any
approved doctor of the church, that a layman could be
head of the ecclesiastical state. To this Audley returned,
“Sir, will you be reckoned wiser, or of a better conscience,
than all the bishops, the nobility, and the whole kingdom
” Sir Thomas rejoined, “My lord chancellor, for
one bishop that you have of your opinion, I have a hundred
of mine, and that among those that have been saints and
for your one council, which, what it is, God knows, I have
on my side all the general councils for a thousand years
past; and for one kingdom, I have France and all the
ether kingdoms of the Christian world.
” As our chancellor
was very active in the business of the divorce, he was no
less so in the business of abbies, and had particularly a
large hand in the dissolution of such religions houses as
had not two hundred pounds by the year. This was in the
twenty-seventh of Henry VIII, and the bill being delayed
long in the house of commons, his majesty sent for the
members of that house to attend him in his gallery, where
he passed through them with a stern countenance, without
speaking a word the members not having received the
king’s command to depart to their house, durst not return
till they knew the king’s pleasure so they stood waiting in
the gallery. In the mean time the king went a hunting,
and his ministers, who seem to have had better manners
than their master, went to confer with the members to
some they spoke of the king’s steadiness and severity to
others, of his magnificence and generosity. At last the
king came back, and passing through them again, said,
with an air of fierceness peculiar to himself, That if his
bill did not pass, it should cost many of them their heads.
Between the ministers’ persuasions and the king’s threats,
the matter was brought to an issue the king’s bill, as he
called it, passed and by it, he had not only the lands of
the small monasteries given him, but also their jewels, plate,
and rich moveables. This being accomplished, methods
were used to prevail with the abbots of larger foundations
to surrender. To this end, the chancellor sent a special
agent to treat with the abbot of Athelny, to offer him an
hundred marks per annum pension which he refused, insisting on a greater sum. The chancellor was more successful with the abbot of St. Osithes in Essex, with whom
he dealt personally and, as he expresses it in a letter to
Cromwell, the visitor-general, by great solicitation prevailed with him but then he insinuates, that his place of
lord chancellor being very chargeable, he desired the king
might be moved for addition of some more profitable offices
unto him. In suing for the great abbey of Walden, in the
same county, which he obtained, besides extenuating its
worth, he alleged under his hand, that he had in this
world sustained great damage and infamy in serving the
king, which the grant of that should recompense. But if
the year 1536 was agreeable to him in one respect, it was
far from being so in another; since, notwithstanding the
obligations he was under to queen Anne Bullen, he was
obliged, by the king’s command, to be present at her apprehension and commitment to the Tower. He sat afterwards with Cranmer archbishop of Canterbury, when he
gave sentence of divorce on the pre-contract between the
queen and the lordPiercy and on the 15th of May, in the
same year, he sat in judgment on the said queen, notwithstanding we are told by Lloyd, that with great address he
avoided it. The lengths he had gone in serving the king,
and his known dislike to popery, induced the northern,
rebels in the same year, to name him as one of the evil
counsellors, whom they desired to see removed from about
the king’s person which charge, however, his majesty,
as far as in him lay, wiped off, by his well- penned answer
to the complaints of those rebels, wherein an excellent
character is given of the chancellor. When the authors of
this rebellion came to be tried, the chancellor declined
sitting as lord high steward, which high office was executed
by the marquis of Exeter, on whom shortly after, viz. in
1538, Audley sat as high-steward, and condemned him,
his brother, and several t other persons, to suffer death as
traitors. In the latter end of the same year, viz. on the
29th of November, 30 Hen. VIII. the chancellor was created
a baron, by the style of lord Audley of Walden in the
county of Essex, and was likewise installed knight of the
garter. In the session of parliament in 1539, there were
many severe acts made, and the prerogative carried to an
excessive height, particularly by the six bloody articles,
and the giving the king’s proclamation the force of a law.
It does not very clearly appear who were the king’s principal counsellors in these matters but it is admitted by
the best historians, that the rigorous execution of these
laws, which the king first designed, was prevented by the
interposition of the lord Audley, in conjunction with Cromwell, who was then prime minister, and the duke of Suffolk,
the king’s favourite throughout his whole reign. In the
beginning of 1540, the court was excessively embarrassed.
What share Audley had in the fall of Cromwell afterwards
is not clear, but immediately after a new question was
stirred in parliament, viz. How far the king’s marriage with
Anne of Cleves, was lawful This was referred to the
judgment of a spiritual court and there are yet extant the
depositions of Thomas lord Audley, lord chancellor, Thomas, archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas, duke of Norfolk,
Charles, duke of Suffolk, and Cuthbert, lord bishop of
Durham, wherein they jointly swear, that the papers produced to prove the retraction of the lady Anne’s contract
with the duke of Lorrain, were inconclusive and unsatisfactory. Other lords and ladies deposed to other points,
and the issue of the business was, that the marriage was
declared void by this court, which sentence was supported
by an act of parliament, affirming the same thing, and
enacting, That it should be high-treason to judge or believe otherwise. This obstacle removed, the king married
the lady Catherine Howard, niece to the duke of Norfolk,
and cousin -german to Anne Bullen. Nothing is clearer
from history, than that the chancellor was closely attached
to the house of Norfolk and yet in the latter end of the
year 1541, he was constrained to be an instrument in the
ruin of the unfortunate queen information of her bad life
before her marriage, being laid first before the archbishop
of Canterbury, and by him communicated to the chancellor. The king then appointed lord Audley one of the
commissioners to examine her, which they did, and there
is yet extant a letter subscribed by him and the other
lords, containing an exact detail of this affair, and of the
evidence on which, in the next session of parliament, the
queen and others were attainted. The whole of this business was managed in parliament by the chancellor, and
there is reason to believe, that he had some hand in another
business transacted in that session which was the opening
a door for the dissolution of hospitals, the king having now
wasted all that had accrued to him by the suppression of
abbies. Some other things of the like nature were the
last testimonies of the chancellor’s concern for his master’s
interest but next year a more remarkable case occurred.
Jn the 34th of Henry VIII. George Ferrers, esq. burgess
for Plymouth, was arrested, and carried to the compter,
by virtue of a writ from the court of king’s bench. The
house, on notice thereof, sent their serjeant to demand
their member in doing which, a fray ensued at the compter, his mace was broke, his servant knocked down, and
himself obliged to make his escape as well as he could.
The house, upon notice of this, resolved they would sit
no longer without their member, and desired a conference
with the lords where, after hearing the mutter, the lord
chancellor Audley declared the contempt was most flagrant,
and referred “the punishment thereof to the house of commons whereupon Thomas Moyle, esq. who was then
speaker, issued his warrant, and the sheriff of London,
and several other persons, were brought to the bar of the
house, and committed, some to the Tower, and some to
Newgate. This precedent was gained by the king’s want
of an aid, who at that time expected the commons would
offer him a subsidy the ministry, and the house of lords,
knowing the king’s will gave the commons the
complimerit of punishing those who had imprisoned one of their
members. Dyer, mentioning this case, sap,
” The sages
of the law held the commitment of Ferrers legal, and
though the privilege was allowed him, yet was it held unjust.“As the chancellor had led a very active life, he
grew now infirm, though he was not much above fifty years
old, and therefore began to think of settling his family and
affairs. But, previous to this, he obtained from the king a
licence to change the name of Buckingham college in
Cambridge, into that of Magdalen, or Maudlin some will
have it, because in the latter word his own name is included. To this college he was a great benefactor, bestowed on it his own arms, and is generally 'reputed its
founder, or restorer. His capital seat was at Christ-Christ
in town, and at Walden in Essex and to preserve some
remembrance of himself and fortunes, he caused a magnificent tomb to be erected in his new chapel at Walden.
About the beginning of April, 1544, he was attacked by
his last illness, which induced him to resign the seals but
he was too weak to do it in person, and therefore sent them
to the king, who delivered them to sir Thomas Wriothesley,
with the title of keeper, during the indisposition of the
chancellor a circumstance not remarked by any of our
historians. On the 19th of April, lord Audi ey made hU
will, and, amongst other things, directed that his executors
should, upon the next New-year’s day after his decease,
deliver to the king a legacy of one hundred pounds, from
whom, as he expresses it,
” he had received all his reputations and benefits." He died on the last of April, 1544,
when he had held the seals upwards of twelve years, and
in the fifty-sixth of his life, as appears by the inscription
on his tomb. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas
iGrey, marquis of Dorset, by whom he had two daughters,
Margaret and Mary; Mary died unmarried, and Margaret
became his sole heir. She married first lord Henry Dudley,
a younger son of John duke of Northumberland, and he
being slain at the battle of St. Quintin’s, in Picardy, in
1557, she married a second time, Thomas duke of Norfolk, to whom she was also a second wife, and had by him
a son Thomas, who, by act of parliament, in the 27th of
Elizabeth, was restored in blood; and in the 39th of the
same reign, summoned to parliament by his grandfather’s
title, as baron of Walden, In the 1st of James I. he was
created earl of Suffolk, and being afterwards lord
hightreasurer of England, he built on the ruins of the abbey of
Walden, that nee noble palace, which, in honour of our
chancellor, he called Audley-End.
e, of the seventeenth century, descended from one of the first families in that city. The celebrated abbot of St. Cyran, who was his mother’s brother, educated him, sent
, a native of Bayonne, of the seventeenth century, descended from one of the first families in that city. The celebrated abbot of St. Cyran, who
was his mother’s brother, educated him, sent him to Louvain, that he might study under the famous Jansenius
and some years after entrusted him with the tuilion of the
son of M. Arnauid d'Andilly. M. de Barcos at last returned with the abbot de St. Cyran, who employed him as
a secretary, undertook nothing without consulting him,
and they jointly composed the book, entitled “Petrus
Aurelius.
” It was at this time that the abbot de Barcos
formed a strict friendship with M. Arnauid the doctor,
with whom he was afterwards involved in the controversy
respecting Frequent Communion. Upon the death of
the abbot de St. Cyran, the queen mother gave that abbey
to M. de Barcos, who took possession of it, May 9, 1644,
went to reside there, re-established and reformed it he
nevertheless always retained his ecclesiastical habit, and
took no solemn vows. He died there, August 22, 1678.
His works are: 1. “A censure of- the Predestinatus of
pere Sirmond,
” 8vo. 2. “La grandeur de TEglise Romaine, etablie sur Fautorite de St Pierre et de St. Paul,
&c.
” 4to. 3. “Traitc de Pautorite* de St. Pierre et de
St. Paul, qui reside dans le Pape, successeur de ces deux
Apotres,
” Eclaircissemens de quelques
Objections, que l‘on a forme’es contre la Grandeur de
TEglise Romaine,
” St. Peter and St. Paul are two heads of the
Roman church, which form but one.
” This proposition
he had inserted in the preface to M. Arnauld’s book on
Frequent Communion, without his consent. He also left
“De la Foi, de I'Esperance, et de la Charite,
” 2 vols.
12mo. “Exposition de la Foi de l'Eglise Romaine, touchant la Grace et la Predestination,
” 8vo. or 12 mo. and
several other anonymous works. This last was condemned
by de Noailles, archbishop of Paris
ures, when, with the pope’s consent, he brought over with him John, arch-chanter of St. Peter’s, and abbot of St. Martin’s, who introduced the Roman manner of singing
, a famous abbot in
the seventh century, was born of a noble family among
the English Saxons, and flourished under Oswi and Egfrid
kings of Northumberland. In the twenty-fifth year of his
age, he abandoned all temporal views and possessions, to
devote himself wholly to religion, and for this purpose travelled to Rome in the year 653, where he acquired a
knowledge of ecclesiastical discipline, which, upon his return home, he laboured to establish in Britain. In the
year 665, he took a second journey to Rome; and after
some months stay in that city, he received the tonsure in.
the monastery of Lerins, where he continued about two
years in a strict observance of the monastic discipline. He
was sent back by pope Vitalian, and upon his return, took
upon himself the government of the monastery of Canterbury, to which he had been elected in his absence. Two
years after, he resigned the abbey to Adrian, an abbot,
and went a third time to Rome, and returned with a very
large collection of the most valuable books. Then he went
to the court of Egfrid, king of Northumberland, who had
succeeded Oswi. That prince, with whom he was highly
in favour, gave him a tract of land on the east side of the
mouth of the river Were; where he built a large monastery, called, from its situation, Weremouth; in which, it
is said, he placed three hundred Benedictine monks.
The church of this convent was built of stone after the
Roman architecture, and the windows glazed by artificers
brought from France, in the year of Christ 674, and the
fourth of king Egfrid; and both the monastery and the
church were dedicated to St. Peter. In the year 678,
Benedict took a fourth journey to Rome, and was kindly
received by pope Agatho. From this expedition he returned loaded with books, relics of the apostles and
martyrs, images, and pictures, when, with the pope’s consent, he brought over with him John, arch-chanter of St.
Peter’s, and abbot of St. Martin’s, who introduced the
Roman manner of singing mass. In the year 682 kingEgfrid gave him another piece of ground, on the banks of
the Tyne, four miles from Newcastle where he built
another monastery called Girwy or Jarrow, dedicated to
St. Paul, and placed therein seventeen monks under an
abbot named Ceolfrid. About the same time he appointed
a Presbyter named Easterwinus to be a joint abbot with
himself of the monastery of Weremouth soou after which,
he took his fifth and last journey to Rome, and, as before,
came back enriched with a farther supply of ecclesiastical
books and pictures. He had not been long at home before he was seized with the palsy, which put an end to his
life on the 12th of January, 690. His behaviour during
his sickness appears to have been truly Christian and exemplary. He was buried in his own monastery of Weremouth. He wrote some pieces, but Leland ascribes to
him only a treatise on the Agreement of the rule of the
Monastic life. Bale and Pits give this book N the title of
“Concordia Regularum,
” and the last-mentioned author
informs us, that the design of this book was to prove, that
the rules of all the holy fathers tallied exactly with that of
St. Benedict, founder of the Benedictines. He wrote
likewise “Exhortationes ad Monachos;
” “De suo Privilegio.
” And “De celebratione Festorum totius anni.
”
Mr. Warton, in his History of Poetry, mentions Benedict
Biscop as one of the most distinguished of the Saxon ecclesiastics. The library which he added to his monastery,
was stored with Greek and Latin volumes. Bede has
thought it worthy to be recorded, that Ceolfrid, his successor in the government of Weremouth abbey, augmented
this collection with three volumes of Pandects, and a book
of cosmography, wonderfully enriched with curious workmanship, and bought at Rome. The historian Bede, who
wrote the lives of four of the abbots of Weremouth and
Jarrow, was one of the monks in those convents, and pronounced a homily on the death of Benedict. His body
was deposited in the monastery of Thorney, in Cambridgeshire.
tent to go through Germany into Italy. He was scarcely got there, when a letter came to him from the abbot of St. Ambrose, who was surveyor of the buildings, to advertise
, a celebrated painter, was born at Brussels in 1602. He discovered an inclination to painting from his youth; and owed but little to masters for the perfection he attained in it, excepting that he learned landscape from Fouquiere. In all other branches of his art nature was his master, and he is said to have followed her very faithfully. At nineteen years of age he set off for Italy, taking France in his way; but he proceeded, as it happened, no farther than Paris, and lodged in the college pf Laon, where Poussin also dwelt; and these two painters became very good friends. Du Chesne, painter to queen Mary of Medicis, was employed about the paintings in the palace of Luxembourg, and set Poussin and Champagne at work under him. Poussin did a few small pieces in the cieling, and Champagne drew some small pictures in the queen’s apartment. Her majesty liked them so well, that du Chesne grew jealous, of him; upon which Champagne, who loved peace, returned to Brussels, with an intent to go through Germany into Italy. He was scarcely got there, when a letter came to him from the abbot of St. Ambrose, who was surveyor of the buildings, to advertise him of du Chesne’s death, and to invite him back to France. He accordingly returned thither, and was presently made director of the queen’s paintings, who settled on him a yearly pension of 1200 livres, and allowed him lodgings in the palace of Luxembourg. Being a lover of his business, he went through a great deal of it. There are a vast number of his pieces at Paris, and other parts of the kingdom: and among other places, some of his pictures are to be seen in the chapter-house of Notre-dame at Paris, and in several churches in that city; without reckoning an infinity of portraits, which are noted for their likeness, as well as for being finished to a very high degree. The queen also ordered him to paint the vault of the Carmelites, church in the suburbs of St. James, where his crucifix is much esteemed: but the best of his works is thought to be his cieling in the king’s apartment at Vincennes, composed on the subject of the peace in 1659. After this hi. 1 was made rector of the royal academy of painting, which office he exercised many years.
mission, he proceeded in his visitation without farther opposition: only, at the intercession of the abbot of St. Alban’s, he refrained from visiting certain monasteries
, archbishop of Canterbury in
the reign of king Richard II. was the fourth son of Hugh
Courtney, earl of Devonshire, by Margaret, daughter of
Humphrey Bohun, earl of Hereford and Essex, by his wife
Elizabeth, daughter of king Edward I. and was born in
the year 1341. He had his education at Oxford, where
he applied himself to the study of the civil and canon law.
Afterwards, entering into holy orders, he obtained three
prebends in three cathedral churches, viz. those of Bath,
Exeter, and York. The nobility of his birth, and his eminent learning, recommending him to public notice, in the
reign of Edward III. he was promoted in 1369 to the see
of Hereford, and thence translated to the see of London,
September 12, 1375, being then in the 34th year of his
age. In a synod, held at London in 1376, bishop Courtney
distinguished himself by his opposition to the king’s demand
of a subsidy; and presently after he fell under the displeasure of the high court of chancery, for publishing a
bull of pope Gregory II. without the king’s consent, which
he was compelled to recall. The next year, in obedience
to the pope’s mandate, he cited Wickliff to appear befofe
his tribunal in St. Paul’s church: but that reformer being
accompanied by John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, and
other nobles, who favoured his opinions, and appeared
openly in the bishop’s court for him, and treated the
bishop with very little ceremony, the populace took his
part, went to the duke of Lancaster’s house in the Savoy,
plundered it, and would have burnt it to the ground, had
not the bishop hastened to the place, and drawn them off
by his persuasions. The consequences of this difference
with so powerful a nobleman as John of Gaunt, were probably dreaded even by Courtney; for, with respect to
Wickliff, he at this time proceeded no farther than to enjoin
him and his followers silence. In 1378, it is said by Godwin, but without proper authority, that Courtney was made
a cardinal. In 1381, he was appointed lord high chancellor
of England. The same year, he was translated to the see
of Canterbury, in the room of Simon Sudbury; and on
the 6th of May, 1382, he received the pall from the hands
of the bishop of London in the archiepiscopal palace at
Croydon. This year also he performed the ceremony of
crowning queen Anne, consort of king Richard II. at Westminster. Soon after his inauguration, he restrained, by
ecclesiastical censures, the bailiffs, and other officers, of
the see of Canterbury, from taking cognizance of adultery
and the like crimes, which then belonged to the ecclesiastical court. About the same time, he held a synod at London, in which several of Wickliff’s tenets were condemned
as heretical and erroneous. In 1383, he held a synod at
Oxford, in which a subsidy was granted to the king, some
of WicklifT's followers obliged to recant, and the students
of the university to swear renunciation of his tenets. The
same year, in pursuance of the pope’s bull directed to him
for that purpose, he issued his mandate to the bishop of
London for celebrating the festival of St. Anne, mother of
the blessed virgin. In 1386, the king, by the advice of
his parliament, put the administration of the government
into the hands of eleven commissioners, of whom archbishop
Courtney was the first; but this lasted only one year. In
1387, he held a synod at London, in which a tenth was
granted to the king. The same year, it being moved in a
parliament held at London on occasion of the dissension
between the king and his nobles, to inflict capital punishment on some of the ringleaders, and it being prohibited
by the canons for bishops to be present and vote in cases
of blood, the archbishop and his suffragans withdrew from
the house of lords, having first entered a protest in relation to their peerage and privilege to sit upon all other
matters. In 1399, he held a synod in St. Mary’s church in
Cambridge, in which a tenth was granted to the king, on
condition that he should pass over into France with an army
before the 1st of October following. This year, archbishop
Courtney set out upon his metropolitical visitation, in
which he was at first strongly opposed by the bishops of
Exeter and Salisbury; but those prelates being at last reduced to terms of submission, he proceeded in his visitation without farther opposition: only, at the intercession
of the abbot of St. Alban’s, he refrained from visiting certain monasteries at Oxford. The same year, the king directed his royal mandate to the archbishop, not to countenance or contribute any thing towards a subsidy for the
pope. In a parliament held at Winchester in 1392, archbishop Courtney, being probably suspected of abetting the
papal encroachments upon the church and state, delivered
in an answer to certain articles exhibited by the commons
in relation to those encroachments, which is thought to
have led the way to the statute of pr&munire. The same
year, he visited the diocese of Lincoln, in which he endeavoured to check the growth of Wickliff’s doctrines.
In 1395, he obtained from the pope a grant of four-pence
in the pound on all ecclesiastical benefices; in which he
was opposed by the bishop of Lincoln, who would not
suffer it to be collected in his diocese, and appealed to the
pope. But before the matter could be decided, archbishop
Courtney died, July 31, 1396, at Maidstone in Kent,
where he was buried, but has a monument in the cathedral church of Canterbury, on the south side, near the
tomb of Thomas Becket, and at the feet of the Black
Prince. His remains at Maidstone, only a few bones,
were seen some years ago. This prelate founded a college
of secular priests at Maidstone. He left a thousand marks
for the repair of the cathedral church of Canterbury also
to the same church a silver- gilt image of the Trinity, with
six apostles standing round it weighing 160 pounds some
books, and some ecclesiastical vestments. He obtained
from king Richard a grant of four fairs to be kept at Canterbury yearly within the site of the priory. The character of archbishop Courtney, weighed in the balance of
modern opinions, is that of a persecuting adherent to the
church of Rome, to which, however, he was not so much
attached as to forget what was due to his king and country.
He appears to have exhibited in critical emergencies, a
bold and resolute spirit, and occasionally a happy presence of mind. One circumstance, which displays the
strength and firmness of Courtney’s mind in the exercise
of his religious bigotry, deserves to be noticed. When
the archbishop, on a certain day, with a number of bishops
and divines, had assembled to condemn the tenets of
Wickliff, just as they were going to enter upon business,
a violent earthquake shook the monastery. Upon this, the
terrified bishops threw down their papers, and crying out,
that the business was displeasing to God, came to a hasty
resolution to proceed no farther. “The archbishop alone,
”
says Mr. Gil pin in his Life of Wickliff, “remained unmoved. With equal spirit and address he chid their superstitious fears, and told them, that if the earthquake portended any thing, it portended the downfall of heresy;
that as noxious vapours are lodged in the bowels of the
earth, and are expelled by these violent concussions, so
by their strenuous endeavours, the kingdom should be
purified from the pestilential taint of heresy, which had
infected it in every part. This speech, together with the
news that the earthquake was general through the city,
&s it was afterwards indeed found to have been through
the island, dispelled their fears Wickliff would often
merrily speak of this accident; and would call this assembly the council of the herydene; herydene being the
old English word for earthquake.
”
ormer of whom, after his advancement to the see of Canterbury, sent for him to England, and made him abbot of St. Peter’s, Westminster, and Lanfranc parted with him reluctantly,
, abbot of Westminster in the
eleventh and twelfth centuries, was born in Normandy, of
a considerable family, and educated in the monastery of
Bee, under Lanfranc, afterwards archbishop of Canterbury, who was then prior of that convent, and taught the
liberal arts with great reputation. In this seminary Crispin became a monk, under Anselm, who was at that time
abbot. He was much esteemed by both these eminent
men, the former of whom, after his advancement to the
see of Canterbury, sent for him to England, and made
him abbot of St. Peter’s, Westminster, and Lanfranc
parted with him reluctantly, and continued to correspond
with him as long as he lived. Crispin was abbot of Westminster thirty-two years, during which he was sent on different embassies by king Henry I. Leland says, that he
was some time at Rome, probably on some ecclesiastical
errand. He died in 1117, and was buried in the south
part of the great cloisters. Leland, Bale, and Pits, who
give him the character of a very learned and pious ecclesiastic, attribute a great many works in divinity to him, of
which we know of one only that was published, “De fide
ecclesise, contra Judasos,
” Cologne,
h of Casimir, king of Poland, who, after having abdicated his crown, retired into France, and became abbot of St. Germain de Pres.”
, a French monk, was born at Montet in Auvergne, in 1637, and became a monk of Clermont
in 1656, where he recommended himself to the notice and
respect of his superiors by his application and talents. He
was fixed on, at the instigation of the celebrated Arnaud,
to give a new edition of the works of St. Augustine, and
had made considerable preparation for the publication,
when an anonymous tract, entitled “L' Abbe commandataire,
” exposing certain ecclesiastical abuses, was imputed to him, it is said unjustly. He must, however, have
had no means of disproving the charge, as he was banished
for it to Lower Bretagne. He was shortly after called
upon to preach at Brest, on some public occasion, when
the vessel in which he took his passage was wrecked, and
he was among the number of those that were drowned,
in October 1676, in the thirty-ninth year of his age. He
was author of several works, of little importance now, if
we except an historical eulogy, entitled “The Epitaph of
Casimir, king of Poland, who, after having abdicated his
crown, retired into France, and became abbot of St. Germain de Pres.
”
cholars, but at last determined to retire from the world. The influence which Valclon or Valton, the abbot of St. Denis near Paris, had over him, with some other circumstances,
, a writer of the ninth century, better known
by his works than his personal history, is supposed to have
been a native of Ireland, who emigrated to France, and
there probably died. Cave and Dupin call him deacon,
but Dungal himself assumes no other title than that of subject to the French kings, and their orator. In his youth
he studied sacred and profane literature with success, and
taught the former, and had many scholars, but at last determined to retire from the world. The influence which
Valclon or Valton, the abbot of St. Denis near Paris, had
over him, with some other circumstances, afford reason to
think that if he was not a monk of that abbey, he had retired somewhere in its neighbourhood, or perhaps resided
in the house itself. During this seclusion he did not forsake his studies, but cultivated the knowledge of philosophy, and particularly of astronomy, which was much the
taste of that age. The fame he acquired as an astronomer
induced Charlemagne to consult him in the year 811, on
the subject of two eclipses of the sun, which took place
the year before, and Dungal answered his queries in a long
letter which is printed in D'Acheri’s Spicilegium, vol. III.
of the folio, and vol. X. of the 4to edition, with the opinion
of Ismael Bouillaud upon it. Sixteen years after, in the
year 827, Dungal took up his pen in defence of images
against Claude, bishop of Turin, and composed a treatise
which had merit enough to be printed, first separately, in
1608, 8vo, and was afterwards inserted in the “Bibliotheca Patrum.
” It would appear also that he wrote some
poetical pieces, one of which is in a collection published in
1729 by Martene and Durand. The time of his death is
unknown, but it is supposed he was living in the year 834.
ursuing his studies, and looking after his patrons; the principal of whom was Autonius & Bergis, the abbot of St. Berlin, to whom he had been lately recommended, and who
He had now given many public proofs of his uncommon
abilities and learning, and his fame was spread in all probability over a great part of Europe; yet we find by many
of his letters, that he still continued extremely poor. His
time was divided between pursuing his studies, and looking after his patrons; the principal of whom was Autonius
& Bergis, the abbot of St. Berlin, to whom he had been
lately recommended, and who had received him very graciously. This abbot was very fond of him, and gave him a
letter of recommendation to cardinal John de Medicis,
afterwards pope Leo X.; for Erasmus had professed his
intention to go into Italy, with a view of studying divinity
some months at Bononia, and of taking there a doctor’s
degree; also to visit Rome in the following year of the
jubilee; and then to return home, and lead a retired life.
But, although disappointed for want of the necessary means,
he spent a good part of 1501 with the abbot of St. Berlin;
and, the year after, we find him at Louvain, where he
studied divinity under Dr. Adrian Florent, afterwards pope
Adrian VI. This we learn from his dedication of Arnobius
to this pope in 1522; and also from a letter of that pope
to him, where he speaks of the agreeable conversations
they were wont to have in those hours of studious leisure.
In 1503 he published several little pieces, and amongst
the rest his “Enchiridion militis Christian i:
” which he
wrote, he tells us, “not for the sake of shewing his eloquence, but to correct a vulgar error of those, who madereligion to consist in rites and ceremonies, to the neglect
of virtue and true piety.
” Long, indeed, before Luther
appeared, Erasmus had discovered the corruptions and
superstitions of the church of Rome, and had made some
attempts to reform them. The “Enchiridion,
” however,
though it is very elegantly written, did not sell upon its
first publication; but in 1518 Erasmus having prefixed a
preface which highly offended the Dominicans, their clamours against it made its merit more known.
In 1513, he wrote from London a. very elegant letter to the abbot of St. Berlin, against the rage of going to war, which then
In 1513, he wrote from London a. very elegant letter to
the abbot of St. Berlin, against the rage of going to war,
which then possessed the English and the French. He
has often treated this subject, and always with that vivacity,
eloquence, and strength of reason, with which he treated
every subject as in his Adagia, under the proverb “Dulce
Bellum inexpertis
” in his book entitled “Querela Pads,
”
and in his “Instruction of a Christian Prince.
” But his
remonstrances had small effect, and the emperor Charles
V. to whom the last-mentioned treatise was dedicated, persisted in his belligerent plans. Erasmus was so singular in
his opinions on this subject, that bethought it hardly lawful
for a Christian to go to war; and in this respect, as Jortin
observes, was almost a quaker.
, cardinal, abbot of St. Germaindes-Prés, son of the preceding, was born in 1C28,
, cardinal, abbot of St. Germaindes-Prés, son of the preceding, was born in 1C28, and
raised to the see of Laon in 1653, after having received
the doctor’s hood of Sorbonne. The king made choice of
him, not long after, as mediator between the pope’s nuncio
and the four bishops of Aleth, of Beauvois, of Pamiers,
and of Angers, and he had so far the art of conciliating the
most opposite tempers, as to effect a short-lived peace to
the church of France. He went afterwards to Bavaria, by
the appointment of Louis XIV. to negociate the marriage
of the dauphin with the electoral princess, and to transact
other affairs of importance; and afterwards he went to
Rome, where he asserted the rights of France during the
disputes about the regale, and was charged with all the
business of the court, after the death of the duke his brother, in 1G89. He reconciled the disputes of the clergy
with Rome, and had a great share in the elections of popes
Alexander VIII. Innocent XII. and of Clement XI. When
Philip V. set out to take possession of the throne of Spain,
the cardinal d‘Estrées received orders to attend him, to be
one of the ministry of that prince. He returned to France
in 1703, and died in his abbey the 18th of December 1714,
at the age of eighty-seven. The cardinal d’Estrées was
well-versed in the affairs both of church and state. With
31 comprehensive genius, he possessed agreeable and polite manners, an amiable talent in conversation, a great
equality of temper, a love for literature, and was charitable
to the poor. If he was not always successful in his negociations, it was neither the fault of his understanding nor
of his prudence. He wrote, 1. “L'Europe vivante et
mourante,
” Brussels (for Paris), Replique, au nom de M. Desgrouais, a la lettre de l'abbé
Desfontaines, inserée dans le 6 e vol. des Jugemens de M.
Burlon de La Busbaquerie,
” Avignon,
of the order of the Premonstratenses, a doctor of the civil and canon law at Louvain, and afterwards abbot of St. Mary of Middlebourgh; Nicolas, first, president of the
, a very eminent lawyer, and
upright magistrate, was born at Gripskerque, in the island
of Walcheren, in 1462, and studied law at Louvain under
Arnold de Bek, and Peter de Themis, whose praises for
profound knowledge he has celebrated in his “Topica
juris.
” In Topica juris, sive loci argumentorum
legales,
” of which he printed the first part or century, at
Louvain, in 1516, fol. This he afterwards reviewed and
enlarged, and it was published by his sons in 1552, at
Louvain, and reprinted in 1568 and 1579, at Lyons, and
in 1591 at Francfort. It was afterwards abridged by Abraham Marconet, and published in that form at Magdeburgh,
1655, 12mo. 2. “Consilia, sive responsa juris,
”
Louvain,
s is Fulcandus, or Fducanlt. According to them, Hugues Foucault, a Frenchman by birth, and at length abbot of St. Denys, had followed into Sicily his patron Stephen de
is ranked among the Sicilian historians
of the twelfth century, but his personal history is involved
in obscurity. Muratori makes him a Sicilian, but Mongitori says he was only educated in Sicily, and that he was
more of a Norman than a Sicilian, although he lived many
years in the latter kingdom. The editors of the “L'Art
de verifier les Dates
” are of opinion that the true name of
Falcandus is Fulcandus, or Fducanlt. According to them,
Hugues Foucault, a Frenchman by birth, and at length
abbot of St. Denys, had followed into Sicily his patron
Stephen de la Perche, uncle to the mother of William II.
archbishop of Palermo, and great chancellor of the kingdom. Yet Falcandus has all the feelings of a Sicilian and
the title of alumnus which he bestows on himself, appears
to indicate that he was born, or at least, according to Mongitori, was educated in that island. Falcandus has been
styled the Tacitus of Sicily, and Gibbon seems unwilling
to strip him of his title: “his narrative,
” says that historian, “is rapid and perspicuous, his style bold and elegant, his observation keen; he had studied mankind, and
feels like a man.
” There are four editions of his history,
one separate, Paris, 1550; a second in the Wechels’ collection of Sicilian histories, 1579, folio; a third in Carusio’s Sicilian library and a fourth in the seventh volume
of Muratori’s collection. Falcandus appears to have been
living about 1190. His history embraces the period from
1130 to 1169, a time of great calamity to Sicily, and of
which he was an eye-witness.
which first excited the war between the Jansenists and the Jesuits, and in the following manner. The abbot of St. Cyran, observing in Garasse’s book a prodigious number
The “Doctrine Curieuse,
” carried the strongest marks
of a most busy and active temper; vivacity was the characteristic of the author, and he had no sooner escaped
the difficulties which that treatise brought upon him, but
he plunged into another, of a much more threatening
aspect. This was created by a book he published in 1625,
under the title of “La Somme Theologique des verites capitales de la religion Chretienne.
” It was this book which
first excited the war between the Jansenists and the Jesuits,
and in the following manner. The abbot of St. Cyran,
observing in Garasse’s book a prodigious number of falsifications of Scripture and the fathers, besides many heretical and impious opinions, thought the honour of the
church required a refutation of them. Accordingly, he
wrote an answer at large, in four parts. But while the
first part was in the press, the noise it every where made
occasioned Garasse’s book to be more carefully examined.
March 2, 1626, the rector of the Sorbonne declared before
that society that he had received several complaints of it;
and, proposing to have it examined, a committee was appointed for that purpose, who should give their opinion of
it on the 2d of May following. This matter alarming
Carasse, he presently after this appointment published at
Paris, “L'abus decouverte,
” &c. In this piece he drew
up a list of A
refutation of the pretended abuse, and discovery of the
true ignorance and vanity of father Francis Garasse;
” and
the committee of the Sorbonne made their report on the
day appointed. But some persons who approved the book
desired more time, and that the propositions censured
might be communicated to them. This was granted; and
on the 1st of July, attempting partly to defend, and partly
to explain it, they found themselves under a necessity of
confessing that there were some passages in it which could
not be excused; and that F. Garasse had promised to correct them, without performing his promise. On this, the
doctors agreeing that the book ought to be censured, the
censure was accordingly passed Sept. 1, and immediately
published, with the title of “Censura S. Facultatis Theofogicse, &c. The Censure of the sacred Faculty of the
Clergy at Paris, upon a book entitled Theological Summary of F. Francis Garasse.
” The sentence was to this
effect, that the summary contained several heretical, erroneous, scandalous, and rash propositions; several falsifications of passages of Scripture, and of the holy fathers,
falsely cited, and wrested from their true sense; and an
infinite number of expressions unfit to be written or read
by Christians and divines.
This sentence was perfectly agreeable to the abbot of St. Cyran’s critique, which, after many hindrances raised
This sentence was perfectly agreeable to the abbot of
St. Cyran’s critique, which, after many hindrances raised
by the Jesuits, came out the same year, entitled, “A
Collection of the faults and capital falsities contained in the
Theological Summary of F. Francis Garasse .
” In answer
to which, our author wrote, “Avis touchant la refutation,
&c. Advice concerning the refutation of the Theological
Summary of F. Garasse.
” This came out also before the
end of the year, and concluded the dispute between the
two combatants in particular. But the two orders of Jesuits
and Jansenists in general, of whom these were respectively
the champions, grew from the consequences of it, into
such an implacable hatred and animosity against each other,
as seemed not be extinguishable by ordinary means. With
respect to Garasse, the Jesuits used some kind of prudence.
They did not obstinately persist in supporting him, but
banished him to one of their houses at a great distance
from Paris, where he was heard of no more. This punishment, to a man of his ambitious and busy temper, was
worse than death. Accordingly, as if weary of such a life,
when the plague raged violently in Poictiers, in 1631, he
asked earnestly of his superiors to attend those that were
seized with it; leave was granted, and in that charitable
office, catching the contagion, he died among the infected
persons in the hospital, on the 14th of June that year.
He is styled by bp. Warburton, in his Commentary on
the “Essay on Man,
” an eminent casuist.
rance, he was made preceptor to mademoiselle de Blois, afterwards duchess of Orleans, He also became abbot of St. Vilmer, almoner to the duchess of Orleans, secretary
, a French poet of some
celebrity, was born at Paris in 1636. Having lost his father early in life, he hoped to make his fortune in the Indies; but the ship he embarked in being taken by the
English, for some time he taught French in London, and
being enabled to return to France, he was made preceptor
to mademoiselle de Blois, afterwards duchess of Orleans,
He also became abbot of St. Vilmer, almoner to the duchess of Orleans, secretary to the duke of Maine, and
member of the French academy. He died November 19,
1719. His principal work is in French verse, entitled
“Principes de la Philosophic,
” 12mo; he also wrote four
tragedies, one of whicb, called “Penelope,
” was much
admired; and his “Joseph,
” still more so, when performed
in private at the duchess of Maine’s, at Clugni; but sunk
under the more impartial taste of the French theatre. The
two others are, “Zenolide Princess de Sparte,
” and “Polymnestre.
” In the collection of “Vers Choisis,
” by Bouhours, is a very elegant, though not very argumentative
epistle from the abbé Genest, to M. de la Bastide, persuading him to abjure the protestant religion. He had
also a great share in the collection entitled “Lcs Divertissemens de Sceaux,
” 2 vols. 12mo.
ages. It was printed in the collections of Pithou and Duchesne. He was author of a life of William, abbot of St. Benignus at Dijon.
, a Benedictine monk, first of St.
Germaine d'Auxerre, and afterwards of Cluni, and a man
of superstitious credulity, flourished in the eleventh century, and wrote a “Chronicle or History of France,
” in
the Latin language. It consists of five books, of which the
first relates to the events of the monarchy previously to
Hugh Capet, and the four subsequent ones to those following it, as far down as 1046. This work is defective as
a composition, and, at the same time, full of fabulous
stories, yet it contains much valuable information relative
to those remote ages. It was printed in the collections of
Pithou and Duchesne. He was author of a life of William,
abbot of St. Benignus at Dijon.
aldolites, both which gave so much offence to the community, that he was deposed from the dignity of abbot of St. Michael at Pisa; but the grand duke immediately appointed
, a philosopher and
mathematician, was born Oct. 1, 1671, at Cremona, where
his father, a branch of a decayed family, carried on the
business of ai> embroiderer. His mother, a woman of considerable talents, taught him Latin, and gave him some
taste for poetry. Being disposed to a studious life, he
cliose the profession of theology, that he might freely indulge his inclination. He entered into the religious order
of Camaldolitesj at Raverrna, in 1687, where he was distinguished for his proficiency in the different branches of
literature and science, but was much dissatisfied with the
Peripatetic philosophy of the schools. He had not been
here long before he established an academy of students of
his own age, which he called the Certanti, in opposition
to another juvenile society called the Concordi. To his
philosophical studies he added those of the belles lettres,
music, and history. It appears to have been his early ambition to introduce a new system in education, and with
that view he obtained the professorship of philosophy at Florence, by the influence of father Caramelli, although not
without some opposition from the adherents to the old
opinions. He now applied himself to the introduction of
the Cartesian philosophy, while, at the same time, he became zealously attached to mathematical studies. The
works of the great Torricelli, of our countryman Wallis,
and of other celebrated mathematicians, were his favourite
companions, and the objects of his familiar intercourse.
His first publication was a treatise to resolve the problems
of Viviani on the construction of arcs, entitled “Geometrica Demonstnuio Vivianeorum problematum,
” Florence,
Geometrica
dernonslratio theorematum Hugenianorum circa logisticam,
seu Logarithmicam lineatn,
” Quadratura
circuii et hyperbola3 per infinitas hyperbolas et parabolas
geometrice exhibita,
” Pisa, Sejani et Rufini dialogus de Laderchiana historia S.
Petri Damiani,
” Paris, Dissertationes Camaldu lenses,
” embracing inquiries into the history of the Camaldolites, both which gave so much offence to the community, that he was deposed from the dignity of abbot of
St. Michael at Pisa; but the grand duke immediately appointed him his professor of mathematics in the university.
He now resolved some curious and difficult problems for
the improvement of acoustics, which had been presented
to the royal society in Dublin, and having accomplished
his objecvt, he transmitted the solutions, by means of the
British minister at the court of Florence, to the Royal
Society at London. This was published under the title of
“Disquisitio geometrica in systema sonorum D. Narcissi
(Marsh) archiepiscopi Armachani,
” in De infinitis infinitorum, et infinite parvorum ordinibus disquisitio geometrica,
” Pisa,
, is recorded as a celebrated abbot of St. Denys in France, in the ninth century, in the reigns
, is recorded as a celebrated abbot of St. Denys in France, in the ninth century, in the reigns of Louis le Debonnaire, and Lothaire his son. He became despicable by his attachment to the latter, and by frequently violating the oath of fidelity which he swore to the emperor Louis, whenever he was reconciled to his children. As a writer he was the first who confounded St. Denys, or Dionysius, bishop of Paris, with Dionysius the Areopagite, in his life of St. Dionysius entitled " Areopagitica, n Paris, 1565, 8vo, which is replete with fabulous absurdities.
is travels abroad; and some time after being recommended to the service of the hon. Walter Montague, abbot of St. Martin, near Pontoise, he continued several years in
, alias Lyde, second son of William,
Joyner, alias Lyde*, of Horspath, near Oxford, by Anne
his wife, daughter and coheir of Edward Leyworth, M. 0.
of Oxford, was born in St. Giles’s parish there, ApriT
1622, educated partly in Thame, but more in Coventry
free-school, elected demy of Magdalen-college, 1626, and
afterwards fellow. But, “upon a foresight of the utter
ruin of the church of England by the presbyterians in the
time of the rebellion,
” he changed his religion for that of
Rome, renounced his fellowship, 1644, and being taken
into the service of the earl of Glamorgan, went with him
into Ireland, and continued there till the royal cause declined in that country. He then accompanied that earl in
his travels abroad; and some time after being recommended
to the service of the hon. Walter Montague, abbot of St.
Martin, near Pontoise, he continued several years in his
family as his steward, esteemed for his learning, sincere
rebuilt his abbey at Bee; but was soon removed from it by the duke of Normandy, who in 1062 made him abbot of St. Stephen’s at Caen in that province, where he established
, archbishop of Canterbury in the eleventh century, was an Italian, and born in 1005 at Pavia, being son of a counsellor to the senate of that town; but, losing his father in his infancy, he went to Bologna. Hence, having prosecuted his studies for some time, he removed into France in the reign of Henry I. and taught some time at Avranches, where he had many pupils of high rank. In a journey to Rouen, he had the misfortune to be robbed, and tied to a tree on the road, where he remained till next day, when being released by some passengers, he retired to the abbey of Bee, lately founded, and there took the monk’s habit in 1041. He was elected prior of this religious house in 1044; and opened a school, which in a little time became very famous, and was frequented by students from all parts of Europe. Amongst others, some of the scholars of Berenger, archdeacon of Angers, and master of the school at Tours, left that, and went to study at the abbey of Bee. This, it is said, excited the envy of Berenger, and gave rise to a long and violent controversy between him and Lanfranc, on the subject of the eucharist. (See Berengarius). In 1049, Lanfranc took a journey to Rome, where he declared his sentiments to pope Leo IX. against the doctrine of Berenger; for Berenger had xvritten him a letter, which gave room to suspect Lanfranc to be of his opinion. Soon after, he assisted in the council of Verceil, where he expressly opposed Berenger’s notions. He returned a second time to Rome in 1059, and assisted in the council held at the Lateran by pope Nicholas II. in which Berenger abjured the doctrine that he had till then maintained. Lanfranc now obtained a dispensation from the pope, for the marriage of William duke of Normandy with a daughter of the earl of Flanders his cousin. On his return to France, he rebuilt his abbey at Bee; but was soon removed from it by the duke of Normandy, who in 1062 made him abbot of St. Stephen’s at Caen in that province, where he established a new academy, which became no less famous than his former one at Bee. This duke, coming to the crown of England, sent for Lanfranc, who was elected archbishop of Canterbury in 1070, in the room of Stigand, who had been deposed by the pope’s legate. He was no sooner consecrated to this see, than he wrote to pope Alexander II. begging leave to resign it; which not being complied with, he afterwards sent ambassadors to Rome to beg the pall; but Hildebrand answering, in the pope’s name, that the pall was not granted to any person in his absence (which was not strictly true, as it had been sent to Austin, Justus, and Honorius), he went thither to receive that honour in 1071. Alexander paid him a particular respect, in rising to give him audience this pontiff, indeed, had a special regard for him, having studied under him in the abbey of Bee and kissed him, instead of presenting his slipper for that obeisance, nor was he satisfied with giving him the usual pall, but invested him with that pall of which he himself had made use in celebrating mass. Before his departure, Lanfranc defended the metropolitical rights of his see against the claims of the archbishop of York, and procured them to be confirmed by a national council in 1075, wherein several rules of discipline were established. At length, presuming to make remonstrances to the Conqueror upon some oppressions of the subjects, though he offered them with a becoming respect, the monarch received them with disdain and asked him, with an oath, if he thought it possible for a king to keep all his promises From this time, our archbishop lost his majesty’s favour, and was observed afterwards with a jealous eye. He enjoyed, however, the favour of William II. during the remainder of his life. Some years before this, Gregory VII. having summoned him several times to come to Rome, to give an account of his faith, at length sent him a citation to appear there in four months, on pain of suspension: Lanfranc, however, did not think proper to obey the summons. He died May 28, 1089.
church of England, touching the sacrament of the body and blood of our Lord” the “Words of CEilfric abbot of St. Alban’s, &c. taken out of his epistles written to Wulfsine,
, an English antiquary, was educated
at Eton school, and admitted to King’s -college, Cambridge, in 1584, where he took his degree of M. A. and
became fellow, but quitted his fellowship on succeeding to
an estate at Wilbraham, in Cambridgeshire. He was afterwards appointed one of the esquires extraordinary of
the king’s body, and died in 1637. No farther particulars
of his life are upon record. He published “A Saxon treatise concerning the Old and New Testament; written
about the time of king Edgar, (700 years ago) by >Elfricus Abbas, thought to be the same that was afterwards archbishop of Canterbury,
” Treatise,
”
but the volume is incomplete without “A Testimony of
Antiquity, shewing the ancient faith in the church of England, touching the sacrament of the body and blood of our
Lord
” the “Words of CEilfric abbot of St. Alban’s, &c.
taken out of his epistles written to Wulfsine, bishop of
Scyrburne;
” and “The Lord’s prayer, the creed, and
ten commandments, in the Saxon and English tongue.
”
The work is dedicated to prince Charles, afterwards
Charles I. in a long copy of verses, “by way of eclogue,
imitating the fourth of Virgile.
” To this is added a still
longer preface, or address to the reader, containing some
curious remarks on a variety of topics relating to Saxon
literature, the Bible, the English language, &c. Mr. Lisle
also published Du Bartas’s “Ark, Babylon, Colonies,
and Columns,
” in French and English, The Fair Æthiopian,
”
pened about the middle of July, in 1453. His character in the register of the Cordeliers, and by the abbot of St. Aubert, was that of “a very honourable and peaceable
, an eminent French
historian, was descended of a noble family, but the names
of his parents, and the period of his birth have not been
discovered. The place of his birth was probably Picardy,
and the time, prior to the close of the fourteenth century.
No particulars of his 'early years are known, except that
he evinced, when young, a love for application, and a
dislike to indolence. The quotations also from Sallust,
Livy, Vegetius, and other ancient authors, that occur in
his Chronicles, shew that he must have made some progress
in Latin literature. He appears to have been resident in
Cambray when he composed his history, and passed there
the remainder of his life. In 1436 he was nominated to
the office of lieutenant du Gavenier of the Cambresis; the
gavenier was the collector or receiver of the annual dues
payable to the duke of Burgundy, by the subjects of the
church in the Cambresis, for the protection of them as
earl of Flanders. Monstrelet also held the office of bailiff
to the chapter of Cambray from 1436 to 1440, when another was appointed. The respect and consideration which
he had now acquired, gained him the dignity of governor
of Cambray in 1444, and in the following year he was nominated bailiff of Wallaincourt. He retained both of those
places until his death, which happened about the middle
of July, in 1453. His character in the register of the Cordeliers, and by the abbot of St. Aubert, was that of “a
very honourable and peaceable man;
” expressions, says his
biographer, that appear simple at first sight, but which
contain a real eulogium, if we consider the troublesome
times in which Monstrelet lived, the places he held, the
interest he must have had sometimes to betray the truth in
favour of one of the factions which then divided France,
and caused the revolutions the history of which he has published during the life of the principal actors.
, a French historian of the ninth century, the son of Angilbert, abbot of St. Riquier, and of Bertha, daughter of Charlemagne, was
, a French historian of the ninth century,
the son of Angilbert, abbot of St. Riquier, and of Bertha,
daughter of Charlemagne, was born before the year 790,
and was probably educated at the court of his grandfather.
He appears to have been distinguished both as a soldier and
politician, and was occasionally employed by Charles the
Bald, king of France, as a negociator. His history
contains an account of the divisions between the sons of Louis
le Debonnaire, in four books, of which the first three were
written in the year 842, and the fourth is lost. It was
published in 1594, by M. Pithou, in his “Annalium et
Historiæ Francorum Scriptores,
” &c. and has since been
translated by Duchesne and Bouquet, in their collection
of French Historians, and by Cousin in his “History of
the Western Empire.
”
monk’s habit in the convent of Beaume, in the diocese of Besangon. After which, he became prior and abbot of St. Clugni, in 927, where he introduced a new discipline,
, the second abbot of Clugni in France,
illustrious for his learning and piety, and certainly as
learned and pious as the ignorance and superstition of the
times would permit, was born at Tours in 879. He was
educated by Foluques, count of Anjou, and became a
canon of St. Martin, at Tours, at nineteen years of age,
after which he went to Paris, and was the disciple of St.
Remy of Auxerre. He was fond of solitude, and took the
monk’s habit in the convent of Beaume, in the diocese of
Besangon. After which, he became prior and abbot of St.
Clugni, in 927, where he introduced a new discipline, or
set of ceremonies of a severe and rigorous kind, which,
however, with the sanctity of his life contributed greatly
to increase the congregation of Clugni; and such was the
influence of his personal character, that popes, bishops,
and secular princes, usually chose him for the arbitrator
of their disputes, and the order or discipline of Clugni attained a very high degree of eminence and authority. He
died about 943. He applied himself to study as well as to
the aggrandizing of his order; but his original works are
filled with the grossest superstitions. While he was canon,
he abridged the “Morals of St. Gregory,
” and the “Hymns
in honour of St. Martin.
” While a simple monk, he composed three books of “The Priesthood;
” and another upon
the “Prophecy of Jeremy,
” dedicated to Turpion bishop
of Limoges, which bore the title of “Collations or Conferences, or Occupations.
” After he became abbot, he
wrote the “Life of St. Gerard,
” and of “St. Martial of
Limoges,
” and several sermons, and a “Panegyric upon
St. Benedict.
” All these are prinfed in the.“Bibliotheque
of Clugni,
” together with some “Hymns upon the Sacrament,
” and “The Magdelain;
” but the “History of St.
Martyn’s Translation
” is improperly ascribed to him. It
appears also that he understood music; and besides some
hymns, chaunts, and anthems, still preserved in the Romish
church, there are two copies of a ms tract on music, of
his writing, in the royal library of Paris, and one in Bene't
college, Cambridge. This is noticed by Dr. Burney in
his History of Music.
ed a "Saxon homily on the Sacrament,“translated out of Latin into that language, by Ælfric a learned abbot of St. Alban’s, about 900 years before; with two epistles of
Concerning his learning and zeal for the promotion of
learning, there is no difference of opinion. His skill in
ancient liturgies was such, that he was one of the first selected to draw up the Book of Common Prayer; and when
he came to be placed at the head of the church, he laboured much to engage the bishops, and other learned
men, in the revisal and correction of the former translations of the Bible. This was at length undertaken and
carried on under his direction and inspection, who assigned
particular portions to each of his assistants, which he afterwards perused and corrected, and spared no pains in getting it completed. It was first published in 1568, and has
usually been called the “Bishop’s Bible,
” and ran its
course with the Geneva translation, until the present version was executed, in the reign of king James. He also
published a "translated out of Latin into that language, by Ælfric a learned
abbot of St. Alban’s, about 900 years before; with two
epistles of the same, in which is not the least mention of
the doctrine of transubstantiation. He was the editor also
of editions of the histories of Matthew of Westminster and
Matthew of Paris, and of various other works, enumerated
by Tanner; some of which were either composed by him,
or printed at his expence. The work on which he is
thought to have spent most time was that
” but his share in this is a disputed
point among antiquaries. In his letter to the lord treasurer, to whom he presented a copy, he speaks of it as his
own collection, which had been the employment of his
leisure hours. Dr. Drake likewise, in the preface to his
edition of it, quotes a letter of the archbishop’s in the
college-library, in which he expressly styles it,
” My book
of Canterbury Predecessors;“and archbishop Bramhall
was of opinion, that the conclusion of the preface proved
Parker himself to have been the author. But notwithstanding these testimonies, the matter is doubtful. Selden was the first who called it in question, although without giving his reasons; and sir Henry Spelman considered
Dr. Ackworth to have been either the author or collector
of the work. Archbishop Usher thinks that Ackworth wrote
only the first part, concerning the British antiquities; and
he, Selden, and Wharton, ascribe the lives of the archbishops to Josselyn, and make Parker little more than the
director or encourager of the whole. And this certainly
seems to be confirmed by the copy now in the Lambethlibrary. This copy, which originally belonged to that library, but was missing from the year 1720, was replaced
in 1757 by Dr. Trevor, bishop of Durham, who found
it in the Sunderland-library. This, which Dr. Ducarel
thought the only perfect one existing, contains many
manuscript papers, letters, and notes, respecting archbishop Parker and the see of Canterbury; and, among
these, some proofs that Ackworth and Josselyn had a
considerable share in the composition of the work. At the
beginning of St. Augustine’s life we find this note:
” These
24 pages of St. Augustine’s life were thus begun by George
Acworth Dr. of laws, at the appointment of Matthew
Parker Abp.of Cant, and the lives of all the archbishops should have in this course been perfected—(some words not intelligible)—but deth prevented it.“This Dr.
Ackworth, as we have mentioned in our account of him
(vol. I.) was alive in 1576, but how long after is not known,
but as this is a year after our prelate’s death, there seems
some difficulty in understanding the latter part of this
note, without adopting archbishop Usher’s opinion above
mentioned. We also find in the Lambeth copy, on the
title-page of the history, the following note:
” This Historie was collected and penned by John Josselyn, one of
the sons of sir Thomas Josselyn, knight, by the appointment and oversight of Matthew Parker archbishop of Cant.
the said John being entertained in the said archb. house,
as one of his antiquaries, to whom, besides the allowance
afforded to him in his howse, he gave to hym the parsonage
of Hollinborn in Kent," &c.
er three masters, the last of whom he converted. Returning at length to France, Louis XIII. made him abbot of St. Leonard de Chaulme, and he had afterwards the care of
, a worthy ecclesiastic of the
Romish church, was born April 24, 1576, and studied at
Toulouse, where he was ordained a priest in 1600. On
his return to Narbonne from Marseilles, his ship was taken
by the Turks, and he remained for a considerable time in
slavery, under three masters, the last of whom he converted. Returning at length to France, Louis XIII. made
him abbot of St. Leonard de Chaulme, and he had afterwards the care of the parish church of Clichy, which he
completely repaired and furnished at his own expence.
Towards the end of 1609, he went to reside in the house
of Emmanuel de Goudy, as tutor to his children, but does
not appear to have remained here long. He then obtained
the curacy of Chatillon-les-Dombes, which he kept only
five months. Compelled by the solicitations of numberless persons of the highest distinction, to return, to the
Goudy family, he resigned himself wholly to his natural
desire of relieving the poor and afflicted. Louis XIII. being
made acquainted with his zeal, appointed him almonergeneral of the gall ies, 1619; and the following year, St.
Francis de Sales, because, as he says, he “knew not a
worthier priest in the church,
”made him superintendant
of the nuns of the visitation. On niadame de Goudy’s decease, M. Vincent retired to the college des Bon Knfans,
cf which he, wasprincipal, and which he never quitted,
but to perform the oftie of a missionary. Some years
after, he accepted the house de St. Lazare, though with
great reluctance. His life was a continued series of good
works, and it is scarcely to be conceived how one man
could plan so many, still less, how he could execute them.
Among these were missions in all parts of France, as well
as in Italy, Scotland, Barbary, Madagascar, &c. ecclesiastical conferences, at which the most eminent bishops
of the kingdom were present spiritual retirements, as they
were called, which were also gratuitous; an Hospital for
Foundlings, for which his humane applications procured
an income of 40,000 livres; the foundation of the Charitable Virgins, for the relief of sick poor; to which we
may add, the hospitals de Bicetre, de la Salpetriere, de
la Piti; those of Marseilles for galley-slaves; of St. Reine
for pilgrims, and of le Saint Nom de Jesus, for old men,
which are principally indebted to him for their establishment. In times of the greatest distress, he sent above two
millions of livres into Lorraine in money and effects; nor
did Picardy and Champagne experience much less of his
bounty, when the scourges of heaven had reduced those
provinces to the most deplorable indigence. During ten
years that M. Vincent presided in the council of conscience,
under Anne of Austria, he suffered none but the most
worthy to be presented to benefices. Being a zealous patron of nunneries, he supported the establishment of the
nuns de la Providence, de Sainte Genevieve, and de la
Croix. He laboured with success for the reform of Grammorit, Premontre, and the abbey of St. Genevieve, as welt
as for the establishment of the great Seminaries. Even
those, who have doubted whether his talents were very
extensive, have openly acknowledged that he was one of
the most pious priests in the kingdom, and more useful to
the poor and to the church, than most of those who are
considered as great geniuses. This excellent man died
loaded with years, labour, and mortifications, Sept.27,1660,
aged near 85. He was canonized by Clement XII. on
July 16, 1737. Those who wish to know more of St. Vincent de Paul, may consult his Life by M. Collet, 2 vols. 4to,
and “PAvocat.du Diable,
” 3 vols. 12mo.
; and he even directed the preparations for all festivals, tournaments, and masquerades. He was made abbot of St. Martin at Troyes, and lived with such splendour, that
, an eminent Italian painter, was descended from a noble family in Bologna, where he was born in 1490. His friends, perceiving that he had a strong inclination for design, permitted him to go to Mantua, where he was six years a disciple of Julio Romano, who was then ornamenting the apartments of the palace del Te. In this time he became so skilful, that he represented battles in stucco and basso relievo, better than any of the young painters at Mantua, who were Julio’s pupils. He assisted Julio in executing his designs and Francis I. of France sending to Rome for a man that understood working in stucco, Primaticcio was the person chosen for this service, and he adorned Fontainbleau, and most of the palaces in France, with his compositions. The king put such confidence in him, that he sent him to Rome to buy antiques, in 1540; on which occasion he brought back one hundred and fourscore statues, with a great number of busts. He had moulds made by Giacomo Baroccio di Vignola, of the statues of Venus, Laocoon, Commodus, the Tiber, the Nile, the Cleopatra at Belvidere, and Trajan’s Pillar, in order to have them cast in brass. After the death of Rosso-, who was his rival, he succeeded him in the place of superintendant of the buildings; and in a little time finished the gallery which his predecessor had begun. He brought so many statues of marble and brass to Fontainbleau, that it seemed another Rome, as well for the number of the antiques as for his own works in painting and in stucco. He was so much esteemed in France, that nothing of any consequence was done without him, which had relation to painting or building; and he even directed the preparations for all festivals, tournaments, and masquerades. He was made abbot of St. Martin at Troyes, and lived with such splendour, that he was respected as a courtier as well as a painter. He and Rosso taught the French a good style for, before their time, what they had done in the arts was very inconsiderable, and had something of the Gothic in it. He died in 1570, at the age of eighty, after having been favoured and caressed in four reigns.
, abbot of St. Victor in the twelfth century, was a native of Scotland.
, abbot of St. Victor in the twelfth century, was a native of Scotland. After such education as his country afforded, in polite literature, the sacred scriptures, and mathematics, which we are told were the objects of his early studies, he went, as was much the custom then, to Paris, Here the fame of Hugh, abbot of St. Victor, induced him to retire into that monastery, that he might pursue his theological studies under so great a master. At the regular periods he took the habit, was admitted into holy orders, and so much acquired the esteem of his brethren, that in 1164, upon the death of Hugh, they unanimously chose him their prior, in which station he remained until his death, March 10, 1173. During this time he composed many treatises on subjects of practical divinity, and on scripture criticism, particularly on the description of Solomon’s temple, Ezekiel’s temple, and on the apparent contradictions in the books of Kings and Chronicles, respecting the reigns of the kings of Judah and Israel. Dupin speaks rather favourably of these treatises. They were all published at Paris in 1518, and 1540, in 2 vols. folio, at Venice in 1592, at Cologne in 1621, and at Rouen in 1650, which is reckoned the best edition.
g prince, afterwards Louis le Gros, became his principal guide and counsellor. On the death of Adam, abbot of St. Denis, in 1122, Suger obtained his place, and even in
, the abbé, a celebrated minister under Louis VII.
was born at Touri in Beauce, in 1082, and being bred up
at St. Denis with the young prince, afterwards Louis le
Gros, became his principal guide and counsellor. On the
death of Adam, abbot of St. Denis, in 1122, Suger obtained his place, and even in his abbey performed the
duties of a minister. He reformed and improved not only
his own society, as abbot, but all departments of the state
as minister, and obtained so high a reputation, that after
his death it was thought sufficient to write on his tomb,
“Cy git l'abbé Suger.
” “Here lies the abbé Suger.
”
He died at St. Denis, in
Spanheim in the diocese of Mentz, in 1483, which abbey ke governed till 1506, and resigned it to be abbot of St. James at Wirtzberg. He died Dec. 13, 1516. Trithemius
, a celebrated abbot of the Benedictine order, and one of the most learned men in the fifteenth century, was born February 1, 1462, at Tritenheim,
in the diocese of Treves. After finishing his studies he
took the Benedictine habit, and was made abbot of Spanheim in the diocese of Mentz, in 1483, which abbey ke
governed till 1506, and resigned it to be abbot of St. James
at Wirtzberg. He died Dec. 13, 1516. Trithemius was
well acquainted both with sacred and profane literature,
and left various works, historical and biographical, among
which the principal are, a treatise “On the illustrious ecclesiastical Writers,
” Cologn, On the illustrious Men of Germany;
” and a third on those of the “Benedictine Order,
” On Polygraphy,
” On Steganography,
” i.e. the various
methods of writing in cyphers, Gustavi Seleni Enodatio Steganographiæ J. Trithemii,
” Chronicles,
” in “Trithemii Opera historica,
”
Annales
Hirsaugienses,
” 2 vols. folio, a carious and important work,
and others.
and jurisprudence, but was most attached to rhetoric and poetry, and was honoured by Hilduinus, the abbot of St. Denis, with the title of Scholasticissimus. It sems uncertain
, or Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus, a Christian poet of the sixth century,
was a native of Italy, and studied at Ravenna. He applied
himself to grammar, rhetoric, poetry, and jurisprudence,
but was most attached to rhetoric and poetry, and was honoured by Hilduinus, the abbot of St. Denis, with the title
of Scholasticissimus. It sems uncertain what was the cause
of his leaving Italy for France, but the step was peculiarly
fortunate for him, as his poetical genius procured him the
most honourable reception. Princes, bishops, and persons of the highest ranks, became eager to confer on him
marks of their esteem. He arrived in France during the
reign of Sigebert, king of Austrasia, who received him
with great respect. This being about the time of the king’s
marriage with Brunehaut, in the year 566, Venantius composed an epithaiamium, in which he celebrated the graces
and perfections of the new queen. It is also said, that he
gave the king lectures on politics. The following year he
went to Tours to perform a vow to St. Martin, whose image
had cured him of a complaint in his eyes. He then went
to Poictiers, and was invited by St. Radegonda, the foundress of a monastery there, to reside in the capacity of her
secretary; and afterwards, when he became a priest, she
appointed him her chaplain and almoner. He resided here
for some years, employing his time in study and writing,
and edifying the church as much by his example as by his
works. He was much esteemed by Gregory of Tours and
other prelates, and was at last himself raised to be bishop
of Poictiers, which dignity, it is said, he did not long enjoy. He died about the commencement of the seventh
century, some say in the year 609. His works consist of
eleven books of poetry, mostly of the elegiac kind, and
generally short: hymns adapted to the services of the church:
epitaphs, letters to several bishops, and some to Gregory
of Tours: courtly verses addressed to queen Radegonda,
and her sister Agnes, usually sent with presents of flowers,
fruit, &c. four books of the “Life of St. Martin,
” in heroic verse: several lives of the saints. Editions of his
works were published at Cagliari in 1573, 1574, and 1584,
and at Cologne in 1600: but all these are said to be incomplete and incorrect, yet they shew the respect paid to him
as the best Latin poet of his time. In 1603 Christopher
Brower, a German Jesuit, produced a very correct edition,
with notes, printed at Fulda, and reprinted at Mentz, in
1617, 4to; but this contains only his poems. His other
works are in the “Bibliotheca Patrum,
” of Lyons, Venantii opera omnia quae extant,
post Browerianam editionetn mine recens novis addiiamentis aucta, not. et scholiis illustr. opera Mich-Ange Luchi,
”
, abbot of St. Cyran, famous in the seventeenth century as a controversial
, abbot of St. Cyran,
famous in the seventeenth century as a controversial writer,
was born in 1581, at Bayonne, of a good family. He pursued his studies at Lou vain, and formed a strict friendship
with the celebrated Jansenius, his fellow student. In 1610
he was made abbot of St. Cyran, on the resignation ( of Henry Lewis Chateignier de la Roche-Posai, bishop of Poitiers. The new abbot read the fathers and the councils with Jansenius, and took great pains to impress him with his sentiments and opinions, as well as a number of divines with whom he corresponded; nor did he leave any means untried to inspire M. le Maitre, M. Arnauld, M. d'Andilly, and several more disciples whom he had gained, with the
same opinions. This conduct making much noise, cardinal
Richelieu, who was besides piqued that the abbot of St.
Cyran refused to declare himself for the nullity of the marriage between Gaston, duke of Orleans, the brother of
Louis the thirteenth, and Margaret of Lorraine, confined
him at Vincennes, May 11, 1638. After this minister’s
death, the abbot regained his liberty, but did not enjoy it
long, for he died at Paris, October 18, 1643, aged sixtytwo, and was buried at St. Jacques du Haut-Pas, where
his epitaph may be seen on one side of the high altar. His
works are, 1. “Lettres Spirituelles,
” 2 vols. 4to, or 8vo,
reprinted at Lyons, 1679, 3 vols. 12mo, to which a fourth
has been added, containing several small tracts written by
M. de St. Cyran, and printed separately. 2. “Question
Royale,
” in which he examines in what extremity a subject
might be obliged to save the life of his prince at the expence of his own, 1609, 12mo. This last was much talked
of, and his enemies drew inferences and consequences
from it, which neither he nor his disciples by any means
approved 3. “L‘Aumône Chrétienne, ou Tradition de
l’Eglise touchant la charité envers les Pauvres,
” 2 vols.
12mo. The second part of this work is entitled “L'Aumône ecclesiastique.
” M. Anthony le Maitre had a greater
share in the last-mentioned book than the abbot of St.
Cyran. He published some other works of a similar cast,
but his last appears to deserve most notice. It is entitled
“Petrus Aurelius,
” -and is a defence of the ecclesiastical
hierarchy against the Jesuits. He was assisted in this book
by his nephew, the abbé de Baicos, and it seems to have
done him the most honour of all his works, though it must
be acknowledged, says the abbé L'Avocat, that if all the
abuse of the Jesuits, and the invectives against their order,
were taken from this great volume, very little would remain. L'Avocat is also of opinion that M. Hallier’s small
tract on the same subject, occasioned by the censure of the
clergy in 1635, is more solid, much deeper, and contains
better arguments, than any that are to be found in the
great volume of “Petrus Aurelius.
” The first edition of
this book is the collection of different parts, printed between 1632 and 1635, for which the printer Morel was
paid by the clergy, though it was done without their order.
The assembly held in 1641 caused an edition to be published in 1642, which the Jesuits seized; but it was nevertheless dispersed on the remonstrances of the clergy. This
edition contains two pieces, “Confutatio collections locorum quos Jesuits compilarunt, &c.
” that are not in the
third edition, which was also published at the clergy’s expence in 1646. But to this third edition is prefixed the
eulogy, written by M. Godeau on the author, by order of
the clergy, and the verbal process which orders it; whence
it appears that their sentiments respecting him, differed
widely from those of the Jesuits and their adherents. The
abbot de St. Cyran was a man of much simplicity in his
manners and practice: he told his beads; he exorcised
heretical books before he read them: this simplicity, however, concealed a great fund of learning, and great talents
for persuasion, without which he could never have gained
so many illustrious and distinguished disciples, as Mess.
Arnauld, le Maltre de Sacy, Arnauld d'Andilly, and the
other literati of Port Royal, who all had the highest veneration for him, and placed the most unbounded confidence
in him. But whatever talents he might have for speaking,
persuading, and directing, he certainly had none for writing; nor are his books answerable to his high reputation.
, a learned abbot of St. Albans, was ordained a priest in 1382, and died in 1464,
, a learned abbot of St. Albans, was ordained a priest in 1382, and died in 1464, when he had been eighty-two years in priest’s orders, and above an hundred years old. He wrote a chronicle of twenty years of this period, beginning in 1441 and ending in 1461. It contains many original papers, and gives a very full account of some events, particularly of the two battles of St. Alban’s. More than one half of his chronicle is filled with the affairs of his own abbey, to which he was a great benefactor, particularly to the altar of the patron saint, which he adorned with much magnificence. About 1430 he employed Lydgate to translate the Latin legend of St. Alban’s life into English rhymes, for the purpose of familiarising the history of that saint to the monks of his convent. He enriched the library by procuring transcripts of useful books, and was on account of such pursuits in high favour with duke Humphrey, who, when about to found his library at Oxford, often visited St. Alban’s, and employed Whethamstede to collect valuable books for him.