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# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Notitia Provinciarum et Civitatum Africae

From volume 11 of the work.
(List of the Provinces and Cities of Africa).
A list of the bishops and their sees in the Latin provinces of North Africa, arranged according to provinces in this order: Proconsularis, Numidia, Byzacena, Mauretania Caesariensis, Mauretania Sitifensis, Tripolitana, Sardinia. The cause of its preparation was the summoning of the episcopate to Carthage, 1 February, 484, by the Arian King of the Vandals, Hunerich (477-84). It names also the exiled bishops and vacant sees, and is an important authority for the history of the African Church and the geography of these provinces. It is incorporated in the only extant manuscript to the history of the Vandal persecution by Bishop Victor of Vita, and is printed in the editions of this work.
P.L. LVIII, 267 sqq.; Victoris de Vita Opera, ed. HALM in Mon. Germ. hist.: Auct. antiq., III (Berlin, 1879), 63 sq.; ed. PETSCHENIG in Corp. script. eccl. lat., VII (Vienna, 1881), xii, 117 sqq.
J.P. KIRSCH
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Notre-Dame de Molesme

From volume 10 of the work.
A celebrated Benedictine monastery in a village of the same name, Canton of Laignes (Côte-d'Or), ancient Burgundy, on the confines of the Diocese of Langres and Troyes. St. Robert, Abbot of St-Michael de Tonnere, not finding his monks disposed to observe the Rule of St. Benedict in its original simplicity, left them, accompanied by a few monks and hermits, and selected a spot on the declivity of a hill, to the right of the River Leignes, where, having obtained a grant of land from Hugo de Norlennac, they built a house and oratory from the boughts of trees. Here they lived in extreme poverty until a certain bishop visited them, and, seeing their need, sent them a supply of food and clothing. Members of the noblest families, hearing of the saintly lives of these religious, soon hastened from all parts of the country to join them, bringing in many cases their worldly possessions, which, added to numerous other benefactions, enabled them to erect a church, the most beautiful in the country around, and suitable monastic buildings. The increase in numbers and possessions caused a temporary relaxation in fervour, in so far that the monks ceased to relish the work of the fields, being willing to live on the alms given them. Matters having gone even so far as open rebellion, St. Robert and the most fervent religious left Molesme (1098) and founded Citeaux, which, though intended as a Benedictine monastery, became the first and mother-house of the Cistercian Order. The monks of Molesms, repenting of their faults, begged Urban II to oblige St. Robert to return to themn, and this request was acceded to (1099); Robert continued to govern them until his death (1110). Besides Citeaux, Molesme founded seven or eight other monasteries, and had about as many monasteries of Benedictine nuns under its jurisdiction. The church and monastery were destroyed and their possessions confiscated in 1472 during the war between France and Burgundy. The buildings were again burned by the heretics towards the close of the sixteenth century. In the seventeenth century the fervour of the monastery was renewed on the introduction of the reform of St. Maur (1648). All the glory of Molesme has now vanished. The magnificent church is razed to the ground, and the monastic buildings are used, a small part as a school, and the rest as common dwellings.
MABILLON, Annales O.S.B. (Lucca, 1740); Gallia christ., IV (Paris, 1876); GERMAIN, Monasticon gallicanum (Paris, 1882); Voyage littࡕraire de deux religieux bénédictins (Paris, 1717); JANAUSCHEK, Originum cisterciencium, I (Vienna, 1876); MANRIQUE, Annales cisterc., I (Lyons, 1642); MARTÉNE, Thesaurus anecdotorum, III (Paris, 1717); LAURENT, Cartulaire de Molesme (Paris, 1907).
EDMUND M. OBRECHT
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Notre Dame des Anges

From volume 1 of the work.
(OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS)
A miraculous shrine near Lur, France, containing a crypt (Sainte Chapelle) which tradition dates back to an early period. Archeological finds, inscriptions, and the records left by antiquaries give evidence that this was once the site of a Roman colony and a station termed in ancient itineraries, Alaunium (founded 150 B.C.). Situated as it was on a Roman road connecting cities which are believed to have been evangelized at an early period, Alaunium probably received the Faith at the same time. There is an ancient tradition to the effect that one of the immediate disciples of Christ erected an oratory here in honour of the Mother of God, and that it took the name Alaunium, later contracted into Aulun. Though several chapels were built on this site and destroyed, an ancient tablet survived all calamities. On the occasion of a cure wrought before this tablet (2 August, 1665) a choir of angels, it is said, was heard singing; on the repetition of the marvel the following year the name of the shrine was changed to Our Lady of Angels, and it was placed in charge of the Recollect Fathers of St Francis. In 1752 Bishop Lafiteau of Sisteron instituted the feast of the Relatives of Mary, making this sanctuary a centre of the devotion. In 1791 the religious were expelled, and the church despoiled. On the reopening of the churches the pilgrimages recommenced, and still continue. The most important of them takes place on 2 August.
LEROY, Histoire des pelerinages de la Sainte Vierge en France (Paris, 1873), III, 423 sqq.; Acta SS., 2 August.
F.M. RUDGE
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Notre Dame des Ardilliers

From volume 1 of the work.
(Lat. argilla, Fr. argile, colloquial ardille, clay).
A statue, fountain, and Church of Our Lady at Saumur, France. In ancient times the fountain was often the scene of pagan sacrifices. A monastery founded by Charlemagne at Saumur was destroyed by the Normans and the one surviving monk retired to a cave near the spring of Ardilliers, a statue of Our Lady his sole remaining treasure. A small statue discovered near the spring in 1454 is believed to be identical with the one just mentioned. The miracles wrought in connection with this image caused the erection of a small arch for it above the spring, whose waters were found to have healing virtues. A chapel was built and dedicated (1553) attaining magnificent proportions as successive additions were made, notably by Cardinal Richelieu. The Oratorians were placed in charge (1614). Devotion to Notre Dame des Ardilliers was widespread, and many miracles were wrought. Her clients number such illustrious personages as Louis XIII, Anne of Austria, Marie de' Medici, Henrietta of England, Cardinal Richelieu, and many others. Mme. de Montespan led a life of penance in a modest dwelling near the church. The founders of the Sulpician Company went there for inspiration, and the Ven. Grignonde Montfort to beg divine blessings on the institutes of the Fathers of the Holy Ghost and the Daughters of Wisdom he was about to found. Cities placed themselves under the protection of Notre Dame des Ardilliers, promising annual deputations of pilgrims. During the Revolution the church was despoiled of its treasures, but was not destroyed, and the image was left unharmed. In 1849 the ravages of time necessitated the renovation of the chapel, which had been built by Richelieu, and pilgrimages became more frequent than ever.
LEROY, Histoire des pelerinages de la Sainte Vierge (Paris, 1873-75), I, 513 sqq.; Acta SS., 1 May.
F.M. RUDGE
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/St. Bibiana

From volume 2 of the work.
The earliest mention in an authentic historical authority of St. Bibiana (Vibiana), a Roman female martyr, occurs in the "Liber Pontificalis" where in the biography of Pope Simplicius (468-483) it is stated that this pope "consecrated a basilica of the holy martyr Bibiana, which contained her body, hear the 'palatium Licinianum' " (ed. Duchesne, I, 249). This basilica still exists. In the fifth century, therefore, the bodily remains of St. Bibiana rested within the city walls. We have no further historical particulars concerning the martyr or the circumstances of her death; neither do we know why she was buried in the city itself. In later times a legend sprang up concerning her, connected with the Acts of the martyrdom of Sts. John and Paul and has no historical claim to belief. According to this legend, Bibiana was the daughter of a former prefect, Flavianus, who was banished by Julian the Apostate. Dafrosa, the wife of Flavianus, and his two daughters, Demetria and Bibiana, were also persecuted by Julian= Dafrosa and Demetria died a natural death and were buried by Bibiana in their own house; but Bibiana was tortured and died as a result of her sufferings. Two days after her death a priest named John buried Bibiana near her mother and sister in her home, the house being later turned into a church. It is evident that the legend seeks to explain in this way the origin of the church and the presence in it of the bodies of the above mentioned confessors. The account contained in the martyrologies of the ninth century is drawn from the legend.
J.P. KIRSCH
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/St. Blane

From volume 2 of the work.
(Or BLAAN).
Bishop and Confessor in Scotland, b. on the island of Bute, date unknown; d. 590. His feast is kept on 10 August. He was a nephew of St. Cathan, and was educated in Ireland under Sts. Comgall and Kenneth; he became a monk, went to Scotland, and eventually was bishop among the Picts. Several miracles are related of him, among them the restoration of a dead boy to life. The Aberdeen Breviary gives these and other details of the saint's life, which are rejected however, by the Bollandists. There can be no doubt that devotion to St. Blane was, from early times, popular in Scotland. His monastery became the site of the Cathedral of Dunblane. There was a church of St. Blane in Dumfries and another at Kilblane. The year of the saint's death is variously given as 446, 590, and 1000; 446 (Butler, Lives of the Saints) is evidently incorrect; the date 1000, found in Adam King, "Kalendar of Scottish Saints" (Paris, 1588), in Dempster, "Menologium Scotorum" (Bonn, 1622), and in the "Acta SS.", seems to have crept in by confusing St. Kenneth, whose disciple Blane was, with a Kenneth who was King of Scotland about A.D. 1000. The highest authorities say the saint died 590. The ruins of his church at Kingarth, Bute, where his remains were buried, are still standing and form an object of great interest to antiquarians; the bell of his monastery is preserved at Dunblane.
FORBES, Kalendars of Scottish Saints (Edinburgh, 1872); BARRETT, A Calendar of Scottish Saints (Fort Augustus, 1904); Acta SS., 10 August, XXXVI, 560.
M.J. O'MALIA
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/St. Bertulf

From volume 2 of the work.
Abbot of Bobbio, date of birth unknown; d. 639 or 640. He was the son of a pagan nobleman in Austrasia and a near relative of St. Arnulf, Bishop of Metz, whose pious example had such an influence on Bertulf that he became a Christian and in 620 entered the monastery of Luxeuil. A few years later he became acquainted with Abbot Attala, who had come to Luxeuil on a visit, and, with permission of Abbot Eustace of Luxeuil, joined Attala's community at Bobbio in Italy. Upon the death of Attala, in 627, Bertulf was elected by the monks of Bobbio as their abbot. Like his holy predecessor, he insisted on the observance of the austere rule introduced by St. Columban, the founder of Bobbio, and preached fearlessly against Arianism, which had gained a firm foothold in Italy under the Lombard kings. When the Bishop of Tortona endeavoured to bring Bobbio under his own jurisdiction, Bertulf hastened to Rome, where Pope Honorius received him kindly and granted the monastery entire exemption from episcopal jurisdiction. Jonas, a monk of Bobbio, who accompanied Bertulf on his journey to Rome, relates that, while returning to his monastery, Bertulf was attacked by a deadly fever, and cured miraculously by St. Peter. The same author ascribes a few other miracles to the prayers of St. Bertulf. Most martyrologies give him the title of saint. His feast is celebrated on 19 August.
The first source for Bertulf's biographies is a short life written by the above-mentioned monk, JONAS OF BOBBIO; MABILLON, Acta SS. O. S. B., sæc, II, 160; and the BOLLANDISTS, Acta SS., August, III, 752, have published this biography. See also MABILLON, Annales Benedicti, ad an. 628, vii; MONTALEMBERT, Monks of the West (Boston), I, 582 sqq.; LECHNER, Martyrologium des Benediktiner-Ordens (Augsburg, 1855), 323; GUÉRIN, Vies des Saints (Paris), X, 27 sqq.
MICHAEL OTT
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/St. Birinus (Berin)

From volume 2 of the work.
Confessor, first Bishop of Dorchester (in what is now the County of Oxford, not Dorchester, the capital of Dorsetshire), and Apostle of Wessex; date of birth unknown; died 3 December, 650, at his see and was buried in his own church there. Later (680) his remains were deposited by Bishop Headda in the cathedral at Winchester, where finally (4 September, 972) Bishop Ethelwold enshrined them in silver and gold. According to Bede, Birinus came to Britain on the advice of Pope Honorius I (625-638), having been consecrated bishop by Asterius at Genoa. He promised "to sow the seed of the holy faith in the inner parts beyond the English", but on his arrival (634) found the West Saxons so pagan that he decided to devote his ministry to them. God blessed his zeal by the conversion of their king, Cynegils (635), of his son Cwichelm (636), and of Cwichelm's son Cuthred (639). Cynegils' daughter (Cyneburga?) was also baptized, and Oswald, the holy King of Northumbria, who had come to Cynegils in suit of her hand, was sponsor to her father and wedded her. Doubtless his presence helped Birinus much in his first spiritual conquests. Immediately after this, Oswald and Cynegils gave him Dorcic, or Dorchester, the capital of Wessex, for his see, where "he built and consecrated many churches and by his labours called many to the Lord".
Birinus had great devotion for the Body of Our Lord, as is shown in the account of his walking on the sea to procure the corporal given him by Pope Honorius, wherein he ever carried the Blessed Eucharist. Field strangely disposes of this miracle and others as allegorical or fabricated, after allowing, however, that their chroniclers had some common source of information lost to us now. Many miracles took place at the discovery of Birinus's relics, and Huntingdon among others speaks of "the great miracles of Birin". At present, there is a growing devotion to him in the Established Church. due probably to the connection of the royal family with Cedric, a side branch of whose stock was Cynegils. Field enumerates many modern Protestant memorials. The Catholics of Dorchester honoured their patron, in, 1849, with a beautiful chapel.
Charles L. Kimball.
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/St. Beuno

From volume 2 of the work.
Abbot of Clynnog, d. 660(?), was, according to the "Bucced Beuno", born in Powis-land and, after education and ordination in the monastery of Bangor, in North Wales, became an active missioner, Cadvan, King of Gwynedd, being his generous benefactor. Cadwallon, Cadvan's son and successor, deceived Beuno about some land, and on the saint demanding justice proved obdurate. Thereupon, Cadwallon's cousin Gweddeint, in reparation, "gave to God and Beuno forever his township", where the saint (c. 616) founded the Abbey of Clynnog Fawr (Carnarvonshire).
Beuno became the guardian and restorer to life of his niece, the virgin St. Winefride, whose clients still obtain marvellous favours at Holywell (Flintshire). He was relentless with hardened sinners, but full of compassion to those in distress. Before his death "on the seventh day of Easter" he had a wondrous vision. Eleven churches bearing St. Beuno's name, with various relics and local usages, witness to his far-reaching missionary zeal. He is commemorated on the 21st of April.
REES, Lives of Cambro-British Saints (1853); the Bucched Beuno found in this work gives a secure basis of names and dedications; cf. POLLEN in The Month, February, 1894, 235; STUBBS, Councils, I, 160; Dict. Nat. Biog., IV, 444.
PATRICK RYAN
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/St. Blathmac

From volume 2 of the work.
A distinguished Irish monk, b. in Ireland about 750. He suffered martyrdom in Iona, about 835. He is fortunate in having had his biography written by Strabo, Benedictine Abbot of Reichenau (824-849), and thus the story of his martyrdom has been handed down through the ages. Strabo's life of this saint is in Latin hexameters, and is to be found in Messingham's "Florilegium Insulæ Sanctorum" (Paris, 1624). A scion of a noble family he early showed a religious turn of mind, and longed to be enrolled in the noble army of martyrs, a wish which was afterwards fulfilled. His name was latinized Florentius (from the fact of the Irish word Blath meaning a flower), and as a religious, he was most exemplary, finally becoming abbot. In 824 he joined the community of Columban monks at Iona, and not long afterwards the Danes ravaged the island. One morning, as he was celebrating Mass, the Scandinavian rovers entered the monastic church and put the monks to death. St. Blathmac refused to point out the shrine of St. Columba, which was really the object of plunder, and he was hacked to pieces on the altar step. His body was afterwards reverently interred where the scene of martyrdom took place, and numerous miracles are claimed to have been wrought through his intercession. The date of his death is given by the "Annals of Ulster" as 825, although Mabillon places it thirty-six years earlier.
REEVES, Adamman (Dublin, 1857); O'DONOVAN, Four Masters (Dublin, 1856); MESSINGHAM, Florilegium Insul=A6 Sanctorum (Paris, 1624); MABILLON, Annales Ordinis S. Benedicti, III; P.G., CXIII; Annals of Ulster (Rolls Series); HEALY, Insula Sanctorum et Doctorum (Dublin, 1902), 4th ed.; MORAN, Irish Saints in Great Britain (Callan, 1903).
W. H. Grattan-Flood.
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/St. Blandina

From volume 2 of the work.
Virgin and martyr.
She belongs to the band of martyrs of Lyons who, after some of their number had endured the most frightful tortures, suffered a glorious martyrdom in the reign of Marcus Aurelius (177) and concerning whose death we have the touching report sent by the Church of Lyons to the Churches of Asia Minor (Eusebius, Hist. eccl., V, 2). The fanaticism of the heathen populace in Lyons had been excited against the Christians so that the latter, when they ventured to show themselves publicly, were harassed and ill-treated. While the imperial legate was away the chiliarch, a military commander, and the duumvir, a civil magistrate, threw a number of Christians, who confessed their faith, into prison. When the legate returned, the imprisoned believers were brought to trial. Among these Christians was Blandina, a slave, who had been taken into custody along with her master, also a Christian. Her companions greatly feared that on account of her bodily frailty she might not remain steadfast under torture. But although the legate caused her to be tortured in a horrible manner, so that even the executioners became exhausted "as they did not know what more they could do to her", still she remained faithful and repeated to every question "I am a Christian and we commit no wrongdoing." Through fear of torture heathen slaves had testified against their masters that the Christians when assembled committed those scandalous acts of which they were accused by the heathen mob, and the legate desired to wring confession of this misconduct from the Christian prisoners. In his report to the emperor the legate stated that those who held to their Christian belief were to be executed and those who denied their faith were to be released; Blandina was, therefore, with a number of companions subjected to new tortures in the amphitheater at the time of the public games. She was bound to a stake and wild beasts were set on her. They did not, however touch her. After this for a number of days she was led into the arena to see the sufferings of her companions. Finally, as the last of the martyrs, she was scourged, placed on a red-hot grate, enclosed in a net and thrown before a wild steer who tossed her into the air with his horns, and at last killed with a dagger. Her feast is celebrated 2 June.
Acta SS., June, I, 161 sqq.; ALLARD, Histoire des persécutions (Paris, 1892), I, 397 sqq.
J.P. KIRSCH
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Thegan (Degan) of Treves

From volume 14 of the work.
Chronicler, d. about 850. Very little is known of his life; all that is certain is that he was assistant Bishop of Trier and was a warm friend of Walafrid Strabo. These facts are learned from some letters and verses still in existence. It cannot be positively determined whether he is identical with Theganbert, provost of the Monastery of St. Cassius at Bonn, who placed the relics of Sts. Chrysanthus and Daria in the church at Munstereifel. He wrote a history of Louis the Pious, "Vita Ludovici imperatoris", an unsatisfactory narrative written in the form of scanty annals. It begins with St. Arnulf of Metz, describes the vicissitudes of the brothers of Louis, and gives a more detailed account of Louis's reign during the years 814-835. The later narrative is probably by another author. Strabo wrote an introduction to the chronicle. The narrative is very partisan, as the merits of Louis are exalted while the actions of Lothair and of a number of bishops, especially of Bishop Bbo of Reims, are severely criticised. The best edition of this work is that of Pertz in the "Mon. Germ. His.: Scriptores", II, 585-604. It was also published in P.L., CVI, 405-428, and was translated into German by Jasmund (Berlin, 1850) and by Wattenbach (Leipzig, 1889).
SIMSON, Ueber Thegan, den Geschichtsschreiber Ludwigs des Frommen (Gottingen, 1870); WATTENBACH, Geschichtsquellen, I (Berlin, 1893), 208 sq.; POTTHAST, Bibliotheca (Berlin, 1896), 1049.
PATRICIUS SCHLAGER
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Themiscyra

From volume 14 of the work.
A titular see, suffragan of Amasea in the Hellespont. There was a town of this name near the mouth of the Thermodon, the modern Therme-Tchai, mentioned by Herodotus (IV, 86) and by most classical authors. Scylax calls it a Greek town while Diodorus (II, 44) makes it an Amazonian foundation. Mythology made this region the native land of these warrior-women.
After Mithridates withdrew his troops from Cyzicus, Themiscyra was besieged by Lucullus and was courageously defended by the inhabitants. The town must have been destroyed on this occasion, for neither Mela nor Strabo mentions it, while the latter treats extensively the country of Themiscyra, which he makes the subject of great eulogy. It is, however, mentioned by Ptolemy (V, vi, 3). It is not found in the "Notitiae episcopatuum" nor in the "Oriens christianus" of Le Quien. It was situated near the present Therme on the Black Sea, in the sanjak of Samsoun and the vilayet of Trebizond. The country is one of the richest and most beautiful in the world.
SMITH, Dict. of Roman Geography, S.V.; PAPE-BENSELER, Worterbuch der Griechischen Eigennamen, S.V.; TEXIER, Asie Mineure (Paris, 1862), 620.
S. VAILHÉ