OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Bl. Adrian Fortescue

From volume 6 of the work.
Knight of St. John, martyr, b. about 1476, executed 10 July, 1539. He belonged to the Salden branch of the great Devonshire family of Fortescue, and was a true country gentleman of the period, occasionally following the King in the wars with France (1513 and 1522), not unfrequently attending the court, and at other times acting as justice of the peace or commissioner for subsidies. He was knighted in 1503 (Clermont; but D.N.B. gives 1528), attended the Field of the Cloth of Gold (1520), and late in life (1532) became a Knight of St. John. When Anne Boleyn became queen, Sir Adrian (whose mother, Alice Boleyn, was Anne's grand-aunt) naturally profited to some extent, but, as we see from his papers, not very much. The foundations of his worldly fortunes had been laid honourably at an eartier date. He was a serious thrifty man pains-taking in business, careful in accounts, and a lover of the homely wit of that day. He collected and signed several lists of proverbs and wise saws, which, though not very brilliant, are never offensive or coarse, always sane, and sometimes rise to a high moral or religious level.
All of a sudden this quiet, worthy gentleman was overwhelmed by some unexplained whim of the Tudor tyrant. On 29 August, 1534, he was put under arrest, no one knows why, but released after some months. On 3 February, 1539, he was arrested a second time and sent to the Tower. In April he was condemned untried by an act of attainder; in July he was beheaded. No specific act of treason was alleged against him, but only in general "sedition and refusing allegiance". The attainder, however, went on to decree death against Cardinal Pole and several others because they "adhered themselves to the Bishop of Rome". Catholic tradition was always held that Sir Adrian died for the same cause, and modern Protestant critics have come to the same conclusion. His cultus has always flourished among the Knights of St. John, and he was beatified by Leo XIII in 1895.
J. H. POLLEN
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Birtha

From volume 2 of the work.
A titular see of Osrhaene, probably identical with Birejik (Zegma) on the left bank of the Euphrates, c. 62 miles west of Orfa (Edessa), and 95 miles north of Aleppo. Birtha (Aramæan, Bîrthâ "castle") is spoken of as a castle by ancient authors (Hierocles, 715, 2). There was also a see called by the Greeks Macedonopolis, the foundation of the great city being attributed by legend to Alexander the Great (Amm. Marcell., XX, vii, 17). That Macedonopolis and Birtha are one see is proved by the subscriptions at the Council of Niceæa, where we see that Bjrt in both Syriac and Arabic lists corresponds with Macedonopolis in Greek and Latin lists (Gelzer, Patrum Niceænorum nomina, 242). The true name of the bishop present at the council is Mareas, not Marcus. Daniel, Bishop of Macedonopolis, is said to have been present at the Council of Chalcedon (451). From the sixth century only the name Birtha survives (Georgius Cyprius, n. 899). Emperor Anastasius, after his victories over the Persians in 505, entrusted Sergius, Bishop of Birtha, with the work of repairing the city (Wright, ed., The Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite, XCI, lxxi), an undertaking that was completed by Justinian (Procop., De ædific. Just., II, 4). The oldest "Tacticon" of the Patriarchate of Antioch, issued under Anastasius I (599) places Birtha first among the suffragan sees of Edessa (Kerameus, ed., Anekdota Hellenika, lxv); the name is written Byrte in a later redaction (ibid., lxix), and Virchi in an old Latin translation (Tobler and Molinier, Itinera Hierosolymitana, I, 322). Birtha was destroyed by Timour-Leng in the fourteenth century. Birejik is to-day the chief town of a caza in the vilayet of Aleppo with 10,000 inhabitants, including 1,500 Christians, all Armenians, and one-half of whom are Catholics.
Ptolemy (V, xviii, xix) speaks of a fortress Birtha on the Tigris in Southern Mesopotamia and of another in Arabia on the Euphrates below Thapsacus. The site of the first is unkown, the latter is at Ed-Deir (Ritter, Erdkunde, XI, 691), but perhaps both are the same as Birtha or Macedonopolis.
LEQUIEN, Oriens Christ., II, 985; CUINET, La Turquie d'Asie, II, 265-269; GEORGIUS CYPERIUS, ed. GELZER, 154; GAMS, Series Episcoporum, 437.
L. Petit.
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Bl. Agnes of Bohemia

From volume 1 of the work.
She was canonized a saint by Pope John Paul II on November 12, 1989.
​Agnes of Bohemia, Blessed, or Agnes of Prague, as she is sometimes called, b. at Prague in the year 1200; d. probably in 1281. She was the daughter of Ottocar, King of Bohemia and Constance of Hungary, a relative of St. Elizabeth. At an early age she was sent to the monastery of Treinitz, where at the hands of the Cistercian religious she received the education that became her rank. She was betrothed to Frederick II, Emperor of Germany; but when the time arrived for the solemnization of the marriage, it was impossible to persuade her to abandon the resolution she had made of consecrating herself to the service of God in the sanctuary of the cloister. The Emperor Frederick was incensed at the unsuccessful issue of his matrimonial venture, but, on learning that St. Agnes had left him to become the spouse of Christ, he is said to have remarked: "If she had left me for a mortal man, I would have taken vengeance with the sword, but I cannot take offence because in preference to me she has chosen the King of Heaven." The servant of God entered the Order of St. Clare in the monastery of St. Saviour at Prague, which she herself had erected. She was elected abbess of the monastery, and became in this office a model of Christian virtue and religious observance for all. God favoured her with the gift of miracles, and she predicted the victory of her brother Wenceslaus over the Duke of Austria. The exact year of her death is not certain; 1281 is the most probable date. Her feast is kept on the second of March.
Leo, Lives of the Saints and Blessed of the Three Orders of St. Francis (Taunton, 1885), 1; Analecta Franciscana (Quaracchi, 1897), II. 56, 61, 95, III. 185, note, 7; Wadding, Annates Minorum, 1234, No. 4–5. For the English translation of her correspondence with St. Clare cf. Fiege, The Princess of Poverty (Evansville, Ind., 1900) 120–136.
Stephen M. Donovan.
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Bernard of Besse

From volume 2 of the work.
Friar Minor and chronicler, a native of Aquitaine, date of birth uncertain; he belonged to the custody of Cahors and was secretary to St. Bonaventure. He took up the pen after the Seraphic Doctor, he tells us, to gather the ears the latter had dropped from his sheaf, lest anything of so great a memory as that of St. Francis might perish. His "Liber de Laudibus Beati Francisci" composed about 1280, besides a resume of some of the earlier legends, contains brief and valuable information about the companions of St. Francis and the foundation of the three Franciscan Orders, and is the only thirteenth-century document which specifies the first biographies of St. Francis. About 1297-1300 he compiled a catalogue of the ministers general up to his time, which is also a source of much importance for the study of Franciscan history. Critical editions of both these works have been published by the Friars Minor of Quaracchi [In Analecta Franciscana, III (1897), 666-707] and by Father Hilarin Felder of Lucerne, O. M. Cap. "Liber de Laudibus" etc. (Rome, 1897). Bernard also wrote the life of Blessed Christopher of Cahors inserted in the "Chronica XXIV Generalium" (ed. Quaracchi, 1897, 161-173) and is very probably the author of the "Speculum Disciplinae" and of the "Epistola ad Quendam Novitium" erroneously attributed to St. Bonaventure (See Bonav. Opera Omnia ed. Quaracchi, 1898, VIII, 583 sqq. and 663 sqq.).
Wadding, Scriptores Ord. Minorum (1650), 59, and Sbaralea, Supplementum (1806), 135; Fabricius, Bib. Med. Aev. (1734), 218; Danou, Hist. Litt. France (1838), XIX, 437; DENIFLE, Archiv. f. litt. und Kirchengesch. des M. A. (1885), I, 145 sqq. and 630 sqq., also Misc. Francescana (1886), I, L sqq.; Othon, L'Aquitaine Seraphique (1900), I, passim.
PASCHAL ROBINSON
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Bernard of Bologna

From volume 2 of the work.
or Bernardine, (Floviano Toselli).
Friar Minor Capuchin and Scotist theologian, born at Bologna, 17 December, 1701; died 19 February, 1768. In 1717 he entered the Capuchin Order and some years later filled successively the offices of professor of moral and dogmatic theology and several times held positions of responsibility. Perhaps the best known of Bernard of Bologna's writings is the "Bibliotheca Scriptorum O. Min. S. Francisci Cap.", a work which resembles Wadding's well-known "Scriptores Ord. Min." It was published at Venice in 1747, and an appendix appeared at Rome in 1852. Besides this work Bernard wrote an elementary treatise on philosophy according to Duns Scotus entitled "Institutio Philosophica præmittenda theologiæ" (Venice, 1766), and a treatise on dogmatic theology, "Institutio Theologica" (Venice, 1746). He is also the author of a "Phrasarium S. Scripturæ" composed for the use of preachers and authors. Hurter, Nomenclator, III, 6.
Stephen M. Donovan.
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Bernard of Compostella

From volume 2 of the work.

## (1) Bernard of Compostella (Antiquus)

A canonist of the early thirteenth century, a native of Compostella in Spain. He is called Antiquus to distinguish him from another, as below. He became a professor of canon law in the University of Bologna. Bernard compiled a collection of the decrees promulgated by Innocent III during the first ten years of his pontificate (1198-1208). This work, often called by the scholars of Bologna "Compilatio Romana", because the author took his documents from the Roman archives, was not of much practical worth, since an official or authentic collection, extending to 1210, rendered Bernard's compilation superfluous. Only portions of either of these collections were printed (ed. "Ant. Augustini Opera", Lucca, 1769, IV, 600-608).

## (2) Bernard of Compostella (Junior or Modernus)

A canonist who lived in the middle of the thirteenth century, called Compostellanus from the fact that he possessed an ecclesiastical benefice in Compostella. He was known also as Brigantius from his birthplace in Galicia, Spain; later of Monte Mirato, Bernard was chaplain to Innocent IV, a noted canonist, at whose exhortation he wrote a work entitled "Margarita", an index of Innocent's "Apparatus", or commentary on the five books of the Decretals of Gregory IX. The "Margarita" was published in Paris, 1516. Bernard was the first to write a commentary on the constitutions of Innocent IV (not published). A third work was entitled "Casus seu Notabilia" on the five books of Decretals, which was intended as a complete and practical commentary, but which owing to the author's death, did not go beyond the title sixth of the first book, consequently not published.
Schulte, Die Geschichte der Quellen, II, 118, 119; Laurin, Introductio in Corpus Jur. Can. (Freiburg, 1889), III; Hurter, Nomenclator, IV col. 192.
ANDREW B. MEEHAN
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Bernard Lamy

From volume 8 of the work.
Oratorian, b. at Le Mans, France, in June, 1640; d. at Rouen, 29 Jan., 1715. At the age of twelve he was placed under the tuition of the Oratorians of his native town, and soon evinced more than ordinary talent and versatility of mind. In 1658 he entered the congregation of the Oratory, and, after studying philosophy at Paris and at Saumur, was appointed professor in the college of Vendome and later at Juilly. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1667, and after teaching a few years at Le Mans he was appointed to a chair of philosophy in the University of Angers. Here his teaching was attacked on the ground that it was too exclusively Cartesian, and Rebous the rector obtained in 1675 from the state authorities a decree forbidding him to continue his lectures. He was then sent by his superiors to Grenoble, where, thanks to the protection of Cardinal Le Camus, he again took up his courses of philosophy. In 1686 he returned to Paris, stopping at the seminary of Saint Magloire, and in 1689 he was sent to Rouen, where he spent the remainder of his days. His writings are numerous and varied. Among them may be mentioned: (1) "Apparatus ad Biblia Sacra", etc. (Grenoble, 1687), translated into French by order of the Bishop of Châlons under the title "Introduction a la lecture de l'Ecriture Sainte" (Lyons, 1689). (2) "Harmonia, sive Concordia quatuor Evangelistarum", a harmony or concordance of the Four Gospels (Paris, 1689). In this work he contends that John the Baptist was twice cast into prison, first in Jerusalem by order of the Sanhedrin, and later by Herod in Galilee. He maintains also that the Saviour and His Apostles did not eat the paschal lamb at the Last Supper, and that the Crucifixion occurred on the day on which the Jews celebrated the Passover. He considers Mary Magdalen, Mary the sister of Lazarus, and the sinner mentioned in Luke, vii, 37 sqq. to be one and the same person. These and other opinions involved him in animated controversy with Bulteau, pastor of Rouen, Jean Piénud, Le Nain de Tillemont, and others (see "Traité historique de l'ancienne Pâque des Juifs", Paris, 1693). (3) "Apparatus Biblicus", which is a development of his introduction (Lyons, 1696; Jena, 1709; Amsterdam, 1710). It was translated into French by Abbé de Bellegarde (Paris, 1697) and by Abbé Boyer (Lyons, 1709). In this work he calls in question the historical character of the books of Tobias and Judith, and maintains that even after the Council of Trent a difference of authority should be recognized between the proto-canonical and deutero-canonical books of the Bible. (4) "Défense de l'ancien sentiment de l'Eglise latine touchant l'office de sainte Madeleine" (Rouen, Paris, 1697). (5) A volume of commentaries on his previous harmony of the Four Gospels (Paris, 1699). (6) A Latin treatise on the Ark of the Covenant (Paris, 1720), a posthumous work published by Pere Desmollets, who prefixed to the volume a biography of the author.
REGNIER in VIGOUROUX, Dict. de la Bible, s.v.; INGOLD, Essai de biblioqraphie Oratorienne (Paris, 1880-1882), V, 64-70.
James F. Driscoll.
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Bernard Sylvester

From volume 14 of the work.
(More properly, of Tours.)
A twelfth-century philosopher of Neo-Platonic tendencies. Little is known about him. Between the years 1145 and 1153 he composed a work called "De Mundi Universitate", which he dedicated to Thierry (Theodoric) of Chartres with the words "Terrico veris scientiarum titulis Doctori famosissimo Bernardus Sylvestris opus suum". From this inscription it is inferred that Bernard was probably a pupil of Thierry or of some other member of the famous School of Chartres. He is not, however, to be confounded with Bernard of Chartres, who died in 1125, and is the author of a work "De Expositione Porphyri". The treatise, "De Mundi Universitate" (republished by Barach, "Bibliotheca Philosophorum Mediae Aetatis", I, Innsbruck, 1876), is divided by its author into two books, the first of which, "Megacosmus, seu Maior Mundus", is an address of Nature to Intellect, and the second, the response of Intellect to Nature. The style and method of composition remind one of Marcianus Capella. The contents are very curious indeed. There is a good deal of Neo-Platonism and Neo-Pythagoreanism, philosophical tendencies which are very rare in the twelfth century, and practically unknown outside the School of Chartres. It is not at all improbable that Bernard, like the pantheists, Amaury and David, who were his contemporaries, was influenced by the writings of Eriugena. His philosophy is an attempt to account for the universe of nature (physics) by describing the cosmic emanations from an original Monad. Not the least valuable portions are those in which the author describes the mountains, rivers, animals, and plants, although the allegorical, poetical manner of the poem very often obscures the meaning. The pantheistic drift of Bernard's philosophy is clear from the expression "Deus omnia, omnia ex Deo sunt". Towards the traditional theology he seems to adopt a sceptical attitude: "Si theologis fidem praebeas argumentis". His favourite philosopher is Plato, although it is clear that he is not acquainted with any of the "Dialogues", except, perhaps, the "Timaeus".
CLERVAL, Ecoles de Chartres au Moyen-Age (Chartres, 1895); DE WULF, Hist. of Medieval Philosophy, tr. COFFEY (New York, 1909), 220 sq.; TURNER, Hist. of Philosophy (Boston, 1903), 306.
WILLIAM TURNER
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Bernard of Botone

From volume 2 of the work.
Generally called Parmensis from his birthplace, Parma in Italy, a noted canonist of the thirteenth century; date of birth unknown; d. 1263, or, according to Hurter, 24 March, 1266. Under Tancred he studied in Bologna, where later he accepted the chair of canon law. Here Durantis was his disciple. Bernard obtained a canonry in the Cathedral of Bologna, and was also named chaplain to Popes Innocent IV and Alexander IV, by whom he was employed in solving questions of weight. According to the inscription o his tombstone he was Chancellor of the University of Bologna. Bernard found ample scope for his literary activity in his chosen branch, canon law. From glosses, summaries, and similar works, which had appeared on the Decretals of Gregory IX and other collections, he completed, just before his death, a work on the Gregorian Decretals. This, owing to his exact knowledge of former collections and thorough grasp of his subject, won for him the admiration of his contemporaries; so that he was styled "Glassator", and his work, commonly known as "Glossa Ordinaria", became the fruitful source of later glosses, which were printed with Gregory's collection. Bernard was careful to note what he had taken from others, while his own comments were signed "Bern." The "Glossa Ordinaria" was given to the press in Mainz in 1472, 1473, and in Rome in 1474. In this Roman edition there are additions, especially from the "Novella Commentaria" of Giovanni Andrea (d. 1348). Bernard's "Casus Longi" on separate chapters of the same Gregorian Decretals is equally meritorious. It was frequently edited: Paris, 1475; Venice, 1477; Bologna, 1487; Strasburg, 1488, 1493; Lyons, 1500. Another work, entitled "Summa super Titulis Decretalium", was based on similar writings of his master, Tancred, of Bernard of Pavia and others. It is a clear, concise treatise, found in the works of Nicolaus de Tudeschis (Milan, five volumes in folio).
Hurter, Nomenclator, IV, coll. 290, 291; Leurin, Introductio in Corpus Juris Canonici (Freiburg, 1889), 149, 150; Schulte, Die Geschichte der Quellen und Lit. des kanonischen Rechts (Stuttgart, 1875-80), II, 114-117.
ANDREW B. MEEHAN
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Bernard O'Reilly

From volume 11 of the work.
Historian, b. 20 Sept., 1820, in County Mayo, Ireland; d. in New York, U.S.A., 26 April, 1907. In early life he emigrated to Canada, where in 1836 he entered Laval University. He was ordained priest in Quebec, 12 Sept., 1843, and ministered in several parishes of that diocese. He was one of the heroic priests who attended the plague-stricken Irish emigrants in the typhus-sheds along the St. Lawrence after the "black '47". Later he entered the Society of Jesus and was attached to St. John's College, Fordham, New York. When the Civil War broke out he went as a chaplain in the Irish Brigade and served with the Army of the Potomac during a large part of its campaigns. He then withdrew from the Jesuits and devoted himself to literature, becoming one of the editorial staff of the "New American Cyclopedia" to which he contributed articles on Catholic topics. At the conclusion of this work he travelled extensively in Europe, sending for several years an interesting series of letters to the New York "Sun". He lived for a long period in Rome where Pope Leo XIII, besides appointing him a prothonotary Apostolic in 1887, gave him the special materials for his "Life of Leo XIII" (New York, 1887). Among the many books he published these were notable: "Life of Pius IX" (1877); "Mirror of True Womanhood" (1876); "True Men" (1878); "Key Of Heaven" (1878); "The Two Brides" (1879); "Life of John MacHale, Archbishop of Tuam" (1890). On his return to New York from Europe he was made chaplain at the convent of Mount St. Vincent, where he spent the rest of his days. On the occasion of his sacerdotal jubilee he was given a signed testimonial of appreciation of his fellow priests and friends.
Catholic News (New York, May, 1907); Ave Maria (Notre Dame, Indiana), files; Nat. Cyclo. of Am. Biog., s.v.
THOMAS F. MEEHAN
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Adoption

From volume 1 of the work.
​Adoption.—In the Old Testament.—Adoption, as defined in canon law, is foreign to the Bible. The incidents in Exod., ii, 10, and Esther, ii, 7, ii, 15, cannot be adduced as examples to the contrary, for the original text contains but a vague expression instead of the word "adopted", and the context merely implies that Moses and Esther were the protégés of their respective benefactors. The people of Israel enjoyed a similar privilege at the hands of God. The facts mentioned in Gen., xlviii, 5, however, bear close resemblance to adoption taken in its strict sense.
In the New Testament.—St. Paul introduces the word adoption (υἱοθεσία) into the New Testament (Rom., viii, 15, 23; Gal., iv, 5; Eph., i, 5), and applies it to a special relationship (sonship) of man towards God, brought about by the indwelling in our soul of the "Spirit of God". This Spirit gives us a new, a supernatural life, the life of grace, together with the consciousness (Rom., viii, 16) that this new life comes from God and that we are consequently the children of God, endowed with the privilege of calling Him Abba, "Father", and of being His heirs (Rom., viii, 17; Gal., iv, 6). This adoption will be consummated when to the "first fruits of the Spirit", of which our soul is made the recipient in this life, is added the "redemption of our body" (Rom., viii, 23) in the life to come.
Cornely, Epistola ad Romanos (Paris, 1896); Estius, In Pauli Epistolas (Mainz, 1858); Van Steenkiste, In Pauli Epistolas (Bruges, 1886); Lightfoot, St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians (Cambridge, London, 1865); Sanday, Epistle to the Romans (New York, 1895); Zöckler, Galaterbrief (Munich, 1894); Luthardt, Der Brief Pauli an die Römer (Munich, 1894); Many in Vig., Dict. de la Bible (Paris, 1895) s.v.
E. Heinlein.