Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

in 1493. He was a learned and industrious man, and was made bishop of Aleria, in Corsica. He edited Livy, Aulus Gellius, and Herodotus, with other works.

ANTHONY PALLAVICINI, a cardinal, born at Genoa, in 1441, of a noble family. He was made bishop of Ventilmille and Pampeluna; enjoyed the confidence of popes Innocent VIII., Alexander VI., and Julius II., and did them great service in various negotiations. He died at Rome in 1507.

JOHN TRITHEMIUS, was born in the year 1442, at the village of Trittenheim, near Treves, whence he took his name. Having finished his course of education in the universities of Treves and Heidelberg, he was chosen abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Spanheim, in 1483, which he superintended for 22 years, when he withdrew from it in consequence of the machinations of a faction of the head of a monastery in that city, where he died in 1518, at the age of 76. "Trithemius," says one of his biographers," was a person of vast erudition, a philosopher, mathematician, chemist, poet, historian, divine, and conversant in the Hebrew, Greek and Latin languages." His works, written in Latin, are numerous, but those on biography and history, are held in the highest estimation. His writings on piety and morality chiefly relate to the monastic and sacerdotal life, miracles of saints and such topics. His philosophy bore the mystic character of the age in which he lived. His Steganography, or the Art of Writing in Cyphers," containing some singular characters ignorantly taken for talismans, subjected him very unjustly to the charge of magic. Upon the whole, "he appears to have been a person whose great learning, was considerably tinctured with credulity, and whose industry was superior to his judgment." His works are-1. On Illustrious Ecclesiastical Writers, 1546, 4to. 2. On the Illustrious Men of Germany, 4to. 3. On the Illustrious Men of his own Order. 4. On Polygraphy, folio. 5. A Treatise on Steganography, or the Art of Writing in Cypher. 6. Opera Historica, 2 vols folio. 7. Annales Hirsauginses, 2 vols. folio.

66

RICHARD FITZJAMES, bishop of Rochester, Chichester, and London, and a munificent benefactor to Merton college, Oxford, was descended of a respectable family in Somersetshire. He was sent to Oxford in 1459, and six years afterwards was elected probationer fellow of Merton college. On taking his degree of master of arts, he entered into orders, and in the year 1473, served the office of proctor. In the following year he obtained the prebend of Taunton, in the church of Wells, Somersetshire. He was afterwards appointed chaplain to Edward IV., on which he took his degrees in divinity. In 1482, he was elected warden of Merton college, which office he honourably sustained for the space of twenty-five years, and greatly promoted the prosperity of the college. In 1485 he

obtained the vicarage of Minehead, and also the rectory of Aller, Somersetshire. He became almoner to Henry VII., in 1495, and the following year was advanced to the see of Rochester, from thence, in 1503, to Chichester, and finally in 1505, he was made bishop of London. He held his wardenship of Merton till his last translation, when he thought proper to resign it. While bishop of London, he was a liberal contributor to the cathedral church, and he was also a great benefactor to the completion of St. Mary's church, Oxford. Along with his brother Sir John Fitzjames, lord chief justice of England, he founded the school at Brutton, in Somersetshire. He died in 1522, at a great age, and was buried in St. Paul's cathedral.

JOHN GEILER, or, as styled by some, Gayler Keiserspergius, a celebrated Swiss divine, was born in 1445, at Schaffhausen. His father was a notary, and died about three years after the birth of John, who was then adopted by a relation. He studied at Fribourg and Basil. He first preached at Wurzburg, and was so distinguished for pulpit oratory, that he was soon invited to Augsburg, Basil, and Strasburg. As he could but settle at one place, he gave the preference to Strasburg, where he continued thirty-three years, and died March 10, 1510. He is said to have been the first who proposed that the sacrament should be administered to persons under sentence of death.

ANDREW FORMAN, archbishop of St. Andrew's, and primate of all Scotland, was descended from the Formans of Hutton in Berwickshire, and was one of the best statesman of his age. He was employed in 1501, along with archbishop Blackader, and Patrick earl of Bothwell, to negotiate a match between James IV. of Scotland, and Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII. of England, which was next year ratified by the Scottish ambassador. He was afterwards employed as Scotch ambassador to Rome, England, and France, on the most important occasions. In 1502, he was appointed archbishop of Moray; and in 1514, archbishop of St. Andrew's. Previous to his last promotion, he was employed as mediator betwixt pope Julius II. and Lewis XII. of France, and he succeeded in conciliating the difference. Having taken leave of the pope, he passed through France, where he was kindly received by Lewis, who bestowed upon him the bishopric of Bourges, which brought him in 400 tons of wine, 10,000 francs of gold annually, besides other revenues. He was also most liberally rewarded by Julius, who, besides the archbishopric, conferred upon him the two rich abbeys of Dunfermline and Aberbrothie, and made him his legate a latere. In 1517, he was appointed by the states one of the lords of the regency during the minority of James V., on occasion of the duke of

Albany's going to France. In M'Kenzie's Lives, we are informed, that in the collection of the letters of the Scottish kings, from 1505 till 1626, in the Advocate's library, there is a letter from that pope, dated 6th May, 1511, to king James IV., wherein he highly commends Forman, and promises, that at the first creation of cardinals, he should be made one; but the pope died before he had an opportunity of performing his promise. Archbishop Forman died in 1521, and was buried at Dunfermline. Dempster says, that he wrote a book against Luther, another concerning the Stoic philosophy, and a collection out of the decretals.

CHRISTOPHER BAMBRIDGE, or BAINBRIDGE, an English divine, was born at Hilton near Appleby, in Westmoreland, and educated at Queen's college, Oxford. He passed rapidly through different stages of ecclesiastical preferment, till, in 1507, he was advanced to the see of Durham, and the next year to the archbishopric of York. After the death of Richard III., during whose reign his friendship with Morton, archbishop of Canterbury, subjected him to some inconvenience, he returned, under Henry VII., into the full current of prospe rity. In the reign of Henry VIII., he was sent to pope Julius II., under the pretence of restoring peace to Europe, by putting an end to the league then formed by the most powerful princes of Europe against the Venetians, but in fact to stimulate the pope to enmity against the king of France. Bambridge, while he accomplished with great address his master's design, was not negligent of his own interests. He so completely ingratiated himself with the pope, as to obtain from him a cardinal's hat, and an irregular precedency in the conclave. He was appointed by his holiness legate of the ecclesiastical army, which was at that time besieging Bastia. Returning home, he discovered his gratitude to the pontiff, by prevailing upon his royal master to engage in an unnecessary war in his defence. Bambridge appears to have been a man altogether devoted to ambition, and to have owed his preferment more to artifice than to merit. No fruits of his learning remain. With respect to his temper, little can be concluded in its favour, from the tragical incident which terminated his life. Being on some occasion in a violent passion with Renaud of Modena, his major-domo, he fell upon him and beat him excessively. The enraged domestic revenged himself by ministering to his master a dose of poison. This happened at Rome on the 14th of July, 1514. The master, who had paid dearly for forgetting the apostolical precept "a bishop must be no striker," was buried in the English church; and the servant eluded the hand of public justice by hanging himself.

JOHN ALLEN, archbishop of Dublin, under Henry VIII., was educated in the university of Oxford, but took his degree

of A.B. of Cambridge. Being sent by Dr. Warham, archbishop of Canterbury, to the pope, about certain church matters, he continued at Rome nine years, and was created LL.D. After his return he was appointed chaplain to cardinal Wolsey, and judge of his court as legate a latere; in the execution of which office he was suspected of great dishonesty and even perjury. He assisted the cardinal in suppressing forty small monasteries, for the erection of his college at Oxford and Ipswich. The cardinal procured him the living of Dolby in Leicestershire, though it belonged to the hospital of Burton Lazars. About the end of 1525, he was made LL.D. in the university of Oxford. In 1528 he was consecrated archbishop of Dublin, and about the same time was made chancellor of Ireland. He wrote Epistola de Pallii significatione activa et passiva; at the time when he received the archiepiscopal pall, and, De Consuetudinibus ac flatutis in tutionis causes observandis; with several other pieces relating to the church. His death, which happened in July, 1534, was tragical; for being taken in a time of rebellion by Thomas Fitzgerald, eldest son to the earl of Kildare, he was by his command knocked on the head like an ox, at Tarlaine, in Ireland, in the 58th year of his age. The place where the murder was committed was afterwards hedged in, and left desolate in detestation of the fact.

GEORGE BROWNE, archbishop of Dublin, and the first prelate who embraced the doctrines of the reformation in Ireland, was originally an Austin friar of London, and was educated near Halywell, Oxford. He afterwards became provincial of his order, and having got his degree of D.D. abroad, was admitted to the same at Oxford and Cambridge, in 1534. After reading Luther's writings, he began to teach the people to pray, not to the Virgin Mary, or the Saints, but to Christ. This recommended him to Henry VIII., who, in 1535, promoted him to be archbishop of Dublin, and nominated him one of the commissioners for abolishing the papal supremacy in Ireland. In 1551, king Edward VI. gave him the additional honour of primate of all Ireland: but in 1554 he was deposed by Queen Mary, on pretence of his being married, though in reality, on account of his zeal for the reformation. He published a work against keeping the Scriptures in the Latin tongue, and against the worship of images. He died in 1556.

ALAN of LYNN, born at Lynn in Norfolk, and educated at Cambridge, acquired great reputation both as a student and a preacher. He was fond of allegorical explications of Scripture, and applied the historical parts of the Old and New Testament to the concerns of religion and moral conduct. He wrote tracts on the interpretation of Scripture, sermons, and elucidations of Aristotle. He became a Carmelite in a monastery at Lynn, where he died. He is celebrated for the great

9

pains which he took in making indexes to the books which he read, a long list of which is given by Bale.

JOHN ALCOCK, bishop of Ely in the reign of Henry VII., was born at Beverley in Yorkshire, and educated at Cambridge. He was first made dean of Westminster, and in 1471, was consecrated bishop of Rochester; in 1476 he was translated to the see of Worcester; and in 1486, to that of Ely. He was a man of great learning and piety; and so highly esteemed by king Henry, that he appointed him lord-president of Wales, and afterwards lord chancellor of England. Alcock founded a school at Kingston-upon-Hull, and built the spacious hall belonging to the episcopal palace at Ely. He was also the founder of Jesus college at Cambridge. This house was formerly a nunnery, dedicated to St. Radigand, but the nuns were so notorious for their incontinence, that king Henry VII. and pope Julius II. consented to its dissolution; and Alcock obtained a grant of it. Bayle calls this nunnery "spiritualium meretricum cænobrum," a community of spiritual harlots. Bishop Alcock wrote several pieces; among which are the followingMons Perfectionis in Psalmos Penitentiales. 3. Homiliæ Vulgares. 4. Meditationes Piæ. He died in 1500.

THOMAS SCOTT, or ROTHERHAM, a munificent prelate, was a native of Rotherham, in Yorkshire, whence he derived his name, though that of his family was Scott. He became fellow of King's college, Cambridge, master of Pembrokehall, and chancellor of that university. He served as secretary to four kings, and was successively promoted to the bishoprics of Rochester and Lincoln, and to the archbishopric of York. He was also made lord chancellor; and died in 1500. He was a liberal benefactor to Lincoln college, Oxford.

OLIVER MAILLARD, a French Cordelier and doctor in divinity, who was celebrated both as a statesman and a preacher. He died at Toulouse in 1502. His sermons were printed at Paris in 1730, in 3 vols. 8vo.

LEVITA JESUA, a Spanish rabbi, who wrote a book, entitled, "Halicoth Olam," or the ways of eternity, as an introduction to the Talmud. It was translated into Latin by l'Empereure, and printed at Hanover in 1714, 4to.

ADRIAN of ST. CHRYSOGONUS, a cardinal priest, was a native of Cornetto, in Tuscany. Innocent VIII. sent him as nuncio into Scotland and France; and after he had been clerk and treasurer of the apostolic chamber, pope Alexander VI., whose secretary he had been, honoured him with the cardinal's hat. His life was a continued scene of odd adventures. He narrowly escaped death the day Alexander VI. poisoned himself by mistake. Afterwards he incurred the hatred of Julius II., so that he was obliged to hide himself in the mountains of Trent. Having been recalled by Leo X., he was so ungrateful, that he

« ZurückWeiter »