Although in Cicero and in Seneca “mathematicus” means a mathematician, in later Latin it always signifies an astrologer, a diviner, a wizard. The “Mathematici” were condemned by the Roman law as exponents of black magic. Their art is indeed forbidden in severest terms by Diocletian (AD 284–305): “Artem geometriae discere atque exercere publice interest, ars autem mathematica damnabilis interdicta est omnino.” The word “mathematician” was used in English sometimes to denote an astrologer, a fortune-teller. So in Shirley’s comedy The Sisters, III, licensed April, 1642, when the bandits disguised as diviners visit the castle, Giovanni enters crying out: “Master Steward, yonder are the rarest fellows! In such fantastical habits, too; they call themselves mathematicians.” “What do they come for?” the steward asks. “To offer their service to my Lady, and tell fortunes,” is the reply. When Antonio sees them he grumbles:
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Her house is open for these mountebanks, |
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| Strozzo | One of the mathematicians, noble signior. |
| Antonio |
Mathematicians! mongrel, |
Before the birth of S. Dominic, his mother, Blessed Joanna d’Aza, dreamed that she had brought forth a black-and-white dog carrying in his mouth a lighted torch. The dog with the torch is accordingly the pictorial attribute of the Saint. Nor must the play upon the name of his sons be forgotten—Dominicani, Domini canes, Hounds of the Lord. ↩
Born at Antioch 347; died at Comana in Pontus, 14 September, 407. His fifty-nine homilies On the Psalms (4–12, 41, 43–49, 108–117, 119–150) are very famous. For a full study of these see Baur’s Der ursprüngliche Umfang des Kommentars des hl. Joh. Chrysostomus zu den Psalmen in Χρυσοστομικά, fasc. I, Rome, 1908. ↩
The ninety Homilies on S. Matthew were written about the year 390. ↩
Rather Gisela, the devout sister of Duke Henry of Bavaria (the future Emperor S. Henry II); in 995 married S. Stephen of Hungary, who succeeded to the throne in 997. She was untiring in her efforts to spread the Faith throughout the kingdom. The coronation mantle of Hungary, a purple damask cope, embroidered in silk and gold by Queen Gisela, dated 1031, is preserved at Budapest. ↩
Born probably at Lyons about 474; died at Tours, 3 June, 545. The feast of S. Clotilda is celebrated 3 June. From the sixth century onwards, the marrige of Clovis I, King of the Salic Franks, and Clotilda, which took place in 492 or 493, was made the theme of epic narratives and many legends. Clotilda soon acquired a great ascendancy over her husband, and she availed herself of this influence to win him to the Catholic Faith. For a time her efforts seemed unavailing, but Clovis, who in a great battle against the Alemannis saw his men on the point of defeat, invoked the God of his wife, promising to become a Christian if only victory should be granted to the Franks. The tide instantly turned, and, true to his word, he was baptized at Reims by S. Remigius at Christmas, 496. His sister and three thousand of his noblest warriors at the same time embraced the Faith. Thus, S. Clotilda was the instrument in the conversion of a mighty people. ↩
Hecrya, III, I, 30–32:
Peuri inter sese quam pro leuibus noxiis iras gerunt!
Qua propter? quia enim, qui eos gubernat animus, infirmum gerunt.
Itidem illae mulieres sunt ferme, ut pueri, leui sententia.
“Denique nullas unquam mulieres philosophari docuerunt praeter unam ex omni memoria Themisten.” III, XXV. But on this Xistus Betulaeus (ed. 1556) glosses: “Putat fortasse Leontii coniugem, as quam Epicurus scripsisse legitur. Quid dicemus de Thermistoclea, Pythagorae sorore? quid de aliis pluribus quarum bene longum catalogum Textor recenset?” ↩
Medea, 579–82. ↩
This treatise was written 392–93. ↩
Medea. V, 895–6:
Quid, anime, cessas sequere felicem impetum?
Pars ultionis ista, qua gaudes, quota est?
“Pelagia meretrix” or “Pelagia mima,” a beautiful actress who led the life of a prostitute at Antioch. She was converted by the holy bishop Nonnus, and disguised as a man went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where for many years she led the life of extremest mortification and penance in a grotto on the Mount of Olives. This “bienheureuse pécheresse” attained to such heights of sanctity that she was canonized, and in the East, where her cult was long very popular, her festival is kept on 8 October, which is also the day of her commemoration in the Roman Martyrology. ↩
Alexander of Hales, the Franciscan theologian and philosopher, Doctor Irrefragabilis, was one of the greatest of the scholastics. He was born at Hales, or Hailles, in Gloucestershire towards the end of the twelfth century, and died at Paris at the convent of his Order in 1245. His principal work is the Summa Uniuersae Theologiae, begun about the year 1231, and left unfinished. It has several times been published: Venice, 1475, 1576; Nuremburg, 1481, 1502; Pavia, 1481; Cologne, 1622. A critical edition, which is much needed, has been promised by the Quaracchi editors of the works of S. Bonaventura. ↩
The
