Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/520

Rh ANCREN 464 ANCYRA town, favourable for commerce between the East and Italy, across the Adriatic. Ancona must have had a Christian community within its walls at a very early dat«. Kxcaatioiis made in the village of Varano, near Ancona. have brought to light a sepul- chral stone with a Christian inscription. The char- acter of the writing of the epitaph shows that it belongs to the end of the third century, and we are justified in believing that the church at Ancona did not possess catacombs, but an open burial place. For the purjiose of proving the existence of a well- organized Christian community before the time of Constantine, Harnack [IJie Mission, etc., (Leipzig, 1902), 501, 502] advances arguments that seem per- fectly legitimate. Eusebius says (VI, 43) that the Roman Bishop Cornelius, in the year 250, held a synod of sixty Italian bishops against Novatian. It may be assumed that the jurisdiction of Rome as a metropolitan see, about the year 250, embraced not less than two hundred bishoprics, since all the bishops of a given territory did not attend the synods. It follows that Christians were found in all the more important cities, amongst which, of course, was An- cona. The city is under the protection of two saints, Primianus and Cyriacus, eidently very an- cient, but their rank and the time they flourished are uncertain. In the year 462, Mark of Ancona came to the sjTiod held under Pope Hilary; and in 465, to the new synod convoked by the same Pope came Philippus Numanatie. The two sees were united in 1422, at the time of Pope Martin V. From an archaeological point of view, besides the place of sepulture mentioned above, the cubicuhim of the veteran Flavins Eventius, ■ndth a singular inscrip- tion and a magnificent mosaic of the fourth century, is worthy of mention, as is also the sarcophagus of Flavins Gorgonius, comes ■privatarum largitiomim. (count of the emperor's private largess), of the same century. There is also an "Evangelium Sancti Mar- ceUini", in uncial characters, of the seventh centurj', preserved in the Chapter library. The Cathedral of Ancona, dedicated to St. Cyriacus, and standing in the highest part of the city, is in a style of architec- ture that has felt the direct influence of Oriental art. It was finished in the eleventh century and has a cupola with a quadrangular base Uke St. Fosca on the Venetian lagoons and St. Anthony at Padua. Ancona contains 37 parishes; 85 churches, chapels, and oratories; 101 secular priests; 30 seminarians; 15 regular clergy; 8 lay brothers; 70 religious (women); 50 confraternities; 4 schools for boys (400 pupils); 5 schools for girls (250 pupils). Population 81,662. UoHELLi, Italia Sacra (Venice, 1721). I. 324; Cappelletti, porum Ecclesiw catholica (Ratisbon, 1873), 664; Ciaharini, Sommario delta alorifi d' Ancona (Ancona, 1867); Mahonics, De Ecclesia c( episcopig anconitania commentarius in quo Vqhelliana series emendatur, continiiatur, illustratur (Rome, 17.59); Peruzzi, Storia d' Ancona dalla jondazione all anno 1832 (Pesaro, 1835); Speciali, Notizie istoriche de' santi proletlori delta ciUi d' Ancona, dei cittadini che con la loro sanlilh I'hanno illuslrata, delta di lei caltedrale e vescori delta cxtth (Venice, 1759); a. v. Ancona, in Diet, d'arch. el de Hi. (Pans, 1905); Ventdri, Sloria deW arte Italiana (Milan, 1901-02), I, 50; II, 360. Ernesto Buonaiuti. Ancren Riwle, or REOtrLA Inclusarum, is the name given to a thirteenth-century code of rules for the life of anchoresses, which is sometimes called "The Nuns' Rule". In Mid<lle English the word ancren was used for solitaries, or anchorites of both sexes; but in this case it refers only to ladies who had left the world and were established in a secluded place, in order to lead a life devoted to the practices of religious observance. Of the text of this Riile" several copies are extant in the English libraries. One at Corpus Christi College, C'ambridgc (MS. 402), is entitled Ancren WissC-" and is thought by .some to be an abridgment, or adaptation, of the Latin tract of Simon of Ghent who was Bishop of Salisbury (12S7-1315). The British Museum possesses five copies, three of which were collated for the printed edition published for the Camden Society by the Rev. James Morton in 1852. Besides publisliing the old Norman-English version, Mr. Morton gave a modern EngUsh version or translation which was reprinted ina small volumein 1905. Mr. Morton, in his introduction, has given many reasons for rejecting the notion that the Enghsh version is a translation of Simon of Ghent's tract, and considers that the Museum Cott. MS., Cleopatra C. vi, is probably the original Enghsh version of the "Ancren Riwle". Moreover, in the opinion of many experts, the curious. glo-Saxon language in which the code of rules is written seems to require an earlier date than the close of the thirteenth centurj'. It is thought probable that the real author of the httle book is Bishop Richard Poore, who held the see of Salisbury from 1217 to 1229, when he was translated by the Pope to Durham. It is right, however, to mention the fact that some writers consider that the time of the composition of the "Rule" must be put at a Liter date. Although there is nothing whatever in the work to warrant the assumption, it has usually been taken for granted that it was composed for the nuns who dwelt at Tarrent in Dorsetsliire. Bishop Poore was born in that place, and a sister of his is said to have become a nun in that convent. Be that as it may, it is certain that the Bishop, for some reason, came to be regarded as a ".second founder" of the convent and that in his last sickness he jour- neyed to Tarrent and died there in 1237. The "Ancren Riwle" contains many interesting details of the Ufe led by the solitary ladies for whom it was written. Although the "ancress" was alone in the strict sense, that is, she inhabited her cell or cells alone, except for the "maiden" or servant who attended to her wants, still, in this case, there were three or more of these solitary ladies living under the same roof. "I know not", says the author of the rule, "any anchoress that with more abundance, or more honour, hath all that is necessary to her than ye three have". We also learn that the convent, or house, of these ladies was adjoining the church, and that through windows in the cells of each they were enabled to practise their devotions and to follow the ser-ices and especially the Holy Sacrifice, as well as pay their hom.age to the Blessed Sacrament hang- ing over the altar. The daily Ufe and work of the nmis, according to this rule, is simplicity itself. After having begun the day by a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, the sisters were instructed to fall on their knees before their crucifixes and occupy themselves with salutations to Our Saviour represented before their eyes on the Cross. They were then to salute Our Bles-sed Lady with "five aves", before beginning the Hours of her Office, which were to be followed by a Litany and the Office for the Dead. The day was mostly occupied by prayer. The author admits that this and the keeping of " the ten old Command- ments" constitute a hard fashion of life, but adils that "nothing is ever so hard that love doth not make it tender and soft ami sweet ". M.SS,— C. C. C. Cambridge, M.S. 402: H. Museum, Cott. MSS. Nero xiv; Titus D, xviii; Cleop. C, vi; Vit, E. vii. Printed: — Ancren Riwle, e<l. and tr. MoHTox (Camtien Soc. 1852; De la More Press reprint, 19051. Francis .idan Gasqi'et. Ancyra, the modern Angora, a titular .see of Galatia in Asia Minor, suffragan of Laodicea. It was said to have been founded by Midas, was a chief place of the Gidlic conquerors of Asia Minor (c. 277, B. c), and in imperial times a centre of great commercial importance. It is also famous for the oflicial record of the .cts of .Vugnstus, known as the "Monumentum .Vncyranum", .an inscription cut in marble on the walls of an ancient temjJe, sev-
 * .(■ chiese d'llalia (Venice, 1866). VI, 9; Oams, Serifs episco-