Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 10.djvu/468

 MODENA

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MODENA

Carlott.i of Brunswick, and :iflcr a reign frequently troublwl by Fn-nch incursions, left the ducal throne to his son Francesco 111 in 1737, when the latter wjis Kghting iipainst the Turks in llvninary. Francesco HI also Koverned Milan for Maria Theresa. ICrcole 111, who by his marriaso acquired the duchy of Miussa and Carrara, succeeded to that of Modena in 17S, and at the approach of Napoleon, sought refuge at Xenicc. Modena became the cai)ital of the Cispudan. united later to the Cisalpine n-public, and ev<'nluully wjvs incoriHirateii into the Kingdom of Italy. In 1S03 Ercolc received, a-s compensation for tlie liws of Mo- dena, Hreisgau and (_)rtenau. His daughter and only child, Maria Beatrice, married the Archduke Ferdi- nand of Austria, and their .son Francesco IV, in 1814 receivetl the Duchy of Modena, while Maria Ueatrice governed Miissa and Carrara until her death. In 1831 occurretl the famous conspiracy of Ciro .M<'notti on the night of the tliird and fourth of l''cl)ruary; it was discovered, and Menotti w;us imprisuncil, taken to Milan by the duke, who had been conslniiiied to flee to that city by the revolt of Bologna, and was hanged on lli May, after the duke's return to Modena. In 184C F'rancesco V succeeded to the duchy, and in the troubles of 1848 was com|)clled to seek refuge in Austria, but retiuncd in the following year. In 1859, however, having declared for Austria, he w;is again obliged to leave his states, and the provisional govern- ment, imder Carlo Farini, decreed the annexation of Modena to the Kingdom of Italy.

Among the famous men of Modena are the astrono- mer (jeminiano Montanari, the anatomist (jabriele Falloppio, the great Austrian general Montecucoli, Cardinal iSavolcto, Sigonius, Muratori, Tiraboschi, and the poet Ta.ssoni. According to local tradition, the first Bishop of Modena was St. Cletus — probably sent there by Pope Dionysius about 270. After him, there is mention of another bishop, Antonius or An- toninus, to whom reference is made in the life of St. Geminianus his predecessor; this great bishop and pro- tector of the city sheltered in 334 St. Athanasius and died in 349. Other liisliops of Modena were St. Theo- dulus (about 398), formerly a miliiriua or secretary of St. Ambrose; St. Geminianus II (III according to Cap- pelletti) who is said to have induced Attila to spare Modena (4.52); St. Lupicinus (749), in wlio.se time the famous abbey of Xonanlola was founded by Duke An.selm of Friuli; and yEgidius (1097), who began the construction of the cathedral. In 1148 the Diocese of Modena was suppressed for a time on account of dis- cord with the Abbots of Nonantola. William, bishop in 1221, frequently served the jjopes, Honorius 1 1 1 and Gregorj' IX, as legate, especially among the Prus- sians, the Livonians, the Esthonians, etc.; eventually he resigned his see to devote himself to the conversion of those peoples (cf. Balan, "Sulle legazioni compiute nei palsi nordici da Guglielmo vescovo di Modena," ibid., 1872). Bonadaneo Boschetti, bishop in 1311, was driven from his diocese by the Gliibellincs; Nicolo Boiardo (1401) did much for ecclesiastical discipline; Nicolo Sandonnino (1479) was pontifical legate in Spain; Giovanni Morone (1,529) founded the seminarj-, and is famous for missions on which he was sent to Germany in the beginnings of Lutheranism. Under him, through the "Accademia", Protestantism obtained a footing in Modena, and was eradicated with difficulty; .'l^lgidio Poscarari (1550), to whom the Council of Trent entrusted the correction of the Ro- man Missal and the pre|)aration of its Catechism for Parish Priests; Roberto Fontana (104f)) and Giuseppe M. Folignano (1757) both restorers of the episcopal palace, while the second did much for the endowment of the seminary.

In 1821 the Abbey of Nonantola, a pralalura nuUius dujBceseos, was united to the Diocese of Mo- dena; and the latter, a suffragan of Milan until 1852, was then raised to the dignity of a metropolitan see,

"with Carpi, Guastalla, Massa, and Reggio Emilia for its suffragans. The Abbey of Nonantola was famous, once, as a center of discipline and ecclesiastical learn- ing, and through it a great impetus was given to agriculture in the surrounding country. Politically, Nonantola entered into an alliance with Bologna to preserve its indcpcndeni'c, especially against Modena, but like the latter it became a possession of the house of ICste in 1411. Until 1449 the administration of Nonantola was confided to commcn<lalory abbots, one of whom was St . Charles Borromeo. The liter- arj' treasures of the abbey gradually found their way into the various liljraries of Italy.

The Archdiocese of Modena, with Nonantola, con- tains 179 parishes, in which there are 220,400 faithful, with 455 .secular and .50 regular priests; 8 religious houses of men, and 13 of women; 5 schools for boys and 7 for girls; 60 seminarians; 450 churches or chapels.

Cappelletti, Le Chiese d'ltalia, XV; Tiraboschi. Memorie storiche modenesi (Modena, 1793-94); Idem, Storia deila Badia di Nonantola (Modena, 1784), also BiUioleca mudenese (1781-86); Baraldi, Compendia storia della citttl di Modena (Modena, 1846) ; ScHARPENBERG, Geschichte der Ilerzogtilmcr Modena und Ferrara (Mainz, 1859); Sandonini, Modena sotto U governo dei papi (Modena, 1879) ; Monumenti di storia patria per le provincie modenesi (Parma, 1861—).

Univer.sity of Modena. — At the end of the twelfth century there existed at Modena in Italy, a flourishing school of jurisprudence. Pilius, who established him- self there as a teacher in 1 1S2, conqiares its renown to that of Bologna. During llie whole of the thirteenth century professors of great rejiule taught there, with only a brief interruption between 1222 and 1232, though even during that interval .\lbertus Papiensis and Hubertus de Bonaecursis still lectured. Other famous professors of this period were Martinus de Fano, Guilelmus Durantis, Albertus Galeottus, Guide de Suzaria, Nicolaus Matarellus, and, probably, Boni- facius a Mutina, who afterwards became Bishop of Modena (1337) and of Bergamo (1340). In the four- teenth century the Studium fell into decay, in s|)ite of the efforts which the commune of Modena put forth to maintain it. A communal enactment provided, in 1328, that three professors — one each for law, medi- cine, and the training of notaries — were to be engaged by contract every year; this statute is the only extant documentary evidence that medicine as well as law was taught at Modena, and the Modenese School was never called a Studium Generale. Its decay was hastened, not only by political vicissitudes, but by the creation of other universities in the neighbouring states. With the restitution of Ferrara to the Papal States (1597), Modena became the capital of the House of I'^ste. and once more there was a possibility of reviving the extinct Studium. This was not realized, however, until a century later (1078).

This new university, which owed much to the priest Cristoforo Borghi, was joined to the college (con- villo) of the Congregation of St. Charles. It was in- augurated in 1683 by Duke Francis II. In 1772, Francis III increased the nimiber of chairs, took steps to secure able profes.sors, and endowed it with the property of the suppressed Society of Jesus. His most important service was the drafting of a constitu- tion for the university. With the French invasion of 1796 the I'niversity of Modena was reduced to the rank of a Ivceum, iind in 1809 nothing remained of it but tlie f;iculty of ])liilosophy. When Francis IV re- coverc', and in 1862 the courses in philosophy and literature disappeared. The university now has faculties of jurisprudence, medicine, surgery, science