Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 10.djvu/90

 MATTHEW

GO

MATTHIAS

namwl coiincillor to Ruprocht II, anil the raisinp; of Ruprpcht III to the dignity of King of lioine in 1400 marks the U'siiung of Ma'ltlunv's oaroor as a stafos- nian. I'l-onuently oniployoil l)y I he kiiiK l)oth at court and on onihassics, he appeared at Home in 140;{ to sohcit Boniface IX's confirmation of Huprecht's claims. On the elevation of Innocent VII to the papal throne in 1404, Matthew greeted him on behalf of Huprecht. During the .same year Mat! liew was ap- pointed Bishop of Worms, hut, beyond his settling of the dispute lietween the people and clergy of that city, we know little of his episcopal activity.

That he continued to reside at Heidelljerg is very probable, and also that he continued to act as pro fessor. Gregory XII wished to name him Cardinal Priest of S. Cyriaci in Thermis, but Matthew declined the honour. As ambassador of Huprecht to the Council of Pisa, he displayed the greatest zeal on be- half of Gregory XII, whom he regarded as the legiti- mate occupant of the ])apal throne. He was a very prolific theological writer. Apart from Biblical com- mentaries, sermons, and Works on current topics, the most important of his writings are: " De consolatione theologia;"; " Demodoconfitendi"; "De puritate con- scientia;"; "De corpore Christi"; "De celebratione Missa;". That he wrote "De arte moriendi" — to be distinguished from a similar work by Cardinal Cap- ran — cannot be maintained with certainty, and recent investigation has shown beyond doubt that the work " De squaloribus curia? Romans " is not from his hands (Scheuffgen, " Beitriige zur Gesch. des grossen Schismas", 1S89, p. 91).

In addition to the works already mentioned, consult Sommer- FELDT, Zu M,' kanzelredner. Schriften in Deutsche Zeitschr. fiir Kirchengesch., XXII (Tubingen, 1901), 465-84; XXV (1904), 604-25; Loffen, Stoat u. Kirche in tier PJah am Ausgange. des M. A. (1907), 45 sqq.; Buemetzrieder, Matthalis v. A'., der Verfasser der Postillenf in Studien u. Mitteil. aus dem Benedik- tiner- u. dem Cislerzienerorden, XXV (1904), 544-56; Finke in KiTchenlex., s. v. Matthiius von Krakau.

THOMA.S Kennedy.

Matthew Westminster. See Westminster, Mat- thew.

Matthias, Saint, Apostle. — The Greek MarWos, N A C E, or MaS9(a5, B* D, is a name derived from MoTToSias, Heb. Mattithiah, signifying "gift of Jah- veh." Matthias was one of the seventy disciples of Jesus, and had been with Him from His baptism by John to the Ascension (Acts, i, 21, 22). It is related (Acts, i, 15-26) that in the days following the Ascen- sion, Peter proposed to the assembled brethren, who numbered one hundred and twenty, that they choose one to fill the place of the traitor Judas in the Aposto- late. Two disciples, Joseph, called Barsabas, and Matthias were selected, and lots were drawn, with the result in favour of Matthias, who thus became asso- ciated with the eleven Apostles. Zeller has declared this narrative unhistoric, on the plea that the Apostles were in Galilee after the death of Jesus. As a matter of fact they did return to Galilee, but the Acts of the Apostles clearly state that about the feast of Pentecost they went back to Jerusalem.

All further information concerning the life and death of Matthias is vague and contradictory. Ac- cording to Nicephorus (Hist, eccl., 2, 40), he first preached the Gospel in Judea, then in Ethiopia (that is to say, Colchis), and was crucified. The Synopsis of Dorotheus contains this tradition: Matthias in inte- riore ^Ethiopia, ubi Hyssus maris portus et Phasis flu\'ius est, hominibus barbaris et carnivoris praedi- cavit Evangelium. Mortuus est autem in Sebasto- poli, ibiaue prope templum Soils sepultus (Matthias preached the Gospel to barbarians and cannibals in the interior of Ethiopia, at the harbour of the sea of Hyssus, at the mouth of the river Phasis. He died at Sebastopolis, and was buried there, near the Temple of the Sun). Still another tradition maintains that Matthias was stoned at Jerusalem by the Jews, and

then beheaded (cf. Tillemont, "Mc-moircs pour .servir
 * "i I'histoire eccl. des six premiers siedes", I, 400-07).

It is said that St. Helena brought the relics of St. Matthias to Rome, and that a portion of them was at Trier. Bollandus (Acta SS., May, III) doubts if the relics that are in Rome are not rather those of the St. Matthias who was Bishop of Jerusalem about the year 120, and whose history would seem to have been "con- foUM.h-d with that of the Apostle. The Latin Church celebrates the feast of St. Matthias on 24 February, and the Greek Church on 9 August.

Clement of Alexandria (Strom., Ill, 4) records a sentence that the Nicolaitans ascribe to Matthias: " We must combat our flesh, set no value upon it, and concede to it nothing that can flatter it, but rather increase the growth of our soul by faith and knowl- edge". This teaching was probably found in the Gospel of Matthias which was. mentioned by Origen (Hom. i in Lucam); by Eusebius (Hist, eccl., Ill, 2.5), who attributes it to heretics; by St. Jerome (Pnef. in Matth.); and in the Decree of Cielasius (\'I. 8) which declares it apocryphal. It is at the end of the list of the Codex Barroccianus (206). Tliis Gospel is prob- ably the document whence Clement of Alexandiia quoted several passages, saying that they were bor- rowed from the traditions of Matthias, na/jo56(r«s, the testimony of which he claimed to have lieen invoked by the heretics Valentinus, Marcion, and Basilides (Strom., VII, 17). According to the Philosophou- mena, VII, 20, Basilides quoted apocryphal discourses, which he attributed to Matthias. These three writ- ings: the Gospel, the Traditions, and the Apocni'phal Discourses were identilicd liy Zahn (Ccsch. des X. T. Kanon, II, 751), but IlarnuVk (Chron. der altchri.st. Litteratur, 597) denies this identification. Tischen- dorf ("Acta apostolorum apocrypha", Leipzig, 1S51) published after Thilo, 1846, " Acta Andreie et Matthice in urbe anthropoph.agarimi ", which, according to Lip- sius, lielonged to the middle of the second century. This apocrypha relates that Matthias went among the cannibals and, being cast into prison, was delivered by Andrew. Needless to say, the entire narrati\'e is with- out historical value. Moreover, it should be remem- bered that, in the apocryphal writings, Matthew and Matthias have sometimes been confounded.

E. Jacquier.

Matthias, Gospel of. See Apocrypha.

Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, son of Jdnos Hunyady (see Hunyady, Janos) and Elizabeth Szildgyi of Horogssey, was born at Kolozsvar, 23 Feb., 1440; d. at Vienna, 6 April, 1490. In the house of his father he received along with his brother Ladislaus, a careful etiucation under the supervision of Ciregor Sanocki, who taught him the humanities. Johann Vitez, Bishop of Gros.swardein. from 1445, the friend of Mattliius's father when a boy, and himself an enthusi;istic patron and promoter of classical studies, had a decided influence on his edu- cation. The chequered career of his father likewise left its imprint on the life of Matthias. On political grounds he was betrothed in 1455 to Elizabeth, the daughter of Count Ulric Czilley, his father's deadly enemy, with the aim of effecting the reconciliation of the two families. The early death of Elizabeth inter- fered with this plan, and after the death of Jdnos Hunyady, Czilley's enmity was directed against the sons. At the instigation of Czilley and his accom- plices, who accused Ladislaus and M.ntfliias Ilunyaily of a conspiracy against King Ladislaus \'. botli were arrested, Ladislaus being executed, and Mattliias being taken to Vienna to the court of the king. Later hi' followed the king to Prague. After the tleath of King Ladislaus at Prague, Matthias settled down at tlir court of the Bohemian king, (ieorge Podiebrad, who betrothed him to his daughter Catharine. On 2;-{ Jan., 1458, Matthias was proclaimed King of Hungary at