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 PETRUS

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PETRUS

(he first Missal in metal type notes in 1476. Petrucci's great advance consisted in the triple process (i. e., first the text and initials, then the lines, and lastly the notes) and the wonderful neatness and perfection with which the printing was done, so tliat his publications have not only survived but have been unequalled by any of his successors. They were surpassed in dis- tinctness only by a perfected engraving process of the eighteenth century. His work was of the greatest importance for the dissemination and preservation of the polyphonic compositions of his time, especially those of the Netherlands masters. In the libraries of Bologna, Treviso, the Paris Conservatoire, Venice, Vienna, Berlin, Munich, collections are preserved con- taining frottole, chansons, motets, and masses by con- temporary masters, such as Josquin Depres, Hayne, de Orto, Obrecht, La Rue, Busnois, Compere, Ghis- clin, Agricola, Isaac, Okeghem, Tinctoris, and a host of others, many of whom would probably have been altogether forgotten but for these remarkable prints, now four hundred years old.

RiEMANN, Geschichte der Musik. II (Leipzig, 1907), i; Idem, Musikhxikon (lue'ipzig. 1905): MoLlTOB, Nacbiridentinische Cho- Talreform, I (Leipzig, 190l) : Mendel, Musiklexikon, VIII (Leip- zig, 1877).

Joseph Otten.

Petrus a Tarentasia. See Innocent V, Blessed, Pope.

Petrus Alfonsus, converted Jew and controver- sialist, b. at Huesca, in the former Kingdom of Aragon, 1062; d. 1110. Previous to his conversion he was known as Moses Sephardi (the Spaniard). King Al- fonso I of Aragon, whose physician-in-ordinary he became, stood sponsor at his baptism, which he re- ceived in his native town on St. Peter's day (29 June, 1106). In honour of this saint and of his sponsor he chose the name Petrus Alfonsus. As his conversion was attributed by his former co-religionists to ignorance or dishonourable motives, he published a justifica- tion in a Latin work consisting of twelve dialogues be- tween a Jew and a Christian. These dialogues were first printed at Cologne in 1536, and have since fre- quently been re-edited. A second work of Petrus Alfonsus, based on Arabic sources, is entitled "Eccle- siastical Discipline" (DiscipUna Clericalis). It has been tran.slated into several languages and is pre- served in numerous manuscripts. Labouderie, Vicar- General of Avignon, published it at Paris in 1824 with a French translation of the fifteenth century. Another edition by F. W. V. Schmidt appeared at Berlin in 1S27. The text of both works of Petrus Alfonsus, preceded by biographical notices, may be found in Migne, CLVII, 527-706.

Ceilliee. AuteuTs ealesiast.. XIV (Paris, 1863), i, 170-73; KoHUT in Jewish Enc.ycl., I, 377; DoucE in Boh.n's Anliq. Libr., X (London, 181S), 39^4.

N. A. Weber. Petrus Aureoli. See Adreoli.

Petrus Bernardinus, Florentine heretic, b. at Florence about 1475; d. 1.502. His parents were com- mon folk, and he himself lacked all higher education. But he attached himself with fanatical zeal to Savona- rola, and, by diligent attendance at his sermons and zealous study of his writings, acquired a wide but superficial theological knowledge. Peter preached to the people in the public squares of Florence and, during the lifetime of Savonarola and after his death, he propagated secretly eccentric and revolutionary doc- trines. According to him, the Church must be re- newed with the sword; until this was accomplished, there was no need to confess, since all priests, secular and regular, were unworthy. According to the Floren- tine chronicler, Cerretani, about twenty adherents of Savonarola formed a secret society and elected Peter pope. The latter, who was then twenty-five years old, assumed special ecclesiastical functions and anointed his followers with oU (the alleged anointment of the

Holy Ghost). The members attended no Divine Ser- vice, but during their meetings prayed in spirit under the leadership of Peter, whom they regarded iis a prophet. The association was discovered by the arch- bishop and at his request the Council of Plorenee proscribed its meetings. In 1502 the members left the town secretly and proceeded to Mirandola where Count Gian Francesco, a zealous supporter of Savona- rola, gave them a friendly reception. When, a little later, the count was besieged by two of his brothers, who claimed Mirandola, Peter declared it God's will that Gian Francesco should overcome his enemies. However, Mirandola was taken and the count lost his territory in August, 1502. The sectaries falUng into the hands of the victors, Peter and some of his com- panions were burned as heretics; the remainder were expelled or dispatched to Florence. The attempts of Protestant historians to stamp Peter as a forerunner of the Reformation cannot be historically justified.

Pastor, History of the Popes, tr. Antrobus, V (St. Louis, 1902), 214-16.

J. P. KiRSCH.

Petrus Diaconus, the name of several men of note

in ecclc^ia-i II ,il history and literature.

(1) iic (if tlic Scythian monks who appeared in 519 before Pope Hormisdas in connexion with the Theo- paschite controversy. He -wrote concerning this question his treatise "De incarnatione et gratia", at the same time directed against the teaching of Faustus of Riez respecting grace and addressed to St. Ful- gentius of Ruspe; in P. L., LXII, 83-92; Barden- hewer, tr. Shahan, "Patrology", 548, 1908. (St. Louis).

(2) A disciple and friend of Gregory the Great; d. at Rome 12 March, 605 or 606. His questioning oc- casioned the composition of Gregory's "Dialogues". He is also authority for the statement that the Holy Spirit sometimes hovered in the form of a dove over the great pope's head.

Acta ,SS.. March, II, 20S-9 ; Mann, Lives of the Popes, I (St. Louia, 1902), i, 243-44.

(3) A monk of Monte Cassino known also as Petrus Subdiaconus; d. c. 960. He was subdeacon of the church of St. Januarius at Naples, and he continued the history of this diocese (Gesta episc. Neap.), an anonymous work which had already been added to by John the Deacon. He wTote the lives of several saints, including, according to some critics, that of Athanasius, Bishop of Naples ("Vita et translatio Athanasii ep. Neap.").

(4) Another monk of Monte Cassino, also called "the Librarian" (Bibliothecarius), b. c. 1107 at Rome; d. probably c. 1140. A descendant of the Counts of Tusculum, he was offered in 1115 to the monastery of Monte Cassino. About 1127 he was forced to leave the abbey and retired to the neighbouring Atina, seemingly because he was an adherent of the Ab- bot Oderisius. In 1137 he was allowed to return to Monte Cassino. That same year he appeared before Em]jeror Lothair II, then in Italy, on behalf of his monastery. The sovereign was so pleased with him that he appointed him his chaplain and secretary, and would probably have attached him permanently to his person had not Abbot Wibald considered Peter's return necessary to the abbey. At Monte Cassino Peter became librarian and keeper of the archives, of which he compiled a register. Besides continuing the chronicle of Monte Cassino by Leo Marsicanus (or Ostiensis) from 1075 to 1138, he wrote several histori- cal works: "De viris illustribus Casinensibus"; "De ortu et obitu ju.storum Casinensium"; "De Locis Sanctis"; "Disciplina Casinensis"; "Rhythmus de novissimis diebus". Peter forged, under the name of Gordian, the Passion of St. Placidus. He is vain and occasionally untruthful, but an entertaining writer. His works are in P. L., CLXXIII, 763-1144.