Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/99

 NIESSENBERGER 73

Histdrico critico de la Elocuencia espaHola, V (Barcelona, 1848), 271: R. P. Joannis Eusebii Nierembergii e Societate Jesu Opera Parthenica. . . . Vita Ven. Patria. . . . CoUecta ex kis quw his- paiiice scripserunt PP. Alpkonsus de Andrade et Joannes de Ygarza ejus. Soc. (Lyons, 1689); Sommervoqei,, Bibliot., V, 1725; Guii^ HERMY, Menologe de la Compagnie de Jesus, Assistance d'Espaane pt. I (Paria, 1902). '^" '

Antonio P]6hez Goyena.

Niessenberger, Hans, an architect of the latter part of tlic Miildlc Ages, whose name is mentioned with comparative frequency in contemporaneous lit- erature. But information about his personality and his works is somewhat more difficult to find. It seems however, that he was born in Gratz, Styria ("Seckauer Kirchenschmuck", ISSO, p. 56). He worked on the choir of the Freiburg cathedral from 1471 to 1480; in the latter year he was compelled to leave the task of building and to swear that he would not try to revenge himself for this. In 14S(J he worked on the church of St. Leonhard at Basle; in 1482, on the cathedral at Strasburg; and in the following year he probably was engaged on the great cathedral of Milan with a yearly salary of ISO guilders — at least there is a "Johannes of Graz" mentioned as architect in Ricci, "iStoria deir archit. italiana", II, .388. The choir at Freiburg was turned over to him in 1471; the contract is inter- esting and instructivi\ showing as it does the manner in which buildings of tliis kind were erected during the latter part of the Middle Ages, and how the working hours, wages, etc., were determined upon (Schreiber, "Munster zu Freiburg", Appendix, 15 sq.). The choir possesses great beauty, but it also manifests the peculiarities of Late Gothic. It is long, like the main church, with the nave higher, the side aisles lower and somewhat narrower than in the front, and surrounded by twelve chapels, enclosed on two sides by fluted columns. The arched roof, supported by beautifully carved columns, forms a network. The windows are characteristically Late Gothic, and the arches are wonderfully delicate. The whole is the work of a master.

ScHRErBER, op. cit.; Kdqler, Gesch. der Baukunst, II (1859); OlTE. Kunst-Archdologie (5th ed.. 1884); Kempf, Das MUnster zu Freiburg im Breisgau (Freiburg, 1898).

G. GlET.MANN.

NIGERIA

Niger (Nigri, Ger. Schwartz), Peter George, Dominican theologian, preacher and controversialist, b. 1434 at Kaaden in Bohemia; d. between 1481 and 1484. He studied at different universities (Sala- manca, Montpellier, etc.), entered the order in 1452 at Eichstiitt, Bavaria, and after his religious pro- fession took up philosophy and theology at Leip- zig, where he also produced his first literary work "De modo prffidicandi" (1457). In 14.59 he defended publicly in Freiburg a series of the.ses so success- fully that the provincial chapter then in session there sent him to the University of Bologna for ad- vanced courses in theology and canon law. Recalled after two years, he was made lector of theology and engaged in teaching and preaching. In 14G5 he taught philosophy and was regent of studies in Co- logne; in 1467 taught theology at Ulm; in 1469 or 1470 was elected prior in Eichstatt; on 31 May, 1473, the newly founded University of Ingolstadt conferred on him the degree of Doctor of theology; in 1474 he taught theology in the convent at Ratisbon and in 1478 became professor of Old-Testament exegesis in the University of IngoLstadt. Shortly after, upon the invitation of the patron of learning, Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, he became rector of his newly-erected Academy of philosophy, theology, and Sacred Scripture at liuda, in gratitude for which honour he dedicated to his royal friend his "Cly- peus Thomistarum adversus omnes doctrinae doctoris angehci obtrectatores " (Venice, 1481), in which he defends the teaching of St. Thomas against the Scotists and Nominalists. Niger ranks among the

most eminent theologians and preachers of the latter half of the fifteenth century. He was a keen disciple of St. Thomas, zealous for the integrity of his teach- ings and adhering strictly to the traditions of his school. In his few theological works he hmits him- self almost entirely to the discussion of abstract ques- tions of logic and psychology. He devoted most of his time to preaching to the Jews. He had learned their language and become familiar with their liter- ature at Salamanca and Montpellier by associating with Jewish children and attending the lectures of the rabbis. At Ratisbon, Worms, and Frankfort-on-the- Main he preached in German, Latin, and Hebrew, frequently challenging the rabbis to a disputation. He wrote two anti-Jewish works, one in Latin, "Tractatus contra Perfidos Juda;os" (Esslingen, 1475), which is probably the earhest printed anti- Jewish work, and in which he severely attacked the Jews and the Talmud. The other, written in German, is entitled "Stern des Messias" (EssUngen, 1477). ReuchUn in his " Augenspiegel " declared them ab- surd. Both works are furnished with appendices giving the Hebrew alphabet in Hebrew and Latin type, rules of grammar and for reading Hebrew, the Decalogue in Hebrew, some Messianic texts from the Old Testament, etc. They are among the earli- est specimens of Hebrew printing in Germany, and the first attempt at Hebrew grammar in that country by a Christian scholar. They were afterwards pub- lished separately as "Commentatio de primis lingua; Hebraicse elementis" (Altdorf, 1764). Peter Tcuto, O.P. (Quetif, I, 855), and Peter Eystettensis (Eck, "Chrysopassus Cent.", XLIX) are most probably to be identified with Peter Niger.

Qu^TIF-EcHAHD, SS. Ord. Pnrd.. I, Sfil aqq.; TouRON, Horn.

III. de t'ordre de S. Dom., III. '• :j- :;l. l;i i sch, Atlg. d. Biogr., XXXIII, 247 sq.; JocHER. -I / ■ -i/.on. s. v.; Prantl, Gesch. der Logik im Abcmll. > I n. - I, ' , "J21 sq. ; Katholik, I (1891). 574; II (1902). 310; .1. ' ■ '/ /Vrrf., II. 367; Wolf, Bibliotheca Hebraica (Hamburg, 1721), 11, 17, 1037, 1110 sqq.;

IV, 525 sqq.

Joseph Schroeder.

Nigeria, Upper and Lower, a colony of British East Africa extending from the Gulf of Guinea to Lake Chad (from 4° 30' to 7° N. lat., and from 5° 30' to 8° 30' E. long.), is bounded on the north and west by French Sudan, on the south-west by the English colony of Lagos, on the south by the Atlantic, on the east by Gennan Kamerun. It derives its name from the River Niger, flowing through it. The Niger, French from its source in the Guinean Sudan to the frontier of Sierra Leone and Liberia, enters Nigeria above Ilo, receives the Sokoto River at Gomba, and the Benue at Lokodja, the chief tributaries in English territory. Though the establishment of the English dates only from 1879, numerous explorers had long be- fore reconnoitred the river and the neighbouring coun- try. Among the most famous were Mungo Park (1795-1805), Clapperton (1822), Ren6 Caill6 (1S25), Lander, Barth, Mage, and recently the French oflicers Gallieni, Mizon, Hourst, and Lenfant. InlS79,onthe initiative of Sir George Goldie, the English societies established in the region purchased all the French and foreign trading stations of Lower Niger and in 1SS5 obtained a royal charter which constituted them the "Royal Company of the Niger". The Hoyal Com- pany developeil nipidly and acquired inuiiensc terri- tories, often :it the i-ost of bloodshed. The monopoly of navigation which it claimed to exercise, contniry to the stipulations of the General .Vet of Berlin, its oppo- sition to the undertakings of France and Germnny, its encroachments on neighbouring territories, aroused numerous diplomatic quarrels which finally brought about the revocation of its privileges (1 Jan., 1900). It then became a simple commercial company with enormous territorial pos.sessions ; the conquered lands, reunited to the old Protectorate of the Niger Coast organized in 1884, constituted the British colony of