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 PREACHERS

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PREACHERS

(iii) Theological works. — In importance and num- ber theological works occupy the foreground in the literary activity of the order. Most of the theolo- gians composed commentaries on the "Sentences" of Peter Lombard, which was the classical text in theological schools. Besides the "Sentences" the usual work of bachelors in the Universities included Dispidationes and Quodlibeta, which were alwaj-s the WTitings of masters. The theological sum>ii(e set forth the theological matter according to a more complete and well-ordered plan than that of Peter Lombard and especially with solid ])hilosophical principles in which the books of the "Sentences" were wanting. Manuals of theology and more es- pecially manuals, or summa; on penance for the use of confessors were composed in great numbers. The oldest Dominican commentaries on the "Sentences" are those of Roland of Cremona, Hugh of Saint Cher, Richard Fitzacre, Robert of Kilwardby, and Albertus Magnus. The series begins with the year 1230 if not earlier and the last are prior to the middle of the thirteenth century (Mandonnet, "Siger de Brabant", I, 53). The "Summa" of St. Thomas (1265-75) is still the masterpiece of theology. The monu- mental work of Albertus Magnus is unfinished. The "Summa de bono" of Ulrich of Strasburg (d. 1277), a disciple of Albert, is still unedited, but is of para- mount interest to the historian of the thought of the thirteenth century (Grabmann, "Studien ueber Ulrich von Strassburg" in "Zeitschrift fiir Kathol. Theol.", XXIX, 1905, 82). The theological summa of St. Antoninus is highly esteemed by moralists and economists (Ilgner, "Die Volkswirtschaft lichen Ans- chaungen Antonins von Florenz", Paderborn, 1904). The "Compendium theologicie veritatis" of Hugh Ripelin of Strasburg (d. 1268) is the most widespread and famous manual of the Middle Ages (JVIandonnet, "Des ecrits authentiques de St. Thomas", Fribourg, 1910, p. 86). The chief manual of confessors is that of Paul of Hungary composed for the Brothers of St. Nicholas of Bologna (1220-21) and edited without mention of the author in the "BibliothecaCasinensis" (IV, 1880, 191) and with false assignment of author- ship by R. Duellius, "Miscellan. Lib." (Augsburg, 1723, 59). The "Summa de Pcenitentia" of Ray- mond of Pennafort, composed in 1235, was a classic during the Middle Ages and was one of the works of which the iSISS. were most multiplied. The "Summa Confessorum" of John of Freiburg (d. 1314) is, according to F. von Schulte, the most perfect product of this class of literature. The Pisan Bar- tolommeo of San Concordio has left us a "Summa Ciusuum" composed in 1338, in which the matter is arranged in alphabetical order. It was very success- ful in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The manuals for confessors of John Nieder (d. 1438), St. Antoninus, ,\rchbishop of Florence (d. 1459), and fiirolamo Savonarola (d. 1498) were much esteemed in their time (Quetif-Echard, "Script. Ord. Prffd.", I, jKissim; Hurler, "Xomenclator literarius; setas media", Innsbruck, 1906, passim; F. von Schulte, "Gesch. der Quellen und Literatur des canonischen Rechts", Stuttgart, II, 1877, p. 410 sqq.; Dietterle, " Die Summs confessorum . . . von ihren An- fiingen an bis zu Silvester Prierias" in "Zeitschrift fiir Kirchengesch.", XXIV, 1903; XXVIII, 1907).

(iv) Apologetic works. — The Preachers, born amid the Albigensian heresy and founded especially for the defence of the Faith, bent their literary efTorta to reach all clas.ses of dissenters from the Catholic Church. They produced by far the most powerful works in the sphere of apologetics. The "Summa contra Catharos et Valdenses" (Rome, 1743) of Mo- neta of Cremona, in course of composition in 1244, is the most complete and solid work produced in the Middle Ages against the Cathari and ^\'aldenses. The "Summa contra Gentiles" of St. Thomas Aquinas

is one of that master's strongest creations. It is the defence of the Christian Faith against Arabian philosophy. Raymond Marti in his "Pugio fidei", in course of composition in 1278 (Paris, 1642; 1651; Leip- zig, 1687), measures arms with Judaism. This work, to a large extent based on Rabbinic literatiu-e, is the most important medieval monument of Orientalism (Xeubauer, "Jewish Controversy and the Pugio Fidei" in "The Ex-positor", 1888, p. 81 sqq.; Loeb, "La controverse religieuse entre les Chretiens et les Juifs au moyen-age en France et en Espagne" in "Revue de I'histoire des religions", XVIII, 136). The Florentine, Riccoldo di ISIonte Croce, a mission- ary in the East (d. 1320), composed his "Propugna- culum Fidei" against the doctrine of the Koran. It is a rare medieval Latin work based directly on Arabian literature. Demetrius Cydonius translated the " Propugnaculum " into Greek in the fourteenth century and Luther translated it into German in the sixteenth (Mandonnet, "Fra Riccoldo di Monte Croce, pdlerin en Terre Sainte et missionnahe en Orient" in "Revue Biblique", I, 1893, 44; Grab- mann, "Die Missionsidee bei den Dominikaner- theologien des 13. Jahrhunderts" in "Zeitschrift fiir Missionswissenschaft", I, 1911, 137).

(v) Educational literature. — Besides manuals of theology the Dominicans furnished a considerable literary output with a view to meeting the various needs of all social classes and which may be called educational or practical literature. They composed treatises on preaching, models or materials for sermons, and collections of discourses. Among the oldest of these are the "Distinctiones" and the " Dietionarius pauperum" of Nicholas of Biard (d. 1261), the "Tractatus de diversis materiis prsedi- cabilibus" of Stephen of Bourbon (d. 1261), the "De eruditione praxlicatorum" of Humbert of Romans (d. 1277), the "Distinctiones" of Nicholas of Goran (d. 1295), and of Maurice of England [d. circa 1300; (Qu^tif-Echard, "Script. Ord. Pra'd.", II, 968; 970; Lecoy de la Marche, "Lachaire fran^aise au moyen- fige", Paris, 1886; Crane, "The exempla or illustra- tive stories from the 'Sermones vulgares' of Jacques de Vitry", London, 1890)]. The Preachers led the way in the composition of comprehensive collections of the lives of the saints or legendaries, ^\Titings at once for the use and edification of the faithful. Bartholomew of Trent compiled his "Liber epilo- gorum in Gesta Sanctorum" in 1240. After the middle of the thirteenth century Roderick of Cerrate composed a collection of "Vita? Sanctorum" (Madrid, University Library, cod. 146). The "Abbreviatio in gestis et miraculis sanctorum", composed in 1243 according to the "Speculum historiale" of Vincent of Beauvais, is the work of Jean de Mailly. The "Legenda Sanctorum" of Jacopo de Voragine (^"or- azze) called also the "Golden Legend", wTitten about 1260, is universally known. "The success of the book," WTites the Bollandist, A. Poncelet, "was pro- digious; it far exceeded that of all similar compila- tions." It was besides translated into all the ver- naculars of Europe. The "Speculum Sanctorale" of Bernard Guidonis is a work of a much more schol- arly character. The first three parts were finished in 1324 and the fourth in 1329. About the same time Peter Calo (d. 1348) undertook under the title of "Legenda sanctorum" an "immense compilation" which aimed at being more complete than its pre- decessors (.\, Poncelet. "Le 16gendier de Pierre Calo" in "Analecta Bollandiana", XXIX, 1910, 5-116).

Catechetical literature was also early taken in hand. In 12.56-7 Raj-mond Marti composed his "Explanatio svmboli ad institutionem fidelium" ("Revue des Bibliotheques", VI, 1846, 32; March, "La 'Explanatio Symboli', obra inedita de Ramon Marti, autor del 'Pugio Fidei'", in "Anuari des Institut d'Estudis Catalans", 1908, and Barcelona,