Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/430

 PREACHERS

368 F

PREACHERS

900 convents; at the latter, 1200. During Cavalli's time the order had 14,000 rehgious, and in 1720 more than 20,000. It seems to have reached its greatest numerical development during the seventeenth century. Mention is made of 30,000 and 40,000 Dominicans; perhaps these figures include nuns; it docs not seem probable that the number of Preach- ers alone ever exceeded 25,000. The secularization in Austria-Hungary under Joseph II began the work of partial suppression of convents, which was con- tinued in France by the Committee of Regulars (1770) until the Convention (1793) finally destroyed all religious life in that country. The Napoleonic conquest overthrew many provinces and houses in Europe. Most of them were eventually restored; but the Revolution destroyed partially or wholly the provinces of Portugal (1834), Spain (1834), and Italy (1870). The political troubles brought about by the revolt of Latin America from the mother- country at the beginning of the nineteenth century partially or wholly destroyed several provinces of-the New World ("Script. Ord. Pra;d.", II, p. I; "Analecta Ord. Prsed.", I sqq.; "Dominicanus orbis descrip- tus"; Mortier, "Hist, des mattres gendraux", V sqq.; Chapotin, "Le dernier prieur du dernier convent", Paris, 1893; Rais, "Historia de la prov- incia de Arag6n, orden de Predicadores, desde le ano 1803 hasta el de 1818", Saragossa, 1819; 1S24).

(b) Administration of the Order. — During the mod- ern period the Preachers remained faithful to the spirit of their organization. Some modifications were necessitated by the general condition of the Church and civil society. Especially noteworthy was the attempt, in 1.569, of St. Pius V, the Dominican pope, to restrict the choice of superiors by inferiors and to constitute a sort of administrative aristocracy (Acta Cap. Gener., V, 94). The frequent intervention of popes in the government of the order and the pre- tensions of civil powers, as well as its great develop- ment, diminished the frequency of general chapters; the rapid succession of masters general caused many chapters to be convened during the seventeenth cen- tury; in the eighteenth century chapters again became rare. The effective administration passed into the hands of the general assisted by pontifical decrees. During these three centuries the order had many heads who were remarkable for their energy and administrative ability, among them Thomas de Vio (1508-18), Garcia de Loaysa (1518-24), Vincent Giustiniani (1558-70), Nicolo Ridolfi (1629-44), Giovanni Battista de' Marini (1650-69), Antonin Cloche (1686-1720), Antonin Bremond (1748-55), John Thomas de Boxadors (Mortier, "Hist, des mattres gfoeraux", V sq.; "Acta cap. gen.", IV sq.; "Chronicon magistrorum generalium"; "Re- gula S. Augustini et Constitutiones Ord. Prsed.", Rome, 1695; Paichelh, "Vita del Rmo p. F. Giov. Battista de' Marini", Rome, 1670; Messin, "Vita del R™o P. F. Antonino Cloche", Benevento, 1721; "Vita Antonini Bremondii" in "AnnalesOrd. Prajd.", Rome, 1756, I, p. LIX).

(c) Scholastic Organization. — The scholastic or- ganization of the Dominicans during this modern period tended to concentration of studies. The conventual school required by the Constitutions dis- appeared, at least in its essentials, and in each prov- ince or congregation the studies were grouped in particular convents. The sludia generalia multi- plied, as well as convents incorporated with uni- versities. The General Chapter of 1551 designates 27 convents in university towns where, and where only, the religious might take the degree of Master in Theology. Through the generosity of Dominicans in high ecclesiastical offices large colleges for higher education were also established for the benefit of certain provinces. Among the most famous of these were the College of St. Gregory at Valladolid, founded

in 1488 by Alonzo of Burgos, adviser and confessor of the kings of Castile (Bull. O. P., IV, 38); that of St. Thomas at Seville, established in 1515 by Arch- bishop Diego de Deza ("Historia del colegio major de Ste Tomds de Sevilla", Seville, 1890). The Preachers also established universities in their chief provinces in America — San Domingo (1538), Santa Fe de Bogotd (1612), Quito (1681), Havana (1721)— and even in the Philippines, where the University of Manila (1645) is still flourishing and in their hands. During the sixteenth and following centuries the schedule of studies was more than once revised, and the matter extended to meet the needs of the times. Oriental studies especially received a vigorous im- pulse under the generalship of Antonin Bremond (Fabricy, "Des titres primitifs de la Revelation", Rome, 1772, II, 132; "Acta. Cap. Gen.", IV-VII; "Bull. O. P.", passim; V.dela Fuente, "Laensenanza Tomistica en Espana", Madi'id, 1874; Contarini, "Notizie storiche circa gli publici professori nello studio di Padova scelti dall' ordine di San Domenico", Venice, 1769).

(d) Doctrinal Activity. — The doctrinal activity of the Preachers continued during the modern period. The order, closely connected with the events of the Reformation in German countries, faced the rev- olutionary movement as best it could, and by preach- ing and writing deserved what Dr. Paulus has said of it: "It may well be said that in the difficult con- flict through which the Catholic Church had to pass in Germany in the .sixteenth century no other reli- gious order furnished in the literary sphere so many champions, or so well equipped, as the Order of St. Dominic" ("Die deutschen Dominikaner in Kampfe gegen Luther, 1518-1563", Freiburg i. Br., 1903). The order was conspicuous by the number and in- fluence of the Dominican bishops and theologians who took part in the Council of Trent. To a certain extent Thomistic doctrine predominated in the dis- cussions and decisions of the council, so that Clement VII, in 1593, could say, when he desned the Jesuits to follow St. Thomas, that the coimcil approved and accepted his works (Astrain, "Historia de la Com- pania de Jfsus en la asistencia de Espana", III, Madrid, 1909, 580). The "Catechismus ad Par- ochos", the composition of which had been or- dered by the council, and which was published at the command of Pius V (1566), is the work of Dominican theologians (Reginaldus, "De catechismi romani auctoritatedissertatio", Naples, 1765). The Spanish Dominican School of the sixteenth century, inau- gurated by Francisco de Vitoria (d. 1540), produced a series of eminent theologians: Melchior Cano (1560), the celebrated author of "De locis theolo- gicis"; Domingo Soto (1500); Bartolome de Medina (1580); Domingo Banez. This line of theologians was continued by Tomds de Lemos (1629); Diego Alvarez (1635); Juan de S. Tomiis (1644); ["Script. O. P.", II, s. w. ; P. Getino, "Historia de un con- vento" (St. Ste]ihen of Salamanca), \'ergara, 1004; Ehrle, "Die \'atikanischen Handschriften der Sala- manticenser Theologrn fles sechszehnten Jahrhun- derts" in "Der Katholik", 64-65, 1884-85; L. G. Getino, "El maestro Fr. Francisco de Vitoria" in "La Ciencia tomista", Madrid, I, 1910, 1; Cabal- lero, "Vida del lUmo. dr. D. Fray Melchor Cano", Madrid, 1871; Alvarez, "Santa Teresa y el P. Banez", Madrid, 1882).

Italy furnished a contingent of Dominican theo- logians of note, of whom Thomas de Vio Cajetan (d. 1534) was incontestably the most famous (Cossio, "II cardinale Gaetano e la riforma", Cividale, 1902). Francesco Silvestro di Ferrara (d. 1528) left a valuable commentary on the "Summa contra Gentiles" (Script. O. P., II, 59). Chrysostom Javelli, a dis- senter from the Thomistic School, left very remark- able writings on the moral and political sciences