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 RIBADENEIRA

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RIBADENEIRA

ninth century. The pioneer in music, the Monk Hucbald of Saint-Amand, composed at least two, probably four, rhythmical offices; and the larger num- ber of the older offices were used liturgically in those monasteries and cities which had some connexion with Saint-Amand. From there this new branch of hymnody very soon found its way to France, and in the tenth and eleventh, and particularly in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, showed fine, if not the finest results, both in quality and quantity. Worthy of especial mention as poets of this order are: the Abbots Odo (927-42) and Odilo (994-1049) of Cluny, Bishop Fulbert of Chartres (1017-28), the Benedictine Monk Odorannus of Sens (d. 1045), Pope Leo IX (d. 1054); Bishop Stephen of Tournay (1192- 1203); Archdeacon Rainald of St. Maurice in Angers (d. about 1074); Bi.shop Richard de Gerberoy of Amiens (1204-10); Prior Arnaud du Pre of Toulouse (d. 1306), and the General of the Dominican Order, Martialis Auribelli, who in 1456 wrote a rhymed office for the purpose of glorifying St. Vincent Ferrer. The most eminent poet and composer of offices belongs to Germany by birth, but more so to France by reason of his activity; he is Julian von Speyer, director of the orchestra at the Frankish royal court, afterwards Franciscan friar and choir master in the Paris con- vent, where about 1240 he composed words and music for the two well-known offices in honour of St. Francis of Assisi and of St. Anthony of Padua (Anal. Hymn., V, nos. 61 and 42). The.se two productions, the musi- cal value of which has in many ways been overesti- mated, served as a prototjT^- f"r ^ goodly number of successive offices in honour of saints of the Franciscan Order as well as of others. In Germany the rhym(!d offices were just as popular as in France. As early y~s in the ninth century an office, in honour of St. Chry- santus and Daria, had its origin probably in Priim, perhaps through Friar Wandalbert (.\nal. Hymn., XXV, no. 73) ; perhaps not much later through Abbot Gurdestin of LandevennKc a similar poem in honour of St. Winwaloeus (Anal. Hymn., XVIII, no. 100). As hailing from Germany two other composers of rhythmical offices in the earlier period have become known: Abbot Berno of Reichenau (d. 1048) and Abbot Udalschalc of Maischach at Augsburg (d. 1150).

The other German poets whose names can be given belong to a period as late as the fifteenth century, as e. g. Provost Lippold of Stcinbergund Bisho]) .lohann Hofmann of Meissen. England took an early ])art in this style of poetry, but unfortunately most of the offices wiiich originated then; hav(! been lost. Bril- liant among the English jjoets is .Vrchbishop Pecham whose office of the Trinity lias been discussed above. Next to him are worthy of esi)ecial mention Cardinal AdamEa,ston ((11397) and the; Carmelite John Horneby of Lincoln, who about 1370 compo.sed a rhymed office in honour of the Holy Name of Jesus, and of the Visita- tion of Our Lady. Italy seems to have a relatively small representation; Rome itself, i. e. the Roman Breviary, as we know, did not favour innovations, and consequently was reluctant to adopt rhj'thmical offices. The famous Archbishop Alfons of Salerno (1058-85) is presumably the oldest Italian poet of this kind. Besides him we can name only Abbot Reinaldus de CoUe di Mezzo (twelfth century), and the General of the Dominicans, Raymundus de Vineis from Capua (fourteenth century). In Sicily and in Spain the rhymed offices were popular and quite numerous, but with the exception of the Franciscan Fra Gil de Zamora, who about the middle of the fif- teenth century composed an office in honovir of the Blessed Virgin (Anal. Hymn., XVII, no. 8) it has been impossible to cite by name from those two countries any other poet who took part in composing rhythmical offices. Towards the close of the thirteenth century, Scandinavia also comes to the fore with rhymed

offices, in a most dignified manner. Special atten- tion should be called to Bishop Brynolphua of Skara (1278-1317), Archbishop Birgerus Gregorii of Upsala (d. 1383), Bishop Nicolaus of Linkoping (1374-91), and Johannes Benechini of Oeland (about 1440). The number of offices where the composer's name ia known is insignificantly small. No less than seven hundred anonymous rhythmical offices have been brought to light during the last twenty years through the "Analecta Hymnica". It is true not all of them are works of art; particularly during the fifteenth century many offices with tasteless rhyming and shallow contents reflect the general decadence of hymnody. Many, however, belong to the best prod- ucts- of rehgious lyric poetry. For six centuries in all countries of the West, men of different ranks and sta- tions in life, among them the highest dignitaries of the Church, took part in this style of poetry, which enjoyed absolute popularity in all dioceses. Hence one may surmise the significance of the rhythmical offices with reference to the history of civilization, their importance in history and development of liturgy, and above all their influence on other poetry and literature.

Blcme and Dreve.s, Analecta Hymnica medii cevi, V, XIII, X VII. X VIII-XX VI, XX VIII, XL Va, LII, appendix (Leipzig, 1SS9-1909): Raumf.r, Reimofficien, 356-64, in Ge.vcft. des Breviers (Freiburg, 1S95); Blume, Zur Poexie des kirchlichen Stunden- gebetes, 1:32-45, in Stimmen aus Maria-Loach (1898); Felder, Liturgische Reimofficien auf die hlL Franziskus und Antonius (Fribourg, 1901).

Clemens Blume.

Ribadeneira (or Ribadeneyra and among Spaniards often Riv.\deneira), Pedro de, b. at Toledo, of a noble Castilian family, 1 Nov., 1526 (Astrain, 1,206); d. 22 Sept., 1611. His father, Alvaro Ortiz de Cisneros, was the son of Pedro Gonzalea Ccdillo and grand- son of Hernando Ortiz de Cisneros whom Ferdinand IV had honoured with the governor- ship of Toledo and important mis- sions. His mother, of the illustrious house of \'illalobo8, wius still more dis- tinguished for her virtue than for her birth. Already the mother of three daughters, she promised to con- secrate her fourth child to the Blessed Virgin if it .should be a son. Thus vowed to Mary be- fore his birth, Riba- deneira received in baptism the name of Pedro which had been borne by his paternal grandfather and that of Ribadeneira in mem- ory of his maternal grandmother, of one of the first families of Galicia. In the capacity of page he followed Cardinal Alexander Farnese to Italy, and at Rome entered the Society of Jesus at the age of fourteen, on IS Sept., 1540, eight days before the approval of the order by Paul III.

After having attended the Universities of Paris, Louvain, and Padua, where, besifles the moral crises which asssailed him, h(> often had to encounter great hardships and habitually confined himself to very meagre fare [he wrote to St. Ignatius (Epp. mixta), V, 649): "Quanto al nostro magnare or-

Pedro de Ribadeneira