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SOISSONS

because at times he reached the very highest of his ideals, and then at times completely failed. He must also be regarded as a man against whom many writers have thrown mud, and who now can be safely con- sidered as a far greater man than his contemporaries regarded him, and not so evil in disposition as many were prepared to believe him to be.

BoRGHEsi .\ND B.\uciN'. Nuori Documenli deW Arte Senese (Siena, 189S); Bruzza, Primi Sludi del Sodoma (Turin, 1862); I)£LL.\ V.\LLE, Lettere Sanesi (Rome, 1786); Milanesi, Docu- menli dell' Arte Seiiese (Siena, 1856) ; Orlandi, Abecedario PiUorica (Bologna, 1704); Vasari, Le Vile de' Piltori (Milan, ISll); Cu.sT, The An of Bazzi (London, 1906).

George Charles Williamson.

Sodom and Gomorrha. — Sodom, a city of Pen tap- olis (Wisd., X, 6; Gen., xiv, 2) : Sodom, Gomorrha, Ad- ama, Seboim, and Bala — later called Segor (Gen.,xix, 22). They were situated in " the country about the Jor- dan" (Gen., xiii, 10) ; their exact location is unknown (cf . Gen., xiv, 3, 8, 10, 17; xix, 20-22, 30, 37; Deut., xxxiv, 3). Josephus identifies Segor with ' ' Zoara of Arabia" at the south end of the Dead Sea (" Bel. Jud.", IV, viii, 4; cf. "Ant. Jud.", I, xi, 4; XIII, xv, 4; XIV, i, 4). Conder identifies it with Toll esh-Shaghiir, seven miles north of the Dead Sea; Burkhard, Wetstein, and others with Chirbet es-Safieh, three miles south of the Dead Sea; E. Robinson puts it on Lisan, etc. For the un- natural sins of their inhabitants Sodom, Gomorrha, Adama, and Seboin were destroyed by "brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven " (Gen., xiii, 13; xviii, 20; xix, 24, 29; Osee, xi, 8). Since then, their names are synonymous with impenitent sin, and their fall with a proverbial manifestation of (jod's just wrath (Deut., xxix, 23; xxxii, 32; Is., i, 10 sqq.; Ezech., xvi, 49; Matt., xi, 23 sq.; II Peter, ii, 6; Jude, 7). The Septuagint rendering of ^E.TI by Kar^a-Tpefe (Gen., xix, 2.5) probably led to the erroneous opinion that the destruction of Sodom was accompanied by great upheavals of the earth, and even to the forma- tion of the Dead Sea (.see Dead Sea).

Ho.MMELAUER. Comment, in Gen. (Paris. 1895), 376, 416 sq.; Buhl, Geog. de.i Alt. Pal. (Leipzig, 1890), 271-74; Robin- son, Bibl, Researches in Palestine, II (Boston, 1847), 480 sqq.; Palestine Explor. Fund (1879), 15, 99, 144 (1881), 277 (1884). 126 (1886), 19-22; Blanchenhorn in Zeitschr. des deutsch. Pal. Vereins (1896); Conder, Handbook to the Bible (London, 1873), 38; Idem, Heth and Moab (London. 1S80). 154 sq.

Nicholas Reagan.

Sodor and Man, Ancient Diocese of (Sodoren- sis). — The (>:iily history of this see is extremely ob- scure. The Si.';in(Un:ivi:in diocese, which included Man and the western isles of Scotland (the Southern Heb- rides), was called Sodor (Su'Sr-ei/jtir) in contradis- tinction to Nordr (N or'6r - eyjar) — the Orkneys and Shetland. It is not known when Man was united with Sodor, but it may have been in the time of Magnus Barefoot (1098). Before that Man seems to have been a distinct see dependent on Dublin. When Man became the head of a separate kingdom, under the suzerainty of Norway, the joint Diocese of Sodor and Man was placed under the Archiepiscopate of Nidaros (Trondhjem) in Norway by Eugenius III (1152), an arrangement which was confirmed by Anastasius IV (U.W). From then till 1458 Man re- mained under Drontheim, when Calix-tus III trans- ferred it to York.

The political connexion of Man with Norway had been severed in lit'ili. tiftcr which it depended on Scot- land till 1334 and finally on England. In the reign of Henry \\ the king gave the island to the Stanleys, who thus ac(|nired the piitronage of the bishoprics, but I lie bishops nev(T attained the status of .spiritual lords of Parliament. The hist Catholic bishop was Thomas Stanley, who was appointed during the reign of Miiry and was recognized ob a bishop till his death in 1.5(58. It is uncertain whether he accepted Eliza- beth's ch:ingcs or enjoyed imnmnity under the pro- traction of the Stanleys. The cathedral, dedicated to

St. Germain, was situated on St. Patrick's Isle and was built in 1245 on the site of an earlier building. It is now in a ruined state. There were only seventeen parishes in the island, all comprised in one arch- deaconry. The arms of the sec were: upon three ascents, the Virgin Mary standing with her arms dis- tended between two pillars, on the dexter whereof a church, in base the ancient arms of Man.

Chronicon Mannifr, ed. Munch (Ciiristiania, 1860); Train, Historical account of the Isle of Man (2 vols.. Douglas, 1845); Gumming. Isle of Man, Its history, physical, ecclesiastical, civil, and legendary (London. 1848) ; MooRB, Sodor and Man (London,

189:?).

Edwin Burton.

Sofia and Philippopolis, Vicariate Apostolic OF. See Bulgaria; Sardica.

Soissons, Diocese of (Suessionensis), includes, with the exception of two hamlets, the entire Depart- ment of Aisne. It was re-established by the Concordat of 1802 as suffragan of Paris, but in 1821 it became

suffragan of

Reims. It con- sists of (1) all the ancient Din- cese of Soissciii- except the ii\il district of Cuni- piegne, which went to the Din- cese of Beau^;ii~: (2) all the Di- cese of Laon, i •., cepttwoparisho, which went td Reims; (3) th:(t portion of \'i r- mandois which formerly 1 x- longed to the Diocese of Noyon (see Beauvais) ; (4) a few par- ishes which for- merly belonged to Cambrai, Meaux, Troyes, Reims. After a vain attempt made by the unexecuted Concordat of 1817 to re-establish the See of Laon, the bishops of Soissons were authorized by Leo XII (13 June, 1828) to join the title of Laon to that of their own see; by Leo XIII (11 June, 1901) they were further authorized to use the title of St-Quentin, which was formerly the residence of the bishops of Noyon. The territory of Soissons and Laon played an important political part under the Merovingians. After the death of Clovis (511), Soissons was the capital of one of the four kingdoms into which his states were divided. The kingdom of Soissons, which ceased to exist in 558, when Clotaire I reunited all the Prankish states, came into being again in 561 when the death of Clotaire led to the recUvision of the territory. It finally disappeared in 613 when the Frankish lands were once more reunited under Clotaire II.

I. The See of Soissons. — Concerning the tradi- tions that make St. Sixtus and St. Sinicius the earliest apostles of Soissons as envoys of St. Peter, see Reims. Sts. Crepinus and Crepinianus martyrs (c. 288) are patrons of the diocese. According to Mgr Duchesne, the establishment of a see at Soissons dates from about 300. Among its bishops are: St. Divitianus (c. 310-20); St. Onesimus (c. 350-61); St. Edibius (c. 431-62); St. Prineipius (462-505), brother of St. Remi of Reims; St. Lupus (505-35); St. Baudarinus (Baudry) (535-45), whom Clotaire I exiled for seven years to England, where he served as gardener in a monastery; St. Ansericus or Anscher (623-52); St. Drausiuus (657-76), founder of the monastery of