Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 14.djvu/866

 TOSEPHTA

788

TOSTI

UziELLI, Paolo dal Pozzo di Toscanelli, Riccordo del sohtizio d' estate del 1892 (Florence. 1892); Uzielli, La vita e i tempi di Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli (Rome, 1894); Wagner, Die Recon- struction der Toscanelli Karte vom Jahre IJ^IU in Gottinger Nachrickten (1894), no. 3; Viqnaud, La lettre ei la carte de Toscanelli (Paris, 1901) ; Idem. Etudes sur la vie de Colomb (Paris. 1905 and 1911). For the controversy over Toscanelli cf. Uzielu, Bibliografia delta polemica concernente Paolo Toscanelli e Chr. Colombo (Naples, 1905).

Fbiedkich Streicher.

Tosephta (S.iIDI.I, addition, supplement) is the nanieof .ifdiiipilation of halakhic-haggadic character, which juilKod by its contents belongs essentially to the era of the Tanna'im (Teachers), and which is modelled on the plan of the Mishna; all that i.s lacking ,ire the tractates "Aboth", "Tamid", "Middoth", and "Qinnim". The editors had access to authorities that are older than our Mishna. The individual Halakhoth do not show the same subtlety and precision as in the Mishna ; often the development of the Halakha may be traced from the course of the discussion. The Haggadah also is fully represented. The history of the origin of the Tosephta has not yet been satisfac- torily cleared up. In any case the work in its present form contains a large number of the doctrines and utterances of later rabbinical teachers (the AmoTaim), and it was not edited until the late Talmudic period. W. Zuckermandel, "Tosephta, Mishna, und Boraitha in ihrem Verhaltnis zu einander" (1 vol., Frankfort, 1908), claims to prove that the Tosephta represents the Palestinian Mishna, and that our Mishna was re- edited in Babylonia.

Edition of the Tosephta by Zuckermandel (Pasewalk, 1880), supplement to it (Trier, 1882—). Thirty-one tractates, the tractates on the first three orders are to be found translated into Latin in Uqolino, Thesaurus, XVII-XX (Venice, 1755-57).

F. SCHtJHLEIN.

Tostado (TosTATus), Alonso, exegete, b. at Mad- rigal, Castile, about 1400; d. at Bonilla de la Sierra, near Avila, 3 Sept., 1455. After a course of gram- mar under the Franciscans he en- tered the Univer- sity of Salamanca, where, besides philosophy and theology, he stud- ied civil and canon law, Greek, Hebrew, and the iilher branches ilien comprised in the curriculum of a university. By great application joined to an un- usually brilliant mind and an ex- traordinarily re- tentive memory he accumulated such a vast store of knowledge that his contemporaries styled him the wonder of the world. At twenty- two he began to lecture on a wide variety of subjects to large audi- ences attracted by his learning. Later he assisted with distinction at the Council of Basle. During a visit to the papal court at Siena in 1443, he was de- nounced to Eugene IV as having publicly defended an heretical and some rash propositions, but in an ex- planatory letter he assured the pontiff of his ortho- doxy. In his "Defensorium", written on this occasion against Torquemada and other critics, he gave utter- ance to views derogatory to the authority of the pope. On his return to Spain he was appointed Grand Chan- cellor of Castile, and in 1440 Bishop of .\vila, whence his title Abulensis. Besitles a Spanish comment.ary on the chronicles of Eusebius and other minor works, he wrote commentaries on the historical books of

the Old Testament as far as II Par., and on the Gospel of St. Matthew. These are extremely diffuse, containing many digressions on dogmatic and other subjects, which, though often excellent in themselves, are out of place in a commentary. An edition of his works in 13 foUo volumes was published at Venice in 1507 and 1.547; a more complete edition in 24 folio volumes appeared at the same place in 1615, and another in 27 folio volumes in 1728.

HuRTER, Nomenclatoj, IV, 762; Antonio, Bibliotfi. Hisp. Vetus, II (Madrid, 1788), 255; Nouv. Biogr. (Jen., XLV, 518; Amador DE LOS Rios, Hislor, Crit, de la Literal. EspaH., VI. vii, and xi.

F. Bechtel.

Tosti, LuiGi, Benedictine historian, b. at Naples, 13 Feb., 1811; d. at Monte Cas,sino, 24 Sept., 1897. His father. Count Giovanni Tosti, descended from an ancient Calabrian family, having died young, his mother, Vittoria Corighano, entrusted the child to its uncle, a monk at Monte Cassino. In 1819 Tosti became a pupil at the celebrated abbey, and was drawn early towards the monastic life. He was sent to Rome to complete his studies, was ordained priest in 1833, and soon returned to ^Ionte Cassino, where for twenty years he taught the doctrines of St. Thorny. About 1829 he had begun a deep study of history, and in 1842 he published his "Storia della badia di Monte Cassino", soon followed by the "Storia di Bonifazio VIII". His "Storia della Lega Lom- barda", dedicated to Pius IX, appeared in 1848 and was a trumpet-call to the Neo-Guelph party. He laboured so assiduously that in 1851 he pubUshed the "Storia di Abelardo e dei suoi tempi", the "Storia del Concilio di Costanza" in 1853, the "Storia dell' origine dello scisma greco" in 1856, "La Contessa Matilde e i Romani pontefici" in 1859, and in 1861 the " Prolegomeni alia storia universale della Chilsa".

Tosti took an energetic and enthusiastic part in the national movement blessed by Pius IX. In 1844 he had planned a review, "L'Ateneo itahano", for the purpose of putting the papacy at the head of the Risorgimcnto. The Neapolitan police authorities opposed it, and forbade Tosti to take part in the pro- jected mediation (between the pope and the trium- virs of the ephemeral Roman Republic), which was advocated by the French envoy, Comte d'Harcourt. Pius IX had to intervene personally to secure the liberation of the learned monk, who had been ac- cused, as Cardinal Capecelatro relates, of belonging to a band of murderous conspirators, and put in prison. Temple, the English ambassador at Naples, also courageously opposed this defenceless persecution. Tosti sought consolation in the study of the Holy Scriptures and his beautiful book, "Rieordi biblici", was the fruit of this mishap. He had the sorrow of seeing his belovetl convents threatened by a law of spoliation passed by the Parliament of the new Italian Kingdom, and appealed to distinguished friends, such as W. E. Gladstone, to obtain some exemption for Monte Cassino, which he likewise procured later for the Abbey of Grottaferrata, the Sacro Speco of Subiaco, etc. Pained by these per- secutions Tosti refused a chair in the LTniversity of Pisa, but became later assistant archivist of the Vatican, under Leo XIII. This great pope's allocu- tion in ^lay, 1887, inviting the Italian Government to make peace, presided over by the former revolu- tionary-, Crispi, rekindled Tosti's patriotism. Deputed by the pope to negotiate the restoration of St. Paul's to the Benedictines, Tosti hoped to effect an official reconciliation of the Vatican and the Quirinal. Crispi's impatience, mutual opposition, the dis- trusts of French diplomatists, thwarted his noble efforts, and the too hopeful religious had to retract publicly his brochure, "La conciliazione". He with- drew to Monte Cassino and undertook his "Delia vita di S. Benedetto". Moved by the pope's gener- ous appeal to the English in 1896, he renewed his