Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 15.djvu/473

 VICTOR

415

VIEIRA

mentaries on tlie Old and New Testament, for the most part caterue of quotations from the Greek exegetes; " Libellus reticulus seu de area Noc" (Pitra, "Spic. Solesm.", I, 287), containing an ingen- ious allegorical computation showing that the dimen- sions of the Ark typified the years of Christ's earthly life; "Capitula de rcsurrcctione Domini" dealt with some of the chief difficulties regarding Christ's gene- alogy and the hour of the Crucifi;don as recorded in the Evangelists.

Ughelu. Italia sacra, VI. 306; Pitra, Spicileg. solesm, I (Paris, 1852). p. 1 sq., 265 sq., 287, 296; Zahn, Gesch. d. neuieslam. Kanons, II, 535; Bardenhewer-Shahan, Patrology, p. 628.

Patrick Healt.

Victor Vitensis, an African bishop of the Province of Byzacena (called \'itensis from his See of Vita), 1). probably about 430. His importance rests on his: "Historia pcrsecutionis Africana? Provincia', tempor- ibus Geiserici ct Hunirici rcgum Wandalorum". This is mainly a contemporary narrative of the cruel- ties practised against the orthodox Christians of Xorthern Africa by the Arian Vandals. Formerly iivided into five books, this work is now usually ?dited in three, of which the first, dealing with the reign of Geiseric (427-77), is derived from the accounts af others, while the second and third, covering the reign of Huneric, are a strictly contemporary account jf events, of which the author was in the main an eye- witness. No exception can be taken to the accuracy Df Victor's narratives, except that at times he exag- gerates, but when allowance is made for the stress of
 * eeling under which the work was written, it can be

seen that he records little that did not happen, ^'ictor throws much light on .social and religious condi-
 * ions in Carthage and on the African liturgy of the

3eriod. His history contains many valuable docu- iients not otherwise accessible, e. g. the Confession )f Faith drawn up for the orthodox bishops bj' Eugen- us of Carth.age and presented to Huneric at the jonference of Catholic and Arian bishops in 484. r wo documents: a"Passio beatissimorum mart5Tum jui apud Carthaginem passi sunt sub impio rege iiunerico (die VI. Non. Juhas 484) " and a "Notitia Provinciarum et Civitatum Africae", formerly ap- lended to all the MSS. and now incorporated in the irinted editions, are probably not Victor's. The ormer may be the work of one of his contemporaries; he latter is a list of the Catholic bishops summoned o the conference of 484, arranged according to prov- nces, with an exact indication of the ecclesiastical jeography of that portion of .Vfrica.

The early editions of Victor arc found in Mione. LVIII, 179- >76. Newer and more critical editions hy Halm (Berlin, 1.S79) n Mon. Germ. Hist. :AucL Antiq,, III. 1: and Petschenio (Vi- enna, 1881) ; Corpus Scrip. Eccles. Lat..yil: FerbJire, De Victoria VitenMs libra qui inscrilntur historia pcrsecutionis .ifricancB Vrovincia (Paris, 1898).

Patrick Healy.

Victory, Feast of Our Lady of. — There are sev-
 * ral feasts, in various churches, celebrated under this
 * itle. The best known are:

(1) 7 Oct., in commemoration of the naval victory lear Lepanto on 7 Oct., 1571; instituted the same rear as a greater double by Pius V; changed by jregory XIII on 1 .4pril, 157.'5, into the feast of the 3oly Rosarj', first Sunday of October. The original east, 7 Oct., is still celebrated in many churches, e. g. n the dioceses of Messina and Nicosia, in the Church )f Nuestra Senora del Palan, at Barcelona, Spain, rnd elsewhere.

(2) Fourth Sunday of October (Our Lady of Vic- ories), double of the first class with octave, kept in he Church of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, Paris, in hank.sgiving for the victory of Louis XIII over the Dalvinists after the siege of La Rochelle in 1628. The sinners, originated in this church.
 * elebrated Archconfraternity of Our Lady, Refuge of

(3) Second Sunday of November, at Prague, Bo-

hemia, in the Carmelite church; and at Rome in Santa Maria della Vittoria, double of the first class, in commemoration of the battle of Weissenberg on 8 Nov., 1620. Formerly this feast was celebrated all over Bohemia and Silesia (double of the second class, Decree of 13 July, 1675).

(4) At Toledo, Spain, 6 Sept., greater double, in thanksgiving for the victorj' of the Cardinal Infant Ferdinand at Nordlingen, 6 Sept., 1634.

(5) The last Sunday of Sept., in the Diocese of Marsi, Italy, in commemoration of the victory of Charles of Anjou over Conradin at Tagliocozzo in 1268.

See the corresponding officio propria; Hoi.weck, Fasti Mariarti (Freiburg, 1892).

F. G. HOLWECK.

Victricius, Saint. See Rouen, Archdiocese op.

Vida, Marco Girolamo, Italian Humanist, b. at Cremona about 1490; d. in 1566. He came to Rome under Julius II; a priest and canon regular, he pre- sented, in the rather lax Court, the greatest example of severity of morals. The Humanists were called upon to produce a great Christian epic. Vida undertook it, and in order that he might work at it Leo X gave him the priory of St. S3'lvester at Frascati. The work, the "Christias", was not finished until after the death of Leo X (Cremona, 1.535). The subject goes beyond the life of Christ and is in reaUty the establishment of Christianity, for Vida accords much space at the end of his poem to the spread of the Gospel. There is no mythological element in the six cantos; hence the imitj' of tone is more perfect than in Sannazaro's " De partu Virginis". Vida was also the author of short poems, such as "De Bombyce", "De ludo scaccorum" (on che.ss), and of a second serious and extensive work, "De arte poetica", written before 1520 (pubUshed in 1527). This didactic poem is interesting as an expression of the ideas of Humanism concerning poetry and because of its great influence. Vida dealt only with the ancients and their imitators, wholly neglecting writers in the vernacular. The general conception of his " Ars poetica" is inspired by Quintilian. The writer takes the future poet almost at the cradle, and describes the education and care which he should receive. He instructs him in inven- tion, composition, and especially style, emphasizing particularly the harmony of the verse and defining imitative harmony, examples of which, taken from Virgil, have pas.sed into classical teaching, e. g. "ruit Oceano nox, procumbit-humi bos, conuolsum remie rostrisque stridentibus a-quor ". While Boileau exag- gerates the difficulties of poetry and multiplies the duties of the poet, Vida undertakes to cultivate a taste for poetry and to remove the obstacles from the poet's path. In consequence of his plan Vida treats only of poetry in general. To him the model and prince of poets was Virgil, while he depreciates Homer, criticising his prolixity, repetition, and low style. He was the source of arguments later made u.se of in France by the partisans of the moderns; Vida was the first to as.sert that the word "ass" u.sed by Homer did not belong to the noble style. He carried prejudice so far as to congratulate the Latin language for being ignorant of compound words so frec|uent in Greek. Vida's own style is elegant, clear, harmonious, and ordinarily simple. He was warm in admiration, especially in his eulogies of Virgil, but he is verbose, and if by chance he imitates Horace he dilutes him. The poem is now of interest only as a manifestation of Classicism in modern literature.

Saxdts. Hist, o/ Classical Scholarship, II (Cambridge, 1908), 117, 133; V188AC, De Marci Hieronymi Vidcc poelicorum libris tribus (Paris, 1862), a thesis.

Paul Lejay. Vieira, Antonio, missionary, diplomat, orator, b. at Lisbon, 6 February, 1608; "d. at Bahia, Brazil, 18 July, 1697. Brought when a child to Bahia, he