Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 15.djvu/90

 TRITHEMIUS

62

TRITHEMIUS

the founder of Nominalism, argued, just like Philo- ponus, that unless the Three Persons are ires res, then the whole Trinity must have been incarnate. He was refuted by St. Anselm.

(.3) Among Catholic writers, Pierre Faydit, who was expelled from the Oratory at Paris in 1671 for disobedience and died in 1709, fell into the error of Tritheism in his "Eclaircissements sur la doctrine et I'histoire ecclesiastiques des deux premiers siecles" (Paris, 1696), in which he tried to make out that the earliest Fathers were Tritheists. He was replied to by the Premonstratensian Abbot Louis-Charles Hugo ("Apologie du systeme des Saints Peres sur la Trinit(5," Luxemburg, 1699) . A canon of Treves named Oembs, who was infected with the doctrines of the " Enlighten- ment", similarly attributed to the Fathers his own view of three similar natures in the Trinity, calling the numerical unity of God an invention of the Scholastics. His book, "Opuscula de Deo Uno et Trino" (Mainz, 1789), was condemned by Pius VII in a Brief of 14 July, 1804. GUnther is also accused of Tritheism.

(4) Among Protestants, Heinrich Nicolai (d. 1660), a professor at Dantzig ;ind ;it Elbing (not to be con- founded with the founder of tlic Familisten), is cited. The best known is William Sherlock, Dean of St. Paul's, whose "Vindication of the Doctrine of the Trinity" (London, 1690) against the Socinians was attacked by Robert South in "Animadversions on Dr. Sherlock's Vindication" (1693). Sherlock's work is said to have made William Manning a Socinian and Thomas Emlyn an Arian, and the dispute was ridi- culed in a skit entitled "The Battle Royal", attrib- uted to William Pittis (1694?), which was trans- lated into Latin at Cambridge. Joseph Bingham, author of the "Antiquities", preached at Oxford in 1695 a sermon which was considered to represent the Fathers as Tritheists, and it was condemned by the Hebdomadal Council as falsa, impia et hcerelica, the scholar being driven from Oxford.

For bibliography see Monophysites.

John Chapman.

Trithemius, John, a famous scholar and Benedic- tine abbot, b. at Trittenheira on the Moselle, 1 Feb- ruary, 1462; d. at Wiirzburg, 13 December, 1516. The abbot liim-

self, in his " Nepiachus ", trives an account I if his youth, which was a time of hard suffering owing to the harsh treat- ment of his selfish .stepfather, who allowed the t,al- entcd boy to grow up in complete ig- norance till the age of fifteen, when he learned reading and writ- ing as well as the rudiments of Latin in a remarkably short time. But as his persecution at home did not cease, he ran away, and after a painful journey succeeded in reaching Wiirzburg, where the well-known humanist, Jacob Wimphehng, was teaching; here the ambitious youth pursued his classical studies till 14S2. In order to revisit his home he determined to make an excursion to the neigh- bovirhood of Treves accompanied by a comrade; it was January and the yoimg men travelled afoot. A short visit to the monastery of Sponheim was to

John Trithemius evet'.s Livre de.s Vrai? traits, Paris, 1584

prove of decisive importance for the yoimg Trithe- mius; hardly had the travellers taken leave of the monks when a snowstorm obliged them to return to the monastery. At the in\'itation of the prior, Henry of Holzhausen, who had quickly discerned the talents of his young guest, Trithemius remained in Spon- heim; eight days later he received the habit of the order and made his vows in the same year, 8 Decem- ber. His life in the monastery was exemplarj'; he commanded the respect of his brethren, and the love of his superiors. The proof of the respect in which he was held by all was the fact that although he was the youngest member of the community, and had not yet been ordained, he was elected abbot at the age of twenty-two, during the second year of his life in the order. His election was a great blessing for Spon- heim. With youthful vigour and a firm hand he undertook the direction of the much-neglected monas- tery. He first turned his attention to the material needs of his community, then set himself to the much more cUfficult task of restoring its disciphne. Above all, his own example, not only in the conscientious observance of the rules of the order, but also in the tireless pursuit of scientific studies, brought about the happiest results.

In order to promote effectively scientific research, he prociired a rich collection of books which com- prised the most important works in all branches of human knowledge; in this way he built up the world- renowned library of Sponheim for the enriching of which he laboured unceasingly for twenty-three years till the collection numbered about 2000 volumes. This library, unique in those days, made Sponheim known throughout the entire world of learning. The attractive personality of the abbot also helped to spread the fame of the monastery. Among his friends he numbered, not only the most learned men of his time, such as Celtes, Reuchlin, and John of Dalberg, but also many princes — including the Emperor Maximilian, who held him in great esteem. But the farther his reputation extended in the world the greater became the number of malcontents in the monastery w-ho opposed the abbot's discipline. Finally he resigned as head of his beloved abbey, which he had ruled for twenty-three years, and which he had brought to a most flourishing condition; after his departure the monastery sank into its former insignificance. The Emperor Maximilian desired to bring the famous scholar to his Court, and to make him the historiographer of the Imperial House with a life-long pension; he was also promised rich abbeys. But 'I'rifliemius sought the quiet and peace of a more retircil life, antl this he found as abbot of the Scottish monastery of St. Jacob, at Wiirzburg (1506). Here he found only three monks, so he had ample oppor- tunity to display the same activity he had shown at Sponheim. He spent the last ten years of his life in the production of many important WTitings. Only once (hd he leave his monastery (1508) for a short stay at the imperial Court. He died at fifty-five years of age and was buried in the Scottish church at Wiirzburg.

The Order of St. Benedict was indebted to this energetic abbot for his zealous promotion of the Bursfeld Congregation, for his encouragement of learning in the order, and for his earnest furtherance of monastic discipline. "The great abbot", says one of his biographers, "was equally worthy of respect as a man, as a religious, and as a writer." Of his more than eighty works only part have appeared in print. The greater number of these are ascetical writings which treat of the religious life and were published by John BusiEUS, S.J., under the title " Joannis Trithemii opera pia et spiritualia" (Mainz, 1604) ; they are among the best works of devotional literature produced at the time. Marquard Freher published a part of his historical works as "Joanms