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 BARBARIGO

285

BARBASTRO

reference to St. Barbara contained in the authentic early historical authorities for Christian antiquity, neither does her name appear in the original recen- sion of St. Jerome's martjTology. Veneration of the saint was common, however, from the seventh cen- tury. At about this date there were in existence legendary Acts of her martyrdom which were in- serted in the collection of Sjineon Metaphrastes and were used as well by the authors (Ado, Usuard, etc.) of the enlarged martjTologies composed during the ninth centurj' in Western Europe. According to these narratives, which are essentially the same, Barbara was the daughter of a rich heathen named Dioscorus. She was carefully guarded by her father who kept her shut up in a tower in order to preserve her from the outside world. An offer of marriage which was received through him she rejecteil. Be- fore going on a journey her father commanded that a bath-house be erected for her use near her dwelling, and during his absence Barbara had three windows put in it, as a symbol of the Holy Trinity, instead of the two originally intended. When he'r father re- turned she acknowledged herself to be a Christian; upon this she was ill-treated by him and dragged before the prefect of the province, Martinianus, who had her cruelly tortured and finally condemned her to death by beheading. The father himself carried out the death-sentence, but in punislunent for this he was struck by lightning on the way home and his body consumed. Another Christian named Juliana suffered the death of a marti,T along with Barbara. A pious man called Valentiniis buried the bodies of the saints; at this grave the sick were healed and the pilgrims who came to pray received aid and consola- tion. The emperor in whose reign the martyrdom is placed is sometimes called JIaximinus and sometimes Maximianus; owing to the purely legendary char- acter of the accounts of the martjTdom, there is no good basis for the investigations made at an earlier date in order to ascertain whether Maximinus Thrax (235-238), or Maximianus or Maximinus Daza (of the Diocletian persecutions), is meant.

The traditions varj' as to the place of martyrdom, two different opinions being expressed: SjTneon Metaphrastes and the Latin legend given by Mom- britius make Heliopolis in Egj'pt the site of the mar- tyrdom, while other accounts, to which Baronius ascribes more weight, give Nicomedia. In the "MartjTologium Romanum par\'um" (about 700), the oldest martjTology of the Latin Church in which her name occurs, it is said: "In Tuscia Barbaras virginis et raartjT-is", a statement repeated b}' Ado and others, while later additions to the martyrologies of St. Jerome and Bede say: "Romce Barbarse vir- ginis" or "apud Antiochiam passio S. Barbaras virg." These various statements prove, however, only the local adaptation of the veneration of the saintly martyr concerning whom there is no genuine historical tradition. It is certain that before the ninth century she was publicly venerated both in the East and in the West, and that she was very popular with the Christian populace. The legend that her father was struck by lightning cau.sed her, probably, to be regarded by the common people as the patron saint in time of danger from thunder-storms and fire, and later, by analogy, as the protector of artillery- men and miners. She was also called upon as inter- cessor to assure the receiving of the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist at the hour of death. An occurrence of the year 1448 did much to further the spread of the veneration of the saint. A man named Henry Kock was nearly burnt to death in a fire at Gorkum; he called on St. Barbara, to whom he had always shown great devotion. She aided him to escape from the burning house and kept him alive until he could receive the last sacraments. A similar circumstance is related in an addition to the " Legenda

aurea". In the Greek and present Roman calendars the feast of St. Barbara falls on 4 December, while the martjTologies of the ninth century, -nith excep- tion of Rabanus .Maurus, place it on 16 December. St. Barbara has often been depicted in art; she is represented standing by a tower with t hree windows, carrj'ing the palm of a martyr in her hand; often also she holds a chalice and sacramental wafer; sometimes cannon are displayed near her.

Passio, in Stmeon Metaphr.astf.s (Migne, P. G.. CXVI, col. 301 sqq.): MoMBRlTins, Vrt,r sanctorum (Venice. 14741 i:L°': '?.•, '^^'Ri'-s. De probatis sanctorum historiis (Cologne, lo7o), \1. 690, a work relating the incident at Gorkum: \\ rRTH, Danae m christlichen Lcgendcn (Vienna. 1892); Viteac fasszons des saints Ecatcnrine. Pierre d'Aleiandrie, Barbara et Anysia (Pari.s 1897): Legenda aurea des Jacobits 4 Voragine. ed. Ghasse (Leipzig. 1846). 901; Marlurologies o! Beue tMiaiii P. L. XCIV, col. 1134). Ado (Migne. op." cit., CXXIII, col. 415). Usu.tRDUs (ibid.. CXXIV. col. 765 and 807). Eabanus Maurus (ibid.. CX. col. 1183); Galesino. S. Barbara- virg et rnart . ed. SuRius, loc. cit., 690-692; Celestin. Histoire de S. Barbe (Paris, 1853); Villemot, Histoire de S Barbe t-urge et martyre (Paris, 1865); Peine, St. Barbara, die SchuU- heilige der Bergleute und der Artillerie, und ihre Darstelluno tn der Kunsi (Freiberg, 1896).

J. P. KiRSCH.

Barbarigo, Giov.-vxxi Fr.\xcesco, Italian Car- dinal, nephew of Blessed Gregorio Barbarigo (1625- 97), b. in 1658 at Venice; d. in 1730. He first entered the diplomatic service and was twice sent as repre- sentative of the Venetian Republic to the court of King Louis XIV of France. Later he entered the ecclesiastical state and became primicerius of the church of St. Mark at Venice. In 1697 he was named by Innocent XII Bishop of Verona, was transferred to Brescia in 1714, created cardinal 1720, and in 1723 became a successor of his uncle in the See of Padua. He was a zealous prelate, promoted the cause of beatification of Gregorio Barbarigo, and lent liis encouragement to the production of literary works. To nis suggestion was due the inception of the ecclesiastical history of Verona, and the works of St. Zeno, Bishop of Verona (362-380), were re- printed at his expense (Padua, 1710).

Feller, Biog. Univ., supplement (Paris, 1850). 9.

N. A. Weber.

Barbarossa. See Frederick I.

Barbastro (B.iRB.^sTRUM and Ci\nT.\s B.«b.\s- TRENsis), Diocese of, suffragan of the Spanish province of Huesca. The city (originally, per- haps, Bergidum or Bergiduna) is at the junction of the rivers Cinca and Vero. In the time of the Ro- mans it was a part of Hither Spain (Hispania Ci- terior). afterwards called Tarraconensis. It was taken by the Arabs, under the leadership of Muza (711), and the name Barbaschter given to it, from which the name Barbastrum, according to the gen- erally accepted oj)inion, is derived. It was held by the Saracens until about the year 1063, when it was retaken by Don Sancho Ramirez, King of Aragon. The Arabs once more obtained possession, but Are- mengol IV, Count of LTrgel, reconquered it, and after a third .\rab conquest it was restored to Spain, in 1101, by Pedro I, King of Aragon, who, with the pope's consent, constituted it an episcopal see, transferring the see from the ancient city of Roda to Barbastro. The first bishop, Poncio, went to Rome to obtain the pope's permission for this transfer. Many provincial and diocesan councils have been held in the city; the Cortes of Spain has met there occasionally, and during one of its sessions, King Ramiro, called the Monk, abdicated the crown (1134).

The diocese is bounded on the north by the Pyre- nees, on the east and south by the Diocese of L^rida, and on the west by those of Huesca and Yaca. It is a suffragan of Saragossa and is composed of 154 par- ishes under the supervision of ten archpriests, or vic- ars. The population is about 240,000. The clergy number about 220, and there are 231 churches and