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BOWYER

being the first manual, and for many years the only one well adapted to that period of transition (1830- 70), marked on the one hand by the deatli struggles of Gallicanism and Jansenism, and on the other by the work of reform undertaken in all departments of ecclesiastical learning.

At first. Bishop Bouvier published separate theo- logical treatises, which formed a collection of thir- teen volumes (1818-33), reduced in 1834 to six, and published in that form until 1852. The author en- deavoured to improve his work in the successive editions, but his failure to remove from it all traces of Gallicanism provoked criticism. A Galilean, through prejudices derived from his early training rather than from personal conviction, Bou\aer readily consented to submit liis work to the correc- tions of the theologians appointed by Pius IX. Their revision resulted in the eighth edition (1853). After the death of Bouvier, the professors of the seminary of Le Mans eliminated many imperfections which had been overlooked by the revisers of 1853. The manual was shortly afterwards adopted in more than sixty seminaries. Bouvier's treatment of moral theology is remarkable; he took a decided stand against Jansenism and adopted the doctrines of St. Alphonsus; though even tliis reaction against rig- orism did not bring his work up to the standard of the manuals of theology of the present time.

Some critics condemned much of the information in the "Institutiones" as a crude and confused mass, irrelevant, and only indirectly connected with moral theology. It must be recalled, however, that Bishop Bouvier did not enjoy the advantages of the present day, when the various branches of clerical study are classified, and each given its proper place. Not- withstanding the incompleteness of preparatory studies eighty years ago, the scarcity of vocations, the urgent need of priests, and limited pecuniary resources made it necessary to limit the clerical course to three years and, at the same time, to in- clude in the curriculum all the studies necessarj' for the exercise of the sacred ministrj- in parishes. Under such circumstances it was impossible to observe nice distinctions in the classification of ecclesiastical sciences. However, in .spite of defects, the "Insti- tutiones Theologicae" will stand as a signal achieve- ment on the morrow of the Revolution. The bishop gradually brought the education of the clergj- out of the errors and lethargy of the preceding chaotic age, and prepared for the reforms of the latter part of the nineteenth century. Like Cardinal Gousset he must be regarded as one of the foremost reformers of moral theology. Pius IX conceived the highest es- teem for him and invited him to be present at the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Con- ception.

GuERin, Diet, des diet. (Paris, 1S86), II, 302; Deshates in Diet, de thpol. cath., XIII, lllS; Hurter. Nomenclator (Inns- bruck. 1886); Ballerini, Opus Theoloffieum (2d ed.. Prato, 1891), VII. 421; Lehmkchl, Theologia Moralis (Freiburg, 1886), II, 796.

P. DiSSER.

Bova, Diocese of, situated in the ci\'il prov- ince of Reggio, in Calabria, Italy, suffragan to the Archdiocese of Reggio. Luminosus, who attended the Lateran Council (049), under Pope Martin I, is believed by some to have been the first Bishop of Bova; in reality he was Bishop of Bologna. The city of Bova (and consequently the see) is of much later origin than the pontificate of Martin I; it was peopled about 1477 by Albanian refugees fleeing from the Turkish invasions that followed upon the death of Scanderbeg. In their new home these Al- banians retained the Greek Rite, which remained in use until the reign of Pope Gregory XIII. One of the most distinguished Bishops of Bova was Achille Brancia (1549), a member of the Council of Trent. The diocese contains about 20,000 souls, 14 parishes,

34 churches and chapels, 34 secular priests, and 25 seminarians.

Cappelletti, Le chiese d'ltalia (Venice, 1844), XXI; Bat- TANDIER, Ann. pont, cath. (Paris, 1907).

U. Benigni.

Bovino, Diocese of, in the province of Foggia, Italy, suffragan to the Archdiocese of Benevento. The city, built on a gentle slope, has a population of over 30,000. The first Bishop of Bo\ino known to history is a certain Joannes mentioned in a deed of Landulphus I, Archbishop of Beneventum, dated 971. Among other bishops are Ugo (1099), whose ser\'ices and bounty to the Church are eulogized on two tablets, one preserved in the episcopal residence, the other in the cathedral; Giso (1100), commem- orated on the fagade of the church of San Pietro; Roberto (1190), who built the shrine of San Michele; Pietro, who erected a new cathedral to replace the ruinous old one; Bartolomeo della Porta (1404), a distinguished jurisconsult; Cardinals Benedetto Ac- colti (1530) and Gabriele Marini (1535); Gian Dome- nico Annio, successor to liis brother, Gian Ferdinando (1565), and the greatest canonist of his time; Paolo Tolosa (1601), founder of the seminary and later Archbishop of Chieti; Angelo Ceraso (1685), a man of great sanctity, who always made the ^dsitation of his diocese on foot.

On account of political entanglements consequent upon difficulties which had arisen between the pope and the court of Naples, this see remained vacant from the death of Bishop Nicolo Molinari, in 1792, until 1818. There exists to the present day in this diocese a famous shrine of Our Lady (Santa Maria in Valverde) erected in 1244 by Bishop Giambattista. The little toT\Ti of Castelluccio in this diocese is in- habited almost entirely by descendants of Greeks who took refuge in Italy in the fifteenth century. They have a clergj- and a liturgj- of their own rite. The diocese contains 32,710 CathoUcs, 10 parishes, 76 churches and chapels, SO secular priests, and 13 seminarians.

C-\PPELLETTI, Le chiese d'ltalia (Venice, 1844); Battandier, Ann. pont. cath. (Paris, 1907).

U. Benigni.

Bowyer, Sir George, Baronet, an eminent English \\Titer on jurisprudence, as well as a promi- nent defender of the Holy See and of Catholic interests in general, both by voice and pen, was bom at Radley House, in Berkshire, 8 October, 1811; d. in London, 7 June, 1883. His family, traceable much farther back, settled, early in the seventeenth centurj', at Denham Court, Buckinghamshire, and in 1660 the head of the house was made a baronet. His grandfather was a naval officer of high distinction, who took part in Howe's famous victorj- off Ushant, 1 June, 1794. George Bowyer was at first intended for the army, and so for a while he was a cadet at Woolwich. His bent, however, was towards the law; accordingly, in 1836, he was admitted a student at the Middle Temple, his call to the English Bar regu- larly ensuing in 1839. Five days after his call to the Bar, partly, perhaps, because of two learned works published by him in the foregoing year, and partly, perhaps, by reason of his family's neighbour- hood at Radley, "the University of Oxford created liim an honorarj' M. A., Jlr. Bowyer forthwith began practice as an equity draughtsman and conveyancer, without ceasing to devote himself to congenial literary work. In 1841 he published "The Endish Constitution, a Popular Commentarj' on the Con- stitutional Laws of England", which in 1844 was followed by "Commentaries on the C\\\\ Law". So valuable were these works that at midsummer of the latter year the University of Oxford bestowed on him the "highest honour in its gift by creating him a D.C.L. In 1849 he endeavoured to get into Parliament as a representative of Reading Borough