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 CANON

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CANON

tions. Cano is also said to have for some time de- feated the wish of the Jesuits to establish themselves in Salamanca. His strictures, which made a great stir, were published about the time of the suppression of the Society, but were withdrawn from publication in 1777. They were republished in "Crisis de laCom- pania de Jesus'" (Barcelona, 1900), 152-159. Cano's advice in important affairs of Church and State was often sought. Though possessing the full confidence of Philip II, he declined in 1554 the position of con- fessor to the king.

In whatever light his personal traits may appear, Cano made an imperishable name for himself in his work, "De Locis Theologicis" (Salamanca, 1563), which in classic elegance and purity of style ap- proaches the great didactic treatises of Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintillian. It certainly ranks with the most lauded productions of the Renaissance, not only on account of its fluency and freedom, but also for its lucid judgment and profound erudi- tion. In the estimation of some critics this work, marking a new epoch in the history of theology, has made its author worthy of a place next to St. Thomas Aquinas. The " De Locis" was the out- come of a movement inaugurated by Francis de Victoria to restore the best patristic learning and to give to theological science a purer diction and an im- proved literary form. Cano took up the work of his master, and after years of labour gave out the produc- tion that was worthy of their united aspirations and endeavours. It was Cano's idea to establish scientifi- cally the foundations of theological science, and there- fore the "De Locis" is a treatise on theological method. After elucidating the distinction between arguments based on authority and arguments from reason, the author enumerates ten loci, or sources of theology, each the subject, of a book. With admi- rable precision and clearness he treats successively the authority of Holy Writ, oral tradition, the Catho- lic Church, the Councils, the Fathers, the Roman Church, the Scholastic theologians, the value of natural reason as manifested in science, the author- ity of philosophers, and the authority of history. The twelfth and last book treats of the use and appli- cation of these loci, or sources, in scholastic debate or theological polemics. Two further books on t he loci as applicable to Scriptural exposition and as employed against various classes of adversaries of the Catholic Church were contemplated by Cano, but he was over- taken by death before he completed his work. A standard quarto edition of the " De Locis Theologicis " (Padua, 1714) was edited by Hyacinth Serry, with a " Prologus Galeatus" defending Cano against his critics. This is followed by most of the subsequent editions, some twenty in all. Two other treatises, "De Sacramentis" and " De Poenitentia", are not so well known, but they show the same character of solidity and clearness of method, and the same ele- gant Latinity.

Quetif-Ech \ri>. Scriptorea Ord. Pned^ II. 176; Mandonnet in Vacant, Diet ■!■ t>,.,,\.. r. ruihuUqur d'uris, 1901 >, m] l.'.M.; Touron, Hint, des hommea iUvet. <!• Vordre de S, Dom IV; Caballero, ConquenseB illustres, II : w ' is7ii,

Werner, Gesch. d. apolog. u. polem. Litterateur (1889), I \

JOHN It. VOLZ.

Canon (an ecclesiastical person, I. at. Canonicus), a member of a chapter or body of clerics living accord- ing to rule and presided over by one of their number.

Whc( her (he title as applied to persons is derived

from canon (Gk. Kaviir) a rule, or from the same term meaning a list of those who servi d a particular

church, is much discussed. As however there are various kinds of chapters, each having its own specific rule, rights, and privileges, the most accurate defini- tion of a canon is "a member of a chapter''. Some writers have derived the title from the canon or rule of community life that was followed by certain clerics

and which distinguished them from others who did not live in community. "A canon is so called from the canon, that is from the regularity of the life which he leads" (Scarfantoni, ed. Lucca, 1723, I, 5). Op- posed to this is the opinion that canons were so called from the fact that their names were inscribed on the lists of those who served particular churches for which they were ordained. (For the medieval use of the term see Ducange, Glossar. med et infimae Latinitatis, s.v. Canonicus.) The latter appears to be the more logical derivation and is in accord with the arguments of Thomassinus and most other writers, who agree that our present cathedral chapters are the modern form of the ancient bodies of presbyters who in each particular church formed with the bishop the senate of that church [Thomassinus, "Vetus ac nova disci- plina", pt. I,bk. Ill, cc. vii-xi, and lxiii-lxx; Binterim, "Denkwurdigkeiten" (1826), III (2), 317-84].

Historical Origin. — It is not possible to say exactly when canons first had recognition as a body distinct from the rest of the clergy (cf. Amort, Vetus disci- plina canonicorum regularium et saecularium, Venice, 1747). In the very first ages of Christianity there is evidence that many churches had their own proper bodies of clergy, although it is not so clear that these clericf kept to any common rule of life (see Canons and Canonesses Regular). At the same time there were many clerics who did live in common, e. g. the cenobites, and the term canon was applied to them as early as the fourth century; but it must not be in- ferred from this fact that the office of canon has its origin in those who followed the cenobitical Rule of St. Augustine (see Augustine, Rule op Saint). So far as the Western Church is concerned the first cer- tain evidence is contained in the famous ecclesiastical constitution or ordinance of the Benedictine monk Chrodegang, Bishop of Metz (763). His "Regula vitas communis" (rule of common life) was at once a restoration and an adaptation of the Rule of St. Augustine, and its chief provisions were that the ecclesiastics who adopted it had to live in common under the episcopal roof, recite common prayers, per- form a certain amount of manual labour, keep silence at certain times, and go to confession twice a year. They did not take the vow of poverty and they could hold a life interest in property. For the text of the Rule of Chrodegang see Mansi, "Coll. Cone", XIV, 313: also Walter, "Fontes Jur. eccl.''. n. 6. and the edition of W. Schmitz (Hanover, 1891); cf. Ebner, in "Rom. Quartalschrift " (1S91) v, 81-86. Twice a day they met to hear a chapter from the rule of their founder (see "Vita Chrodegangi", in "Mon. Germ. Hist.: Script.", X, 552), hence the meeting itself was soon called chapter (capitulum) and the members capitularies (capitulares). The canons then as now formed the council of the bishop and assisted him in the ruling of his diocese. Those attached to the cathedral churches, being regularly models of the vita canonica, wrrf soon known as canonici par excel- lence, and in time formed a special corporation, with all the rights proper to such bodies. From this period dates the daily recitation by the canons of the Divine Office or canonical hours (see Breviary). The Coun- cils of \aeheii (789) and .Mainz (813) contain provi- sions regarding canons, and in 811) the Council of Aachen drew up a rule of 147 articles for the whole

body of canons (HergenrOther-Kirsch, "Kirchen-

- b ". lih ed.. Freiburg, 1904, II, 170 -74; Beim- Bucher, "Orden und Kongregationen", 2d ed., Frei- burg, 1907,3 21). fn the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries, laxity crept in: community life was no longer strictly observed; the sources of revenue were

divided, and the portions allocated to the individual canons. This soon led to differences of income, con- sequently to avarice, covetousness, and the partial destruction of the canonical life (vita canonica). Various reforms were instituted by Nicholas II (1059)