Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 4.djvu/698

 DANIEL

620

DANIEL

councils of Venice. With this reservation it may be admitted that Dandolo took the leading part in the negotiations which ended in the capture of Constan- tinople. In fact it was to the interest of Venice to re-establish order and security in the Byzantine Em- pire. Dandolo proposed the expedition against Zara (October, 1212) to the crusaders, as a way to pay off their debt to Venice. In the council of war held after the capture of Zara, according to the testimony of Robert de Clare, Dandolo was the first to suggest that the preliminary occupation of Greece would greatly facilitate the conquest of the Holy Land. Thereafter, during the entire e.xpedition, his influence over the leaders of the Crasade grew from day to day. Ho presided at the council of war held at the Abbey of San Stefano, 23 June, 120.3, and gave the wisest ad- vice to the barons. In spite of his age he took an active part in the operations of the siege of Constan- tinople. While the barons attacked the walls in the Blachern» quarter, Dandolo directed the assault of the Venetians against the sea walls and hoisted the gonfalon of St. Mark on his galley. The city cap- tured, he wished to force Alexis IV to keep the prom- ises made to the crusaders. Upon his refusal, Dan- dolo boldly defied him and advised the barons to undertake a second siege of tlie city. In the council of war, 1 March, 1204, Dandolo signed with them the treaty partitioning the empire between Venice and the crusaders.

After the capture of the city he had Boniface of Montferrat driven out of the empire; the barons offered him the imperial crown, but he loyally refused it, so as not to violate the Constitution of Venice. The new emperor Baldwin gave him the title of " Despot ' ', and he settled in Constantinople. In 1205 he took part in the disastrous expedition against the Bul- garians; he died shortly afterwards and was buried in St. Sophia. Dandolo by his skill and energy estab- lished the political and commercial power of Venice in the Orient.

For bibliography see Crusades.

Louis Brehier.

Daniel, the hero and traditional author of the book which bears his name. This name (Heb.pN'JT or PXJT; Sept. Aavtr/X), which is also that of two other persons in the Old Te-stament [cf. I Paral., iii, 1 ; I Esd., viii, 2, and II Esd. (Nehem.), x, 6], means "God is my judge ", and is thus a fitting appellation for the writer of the Book of Daniel, wherein God's judgments are repeatedly pronounced upon the Gentile powers. Nearly all that is known concerning the Prophet Daniel is derived from the book ascribed to him. He belonged to the tribe of Juda (i, (5), and was of noble, or perhaps of royal, descent (i, 3; cf. Josephus, An- tiquities of the Jews, Bk. X, ch. x, § 1). When still a youth, probably about fourteen years of age, he was carried captive to Babylon by Nabuchodonosor in the fourth year of the reign of Joakim (005 B. c). There, with three other youths of equal rank named Ananias, Misael, and Azarias, he was entrusted to the care of Asphenez, the master of the king's eunuchs, and was educated in the language and learning of the "Chal- deans", whereby are meant the professors of divina- tion, magic, and astrology in Babylon (i, 3, 4). From this passage Jewish tradition has inferred that Daniel and his companions were made eunuchs; but this does not necessarily follow; the master of the eunuchs simply trained these Jewish youths, among others, with a view to their entering the king's service (i, 5). Daniel now received the new name of Baltassar (Babyl. Balatsu-u^ur, "Bel protect his life"), and. in agreement with Ananias, Misael, and Azarias, who received similarly the new names of Sidrach, Misaeh, and Abdenago, respectively, asked .and obtainetl per- mission not to use the special food from the royal table provided for those under training, and to be

limited to vegetable diet. At the end of three years Daniel and his three companions appeared before the king, who found that they excelled all the others who had been educated with tliem, and thereupon pro moted them to a place in his court. Henceforth, when- ever the prince tested them, they proved superior to "all the diviners, and wise men, that were in all his kingdom" (i, 7-20). Soon afterwards — either in the second or in the twelfth year of Nabuehodonosor's reign — Daniel gave a signal proof of his marvellous wisdom. On the failure of all the other wi.se men, he repeated and interpreted, to the monarch's satisfac- tion, the king's dream of a colossal statue which was made up of various materials, and which, on being struck by a stone, was broken into pieces, while the stone grew into a mountain and filled the whole earth. On this account, Daniel in Babylon, as Joseph of old in Egypt, ro.se into high favour with the prince, who not only bestowed on him numerous gifts, but also made him ruler of "the whole province of Babylon" and chief gover- nor of "all the wise men". At Daniel's request, too, his three friends received important pro- mot ions (ii). The next oppor- tunity afforded Daniel to give proof of his wis- dom was an- other dream of Nabuchodono- sor which, once more, he alone was able to inter- pret. The dream was of a mighty tree concerning which the king heard the com- mand given that it should be cut down, and that

Chapel, Rome)

seven times" should "pass over" its stump, which had been left standing. This, ex- plained Daniel, portended that in punishment of his pride the monarch would for a while lose his throne, be bereft of his reason, imagining himself an ox, and live in the open fields, but be again restored to his power, finally convinced of the supreme might and goodness of the Most High. With holy freedom, although in vain, the Prophet exhorted the king to forestall such punishment by atoning for his sins by deeds of mercy; r^nd Daniel's prediction was fulfilled to the letter (iv). For a parallel to this, see Abyde- nus' account (second century b. c.) quoted in Euse- bius (PriEp. Evang., IX, xli).

Nothing is expressly said as to what became of Daniel upon the death of Nabuchodonosor (561 B. c); it is sunply intimated in Daniel, v, 11 sqq., that he lost his high office at the court and lived long in re- tirement. The incident which brought him to jniblic notice again was the scene of revelry in Baltasar's palace, on the eve of Cyrus's conijuest of Babylon (538 B. c). While Baltasar (Heb. Belsh'aQi^ar, cor- responding to the Babyl. Balatsu-u^iur, "Bel protect the king") and his lords feasted, impiously lirinking their wine from precious vessels which had been taken from the Temple at Jerusalem, there appeared the fingers of a man writing on the wall: "Mano, Thecel, Phares". These mysterious words, which none of the king's wise men was able to interpret, were explained by l)aniel, who at length had been summoned, and who for his reward b(>came one of the three chief min- isters in the kingdom. The proi)het, now at least