Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 5.djvu/317

 ECHTER

271

ECK

to the curious " dancing procession ' ' which takes place annually on Whit Tuesday, in honour of St. Willi- brord. The cult of the saint may be traced back almost to the date of his death, and the stream of pil- grims to his tomb in the abbey church has never ceased. The Emperors Lothair I, Conrad, and Maxi- milian may be numbered amongst them. The tomb stands before the high altar, and has been recently entirely renewed. On it is a recumbent effigy of the saint, and amongst other relics preserved there are a mitre, crosier, and chasuble said to have been used by him. The origin of the procession cannot be stated with certainty. Authentic documents of the fifteenth century speak of it as a regular and recognized custom at that time, but for earlier evidence there is only tradition to depend upon. The legend is that in 1347, when a pestilence raged amongst the cattle of the neighbourhood, the symptoms of which were a kind of trembling or nervous shaking followed by speedy death, the people thought that by imitating these symptoms, more or less, whilst imploring the interces- sion of St. Willibrord, the evil might be stayed. The desired result was obtained, and so the dancing pro- cession to the saint's tomb became an annual cere- mony. Nowadays it is made an act of expiation and penance on behalf of afflicted relations and especially in order to avert epilepsy, St. Vitus's dance, convul- sions, and all nervous diseases. The function com- mences at nine o'clock in the morning at the bridge over the Sure, with a sermon by the pari.sh priest (formerly the abbot of the monastery) ; after this the procession moves towards the basilica, through the chief streets of the town, a distance of about H kilometres. Three steps forward are taken, then two back, so that five steps are required in order to advance one pace. The result is that it is well after midday before the last of the dancers has reached the church. They go four or five abreast, holding each other by the hand or arm. Many bands accompany them, playing a traditional melody which has been handed down for centuries. A large number of priests and religious also accom- pany the procession and not infrequently there are several bishops as well. On arrival at the church, the dance is continued around the tomb of St. Willibrord, when litanies and prayers in his honour are recited, and the whole concludes with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Though curious and even somewhat ludicrous, the people perform it in all seriousness and as a true act of devotion. It usually attracts to Echternach a great concourse of tourists as well as pilgrims, and as many as ten thousand people gener- ally take part in it. The procession took place annu- ally without intermission until 1777. Then, on ac- count of some abuses that had crept in, the music and dancing were forbidden by the Archbishop of Trier, and in 1780 Joseph II abolished the procession alto- gether. Attempts were made to revive it ten years later bvit the French Revolution effectually prevented it. It was recommenced, however, in 1802 and has continued ever since. In 1826 the Government tried to change the day to a Sunday, but since 1830 it has always taken place on Whit Tuesday, as formerly.

Ste-Mahthe. Gallia Christiana (Paris, 1785), XIII; Mak- TENE AND DnRAND, Vo'/afje lilli'raire de deux Benediclins (Paris. 1724), III; MiGNE, Did. rfcs ^6fca«c.? (Paris, 1856); Khier, La Procession dansanie h Echternach (Luxemburg, 1888); Rein- ERH. Die St. Willibrords Stiftung Echternach (Luxemburg, 1896); Taunton, Echternach and the Dancing Pilgrims in Cath- olic World (New York, 1S91 ), LXV.

G. Cyprian Alston.

Echter von Mespelbrunn, Julius, Prince- Bishop of Wiirzburg, b. IS March, 1545, in the Castle of Mespelbrunn, Spe.ssart (Bavaria); d. 13 Sept., lfiI7, at Wiirzburg. Descended from an ancient family in the .service of the archbishops of Mainz, he received a good education in the schools of that city, also at Louvain, Douai, Paris, Angers, Pavia, and Rome ; it was in Rome that he became a licentiate of

canon and civil law. In 1567 he entered on his duties as canon of Wiirzburg, an office to which he had been appointed in 1554; in 1570 he became dean of the cathedral chapter, and in 1573, at the age of twenty- eight, even before his ordination to the priesthood, was appointed Prince-Bishop of Wurzburg. Various causes had combined to bring the diocese into a sad state. Deeply in debt and poorly administered, it had an almost entirely Protestant population. The clergy, in point of virtue and learning, were for the most part unequal to their task, and the cathedral chapter was adverse to any ecclesiastical reform. During the first ten years of Echter's government the attempt to unite the Abbey of Fulda and the Bishop- ric of Wurzburg, after the deposition of the Prince- Abbot Balthasar von Dernbach, caused much con- fusion. This was due to the youthful ambition of Echter, and not, as some wish to interpret it, a sign of any anti-Catholic sentiments on his part. From the outset he endeavoured to carry out a thorough eccle- siastical restoration. For this reason he encouraged, as far as possible, the Jesuits and promoted their benef- icent ministry. In the same spirit he conceived the plan of founding a university at Wurzburg, and despite all difficulties it was solemnly opened (2 Jan., 1582) and became a model for all similar Counter- Reformation institutions. Under the Jesuits it flourished, grew rapidly, and furnished the see with the priests and officials needed to counterbalance the more or less irreligious temper of the population. The bishop was now able to take decisive steps against Protestantism. He banished all Lutheran preachers from his territory and removed all priests who were unwilling to observe the rules of their office. The public officials had to be Catholics, and none but Catholic teachers could be appointed. He began, moreover, courses of careful instruction for non- Catholics, and to some extent threatened them with penalties and even with banishment. Within three years about 100,000 returned to the Catholic Church. Public worship was also improved by the introduction of new devotions, processions, and the establishment of confraternities. Bishop Echter restored ruinous monasteries or devoted their revenues to the erection of new parishes and to the building of three hundred new churches. The tapering towers of these churches, called after the bishop "Julius towers", still preserve his memory. His most beneficial and lasting monu- ment, after the university, is the Julius Hospital, which he foimded with the endowment of the aban- doned monastery of Heiligenthal. By skilful ad- ministration he improved the decadent economic con- ditions of his ecclesiastical states, reduced taxes, per- fected the administration of justice, and established many primary schools. In a word, he proved himself one of the most capable rulers of his time. Not only in his own diocese did he display an extraordinary and varied activity, but as the founder and soul of the Catholic League, he exercised a decisive influence on the future of Germany.

BucHiNGER, Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn (Wurzburg, 1843); Wegele in Allgemeine dcutsche Biographic, XIV, 671-

84. Patricius Schlager.

Eck (EcKius), Johann, theologian and principal adversary of Luther, b. 15 Nov., 1486, at Eck in Swa- bia; d. 10 Feb., 1543, at Ingolstadt. His family name was Maier, and his father, Michael Maier, was for many years magistrate in the town, the latinized name of which, Eckius or Eccius, was adopted after 1505 by Johann. His uncle, Martin Maier, pastor at Rotheiiburg on the Neckar, received Johann in his house (1495) and educated him. In 1498, when twelve years old, he was admitted to the Heidelberg University; thence he went in 1499 to Tiibingen where he received the degree of Master of Arts in 1501 ; then to Cologne and in 1502 to Freiburg in the Breisgau. After his graduation in the faculty of arts