Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 5.djvu/676

 EUGENIUS

602

EUGENIUS

The deliberations with the Greeks lasted for over a year, and were concluded at Florence, 5 July, 1439, by the Decree of Union. Though the union was not per- manent, it vastly enhanced the prestige of the papacy. The union with the Greeks was followed by that of the Armenians, 22 Nov., 1439, the Jacobites, 1443, and the Nestorians, 1445. Eugene exerted himself to the utmost in rousing the nations of Europe to resist the advance of the Turks. A powerful army was formed in Hungary, and a fleet was despatched to the Helles- pont. Tlie first successes of the Christians were fol- lowed, in 1444, by the crushing defeat at Varna. In the mean time, the dwindling conventicle at Basle pro- ceeded on the path of schism. On 24 Jan., 1438, Eugene was pronounced suspended, and this step was followed by his deposition on 25 June, 1439, on the charge of heretical conduct towards a general council. To crown their infamy, the sectaries, now reduced to one cardinal and eleven bishops, elected an anti-pope, Duke Amadeus of Savoy, as Felix V. But Christen- dom, having recently experienced the horrors of a schism, repudiated the revolutionary step, and, be- fore his death, Eugene had the happiness of seeing the entire Christian world, at least in theory, obedient to the Holy See. The decrees of Florence have since been the solid basis of the spiritual authority of the papacy.

Eugene secured his position in Italy by a treaty, 6 July, 1443, with Alfonso of Aragon, whom he con- firmed as monarch of Naples, and after an exile of nearly ten years he made a triumphant entry into Rome, on 28 Sept., 1443. He devoted his remaining years to the amelioration of the sad condition of Rome, and to the consoHdation of his spiritual author- ity among the nations of Europe. He was unsuccess- ful in his efforts to induce the French court to cancel the anti-papal Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges (7 July, 1438), but, by prudent compromises and the skill of /Eneas Silvius, he gained a marked success in Germany. On the eve of his death he signed (5, 7 Feb., 1447) with the German nation the so-called Frankfort, or Princes', Concordat, aseriesof four Bvills, in which, after long hesitancy and against the advice of many cardinals, he recognized, not without diplo- matic reserve, the persistent German contentions for a new council in a German city, the mandatory de- cree of Constance (Frequens) on the frequency of such councils, also its authority (and that of other gen- eral councils), but after the manner of his predecessors, from whom he declared that he did not intend to differ. On the same day he issued another document, the so-called "Bulla Salvatoria", in which he as.serted that notwithstanding these concessions, made in his last illness when unable to examine them with more care, he did not intend to do aught contrary to the teachings of the Fathers, or the rights and authority of the Apostolic See (Hergenrother-Kirsch, II, 941-2). See Pins II; Gregory of Heimburg.

Ravxaldus, Annalcs, ad ann. 1431-47; Vespasiano da Bis- Ticcr, Commentario delta vita di Eugenio IV e Nicola Fete, in MonATORi. Script, rer. Hat., XXV, 251; Piccolomini. ibid.. lU (ii). 86S-904; Tiara et purpura Veneta (Venice, 1761). 5-15, .50-53, 344-48; ClinisToPHE. Hist, de la papaute au XV sit:de (Paris, 1863), II. 94-3.">9; Albert. PapsI Eugen IV (Mainz, 1SS5); Arnold, Hep. Gtrm. eir. (Berlin, 1S97), I; Gebmardt, Die fi'rnvamina d. deutuch. Nat. gegen den ram. Hof (Bresiau, isd.-.i: PisTnn, Oe.'ich. der Pilp.'^le. etc. (4th ed.), I, 280 sqq., ■il'/' 1 1 \ tf:(.ni-a (St. Louis, 1902); Hefele, Conciliengesch., \ 1 I ! ' . her deutsche Kardinal Nick. Von Cusa und die

A ' / ,( (Ratisbon, 1847); Montor, Hist, of the Popes

(Nris \ ,ik, lsi;7), II; nee also literature on the Councils of liable anil Florence, and on Humanism and Renais.s.ancc in

ClIEVAIJER, Bio-bibl., 1399-40, and HERCENROTHKR-KinsCH,

Kirchcngesch. (1904), II, 907-9.

James F. Loughlin.

Eugenius I, Archbishop of Toledo, successor in 636 of Justus in that see; d. 647. Like his predecessor he had been a disciple of Helladius in the monastery of .\gli. He is famous as an astronomer and astronomi- cal mathematician. As a bishop he was virtuous and

intelligent. At this period, under the Gothic kings, the councils of Toledo were national diets convoked by the monarch, attended by lay lords; they regulated, to_ some extent, not only spiritual but temporal af- fairs. Of these councils Eugenius presided at the fifth, convoked in 636 by King Chintil to confirm his elevation to the throne; he assisted at the sixth, con- voked by the same king to take precautions against the disorders of royal elections. This council, con- trary to the principles later put in practice by St. Ildephonsus, banished all Jews who did not embrace the Catholic Faith. Eugenius attended the seventh council of Toledo, which was summoned by King Chindaswith and decreed that the bishops of Toledo should reside one month every year in that city.

Goschler, Diet, encyel. de la theol. calk. (Paris, 1860); Labbe, Sacrosancta Concilia (Paris, 1671), V, 1738, 1749, 1841.

Eugenius II (the Younger), Archbishop of Toledo from 647 to 13 Nov., 657, the date of his death. He was the son of a Goth named Evantius, became a cleric in the cathedral of Toledo, and at the death of Eugenius I was elected his successor. The office was so little to his taste that he fled to Saragossa to lead a monastic life, but was forced to return to Toledo by King Chindaswith and take up the government of that see. Though of small stature and feeble health he was a zealous prelate. He undertook the reform of the ecclesiastical chant of the Divine OfRce and achieved distinction as a writer of prose and poetry. His style is natural and clear, and his exposition easy and agree- able. His poems, though lacking polish and elegance, are full of fire, spirit, and poetic movement. Piety breathes throughout, and the orthodoxy of his faith is notable. His thought is solid, fertile, and gives evi- dence of a well-trained mind. His feast is kept on 13 November.

Eugenius left two books in prose and verse, published (Paris, 1619) by Father Sirmond, S.J., containing his poems on religious and secular subjects, his recension of the poem of Dracontius on " The Six Days of Crea- tion" (Hexaemeron), to which he added a "Seventh Day", and a letter to King Chindaswith explaining the plan of the entire work ; he also edited the metrical " Satisfactio ' ' of Dracontius, an account of the writer's misfortunes. Of this work Bardenhewer says (Pa- trology, tr.St. Louis, 1908, p. 619) that it "underwent a substantial revision at the hands of Eugenius II, Bishop of Toledo, in keeping with the wish of the Visigothic King Chindaswith (642—49) ; not only were the poetical form and the theology of the poem affecteil by this treatment, but probably also its political senti- ments. It is this revision that was usually printed as Dracontii Elegia (Migne, P.L.,LXXVIII, 383-88), until the edition of Arevalo (Rome, 1791, 362-402, and 901- 32) made known the original text". He also wrote a treatise on the Trinity probably against the Arian Visigoths. Ferrera mentions a letter of Eugenius to the king and one to Protasius. the Metropolitan of Tar- ragona, promising if possible to write a mass of St. Hippolytus and some festal sermons, but disclaiming the ability to equal his former productions.

Sirmond, Opera (Venice. 1728), II, 610; P. L.. LXXXVII, 347-418; Ferrera, History of Spain, ad ann. 647-658; Gams, Kirchenoesch. Spaniens (1874), II, 2, 132-35; Michacd, Biog. Univ. (Paris, 1826).

Mark J. McNeal.

Eugenius of Carthage, Saint, unanimously elected Bishop of Carthage in 480 to succeed Deogra- tias (d. 450); d. 13 July, 505. The election was de- ferred owing to the opposition of the Arian Vandal kings and was only permitted liy Huncric at the in- stance of Zeno and I'lacidia, into whose family the Vandals had married. The Ijishop's wise government, charity to the poor, austerity of life, and courage un- der persecution, won the admiration of the Arians. In his uncompromising defence of the Divinity of the