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 GAZZANIGA

401

GEBHARD

the oratory of the martyr St. Timothy; in the same place were relics of the martyrs St. Major and St. Thea. Christianity, however, spread rapidly in Ma- juma, the port of Gaza, between two and three miles from the city and owing dependence to it. The citi- zens of the port obtained from Constantine the privi- lege of municipal independence for their city, under the name of Constantia, with the right to have its own bishops. When, later, Julian the Apostate withdrew its civic rights from Majuma, it still retained its bishops, the most famous of whom were Peter the Iberian, a Monophysite ascetic, and St. Cosmas, foster brother and friend of St. John Damascene. In the neighbouring cities, e. g. Anthedon, Bethelia, and Menois, Christianity was also introduced with diffi- culty. Under Julian the Apostate three brothers, Eusebius, Nestabos, and Zeno, were put to death at Gaza by the populace. St. Hilarion, born in the neighbouring Thabatha, a small village, was com- pelled to tlee to Sicilj' to escape persecution by the pagans (Sozom., "Hist. Eccl.", V, Lx; Greg. Naz., "Invect. I in Jul.", 66-67). The first church built in Gaza itself was the work of St. Irenion (d. .393) whose feast is 16 December. He was succeeded by ^Eneas, and later by St. Porphyry (395—120), the true restorer of Christianity in Gaza. This holy bishop first sent Marcus, his deacon and historian, to Constantinople to obtain an order to close the pagan temples. The Christians then scarcely numbered 200 in Gaza; though the rest of the empire was gradually abandon- ing its idols, Gaza was stubborn in its opposition to Christianity. The decree was granted by the em- peror, and thetemples closed, with the exception of the Marneion, the temple sacred to Zeus Manias, which had replaced that of Dagon. There was no great change, however, in the sentiments of the people; so St. Porphyry decided to strike a decisive blow. He went himself to Constantinople during the winter of 401-402 and obtained from Arcadius a decree for the destruction of the pagan temples, which Cynegius, a special imperial envoy, executed in May, 402. Eight temples, those of .\phrodite, Hecate, the Sun, Apollo, Core, Fortune, the Herceion, and even the Marneion, were either pulled down or burnt. Simultaneously soldiers visited every house, seizing and burning the idols and books of magic. On the ruins of the Mar- neion was erected, at the exp)ense of the empress, a large church called the Eudoxiana in her honour, and dedicated 14 April, 407. Paganism had thus ceased to exist officially.

Gaza, now a Christian city, became rich and pros- perous; and during the fifth and sixth centuries was the seat of a famous school of Christian rhetoricians. Monasticism also flourished there; and the Church recognizes as saints many religious of Gaza, e. g. Doro- theus, Dositheus, Barsanuphius, and John the Prophet; the Monophysite monks were also, for a time, actively engaged in its environs. At the Arab Invasion, about 637, the city fell before General Arar. The Eudoxiana was converted into a mosque, and the Roman garri- son, consisting of sixty soldiers under the command of Callinicus, having refused to apostatize, was slain at Eleutheropolis and Jerusalem ("Analecta Bollandi- ana", XXIII, 289-307; "Echos d' Orient", VIII, 1905, 40-43). The Arabs venerate the city as the burial-place of Hachem, the grandfather of Mahomet. When the Crusaders came, Gaza was almost in ruins; owing, however, to its situation on the way from Egypt to Syria, it soon regained prosperity. Baldwin III built a fortress there (1149) and confided it to the Templars. Saladin pillaged the city in 1170, but the fortress did not fall until 1187. Richard the Lion- hearted held it for a brief time. In 1244 the combined forces of Christians and Saracens were defeated by the Kharezmians. The Turks finally took Gaza in 1516; and in 1799 Bonaparte held it for a few days. It is now known as Gbazzeh. and is a kaimak- VI.— 26

amat in the sandjak of Jerusalem. It numbers over 40,000 inhabitants, nearly all Mussulmans. There are only 1000 Greek schismatics, 1.50 Jews, 50 Protestants, and 150 Catholics. The latter have a Catholic pastor under the Patriarch of Jerusalem. The Greek Church contains the tomb of St. Porphyry. Mosques are very numerous, among the most remarkable being Djamia- el-Kebir, the ancient cathedral of the crusaders, dedi- cated to St. John the Baptist; also Nebi-Hachem, in which is the tomb of the grandfather of Mahomet. The city is unclean, and its streets narrow and crooked. But seen from a distance, amid its surrounding vegeta- tion, it appears magnificent. The entire district is well irrigated and cultivated; the soil is extremely rich, and the trade of the city rather prosperous.

Marcus Diaconus, Vila Porphyrii episcopi Gazensis (Leipzig, 1895); SiBER, De Gaza Palestince oppido ejusque episcopis (Leipzig, 1715); Le Quien, Oriens Chruslianus, III. 603-622; Stark, Gaza und die phitisldische Kii^ste (Jena, 1852); Seitz, Die Schule von Gaza (Heidelberg, 1892); Roussos, Trois Ga~ zeens (Greek; Constantinople, 1S93); Schurer, Der Kalender und die Aera von Gaza (Berlin, 1896); Gatt in Vic. Diet, de la Bible, s. V. S. VaiLHE.

Gazzaniga, Pietro M.^ria, theologian, b. at Ber- gamo, Italy, 3 March, 1722; d. at Vicenza, 11 Dec, 1799. At a very early age he entered the Order of St. Dominic, and after a brilliant course in the various branches of ecclesiastical sciences, especially philoso- phy and theology, he was, despite his vouth, ap- pointed to teach philosophy and church historj-, first in the various houses of his order and later at the Uni- versity of Bologna. His genius, however, his untiring labours, and above all, his faculty for communicating knowledge did not long remain concealed within the walls of Bologna. Owing to the changes introduced into the theological faculty of the University of Vienna in 1760, the chair of dogmatic theology, which had been assigned exclusively to members of the Domini- can Order, was vacant. It was but natural then that the empress, Maria Theresa, should appeal to his supe- riors to have him transferred to her cherished seat of learning. His fame accompanied him. Students from all quarters flocked to him. At his feet sat the empress herself; Cardinal Migazzi, the renowned Garampi, and even Pius VI, during his sojourn in Vi- enna, never failed to attend his lectures, .\fter twenty years of active work he returned to Italy, where he continued to lecture in various places until his death.

In theology Gazzaniga is ranked as one of the fore- most defenders and exponents of the Thoraistic school during the latter part of the seventeenth, and the be- ginning of the eighteenth, century. By strict adher- ence to the traditional teaching of his school, he set himself against the spirit of his age, which sought to modernize and to conduct all theological schools of Austria on plans designed to render them more inde- pendent of ecclesiastical and royal authority. He suc- ceeded in winning over to his cause Simon Rock, till then the faithful associate of Van Swieten, the invet- erate promoter of the Jansenistic spirit in Austria, and with his assistance finally restored Thomism in the schools of that country. His fidelity to St. Thomas likewise rendered him very bitter against Molinism; so much so, in fact, that he succeeded in persuading the party of Father Gomar, as against that of Armin- ius, to subscribe to the Thomistic doctrine of predes- tination and reprobation (ad sanam Thomistarum de praedestinatione et reprobatione doctrinam descende- runt, Proelect., vol. II, diss. 6, n. 242). His principal work, the " Pra;lectiones theologicae habitae in vindo- bonensi universitate, nunc vero alio methodo disposi- tae, emendatae et auctae", has gone through many edi- tions (9 vols., Bologna, 1788-1793; Bassani, 183"l).

Werner. Geschichle der Kath. Theologie, 198; Hurter. NomendatoT. JoSEPH ScHROEDER.

Gebal. See Giblians.

Gebhard, Archbishop op Cologne. See Truch-

SESS VON WALDBtJRG.