Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 7.djvu/243

 HELIAE

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HELIAND

Heliae, Paul (Povl Helgesen), Carmelite, op- ponent of the Reformation in Denmark, b. at War- berg (in the Laen of Halland), about 14S0; d. after 1534, place unknown. In early youth he entered the Carmelite convent of his native town, where he re- ceived his first education, and in course of time ob- tained the degrees of Lecturer on Holy Scripture and Bachelor of Divinity; he was elected provincial in 1519 and soon after professor at the University of Copenhagen. In these positions he had to choose sides in the religious strife which broke out on the appointment of a Lutheran pastor to the parish of St. Nicholas, and the introduction of a new ecclesiastical code of distinctly schismatical tendencies. In a ser- mon preached at court he warmly defended the Cath- olic Faith and made some pointed remarks on the king's morals, with the result that he had to seek safety in flight until the dethronement of Christian II and the election of Frederick I procured a short respite to the Catholic religion. L^nfortunately Helgesen, through misdirected zeal, rendered his own faith sus- pect; he preached against simony, avarice, and other

Heliand, The (Germ. Heiland, Saviour), the oldest complete work of German literature. Matthias Fla- cius lUyricus (1520-75) published in his "Catalogus testium veritatis" the Latin text of the "Priefatio", reciting that Emperor Louis the Pious had ordered a translation of the Old and the New Testament into the Saxon language, to make Christianity better known to his Saxon subjects. A fragment of the manuscript of the "Heliand" in the Cottonian Li- brary was di.seovered by Junius before 15S7, and e.x- tracts from the poetn were first published by George Hickes in 1705. In 1720 J. G. von Eckhart identified it with the Old Saxon poem mentioned in the " Praefa- tio" of Flacius. The full text appeared in 1830, edited by J. Andrew Schmeller, from a Munich manu- script. To Schmeller also is due the title "Heliand". The genuineness of the" Pnefatio", important because it bears witness to the language of the Heliand as Saxon, and to its composition under Louis the Pious, (c. 830), was for a long time doubted, because it as- serted that Louis had also commissioned the Sa.xon bard to write poetic versions of the Old Testament.

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clerical vices with a vehemence peculiar to Protestant invectives, and also published a Danish translation of Luther's "Betbiichlein" (prayer book on the com- mandments, the Creed, the Our Father and Hail Mary) ; his object in placing Luther's work before the Catho- lics of Denmark was evidently to eliminate what was unsound in faith and to preserve only that which agreed with the doctrine of the Church; yet, owing to hurry, Helgesen allowed much to pass which should have been omitted, and failed to emphasize some of the most important dogmas.

The result was that both Catholics and Protestants remained for some time uncertain as to his real belief, and afterwards, when his attitude proved him to be an uncompromising adherent of the Catholic religion, he was nicknamed Vendekaahe (weathercock), imder which name he went down to posterity. Neverthe- less he missed no occasion to attack heresy, writing no less than six works in defence of the old faith, and taking part in public disputations. But all in vain; protected by th^ king (in flagrant violation of his oath), and fostered both by Germany and Sweden, the new religion grew ever)- day more powerful ; Catholic worship was gradually abolished, and Helgesen had the sorrow to see the convents of his order secularized. Nothing is known concerning his last days; Schmitt inclines to think that he met with a violent death dur- ing or after the siege of Roskilde (1530), and thus gained a martyr's crown; others are of opinion that he may have withdrawn to some convent abroad, perhaps in Holland.

Schmitt. Der Karmeliter Paulus Heliae (Freiburg im Br., 1893), where there is a complete list of his worlvs, whether ex- tant or lost; among the former mention must lie m.^(le of the polemical witings published by Secher, Poiel Eliesenx danske Skrifler, I, 1855. B. ZIMMERMAN.

KLIAXD

centurj' MS.. Munich

Since 1894, however, when K. Zangemeister found fragments of a Saxon translation of Genesis in the Bibliotheca Palatina, the genuineness of the "Pr£B- fatio" is generally acknowledged. The Heliand is an epic poem whose theme, like that of the Anglo-.Saxon Caedmon,isthelifeof Christ. The author is unknown; some, like Riickert, are con'vincetl that the poem was written by a priest, while others, like Piper, advocate the authorship of a layman. The basis of the story is thought to be Tatian's "Diatessaron" (Gospel Har- mony), or a work like it. The author, however, has also consulted various commentators, among whom are mentioned the Venerable Bede and Rabanus Mau- rus. This fact favours the view that the author was a priest, while his intimate mastery of the formula and metrical shifts of the Old Saxon minstrels suggests that he was a skop and a layman. Certain theological in- accuracies also make for the latter opinion. The au- thor was a man of poetic power, for unlike Ottfried, who shortly after him wrote the rhymed Gospel Har- mony, in High German, he produced a work of real poetic in.spiration. His work was difficult. The Saxons had been forcibly converted to Christianity by Charlemagne only a few years before. They were a rude, vigorous and warlike race, loyal to their chiefs, without culture and learning, who cared little for re- ligious speculations. To interest such men in the story of the Divine Teacher and His doctrines was of course difficult. The poet therefore adopted a bold expedient. He represents Christ not so much as a Divine Teacher but as the Prince of Peace, the Sov- ereign Ruler, who gathers about him his loyal vassals, the Apostles. With their aid He founds His kingdom upon earth, and appears throughout His career as the beneficent Lord of men. His life is related from His