Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 7.djvu/391

 HIERONYMITES

345

HIEROTHEUS

Ramsay, Asia Minor, 128; Le«uien, Or. Christ., I, 891; FoucART in Bulletin de correspondajice hellenique, XI (1887), 93 sqq.

S. Petrides.

Hieronymites. — In the fourth century, certain Roman ladies, following St. Paula, embraced the relig- ious life in Bethlehem, putting themselves under the direction of St. Jerome, who had founded a monastery in that city. It is not to be inferred from this that he composed any monastic rule or founded an order. Some Hieronymites of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, indeed, asserted as much, but their claims rest upon no substantial basis, so that no historical link is to be looked for between St. Jerome and this religious family. The congregation was formed in Spain and Italy, in the fourteenth century, by the amalgamation of several groups of hermits, and the sovereign pontiffs, while granting it their approval, imposed upon it the rule of St. Augustine, though the name of St. Jerome, whom the religious had chosen as their model and patron, was retained.

In Spain the cradle and centre of this congregation was the monastery of San Bartolom6 de Lupiana. Its first prior, Fernando Pecha, in conjunction with Peter of Rome, obtaineil from Pope Gregory XI Bulls confirming their order, 18 October, 1373. The pope received their solemn vows and gave them their habit, which consisted of a white tunic, a brown scapular and mantle. Their constitutions resembled those of the Augustinians of St. Mary of the Sepulchre at Florence. Fernando Pecha received the profession of the other hermits in 1374. Their numbers rapidly increased; in the reigns of Philip II and his successors tlieir pro.s- perity was extraordinary. Charles V held them in high esteem. In 13,S0 they received the monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in Estramadura, in which is preserved the image of the Blessed Virgin most venerated throughout Spain. In 1415 their houses numbered twenty-five. They were then removed from the jurisdiction of the ordinary and made an exempt order. They were established in Portugal, and the religious of these two coimtries formed one con- gregation (1595). Philip II Iniilt on a grand scale the monastery of St. Lawrence of the Escorial, in which the kings of Spain are buried. Its lil)rary is one of the richest in Spain, and it possesses many works of art. The kings of Portugal are buried in the monas- tery of Belem, founded liy King Manuel in 1497, which was the largest and finest in the kingdom. Emperor Charles V, on his abdication (1.5-55), withdrew to the monastery of St. Jerome of Yuste, where he died. The monasteries of Madrid and Seville must also be mentioned. The Hieronymite nims founded by Maria Garcias, who died 10 February, 1426, occupied the monasteries of St. Paula of Toledo, of La C'oncep- cion Jeronima of Madrid (1504), of St. Paula of Seville (J473), of St. Martha of Cordova, and St. Paula of Granada. The Hieronymites became celebrated for their generous almsgiving. The authority w'hich they gained from so holy a manner of living allowed of their being employed efficaciously in the reformation of other religious orders, among which were the Premon- stratensians, the Trinitarians, the Canons Regular of Coimbra, of St. John the Evangelist, the Knights of the Order of Christ and of St. James of the Sword. It was by their help that St. John of God was enabled to found his first hospital. They co-operated in the evangelization of the New World. The government of the island of San Domingo was at first confided to them. Many of them have been raised to the epis- copal dignity.

Lupo de Olmedo introduced into this order a re- form which issued in the estaljlishment of the Con- gregation of the Monk-Hermits of St. Jerome of the Observance (1424). Their manner of life resembled that of the Carthusians. Their constitutions were drawn up with extracts made from the writings of

St. Jerome. The monastery of St. Jerome of I'Acella and others which existed in Spain were incorporated with the Spanish Congregation of the Hieronymites (1595); those which Lupo de Olmedo had founded in Italy retained their independence, and were known as the Hermits of St. Jerome of Lombardy, their gen- eral residing at San Pietro del Ospitaletto, in the Dio- cese of Lodi. They had seventeen houses, notably that of St. Alexis on the Aventine, at Rome.

There were two other congregations at Rome under the patronage of the same Doctor of the Church: the Hermits of St. Jerome [of the Congregation] of Blessed Peter of Pisa, and the Hermits of St. Jerome of Fiesole. The former came into existence at Montebello, in Um- bria, about the year 1375; Blessed Peter of Pisa, its founder, died in 1435. Its constitutions were not drawn up until 1444, and St. Pius V gave the congre- gation its definitive form in 1568. It was augmented Ijy the incorporation of several eremitical groups: that of Blessed Nicola di Furca-Palena, under the generalship of Blessed Bartolommeo Malerba, after 1446; that of Pietro di Malerba (1531); that of the Hermits of Monte Legestro, near Genoa (1579), fountled by Blessed Laurence; lastly the Tyrolese and the Bavarian hermits (1695). The forty houses of Italy formed the two Provinces of Ancona and Tre- viso. At Rome these religious occupied the monas- tery of Sant' Onofrio on the Janiculum. Their habit was brown and consisted of a tunic, a hood, and a mozetta, with a leathern girdle. Many of the con- gregation have been beatified — Pietro Qualcerano, Nicola di Furca-Palena, Bartolommeo of Cesena, Filippo of Sant' Agata, and others.

The Hermits of St. Jerome of Fiesole were founded by Blessed Charles of Montegraneli. Cosimo de' Me- dici defrayed the cost of their first monastery. Inno- cent \\l approved the congregation in 1406, and in 1441 Eugene IV gave it its definitive constitutions. They had as many as forty houses, all in Italy. The church of Sts. Vincent and Anastasius at Rome was served by them. But in time their numbers dimin- ished, and Clement IX suppressed them in 166S. The other Italian Hieronymites disappeared during the tro\ibles which followed the Revolution; those of Spain were suppressed in 1S35, and those of Portugal shortly afterwards. The literary activity of this order has been confined to Spain and Portugal. Antonio Nicolsis, in his "Bibliotheca Hispana nova", vol. II, p. 314, enumerates the works of these religious, of whom some of the best-known names are: Diego de Carceros, moralist and theologian (1638); Diego de Yepes, author of a life of St. Teresa (1643) and a history of the persecution in England (1599); Diego de Zuniga, philosopher and exegete (about 1600); Fernando de Talavera, Bishop of Granada (1507), ascetical writer; Francisco de todos Santos, author of a history of the Escorial (1657) ; Garctas de Toledo, canonist (about 1560); Hermengildo de San-Pablo, the historian of his congregation (1670); Jeronimo Gazia, moralist (1652); Jeronimo of Guadalupe, a commentator on several books of the Bible (about 1600); Juan of Toledo, theologian (1662).

Hermengildo de San-Pablo. Oriffen y continuacidn de et iustitufo y religion Gieronimiana (Madrid, 1669); Sajanello, Historica monumenfa Ord. S. Hieronymi Congr. B. Petri de Pisis (.3 vols.. Venice, 1758-62); Heltot, Histoire des ordres reli- gieiLC. Ill (Paris, 1792), 435-70; IV, 1-26.

J. M. Besse.

Hierotheus. — All attempts to establish as histori- cal a personality corresponding to the Hierotheus who appears in the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius are ren- dered abortive by the fact, now definitively proven, that those writings, with intent to mislead, weave into their narrative various fictitious personalities of the Apostolic Era, such as Peter, James, John, Timothy, Carpus, and others. Indeed the author would have betrayed himself had he named and depicted in such