Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 9.djvu/783

 MABTm

730

MABTm

was In France ten yearSj as curate in various parishes of Paris, before his appointment to the chair of Sacred Scripture and Oriental Languages in the Institut Catholique of Paris, which he filled from 1878 to 1890. The time of literary activity of Abb6 Martin was the twelve years of his professorship at the Institut. His best work is said to be the lithographed lectures de- livered from 1882 to 1886: " Introduction k la critique textuelle du N.T.,partieth<^oric^ue" (Paris, 1882-83); a supplement thereto^ "Description technique des manuscrits grecs, relatifs au N. T., conserves dans les biblioth^ques de Paris" (Paris, 1883); "Introduction k la critic^ue textuelle du N. T.. partie pratique" (4 vols.^ Pans. 1884^86). These tour volumes contain studies in the ancient manuscripts of the New Testa- ment, the authenticity and historicity of disputed fragments of the New Testament. — nota!)ly the end- ing of Mark, the bloody sweat, the woman taken in adultery, the three heavenly witnesses. In regard to this last fragment, he carried on a controversy with MM. Vacant, Maunoury, and Rambouillet m the "Revue des sciences eccl63ia8tiques" (1887 and 1889), and in " La Controverse " (1888). Earlier writings of Abb^ Martin were: "(Euvres grammaticales d'Abu el-Faraj, dit Bar-Hebrseus " (Paris, 1872); "(Jram- matica, chrestomathia, et glossarium linguse syriaci^" (Paris, 1873); " Histoire de la ponctuation ou de la massore chez les Syriens" (Paris, 1875). In addition he published a general introduction to the Bible (Paris, 1887-89).

Mangenot, 3f. I'abbi Paidin Martin in Revue dea acimcea eccUaxMliquea (1S91).

Walter Drum.

Martin, Richard, Venerable. See Leigh, Rich- ard, Venerable.

Martina, Saint, Roman virgin, martyred in 226, according to some authorities, more probably in 228, under the pontificate of Saint Urban I, according to others. The daughter of an ex-consul and left an orphan at an early age she so openly testified to her Christian faith that she could not escape the perse- cution under Alexander Severus. Arrested and commanded to return to idolatry, she courageously refused, whereupon she was subjected to various tor- tures, and was finally beheaded. The accounts of her martyrdom which we possess belong to a lat« period and as usual contam many amplifications which have not, as Baronius has already observed, any historical value. The relics of Saint Martina were discovered on 25 October, 1634, in the crypt of an ancient church situated near the Mamertine prison and dedicated to the saint. Urban VIII who occupied the Holy See at that time, had the church repairea and, it would seem, composed the hymns which are sung at the office oi the noble martyr, 30 January.

Act SS. Bollnnd. (1643\ Janiiar>', I, IIj Bahomius, Ann. (1589), 228. 1; Sfritts, De VU. SS. (1618), I, 9-10; Vincent of Beauvais. Spec. Hist. (147.3). XII. 27-29; Mombritius, Sandu- arium (Milan, 1749), II, CXXV-XL; Ragguaglio della vUa di S. Martina Verffine e marlire (Rome, 1801).

LtoN Cluqnet.

Martini, Antonio, Archbishop of Florence, Bibli- cal scholar; b. at Prato, in Tuscany, 20 April, 1720; d. at Florence, 31 December, 1809!^ Having received holv Orders, he was appointed director of the Superga College at Turin. Cardinal delle Lanze, knowing that Benedict XIV, then pope, desired a good version of the Bible in contemporary Tuscan, urged Martini to un- dertake the work. The latter began a translation of the New Testiiment from the original Greek, but soon found this lalx)ur, in conjunction with his duties in the Superga, Ixjyond his physical strength. He accord- ingly resigned the directorship and accepted from King Charles Emanuel of Sardmia a state councillor- ship together with a pension. In spite of some dis- couragt»inent consequent upon the decease of Bene<lict XIV, Martini |X'rsovered, completing the public-ation

of theNewTeBtamMitin 1771. In his work upon tlw Hebrew text of the Old Testament, which followed, Jie was assisted by the Rabbi Temi, a Jewish scholar. The whole work was approved, and Martini personally commended, by Pius VI, who made him Arenbishop of Florence in 1781. As archbishop he succeeded in partly foiling an attempt to publisn a ^rbled edition of his work, and a third authorized edition issued from the Archiepiscopal Press of Florence in 1782-^92 (see also Versions op the Bible).

Beoagu, BioQrafia deqli uominx iUtintri (Venice, 1840); MiNoccHZ in ViQouRonx, Diet, de la Bible, b. v. Italiennee (V«o gione) de la Bible.

E. Macph£rson.

Martini, Martino (Chinese name: Wei), distin- guished Austrian Jesuit missionary to the Chinese, in the seventeenth century. He was bom at Trent in 1614; and on 8 October, 1631, entered the Austrian province of his order; where he studied mathematics under Athanasius Barcher (q. v.) in the Roman Col- lege, probably with the intention of being sent to Cliina. He set out for China in 1640, and arrived in 1643. While there he made great use of his talents as missionary, scholar, writer, and superior. In 1650 he was sent to Rome as procurator for the Chinese Mission, and took advantage of the long, adventurous vovBge (gohig first to the Philippines, from thence on a Dutch privateer to Batavia, he reached Bergen in Norway, 31 August, 1653), to sift his valuable historical and cartographical data on China. During his so- journ in Europe the works were printed that made his name so famous. In 1658 he returned with pro- visionally favourable instructions on the question of ritual to China, where he laboured until his death in Hangtscheu, 6 June, 1661. According to the attesta- tion of P. Prosper Intorcetta (''Litt. annuae", 1681), his body was tound imdecayed twenty years after. Richthofen calls Martini "the leading geographer of the Cliinese mission, one who was unexcelled, and hardly equalled, during the eighteenth century. . . There was no other missionary, either before or after, who made such diHgent use of his time in acquiring information about the country" (China, I, 674 sq.).

Martini's most important work is his " Novus Atlas Sinensis" (Vienna^ 1653), with 17 maps and 171 pages of text, a work which is, according to Richthofen, " the most complete geographical description of China that we possess, and through which Martini has become the father of geographical learning on China". Of the great chronological work which Martini had planned, and which was to comprise the whole Chinese histor\' from the earliest age, only the first part appearecf: "Sinicje Historian, Decas I" (Munich, 1658). His " De Bello Tartarico Historian " (Cologne, 1654) is also important as Chinese historj", for Martini himself had lived through the frightful occurrences which brought about the overthrow of the ancient Ming dynasty. The works have been repeatedly published and trans- lated into different languages (cf.^ Sommervogel, " Biblioth^que " . . . etc.). Interesting as mission- ary history is his " Brevis relatio de numero et quali- tate Christianorum apud Sinse " (Rome, 1654; Cologne, 1655; Ger. ed., 1654). Besides these. Martini wrote a series of theological and apologetical works in Chinese. Several works, among them a Chinese translation of the theological works of Suarez, still exist in his hand- writing (cf. Sommervogel and H. Cardier, "Essai d'une bibliographic des ouvrages publics en Chine par

le*! Europ^ns'', Paris, 1882).

Th«» scientific correspondence between Martini and his di»- tinffiiished teacher, P. Atiianabius Kirchbr, is to be found in hiD Maanes (3rd ed.. Rome. 1654), 316. 318, 348. An excellent appreointion by Schrameier of Martini is to be found in Peking Si)cietp, 11, 0»-119; cf. also Ghbua, LXXXVII, p. 167.

A. HUONDER.

Martini, SniONE (also known as Simons di Mas- TiNo, and as Simone Mem^h), Sienese painter, Ik in