Page:Imperialdictiona03eadi Brandeis Vol3b.pdf/477



VAC VACARIUS, a civilian, was a native of Lombardy, and flourished about the middle of the twelfth century. The only interest that attaches now to his name is purely historical, arising from his having been the first teacher of the Roman law in England. Gervase of Dover tells us in his chronicle that his coming to this country was occasioned by the quarrel between Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, and Henry, bishop of Winchester, the king's brother, respecting the legatine authority. He became a professor at Oxford, and we are informed that the influence of his teaching was such as to call for its suppression by a royal edict. Vacarius, at the suggestion of the poorer students, made an abstract of the Code and Digest. Several copies of this work, which has never been printed in full, are still extant in MS. It appears to have been entitled "Liber ex universe enucleato jure excerptus, et pauperibus præsertim destinatus." A description of it will be found in Savigny, and an abstract of it in the Magister Vacarius of Professor Wenck.—R. M., A.  * VACHEROT,, a French writer on philosophy, was born at Langres about the year 1808. In 1837 he was appointed by M. Cousin, then minister of public instruction, director of the normal school. This office he resigned in 1852, in consequence of the violent opposition of the clergy to the doctrines which he had promulgated in his "Histoire critique de l'École d'Alexandrie," 3 vols., 1846-51. It was Vacherot who edited Cousin's celebrated Cours d'histoire de la philosophie au XVIIIᵉ siècle. The same professor's École Sensualiste (1839), École Écossaise (1840), and Introduction au cours d'histoire de la philosophie morale au XIXᵉ siècle, were also published under the same editorship.—R. M., A.  VACHET,, a French Latin poet, was born at Beune, a town in Burgundy, where he received instruction in rhetoric and philosophy from the fathers of the Oratory, whose congregation, as it is called, he afterwards joined. He studied theology at Aix, under a Scotchman of the name of Thomas Beteau, and died a curé of St. Martin de Sablon, in the diocese of Bordeaux, about the year 1655. His poems were published in a collected form after his death—"Petri-Josephi du Vachet, Belnensis, congregationis Oratorii Domini Jesu Sacerdotis poëmata," Saumur, 1664.—R. M., A.  VADDER, (or, a celebrated Flemish painter, was born in Brussels about 1560. He painted rocky and wooded landscapes, introducing groups of horsemen, cattle, sheep, &c., with hazy sunrise effects. He has been greatly praised, and his pictures are much esteemed on the continent. He painted with a light skilful touch, and was a master of aerial perspective; but he possessed little originality. He was one of the Italianized painters who did much to denationalize Netherlandish art. In colour he is classed among the imitators of Rubens. He died about 1623, but the dates of his birth and death are uncertain. There are a few spirited etchings of landscapes by him.—J. T—e.  VADIAN or VADIANUS, , a learned scholar and physician, was born on the 29th November, 1484, at St. Gall in Switzerland. His father, a senator of that place, was called Von Wart. The son, who afterwards changed his name to Vadian, was educated in his native town. Ou the completion of his course he went to Vienna, where, it is said, he was reclaimed from a disreputable way of life by a merchant of that city. He then resumed his studies with an extraordinary assiduity. His only pillow for a long time is said to have been a folio Virgil, which is still preserved among the books he bequeathed to the library of St. Gall. From Vienna he went to Villac in Carinthia, where he was appointed to the office of a teacher by the magistracy. On his return to Vienna he became professor of polite literature. In 1515 he presented an address to Sigismund, king of Poland, in the name of the university, a ceremony at which the emperor and two other kings were also present. Vadian after this travelled for some time in Poland, Hungary, Germany, and Italy, and, having taken his degrees in medicine, returned at length to his native town, and settled there in the calling of a physician. He was much beloved and honoured by his fellow-citizens, was very successful as a practitioner, and was no less than eight several times raised to the dignity of consul. Having embraced the protestant faith, he did much also to advance the cause of the Reformation in St. Gall. He died of a lingering disease in 1551. Vadian was deeply skilled in mathematics, geography, antiquities, medicine, and theology, and he managed public affairs with so much ability that De Thou mentions him as one of the numerous examples which go to disprove the common opinion that men of letters are unfitted for business. Joseph Scaliger reckons him one of the most learned men of Germany. As a scholar he is best remembered by his "Commentaria in libros tres Pomponii Melæ de Situ Orbis;" but he was author of a great number of other works, of which the following may be noticed—"De Poetica, et Carminis ratione liber;" "Scholia in secundum C. Plinii librum Naturalis Historiæ;" "Epitome trium Terræ partium, Asiæ, Africæ, et Europæ, compendiariam locorum descriptionem continens, præcipue autem quorum in Actis Lucas Evangelista et apostoli meminere;" "Aphorismorum libri Sex de Consideratione Eucharistæ," &c.; "Liber de Christianismi Ætatibus;" "Epistolæ de Conjugio Servorum apud Alamannos;" "Epistola ad Johannem Zuiccium Constantiensis Ecclesiæ Pastorem, in qua post explicatus in Christo naturas diversas et personam ex diversis naturis unam, Jesum vel in gloria veram esse creaturam demonstratur."—R. M., A.  VÆNIUS,, was born at Leyden in 1556. At fifteen years of age he entered the household of Gerard Groesbeeck, prince and cardinal bishop of Liege. From Liege he went to Rome, and remained there five years, following the calling of a painter. He then returned to the Low Countries, where he enjoyed the reputation of being one of the best painters of his time. He was quarter-master under the duke of Parma, and afterwards master of the mint at Brussels. He died in 1629. Vænius was author of the following illustrated works, which are now become very scarce—"Emblemata Horatiana;" "Emblemata amoris divini atque humani;" "Vitæ S. Thomæ Aquinatis cum Iconibus;" "Bellum Barbarorum cum Romanis;" "Historiæ Hispanicæ Septem Infantium Laræ;" "Emblemata ducenta Principibus, Viris Ecclesiasticis, Militaribus, aliisque usurpanda;" "Conclusiones Theologiæ; et Physicæ."—R. M., A.  VAERST,, Baron von, a German soldier and author, was born, the son of a Prussian officer, at Wesel on the 10th of April, 1792. After serving in several campaigns he retired from military service, and having settled at Breslau, became editor of the Breslau Gazette, a journal which in his hands acquired great influence. Vaerst lost his sight in 1853, and died on the 6th September, 1855. He was author of the following among other works—"Hundert Sonette," 1825; "Politisches Neujahrsgeschenk," 1831; "Cavalier perspective," Leipsic, 1836; "Die Pyrenacen," Breslau, 1847.—R. M., A.  VAGA,, the name by which Pietro Buonacorsi is commonly known, from his master Vaga, with whom he went first to Rome. Perino was born at Florence, June 28, 1500, and was first instructed by Domenico Ghirlandajo. In Rome he became one of the foremost assistants of Raphael in the works of the Vatican. After the sack of Rome in 1527 he established himself at Genoa, and there spread the style of Raphael. The <section end="477Zcontin" />