Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/538

 518 BENEDICT against Prussia was virtually declared on the following day by a resolution of the corps ISgislatif, and formally by the government on July 19. Benedetti having accused Bismarck at that period of having originated in 1806 an alleged Franco-Prussian treaty for a mutual cession of territory, the latter had documentary evidence published Aug. 10, 1870, showing that the French ambassador initiated these negotia- tions on Aug. 5, 1866, by the direction of Na- poleon III. Benedetti published in 1871 Ma mission en Prutse (3d ed., 1872), disavowing any intentional rudeness toward the king, and maintaining that he acted throughout in sim- ple obedience to his instructions. BENEDICT, the name of several popes of the Roman Catholic church. I. Benedltt II., elect- ed in 684, died in 685. He was a Roman, remarkable for Scriptural science, piety, and kindness to the poor. He caused the decrees of the sixth general council (against the Mono- thelites) to be accepted by the Spanish bishops, and induced the Greek emperor to give up the usurped right of confirming the election of the pope. II. Benedict III., a Roman, elected in 855, died April 8, 858. He is praised for meekness and benevolence, built and beauti- fied churches in Rome, and in concert with Ethelwolf, king of the Anglo-Saxons, establish- ed an English college in Rome. He confirmed the deposition of Gregory, the unworthy bishop of Syracuse, pronounced by Ignatius, patriarch of Constantinople, which was the occasion of the subsequent deposition of Ignatius and in- trusion of Photius in his place, and of the Greek schism. III. Benedict VIII., son of the count of Tusculum, and cardinal bishop of Porto, elected June 17, 1012, died in 1024. The Ger- man emperor Henry II. and his wife St. Cune- gunda were crowned by him. He made two visits to Germany, during the latter of which he received the city of Bamberg as a present, afterward exchanged for Benevento. During his reign the Saracens attacked the pontifical territory, but were defeated and driven away by the troops of Benedict, after a bloody and obstinate battle of three days. The Greeks afterward invaded Apulia, but were driven out by the aid of the emperor Henry. Pope Bene- dict introduced the custom at Rome of singing the Nicene creed during mass. He renewed the ordinances of the council of Nice relative to sacerdotal celibacy. He was succeeded by his brother, under the name of John XIX. IV. Benedict XI. (NICOL& BOCOASINI), born in Treviso in 1240, died in Perugia, July 6, 1304. He was general of the Dominicans when Boniface VIII. made him cardinal, and afterward bishop of Ostia and Viterbo, and employed him in many important affairs. He was a devoted partisan of Boniface, and remained with him at Anagni after all the other cardinals had fled. Suc- ceeding Boniface in 1303, he composed the difficulties with France and Sicily, both of which kingdoms had been laid under an inter- dict. He was remarkable for humility. On one occasion, when his mother presented her- self at his court splendidly attired, ho refused to recognize her until she had resumed the dress suitable to her humble state of life. He died by poison, and was beatified by Benedict XIV. He wrote commentaries on Job, the Psalms, the Apocalypse, and St. Matthew. V. Benedict XII. (JACQUES DE NOVELLIS or FOUR- NIER), born at Saverdun, France, died April 25, 1342. He was a Cistercian, and a nephew of John XXII., whom he succeeded in 1334 at Avignon. He was an eminent canonist and theologian, and a severe reformer. He defined the doctrine that the beatitude of the just and the punishment of the wicked commence be- fore the final judgment. VI. Benedict XIII., of the princelv house of Orsini, born in the king- dom of Naples in 1649, died Feb. 21, 1730. He became a Dominican at an early age. Having with great reluctance accepted the dignities of bishop and cardinal, he continued to live as a simple monk, and devoted all his leisure hours to study and prayer. As a bishop he was de- voted to his pastoral duties, and universally loved ; and as cardinal he led what was called the party of the Zelasti, who were pledged to vote at the conclave for the candidate deemed by the college of cardinals the most worthy, without regard to any worldly or political inter- est. He was chosen to succeed Innocent XIII. in 1724, and accepted the papal dignity under obedience to the command of the general of his order, with many tears. His principal efforts were directed to restore and uphold ec- clesiastical discipline. He wrote homilies on the book of Exodus. VII. Benedict XIII., anti- pope. See LUNA, PEDRO DE. VIII. Benedict XIV. (PEOSPERO LORENZO LAMBERTINI), born of an ancient family at Bologna in 1675, died May 3, 1758. From his youth he devoted him- self to study and science, especially to canon law and theology. After a long and laborious career in different offices of the Roman pre- lature, he was in 1728 made cardinal priest and archbishop of Ancona by Benedict XIII. In 1731 Clement XII. transferred him to Bo- logna, where he remained until his election to the papacy, which took place, most unex- pectedly, Aug. 17, 1740. He was then 65 years of age, and he reigned 18 years. During the intervals of public business he contrived to ap- ply himself to his favorite studies, and main- tained a correspondence with all the most eminent writers of the day. He was a great patron of science, learning, the fine arts, and charitable institutions. The complete collec- tion of his works fills 15 folio volumes, and in- cludes treatises on the beatification and can- onization of saints, on the mass, on the church festivals, and on canonical and moral questions, besides his Institutiones Ecclesiasticas, and sev- eral volumes of Miscellanea. Many of these works were originally written in Italian. BENEDICT, surnamed BISCOP, a Roman Catho- lic saint, bora in England in 628, died Jan. 12, 690. At the age of 25 he quitted the court of