NUYENS
172
NTSSA
Nuyens, Wilhelmus, historian, b. 18 August;
1S23, at Avcnhorn in Holland; d. 10 December, 1894,
at Westwoud near Horn. Having completed his Hu-
manistic studies in Enkhuizen, he studied medicine at
Utrecht, 1S12, received the degree of M.D. in 1848,
and began practising in \\'cstwoml. He devoted some
of his spare time to Uterature and history, and he pub-
lished, in 1S5G, a volume of poems entitled: "De
laatste Dochtcr der Hohenstaufen", on subjects
chiefly from the Middle Ages. Then came a series of
historical works, first among which was " Het Katho-
licismus in betrekking met de beschaving van Eu-
ropa" (Amsterdam, lSoG-1857, in 2 volumes), a his-
tory of the influence of Catholicism upon the culture
and ci\-ilization oi Euroiiean nations. In several
pamphlets aiul in that voluminous work, "Geschiede-
nis der Ueg<Ting van Pius IX" (Amsterdam, 1802-
63), he treated the Roman question of 1859. His chief
work, "(jcschiedenis der nederlandsche Beroerten in
de XVI. eeuw" (Amsterdam, 1865-70, in 8 parts), a
history of the revolutionary wars of the Netherlands
from 1559 to 1598, discloses no new sources, but ex-
amines facts with sagacity and impartiality, and ar-
ranges them with skill, thereby showing to the Catho-
hes what rights they were entitled to in the State.
New editions appeared in 18S6 and 1904. Somewhat
as a sequel he wrote: " Geschiedenis der kerkehjke en
politieke geschillen in de republiek der zeven veree-
nigde provincien (1598-1625)" (Amsterdam, 1886-87
in two parts). Intended for popular reacUng are:
"Algemeen Geschiedenis des nederlandschen Volks-
vande vroegste tijden tot op onze dagen" (Amsterdam,
1871-82, in 20 parts; new edition, 1896-98, in 24
landsche Geschiedenis voor de jeugd" (Amsterdam,
1870; 25th edition, 1905, by G. F. I. Douwes). He
published a number of pamphlets and articles in peri-
odicals on topics of the times, especially in "Onze
Wachter", edited by him from 1871 to 1874 in collabo-
ration with Schaepmann. He was an energetic de-
fender of the rights and the privileges of Catholics, and
one of the first to champion the freedom of the Catho-
lic Church in the Netherlands. Catholics erected a
monument to him in the church at Westwoud and set
aside the surplus of the money contributed as a per-
petual fund, called "Nuyensfund", to aid the work of
Cathohc historians of the Netherlands.
GoRRis, Dr. W. J. F. Nuyens, beschouwd in het licht van zijn tijd (Nimwegen, 190S). PaTRICIUS ScHluiQER.
Nyassa, Vicariate Apostolic op, in Central Africa, bounded north by the Anglo-German frontier, east by Lake Nyassa, south by the Anglo-Portuguese frontier, west by a line running northward past Lake
Bangwelo. It is under the oare of the White Fathers
and W!i8 founded by Father I^echaptois in June, 1889,
at Mponda, Nyassaland. This region passing under
British control, the missionaries moved to Mambwe
between Nyassa and Tanganika in 1891, but, finding
the region desolated by the slave-hunters, they pro-
ceeded to Ubemba, a liigh plateau to the west where
the Congo rises. In December, 1S94, Fr. \'an Oost
settled at Kaiambi in Panda, with permission of the
chief Mkaca, but was expelled by Mkaca's suzerain,
Kiti-Mkulu. Fr. Dupont, however, succeeded in
founding a permanent station there in July, 1895.
The natives are well-built and warlike; they are being
taught agriculture by the fathers. On 13 February,
1S!)7, the mission was made a vicariate Apostolic, Fr.
Joscpli Dupont (b. at Geste, Maine et Loire, France,
in IS").")) being appointed superior and consecrated
titular Bishop of Tibaris. When King Momaniba was
dying in 1898, he asked Mgr Dupont to become king;
the bishop accepted the post temporarily to prevent
the customary hecatomb following the sovereign's
death. In 1904 the south-eastern part of the vicar-
iate was formed into the Prefecture Apostolic of Shird.
The population is about 1,000,000, speaking Kibemba
and Kinyassa; catechumens, 30,000; baptized, 2000;
missionary priests, 50; Missionary Sisters of Our Lady
of Africa, 8; catechists, 127; churches, 9; chapels, 25;
stations, 6 in Ubemba and 3 in Angoniland; schools,
34; orphanages, 4.
PiOLET, Les Missions franQaises, V (Paris), 422-26; Duff, Nyassaland under the Foreign Office (London, 1900).
A. A. MacErlean.
Nyitra. See Nedtra, Diocese of.
Nyssa, a titular see in Cappadocia Prima, suffragan of Caisarea. It is mentioned by Ptolemy (V, vii, viii). in the "Itinerarium Antonini" in the "Synedemus' of Hierocles (699), and the Greek "Notitia; episco- patuum", but its history and exact location are un- known. It should be sought on the south bank of the Kizil Irmak (ancient Halys), ten miles above Kessik Keupru (Ramsay, "Asia Minor", 287, 305). Texier ("Asie Mineure", Paris, 1862, 588) wrongly identifies it with Nev Sheir. Hamilton (Researches, II, 265) speaks of a modern village called Nirse, or Nissa, but the maps show no place of this name. Le Quien (Oriens Christ., I, 391) names ten bishops of Nyssa. The last qualified as metropolitan in the sixteenth century, is certainly only a titular bishop. To the list may be added Joannicius, who lived in 1370 (Miklosich and MuUer, "Acta patriarchatus Con- stantinopolitani", Vienna, 1860, I, 537). About this time Nyssa must have disappeared; but its name still recalls the memory of the glorious Doctor, St. Gregory.
S. PfiTRlDilS.
