(ECONOMUS
214
(ECUMENinS
joined in the vain at tonii)t at Marburg to close the sac-
ramental dispute between the Lutherans and the He-
formed. In 1531, with Bucer and Blarer, he intro-
duced Protestantism by force into U Im, Biberach, and
Memmingen. He was also concerned in the affairs of
the Waldcnses, and was largely responsible for their
having joined forces with the Jiefornicd at this time,
fficolampadius was a man of splendid, though mis-
directed, natural gifts. Among the fathers and lead-
ers of Protestantism he had not, either as theologian
or man of action, the importance or forceful personal-
ity of Luther, Cah'in, anil Zwingli, but his name stands
among the first of their supporters. As a theologian,
after the full tlevclo)]incnt of his religious opinions, ho
belonged to the parly of Zwingli, though remaining in-
dependent on some imjiortant points. The opinion
that he was more tolerant than the other Protestant
leaders does not accord with facts, though true on the
whole as regards his relations to Protestants of other
beliefs. The profound differences which had already
appeared among the adherents of the new religion, due
particularly to variations in opinion concerning the
Lord's .Supper, were painful to CEcolampadius; but in
contrast to Luther's imcompromising attitude, he
strove without surrendering his own views to restore
harmony through reciprocal toleration. Towards the
Catholic religion, however, he bore the same hatred
and intolerance as the other Protestant leaders. Like-
wise in justifying religious war, he shares Zwingli's
standpoint. If his first movements at Basle were more
cautious than those of others elsewhere, it was not
through greater mildness, but rather out of regard for
conditions which he could not change at a single
stroke. As soon, however, as he had won over the
secular authority, he did not rest until Catholic wor-
ship was suppressed, and those who at first resisted
were either banished or forced to apostatize.
Capito. Juhaiinis (Ecolampadii et HuldricliiZwmgliiepi.il. libri Quatuor (Baaie, 1536), with a biography of Oioolampadius: Hess. Lebensgesch. Dr. Joh. (Ecolampad's (Zurich, 1793); Herzog, Das Leben Joh. CEcolampad^s (Basle, 1843) ; Hagenb.\ch, (Ecolampad's Leben und ausgew&hlte Schriften (Elberfeld, 1859) in Leben und ausgewdhUe Schriften der Vdler wid Begriinder der re/ormierten Kirche, II: Fehleisen, Joh. QScolampadius. Sein Leben und Wirken (Weinsberg, 1882); Bdrckhardt-Biedermann, Ueber (Ecolampad's Person und Wirksamkeit in Theologische Zeitschr. aus der Schweiz. X (1893), 27-40, 81-92; Herzog in Realencyk./Ur prot. Theol. und Kirche, 2nd ed., X, 708-24; Waqenmann in AUgem. deutsche Biog., a. v.; Mayer in Kirchenlex., a. v. For the Augsburg period cf. Thurnhofer, Bem/tard Adelmann von Adel- mannsfelden (Jreiburg, 1900). especially pp. 62 sqq. and 115-26; for his controversy with Ambrosius Pelargus and Augustinus Marius on the Mass cf. Paulus, Ambrosius Pelargus in Hist, polit. Blot., CX (1892). 2-12; Idem in Paulus, Die deutschen Domini- kaner im Kamp/e gegen Luther (Freiburg. 1903), 191-98.
Friedrich Lauchert.
(Economus, Episcopal (Gr. oUoriiMn from of/tos a house, and p^p.eii', to distribute, to administer), one who is charged with the care of a house, an ad- ministrator. In canon law this term designates the individual who is appointed to take charge of the tem- poral goods of the Church in a diocese; it is used also of the person in cliarge of the property of a monastery. ThisotiSce originated in the Eastern Church and dates back to the fourth century: a law of Honorius and Arcadius in .398 speaks of it iis if it were then wide- roread (Cod. Theodos., IX, tit. 45, lex. 3). The Council of Chalcedon (451) ordered an CEConomus to be appointed in every diocese, to take charge of ecclesiastical property under episcopal authority (canon xxvi in Man'si, VII, 367). They were es- tablished in the Ea-stern Church and have continued down to the present day in the schismatical Greek Church (Silbernagl, "Verfa-ssung und gegenwartiger Bestand siimtlicher Kirchen des Orients", 2nd ed., Ratisbon, 1904, 37). The increase of church prop- erty after the Edict of Milan (313) and the multiplica- tion of episcopal duties rendered this office very use- ful. In the West, we meet with the oeconomus in Spain (Council of Seville, 619, can. ix), in Sardinia, and perhaps in Sicily, at the end of the sixth century
(Jaff(5-Wattenbach, "Hegesta Pontificum Roman-
orum", Leipzig, ISSl, 1, im. 1282, 1915). But as a
general rule the \Vesti^rnl)i.shops contented themselves
with the aid of a confidential assistant, a viccdominus,
who looked after the tc mporidities and ranked next
to the bishop. The est:iblishnienl of a domain in con-
nexion with each churcli iiuide the task of adminis-
tering the ecclesiastical pmpcity much lighter. The
office of vicedominus was moditiid by the influence of
the feudal system, and by ll]<' f:ict that the bishops be-
came temporal sovereigns. The Council of Trent
ordered the chapters of cathedral churches to establish,
in addition to a capitulary vicar, one or more ceconomi
to administer the temporal property of the diocese
during an episcopal vacancy (Sess. XXIV, De Ke-
formatione, c. xvi). At the present time, the bishop
is not obliged to appoint an a-conomus, though he is
not hindered from so doing. The Second Plenary
Council of Baltimore (e. Ixxv) advises bishops to select
one from among the ecclesiastics or even the laity,
who is skilled in the civil law of the country.
LoENiNG. Gesch. des deutschen Kirchenrechts (Strasburg. 1878), I. 235; II, 342; Stutz. Geach. des kircU. Benefizialwesens. I (Berlin, 1895). 9 sq.; Senn. L'institution des Vidamies en France (Paris. 1907) ; Lesne. Hist, de la propriety eccUs. en France, I. Epogue Romaine et Mirovingienne (Paris, 1910).
A. Van Hove.
(Ecumenical Council. Sec Councils, General.
(Ecumenius [oUov/x^pios) , Bishop of Trikka (now Trikkala) in Thessaly about 990 (according to Cave, op. cit. infra, p. 112). He is the reputed author of commentaries on books of the New Testament. A manuscript of the tenth or eleventh century containing a commentary on the Apocalypse attributes it to him. The work consists of a prologue and then a slightly modified version of the commentary of Andrew of Caesarea (sixth cent.). Manuscripts of the eleventh century contain commentaries on the Acts and on the Catholic and Pauline epistles, attributed since the sixteenth century to (Ecumenius. Those on the Acts and Catholic Epistles are identical with the commen- taries of Theophylactus of Achrida (eleventh cent.); the Pauline commentaries are a different work, though they too contain many parallel passages to Theophy- lactus. The first manuscripts, however, are older than Theophylactus, so that it cannot be merely a false attribution of his work. It would seem then that fficumenius copied Andrew of Caesarea and was himself copied by Theophylactus. The situation is however, further complicated by the fact that among the authors quoted in these works the name of fficu- menius himself occurs repeatedly. The question then of fficumenius's authorship is in all cases very difficult. Bardenhewer (Kirchenlex., IX, 1905, coll. 706-10) is doubtful about it; Ehrhard (in Krumbacher's "By- zant. Lift.", 132) says: "The name (Ecumenius repre- sents in the present state of investigation a riddle that can be solved only by thorough critical study of the manuscripts in connexion with the whole question of the CatenEB." The commentary on St. Paul's Epis- tles is a compromise between the usual kind of com- mentary and a catena. Most explanations are given without reference and are therefore presumably those of the author; but there are also long excerpts from earlier writers, Clement of Alexandria, Eusebius, Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria etc., especially from Photius. It is among these that Q'cumenius himself is quoted. The Commentary on the Apocalypse was first edited by Cramer: "CateniE in Nov. Test.", VIII (Oxford, 1840), 497-582; the other three (on Acts, Cath. Ep., and St. Paul) by Donatus (Verona, 1532). Morellus (Paris, 1631) re-edited these with a Latin translation; his edition is reproduced in P. G., CXVIII-CIX.
Fabricius-Harles. Bibl. gra-ca, VIII (Hamburg, 1802), 692- 5; Cave. Scriptorum eccles. hist, titer., II (Basle, 1745). 112; Kbumbacheh, Byzantin. Litteraturgesch. (2nd ed.. Munich, 1897), 131-3.
Adrian Fobtesctje.
