ORLANDINI
317
ORLANDUS
ing these mythical territories, which he brought
under the sceptre of Rome for the time being. Noth-
ing is known of the inhabitants at that time, but they
were probably Celts. About 872 the rulers of the
separate islands were forced to submit to the rule of
Harold Haarfager, King of Norway, who also sub-
jugated the Hebrides, Isle of Man, aiid Ireland. Later
Eric Blodsee sought refuge on the Orkneys from his
victorious adversaries. From these islands also Olaf
Trygvesson undertook the conquest of his ancestral
kingdom (995), and Harold Hardrada set forth on his
last campaign against England (1066). Thence also
Olaf Kyrre returned to his native land (1067) and
Hakon IV began his military expedition against Scot-
land (1263). In 1271 Magnus IV of Norway ceded
to King Alexander III of Scotland all Scottish islands
"with the exception of the Orkneys", in return for a
yearly tribute, a condition which was renewed in
later documents. Instead of being under the direct
government of the monarchs of Norway, the Orkneys
were now ruled by jor/s, appointed by them from the
houses of Strathearn and Sinclair. After the marriage
of James III of Scotland to the daughter of Christian
I, King of the united countries, the latter mortgaged
the Orkneys to Scotland as security for his daughter's
dowry (6 Sept., 1468), which he had not paid, and
later attempts at redemption proved fruitless. Thus
it was that Scottish ways and the English language
gradually found access into the Orkneys and then lie-
came predominant. But many Norse customs and
many Scandinavian forms of expression still persist,
as though the nation preserved a certain attachment
for the mother-country, with which tradition says it
will be one day reunited.
Religious History. — Although the monks from Zona were active in the Orkneys at a very early period, the exact date when the Gospel was first preached and the nationality of the first missionaries are unknown. The early Christian communities probably succumbed during the disturbances of the migratory movements, and the later Norse settlers were pagans. Christian- ity first attained predominance, however, under Olaf Trygvesson. About the middle of the eleventh century Kirkwall (Kirkevaag) was made the seat of a diocese {dioeccsis Orcadensis) , in connexion with which a cathe- dral chapter was later established, and the Shetland Islands were assigned it as an archidiaconate. The prelates (at first prevailingly Norse, and later of Scotch extraction) were suffragans of the Archbishop of Lund, were later under Trondhjem (Nidaros), and after 1472 under St. Andrews. Practically nothing is known as to their names and the dates of their episcopates, and the documentary sources show im- portant discrepancies. Some bishops received aca- demic honours, which would indicate that they were not ignorant men for their times. This is especially true of the last Catholic bishop, Robert Reid (d. 14 Sept., 1558), who is described as "vir omni literatura cuitus et in rebus gerendis peritissimus", and who in 1540 brought to completion the magnificent cathe- dral of St. Magnus, which had been begun by his predecessors. His successor, Adam Bothwell, died (23 Aug., 1593) an apostate. At this time the last ■ sparks of Catholicism were extinguished on the Ork- neys under the fury of Calvinistic fanaticism which had been raging for decades, laying waste churches and employing both craft and force to draw the inhabi- tants from the faith of their fathers.
History op Art. — Burial chambers and stone circles (atStenness on Mainland) testify to the prim- itive artistic sense of the original Celtic inhabitants. The earliest traces of the Norse occupation are to be found on Sandey, — burial mounds such as those in Scandinavia and great stone walls as ramparts about the houses of warriors. The settlements were copies, on a more modest scale, of the native places of the founders, Osko, Nidaros etc. No secular buildings
of the Middle Ages have survived. Only the ruins
of the episcopal residence at Kirkwall, where King
Hakon IV died (15 December, 1263), are to be seen.
The first Christian temple at Birgsay has completely
disappeared. Of two churches at Deer Ness and
Broch of Birsay on Mainland (remarkable for their
double towers between nave and choir) only sketches
are extant. It is over a hundred years since the first
disappeared, but considerable ruins of the second are
still to be seen. There are also traces of the church of
St. Magnus at Egilsay and of the round apsidal church
on Orphir. The great monumental, architectural
work of the whole archipelago, however, is the cathe-
dral of St. Magnus at Kirkwall (Kirkevaag), which is
surpassed but slightly by the celebrated cathedral of
Trondhjem. It was begun in 1137 by St. Ragnvald
(canonized 1192), prince (jarl) and crusader, and rep-
resents the artistic ideas of generations. Laid out
originally according to Norman-Roman style, it seems
to have been strongly influenced by the Gothic, and
shows a harmonious combination of the two elements.
The central nave is supported by twenty-eight col-
umns of surpassing beauty. Above the intersection
of the nave and transept rises an imposing square
tower, the dome of which was unfortunately ruined
by fire in the seventeenth century and was replaced
by another which is too low. Doors made of stones
of many colours fitted together open into the interior
of the temple. Since the introduction of Calvinism
altars, statues of the saints, and sacred vessels have
disappeared; even the relics of the founder were scat-
tered to the winds. The burial sites of the jarls have
likewise been forgotten.
Mela, De situ orfcis, III, vi: Puny, HUt. nal., IV, xxx; Taci- tus, Agricota, x; Styffe, Skandinavien under unionstiden (2nd ed., Stockholm, 1880) ; ToDOR, Orkneys and Shetlands Geologij. Flora, etc. (London, 1883); Wallace, Descriplion of the Isles of Orkney (London, 1884) ; Fea, Present Utate of the Orkney Islands (Lonilon, i885): Storm, Hist, top, skriftcr om Norneoy norske Landsdale (Christiania, 189.5); Dietrichson. Van-faders r.iA- (C'liristiania, Copeiiliagen, 1900) ; Walsh, Hii "'"" < •'>:. ' '■.■•'■ " s..<:!.,„d (Glasgow, 1874); Lyon, tfisl. "I '1 .: ■ ■< I '. ' , L-h.
1843); Keyser, Den norske Air/ ' /, i2
vols. Christiania, 1856-58) Gam-. ^' .. , ,., ~ . < i: ,■ i~' ~ .■,. K.'.i; Ecbel, Hierarchia catholica medii tvri (2 vols., R:itiabon, 1S9S- 1901).
Pius Wittmann.
Orlandini, Niccoi^d, b. at Florence, 1554; d. 1006 at Rome, 17 May. He entered the Jesuit novitiate 7 Nov., 1572; became rector of the Jesuit college at Nola; was master of novices at Naples for five years; and finally appointed secretary of the general Acqua- viva, who in 1558 detailed him to write the history of the Jesuit Order. This work comprises only the gen- eralate of St. Ignatius. It was edited by Sacchini, and appeared under the title " Historic Societatis Jesu prima pars" (Rome, 1614, 1615, 1621; Antwerp, 1620; Cologne, 1620). It is written in the form of annals, and is based chiefly on a life written by the saint's secretary, de Polanco. Ranke, "Hist, of the Popes", III (London, 1903), 328, says of Oriandini: "In his style of writing, as well as in the business of life, he was exceedingly careful, accurate, and wary". The history was continued by Sacchini, Possinus, Jouv- ancy, and Cordara. The sixth an<l last part, reaching to 1633, was published at Rome in 1758. Other works are: "Annual littera; Societatis Jesu, anni 1583-85" (Rome, 158.5-86-88); "Vita Petri Fabri" (Lyons, 1017); the same under the title "Forma sacerdotis .•\postolici, e.xjiressa in exemjilo Petri Fabri" (Dil- lingen, 1647); and "Tractatus scu Commentarii in Summarium Const itutionuiiiet in rcgulas communes", ed.Soero(Rochanii)ton, 1X76). His" Vila Petri Fabri" hiisbeen translated into French (Bordeaux, 1017) and Italian (Rome, 1029).
fiotAKEHvoaKL, Biblioth^quedctaC.de J.,V (Brussels and Paris. 1894), 19.34-35; Sacchini in. introduction to Historic Societatis Jesu prima pars, mentioned above.
Michael Ott. OrlanduB de Lassus. See Lassus.
