Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/464

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PALEOPOLIS


418


PALEOPOLIS


Third Council of Toledo. Coiuuitius, the biufrraphci' of St. Ildeplionsus, iissisted at the synod held in To- ledo in liU), and at the fourth, fifth, and si.xtli Toledaii Councils. He composed many new ecclesiastical mel- odies and a book of ])rayers from the Psalms. He ruled the see for more tlian thirty years, and had for pupil St. Fructuosus of Hraga.

To defend his new country, Alfonso I devastated the Campos Goticos (Gothic Fields), i. e. the Tierra de Campos, as far as the Ducro. The Arabian authors only once cite Palencia in the division of the jirovinces previous to the Onuniad dynasty. In the Council of Oviedo (811) we find Abundantius, Bishop of Palen- cia, but he was apparently only a titular bishop. Froila, Count of Villafruela, succeeded in restoring the see in 921, but the true restorer was Sanclio the Elder, of Navarre and Cast ile. The first prelate of the restored see (1035) is said to have been Bernardo, who was given command over the city and its lands, with the various castles and abbeys. Bernardo was born in France or Navarre, and devoted himself to the construction of the original cathedral built over the cryi)t of St. Antoninus (An- tolin). It was rebuilt three centuries \:iU i Its principal trea>i.M was the relics of ,^' Antoninus, forninl-, venerated in Aipii- tania. Alfonso \ 1 conferred many iiri\ i- leges on Hirn.ii do- successor, liaiiiiiiniln. Pedro, a native nf Agen (France) an^l one of the noted mh n brought in by Hishoji Bernardo of Toledo, succeeded Bishop Raimundo. For his fidelity to Queen Urraca, he was im-


prisoned by Alfonso I of Aragon. In 1113 a pro\'incial council was held in Palencia by Archbishop Bernardo to quell the disorders of the epoch. On the liberation of Pedro, another council was held in Palencia during the Lent of 1129, at which Raimundo, Archbishop of Toledo, and the celebrated Archbishop of Santiago, Diego Gelmirez, assisted. The luiij; and beneficent administrationof Pedro was suecei del li\ I hat of Pedro II, who died in Almeria and was .--urcc eded by Rai- mundo II. Bishop Tello took part in the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, where the Palencians won the right to emblazon the cross over their castle.

At the beginning of the fifteenth century Bishop Sancho de Rojas vaUantly fought the Moors of Ante-

?_uera, and in the Treaty of Caspe aided the Infante 'erdinand to secure the crown oi Aragon. St. Vin- cent Ferrer preacliedin Palencia, converting thousands of Jews, with whose synagogue he founded the hospi- tal of S. Salvador, later connected with that of S. An- tolin. Among the succeeding bishops of Palencia, who, as feudal lords, were members of the noblest families, we may mention Rodrigo de Velasco (d. 1435); Rodrigo Sanchez de Ar6valo, author of a history of Spain in Latin (1466); the bishops Mendoza (1472-1485) and Fonseca (1505-1514) who decorated the new cathe- dral; Pedro de Castilla (1440-1461); Fray Alonso de Burgos (148.5-1499); La Caeca (1550-1561), and Zapata (1569-1577).

The L'niversitv of Palencia was founded by Al- fonso VIII at the request of Bishop Tello Tdllez de Meneses and was the first university of Spain. It was the model upon which was patterned the University of


Salamanca. Stutly Ijegan to flourish in Palencia and men notable for their virtue and science came from its schools, among them St. Julian of Cuenca, St. Dom- inic, and St. Peter Gonzdlez Telmo; hence the adage: "En Palencia armas y cicncia" (In Palencia arms and science). The university was founded about 1212, shortly after the aforesaid victory of "Las Navas" (others say in 1208), and the king svnnnioned from France and Italy noted teachers of various arts and sciences, retaining them in Palencia on large salaries. The death of the founder in 1214, the minority of Henry I, and the growth of its fortunate rival, Sala- manca, caused the decay of Palencia, many of whose professors and students went to Salamanca, whence the erroneous belief of a transfer of the university to the latter place. In 1243 Archbishop Rotli-igo records that in spite of unpropitious events, study continued in Palencia and that the cardinal legate, .hian de Ab- beville, in a Council of Valladolid (122S) had endeav- oured to revive it. Bishoj) Fernando obtained from Urban IV (14 May, 1263) a Bull granting Id the professors and students of Palencia all the privileges of the L'niversity of Paris. But lack of financial support and the proximity of the |)rospejous Univer- sity of Salamanca made a revival of Palencia impossible, and it died out be- fore the end of the thirteenth century, pnilialily in 1264, at uhiiii lime the uni- vci-.sj'y was definitely traiisfeired to Valla- dolid. It was Bishop Tello who also estab- lished convents of the Dominicans and Franciscans; the


Choir, Cathedral, Palencia


former was famous for the striking conversion of St. Peter Gonzdiez Telmo.

Among the most celebrated natives of the pro\'ince are the first Marquis of Santillana, Bishop Inigo L6- pez de Mendoza, the immortal Berruguete, and Dona Maria de Padilla.

Palencia is famous for the great Benedictine monas- tery of S. Zoilo, a rococo monument, the work of Juan de Badajoz. Mention has already been made of the hospital of S. Barnabd and S. Antolin. The conciliar seminary was founded in 1584 by Bishop Alvaro de Mendoza.

Pedro Fernandez del Puloar, Ilistoria secular jt edesidstica de la ciudad de Palencia; Fl6rez, Esparia Sagrada, VIII (3rd ed., Madrid, 1809); Villalba, Cronica general de Espufia: Crunica de la Protincia de Palencia (Madrid, lSfi7); Vicente de la Fuente, Historia de las univcrsidades de Espafia, I (Madrid, 1884): Cuadrado, EspaJla, sus monumentos y artcs: Palencia (Barcelona, 1885). Ram6n Ruiz AmaDO.

Paleopolis (Pal.eopolis), a titular see of Asia Minor, suffragan of Ephesus. The history of this city is unknown. In the si.xth century it is mentioned by Hierocles (.Synecdemus, 660, 4). It is found in the "Notitise Episcopatuum", as late as the tliirteenth century, among the suffragan sees of Ephesus. It is now the town of Baliambol in the vilayet of Smyrna. Le Quien (Oriens christianus, I, 729) mentions seven bishops of this city known by their presence at the councils: Rhodon at Ephesus, 431; Basilicus at Chalce- don, 451; Eusebius at Constantinople, 536; George at Constantinople, 692; Gregory at Nica;a,787; Peter at Constantinople, 869; Julian at Constantinople, 879. S. PiTRiofcs.