PARIS
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PARISH
Languages Association Publications (Baltimore, 1899) ; Hoqugs
AND Bedier, Bibl. des auvres de Gaston Paris (Paris, 1905).
Louis N. Delamarre.
Paris, Matthew, Benedictine monk and chroni- cler, b. about 1200; d. 1259. There seems no reason to infer from the name by which he was commonly known that this famous English historian was directly con- nected with Paris either by birth or education. He became a monk at St. Albans on 21 January, 1217, and St. Albans remained his home until his death. We know, however, that on occasion he moved about freely, visiting London and the Court, and one mem- orable episode of his life took him as visitor with full powers to the Abbey of St. Benet Holm in Norway where he remained nearly a year. Simple monk as he was, Matthew seems always to have been treated as a personage of consideration. In his journey to Norway he was the bearer of letters from St. Louis of P'rance to Haakon IV, inviting the Norwegian king to join the crusade. Haakon subsequently became his personal friend and we have much evidence in Matthew's own writings of the intimate terms upon which he stood with the English king, Henry III, and with his brother RiclKwd, Karl of Cornwall. From them and from the members of Micir hou.sehold the chronicler must have derived that wide, if not always quite accurate, ac- quaintance with the details of foreign contemporary history in which Matthew Paris stands unrivalled among medieval historians. His gifts were not merely those of the student and man of letters. He was famed as an artist and an expert in writing and he probably executed with his own hand many of the telling little drawings which illustrate the margins of his manuscripts.
As an histoi'ian Matthew holds the first place among English chroniclers. For his case of style, range of interest and information, vivid though prolix elab- oration of detail, he is much more readable than any of those monastic scholars who wrote either be- fore or after him. His great work, the "Chronica Majora", extends from the creation until 12.59, the year of his death. Down to 1235 this is simply an ex- pansion and embellishment of the chronicle of his fel- low-monk, Roger of Wendover, but "he re-edited VV'endover's work with a patriotic and anti-curialist bias quite alien to the spirit of the earlier writer" (Tout, 451). P>om 1235 to 1259 Paris is a first-hand authority and by far the most copious source of infor- mation we possess. The " Chronica Majora" has been admirably edited, with prefaces and supplements, in seven voliunes by Dr. Luard. A compendium of this work from 10(57 to 1253 was also prepared by Paris. It is known as the "Historia Minor" and it bears evi- dence of a certain mitigation of previous judgments which in his later years he deemed over severe. This work has bci'u editi'il by Sir F. Madden. Other minor works conncc-tcd csinTially with St. Albans, and a short "]Mv (if .Sicplicii I.angton" (printed by Lieber- mann in 1S70) are also attributed to Paris.
With regard to his trustworthiness as a source of history there seems to be a tendency amongst most English writers, notably for example J. R. Green or Dr. Luard, to glorify him as a sort of national asset and to regard his shortcomings with partisan eyes. There can be no question that Matthew's allegations against the friars and his denunciations of the avarice and tyranical interference of the Roman Court should be received with extreme caution. Lingard perhaps goes too far when, in speaking of his "censorious dis- position", he decLares, "It may appear invidious to speak harshly of this famous historian, but this I may say, that when I could confront his pages with authen- tic records or contemporary writers, I have in most instances foimd the discrepancy between them so great as to give his narrative the appearance of a ro- mance rather than a history" (Lingard, "History",
II, 479). But we may rest content with the verdict of
a more recent writer, open to no suspicion of religious
bias. "Matthew", says Professor Tout, "was a man
of strong views, and his sympathies and his prejudices
colour every line he wrote. His standpoint is that of a
patriotic I']iinlislniian, indignant at the alien invasions,
at the Miisgdvcrniiicnt of the King, the greed of the
curialists and (lie Poitevins, and with a professional
bias against the mendicant friars" (Polit. Hist, of
Eng., Ill, 452).
The principal sources of information regarding Mattliew Paris
have all been gathered up in the prefaces of Dr. Luard to hia
monumental edition of the Chronica Majora in the Rolls Series
(1872-83). On the question of Matthew's caligraphy etc.,
Luard's views should be compared with Sir F. Madden's preface
to the Historia Minor in Rolls Series (3 vols., 1866-69) and with
Sir T. DufTus-Hardy's preface to his Catalogue of British History,
vol. Ill (1871), equipped with many facsimiles. See also Cam-
bridge History of English Literature, I (Cambridge, 1907), 178-80;
Tout in Political History of England, III (London, 1905), 451-53;
Gasquet, Henry III and the Church (London, 1905); Berger, St,
Louis et Innocent IV (Paris, 1894); Idem, in his preface to the
Regesta Innocentii Papae Quarti.
Herbert Thurston.
Parish (L. parwtHa, parochia, Gk. TrapoiKla, a group of neighbouring dwellings). I. General Notions. — A parish is a portion of a diocese under the authority of a priest legitimately appointed to secure in virtue of his office for the faithful dwelling therein, the helps of reli- gion. The faithful are called parishioners, the priest parochiis, curate, parish priest, pastor (q, v.). To form a parish there must be (1) a certain body of the faithful over whom pastoral authority is exercised; the ordinary manner of de.termining them is by assign- ing a territory subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the parish priest. Uncertainty of parish boundaries may work harm and the Council of Trent (Sess. XXIV, c. xiii, de ref.) orders the boundaries of par- ishes to be defined. The faithful become parishioners by acquiring a domicile or a quasi-domicile (see Domi- cile) within the territory, or by simply living in it for a month (Decree, "Ne temere", on marriage, 2 .Au- gust, 1907). Travellers, however, may address them- selves to the parish priest of the locality, though with- out detriment to the rights of their own pastor. The exclusive attribution of a territory to a parish and its pastor is not absolutely necessary; certain parishes coexist with others in the same territory, the respective parishes being distinguished by rite or nationality, e. g. in the Orient or in large American cities. There are even rare instances of parishes formed solely of fami- lies, without regard to territory. (2) A special priest, having in virtue of his title a mission and authority to give religious succour to the parishioners, is required. In strict law, the care of souls in a single parish must devolve on several priests, and in fact, such was for- merly the case in most chapters (q. v.); but the Coun- cil of Trent (Sess, XXIV, c. xiii, de ref.) commands bishops to assign to each parish its own individual rector. If the care of souls is entrusted to a moral body, like a chapter, it must be exercised by a vicar, perpetual as far as possible, who is called the "actual" curate, the chapter remaining the "habitual" curate, without right of interfering in any way in the parochial ministry (Sess. VII, c. vii).
The parish priest may have assistants, but the lat- ter exercise their ministry in dependence on him and in his name. If the priest, even when alone, does not exercise his office in his own name, if he is only the delegate of a higher authority, he is not really a parish priest and his district is not a true parish. That is why there are no real parishes (as there are no real dio- ceses) but only stations in vicariates Apostolic and missionary countries. The same may occur in dio- ceses during the provisional period which precedes the erection of certain districts into parishes. But the parish exists, when the priest exercises the ministry in his own name, whether his title be perpetual or he be removable at the will of the bishop. From this results
