NICETIUS
53
NICHE
Nicetius, Saint, Bishop of Trier, b. in the latter
part of the fifth century, exact date unknown; d. in
563 or more probably 566. Saint Nicetius was the
most important bishop of the ancient See of Trier, in
the era when, after the disorders of the Migrations,
Prankish supremacy began in what had been Roman
Gaul. Considerable detail of the life of this vigorous
and zealous bishop is known from various sources,
from letters written either by or to him, from two
poems of Venantius Fortunatus (Poem., Lib. Ill, ix,
X. ed. Leo, in Mon. Germ. Hist.: Auct. antiq., IV
(1881), Pt. I, 63-64 sq.) and above all from the state-
ments of his pupil Aredius, later Abbot of Limoges,
which have been preserved by Gregory of Tours (De
vitis Patrum, xvii; De Gloria Coufessorum, xciii-xciv).
Nicetius came from a Gallo-Roman family; his home
was apparently in Auvergne. The Nicetius mentioned
by Sidonius ApoUinaris (Epist. VIII, vi) may have
been a relative. From his youth he devoted himself
to religious life and entered a monastery, where he de-
veloped so rapidly in the exercise of Christian virtue
and in sacred learning that he was made abbot. It
was while abbot that King Theodoric I (511-34)
learned to know and esteem him, Nicetius often re-
monstrating with him on account of his wrong-doing
without, however, any loss of favour. After the death
of Bishop Aprunculus of Trier, an embassy of the
clergy and citizens of Trier came to the royal court to
elect a new bishop. They desired Saint Gallus, but the
king refused his consent. They then selected Abbot
Nicetius, whose election was confirmed by Theodoric.
About 527 Nicetius set out as the new bishop for
Trier, accompanied by an escort sent by the king,
and while on the journey had opportunity to make
known his firmness in the administration of his office.
Trier had suffered terribly during the disorders of the Migrations. One of the first cares of the new bishop was to rebuild the cathedral church, the resto- ration of which is mentioned by the poet Venantius Fortunatus. Archa-ological research has shown, in the cathedral of Trier, the existence of mason-work belonging to the Prankish period which may belong to this reconstruction by Nicetius. A fortified castle (caslelluin) with a chapel built by him on the river ^loselle is also mentioned by the same poet (Poem., Lib. Ill, n. xii). The saintly bishop devoted himself with great zeal to his pastoral duty. He preached daily, opposed vigorously the numerous evils in the moral life both of the higher cla-sses and of the com- mon people, and in so doing did not spare the king and his courtiers. Disregarding threats, he steadfastly fulfilled his duty. On account of his misdeeds he excommunicated King Clotaire I (511-61), who for some time was sole ruler of the Prankish dominions; in return the king exiled the determined bishop (560). The king died, however, in the following year, and his son and successor Sigebert, the ruler of Austrasia (561-75), allowed Nicetius to return home. Nicetius took part in several synods of the Prankish bishops: the synod of Clermont (535), of Orleans (549), the second synod of Clermont (549), the synod of Toul (550) at which he presided, and the synod of Paris
(555). . , ,. ■
Nicetius corresponded with ecclesiastical digm- taries of high rank in distant places. Letters are ex- tant that were written to him by Abbot p'lorianus of Romain-Mofttier (Canton of Vaud, Switzerland), by Bishop Rufus of Octodurum (now Martigny, in the Canton of Valais, Switzerland), and by Arch- bishop Mappinius of Reims. The general interests of the Church did not escape his watchful care. He wrote an urgent letter to Emperor Justinian of Con- stantinople in regard to the emperor's position in the controversies arising from Monophysitism. Anotlier letter that has been preserved is to Clodosvinda, wife of the Lombard King Alboin, in which he exhorts this princess to do everything possible to bring her hus-
band over to the Catholic faith. In his personal life
the saintly bishop was very ascetic and self-mortify-
ing; he fasted frequently, and while the priests and
clerics who lived with him were at their evening meal
he would go, concealed by a hooded cloak, to pray in
the churches of the city. He founded a school of his
own for the training of the clergy. The best known
of his pupils is the later Abbot of Limoges, Aredius,
who was the authority of Gregory of Tours for the
latter's biographical account of Nicetius. Nicetius
was buried in the church of St. Maximin at Trier.
His feast is celebrated at Trier on 1 October; in the
Roman Martyrology his name is placed under 5
December. The genuineness of two treatises as-
cribed to him is doubtful: "De Vigiliis servorum Dei"
and "De Psalmodiae Bono".
Nicetius Oprrn in P. T.. I.XIII, 361 sqq.: H0NTHEI.M, Hisioria Trevirensir. ,/:,^.f?j,j,'i, ,t I ' \iiiT-hurg, 1750). Ix, 35 sqq.: Idem, Prodronn, ■ ' / 1 (Augsburg, 1757), 416 sqq.;
Mabillii-., I ,' ./icK, I (Paris, 1668), 191 sqq.;
Marx, (/../" /,/, .,, /;, , <,;v, it, I (Trier, 1858), 82 sq.; 11, 377 sq.; M\:-.ut.»>..\.,i. Lin- .•.iltuften des hi. Nicetius. Bischof von Trier (Mainz, 18o0j; Kayser, Lebeii und Schri/ten des hi. Nicetius (Trier, 1873); Morin in Revue binedictine (1897), 385 sqq.
J. p. KiRSCH.
Niche, a recess for the reception of a statue, so de- signed as to give it emphasis, frame it effectively, and afford some measure of protection. It hardly existed' prior to the twelfth century, and is one of the chief decorative characteristics of Gothic architecture. The constant and often lavish use of sculptured images of the saints was an essential part of the great style that was so perfectly to express the Catholic Faith, and that had its beginnings in Normandy as a result of the great Cluniac reformation; and from the mo- ment the roughly chiselled bas-relief swelled into the round and detached figure, the unerring artistic in- stinct of the medieval builders taught them — as it had taught the Greeks — that figure sculpture becomes architectural only when it is incorporated with the building of which it is a part, by means of surrounding architectural forms that harmonize it with the fabric itself. In Romanesque work this frame is little more than flanking shafts supporting an arch, the statue being treated as an accessory, and given place wher- ever a space of flat wall appeared between the col- umns and arches of the structural decoration. The convenience, propriety and beauty of the arrangement were immediately apparent, however, and thence- forward the development of the niche as an independ- ent architectural form was constant and rapid. Not only did the canopied niche assimilate the statue in the architectural entity and afford it that protection from the weather so necessary in the north; it also, in conjunction with the statue itself, produced one of the richest compositions of line, light, and shade known to art. The medieval architects realized this and seized upon it with avidity, using it almost as their chief means for obtaining those spots and spaces of rich decoration that gave the final touch of perfection to their marvellous fabrics. In the thirteenth century the wall became recessed to receive the statue, the fl:uiking .-shafts became independent supports for an arched and gabled canopy, while a jjcdestal was intro- duced, still further to tir tin- sniliiture into the archi- tecture. Later the .sect I nil nl i lie cinlinisure became hexagonal or octagon:il, thc;iirhr(li':LiU)])y wiiscu.sped, the gable enriched willi criickcls and |)inn:icles, and finally in the fourteenth:ind fifteenth centuries the entire feature bec:une nhnostun imlcijcndent composi- tion, the canopy being developed into a thing of mar- vellous complexitj' and riclmess, while it was lavi.shed on almost every part of the building, from the doors to the spires, .aiid within as well as without. Protes- tant .and revolution;u-y icoiiocl.-isni have left outside of France few ex;imjiles of niches properly filled by their original statues, but in such masterpieces of art as the cathedrals of Paris, Chartres, Amiens, and Reims, one
