PLATO
159
PLATO
mulgated a Bull 29 June, 1456, prescribing the follow-
ing: (1) all priests were to say during Mass the
"oratio contra paganoB"; (2) daily, between noon
and vespers, at the ringing of a bell, everybody had to
say three Our Fathers and Hail Marys; (3) proces-
sions were to be held by the clergy and the faithful on
the first Sunday of each month, and the priests were
to preach on Faith, patience, and penance; to expose
the cruelty of the Turks, and urge all to pray for their
deliverance. The first Sunday of July (4 July), the
first processions were held in Rome. On the same day
the Turks began to besiege Belgrade. On 14 July
the Christians gained a small advantage, and on the
twenty-first and twenty-second the Turks were put
to flight.
In the same year Halley's comet appeared. In Italy it was first seen in June. Towards the end of the month it was still visible for three hours after sunset, causing great excitement everywhere by its extraor- dinary splendour. It naturally attracted the atten- tion of astrologers as may appear from the long "judicium astrologicum " by Avogario, of Ferrara, dated 17 June, 14.56; it was found again by Celoria among the manuscripts of Paolo Toscanelli, who had copied it himself. The comet was seen till 8 July. It is evident, from all the documents of that time, that it had disappeared from sight several days before the battle of Belgrade. These two simultaneous facts — the pubUcation of the Bull and the appear- ance of the comet — were connected by Platina in the following manner: "Apparente deinde per aliquot dies cometa crinito et rubeo : cum mathematici ingen- tem pestem: charitatem annona>: magnam aliquam cladem futuram dicerent: ad avertendam iram Dei Calistus aliquot dierum suppUcationes decrevit: ut si quid hominibus immineret, totum id in Thurcos chris- tiani nominis hostes converteret. Mandavit prseterea ut assiduo rogatu Deus flecteretur in meridie campanis signum dari fidelibus omnibus: ut orationibus eos juvarent: qui contra Thurcos continuo dimicabant" (A maned and fiery comet appearingfor several days, while scientists were predicting a great plague, dear- ness of food, or some great disaster, Callistus de- creed that supplicatory prayers be held for some days to avert the anger of God, so that, if any calamity threatened mankind, it might be entirely diverted against the Turks, the foes of the Christian name. He likewise ordered that the bells be rung at midday as a signal to all the faithful to move God with as- siduous petitions and to assist with their prayers those engaged in constant warfare with the Turks).
Platina has, generally speaking, recorded the facts truly; but is wrong at one point, viz., where he says that the astrologers' predictions of great calamities induced the pope to prescribe public prayers. The Bull does not contain a word on the comet, as the present writer can testify from personal examination of the authenticated document. — A careful investi- gation of the authenticated "Regesta" of Callistus III (about one hundred folios), in the Vatican archives, shows that the comet is not mentioned in any other papal document. Nor do other writers of the time refer to any such prayers against the comet, though many speak both of the comet and of the prayers against the Turks. The silence of St. Antoninus, Archbishop of Florence (1446-59), is particularly significant. In his "Chronicorum libri tres" he enumerates accurately all the prayers prescribed by Callistus; he also mentions the comet of 1456 in a chapter entitled, "De cometis, unde causentur et quid significent" — but never refers to prayers and processions against the comet, although all papal decrees were sent to him. Aeneas Syh-ius and St. John Capistrano, who preached the crusade in Hun- gary, considered the comet rather as a favourable omen in the war against the Turks.
Hence it is clear that Platina has looked wrongly
upon the Bull as the outcome of fear of comets. The
historians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
contented themselves with quoting Platina more or
less accurately (Calvisius 1605, Spondanus 1641,
Lubienietski 1666). Fabre (1726) in his continuation
of the "Histoire Ecclesiastique " by Fleury gave a
somewhat free paraphrase. Bruys (1733), an apos-
tate (who afterwards entered the Church again),
copies Fleury-Fabre adding "que le Pape profita en
habile homme de la superstition et de la cr6dulit6
des peuples". It is only when we come to Laplace's
"Exposition du Systeme du monde ", that we find the
e.xpression that the pope ordered the comet and the
Turks to be exorcized (conjure), which expression we
find again in Daru's poem " L' Astronomic ". Arago
(Des Cometes en general etc. Annuaire du Bureau
des Longitudes 1832, 244) converts it into an excom-
munication. Arago's treatise was soon translated
into all the European languages, after which time the
appearance of the comet (1456) is hardly ever men-
tioned, but this historical he must be repeated in
various shapes. Smyth (Cycle of celestial objects)
speaks of a special protest and excommunication
exorcizing the Devil, the Turks, and the comet.
Grant (History of physical astronomy) refers to the
publication of a Bull, in which Callistus anathema-
tized both the Turks and the Comet. Babinet (Revue
des deux mondes, 23 ann., vol. 4, 1853, 831) has the
pope "lancer un timide anatheme sur la comete et
sur les ennemis de la Chretient^", whilst in the battle
of Belgrade "les Freres Mineurs aux premiers rangs,
invoquaient I'exdrcisme du pape contre la comete".
In different ways the legend is repeated by Chambers,
Flammarion, Draper, Jamin, Dickson White, and
others. However, the truth is gaining ground and it
is hoped the story of the excommunicated comet will
soon be relegated to the realm of fables.
Pastor, Geschichte d. Pdpste, I, II, passim; Mukatori, Rer. italic, scriptores, XX (1731), 477, 611-14; Bissolati, Vite di due illustri cremonesi (Milan, 1856); Delsatjlx, Calixte III et la coviHe de H alley; Collection de precis historiques (Brussels, 1859), 301-5; Gerard, Of a Bull and a comet in The Month (Feb., 1907); Thirion, La comite de Halley. Son histoire et la Ugende de son excommunication in Revue des quest, sc, 3rd series, XVI (Brussels), 670-95; Stein, Calixte III et la comite de Halley in Specola astronomica Vaticana, II (1909); Hagen, Die Fahel von d. Kometenbulle in Stimmen aus Maria-Laach, LXVIII (1910), 413.
J. Stein.
Plato and Flatonism. — I. Life op Plato. — Plato (YlXdruv, the broad-shouldered) was bom at Athens in 428 or 427 b. c. He came of an aristocratic and wealthy family, although some writers represented him as having felt the stress of poverty. Doubtless he profited by the educational facilities afforded young men of his class at Athens. When about twenty years old he met Socrates, and the intercourse, which lasted eight or ten years, between master and pupil was the decisive influence in Plato's philosophical career. Before meeting Socrates he had, very likely, developed an interest in the earlier philosophers, and in schemes for the betterment of political conditions at Athens. At an early age he devoted himself to poetry. All these interests, however, were absorbed in the pursuit of wisdom to which, under the guidance of Socrates, he ardently devoted himself. After the death of Socrates he joined a group of the Socratic disciples gathered at Megara under the leadership of Euclid. Later he travelled in Egypt, Magna Graecia, and Sicily. His profit from these journeys has been exag- gerated by some biographers. There can, however, be no doubt that in Italy he studied the doctrines of the Pythagoreans. His three journeys to Sicily were, apparently, to influence the older and younger Dion- ysius in favour of his ideal system of government. But in this he failed, incurring the enmity of the two rulers, was cast into prison, and sold as a slave. Ran- somed by a friend, he returned to his school of phil- osophy at Athens. This differed from the Socratic
