RATHBORNE
651
RATIONALE
Rathborne, Joseph, priest and controversialist
(sometimes erroneously called Rathbone), b. at Lin-
coln, 11 May, 1807; d. at Cowes, 12 August, 1842.
He was educated at Ushaw (1813-22), and St.
Edmund's, Old Hall (1823-30), where he was or-
dained 18 Feb., 1830. In November he was ap-
pointed by Bishop Bramston to the mission at
Cowes, where the rest of his life was spent. He pub-
lished "Letters of Alethphilos" (1839), which dealt
with a local controversy about prayers for the dead.
Under the same pseudonym he published a series of
other pamphlets, "Good Friday and Easter Sunday"
(1839); "Letters to the Protestants of the Isle of
Wight on the Catholic Religion" (1839); "A Reply
to the Reverend Barnabas Rodriguez Almeda"
(1840); "A Letter to Dr. Adams, shewing Purgatory
inseparably connected with Prayers for the Dead"
(1840); "Are the Puseyites sincere?" (1841); and
"The Church in its Relations with Truth and the
State" — a reply to Mr. Gladstone (1841). Under
his own name he published "The Clergy of the
French Revolution", an obituary sermon on the Rev.
Dr. de Grenthe.
Tablet, III, 423, 455, 583; Davies, History of Cowes Mission (Cowes, 1897) ; Gillow, Bibl. Diet. Eng. Cath.. s. v. Ralhbone.
Edwin Buhton.
Ratherius of Verona, b. about 887; d. at Namur 25 April, 974. He belonged to a noble family which lived in the territory of Liege. While still a boy he was sent as an oblate to the Benedictine Abbey of Lobbes in the Hennegau, where he was a diligent student, acquired much learning, and became a monk of the abbey. At an early age he displayed a restless nature, a disposition difficult to get along with, great ambition, and a zeal that was harsh. Consequently, notwithstanding his strict orthodoxy, his wide learn- ing, and sobriety of conduct, he met with great diffi- culties in every position he assumed, and nowhere attained permanent success. His entire life was a wandering one and not in reality fruitful. When Abbot Hilduin of Lobbes went in 926 to Italy, where his cousin, Hugo of Provence, was king, he took Ratherius with him as companion. After many diffi- culties Ratherius received from the king the Diocese of Verona in 931. Yet he only ruled his see for two years. He soon fell into a quarrel with both the mem- bers of his diocese and with the king, so that the latter sent him to prison and had him brought to Como. In 939 he escaped from Como into Provence, where he was tutor in a noble family until he returned to the Abbey of Lobbes in 944. In 946 he went again to Italy and, after he had been held for some time as a prisoner by Berengar, the oi)poncnt of King Hugo, he obtained once more the Diocese of Verona. The difficulties that arose were again so great that after two years he fled to Germany and for some time wandered restlessly about the country. He took part in the Italian expedition of Ludolph of Swabia, the son of Otto I, but was not able to regain his diocese, and in 9.52 returned to Lobbes. From Lobbes he was called to the cathedral school of Cologne by Arch- bishop Bruno of Cologne, who soon afterwards, in 953, gave Ratherius the Diocese of Liege. However, as parly as 955, a revolt of the nobility against him obliged Ratherius to leave this see, and he now re- tired to the Abbey of Aulne. In 962 the Emperor Otto restored to him the Diocese of Verona, but after seven years of constant quarrels and difficulties he was obliged once more to withdraw. In 968 he went to Lobbes, where he incited such opposition against the Abbot Folcwin that Bishop Notker of Li^ge restored order by force, and in 972 sent Ratherius to the Abbey of Aulne, where he remained until his death.
His writings are as unsystematic as his life wa8 changeable and tumultuous. While his style is con- fused and lacks clearness, his writings generally had reference to particular occasions and were pamphlets
and invectives against his contemporaries. He also
wrote complaints against himself in his own affairs.
Among his writings should be mentioned: "Prae-
loquia", in six books, a criticism of all the social ranks
of the period; "Conclusiodeliberativa", and "Phren-
esis", both in defence of his right to the Diocese of
Liege; "Dialogus confessionum " and "Qualitatis
conjunctura", reckless self-accusation; "De con-
temptu canonum", "Synodiea", "Discordia inter
ipsum et clericos", and "Liber apologeticus",
against the ecclesiastics of his era and in defence of
himself. Some of his sermons and letters have also
been preserved. The writings throw much light upon
his era. His works were edited by the brothers
Ballerini (Verona, 1765); also in "P. L.", CXXXVI.
Unedited letters are to be found in "Studie documenti
di storia e diritto" (1903), 51-72.
HuRTER, NomenclatoT (3rd. ed., Innsbruck. 1903), I, 901-06; VoGEL, Ratherius von Verona und das X, Jahrhundert (2 vols. Jena, 1854) ; Hauck, Kirchengesch. Deutschlands, III (Leipzig, 1S9B). 285 sqq.
J. P. KiRSCH.
Rationale, an episcopal humeral, a counterpart of the pallium, and like it worn over the chasuble. At the present time it is only used by the Bishops of Eichstiitt, Paderborn, Toul, and Cracow. As worn by the Bishops of Eichstatt, Paderborn, and Toul, the rationale is in the form of a humeral collar, orna- mented in the front and back with appendages. The one used by the Bishop of Cracow is made of two bands crossing the shoulder and joined at the breast and at the back, having the appearance of a discoid connected by medallions. During the Middle Ages the use of the rationale was affected by a number of German bishops, e. g. the Bisho])s of Wiirzburg, Ratisbon, Eichstatt, Naumburg, Halberstadt, Pader- born, Minden, Speier, Metz, Augsburg, Prague, 01- mutz, and by the Bishops of Liege and Toul, whose dioceses at that time belonged to the German Empire. There is no account of this rationale being worn by any other bishops except a few in territories adjoining that of Germany (Cracow, Aquileia). Of the above- mentioned bishops many only used it temporarily. The earhest mention of the rationale dates from the second half of the tenth century. The earliest repre- sentations are two pictures of Bishop Sigebert of Minden (1022-36), a miniature and an ivory tablet, which were both incorporated in a Mass Ordo belong- ing to Bishop Sigebert. The form of the rationale during the Middle Ages was manifold. Besides the two forms which have survived to our time, there were two other types, one closely resembling a Y-form pallium, the other hke a T-form pallium, with the difference that instead of being striped vertically, it was simply tasselled in front and at the back. There were no rules governing the ornamentation of the rationale, as is clearly seen by representations of it on monuments, and by such rationales as have been preserved (Bamberg, Ratisbon, Eichstatt, Paderborn, Munich). The edges were generally adorned with small bells.
The Rationale is an imitation and an equivalent of the pallium. That this is the case is evident, apart from other papal Bulls, from the Bull of John XIX (1027), conferring on the Patriarch Poppo of Aquileia the pallium and the rationale at the same time, with the condition that he could only wear the pallium on high festivals. It appears, however, that the humeral ornaments of the Jewish high-priests (ephod, etc.) were not without influence in evoking this pontifical adornment, as may be seen from the original rationales preserved at Bamberg and Ratisbon. The name at least is derived from the appellation of the breast orna- ment of the high-priest Aaron.
From the tenth to the thirteenth century the ra- tionale was also the name of an episcopal ornament similar to a large pectoral clasp, made of precious metal.
