CAMUS
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CAMUS
mans on the south side of St. Peter's, Rome, which
covers part of the ancient Circus Vaticanus, where great
numbers of Christians suffered death by the order of
Nero. After the Emperor Constant ine built his great
basilica over the graves of the Apostles Peter and
Paul, the faithful sought to be buried in the vicinity
of these holy sepulchres. On account of local condi-
tions the graves were dug chiefly on the south side of
the basilica, in the earth with which Xero's circus
was filled during the construction of St. Peter's.
Whether St. Helena covered this burial place with
earth from Mount Calvary, or whether, at the time
when Pisa obtained earth from Jerusalem for its
cemetery, the basilica of the Vatican also obtained
sacred soil for this cemetery, is uncertain, but it is a
fact, that since the fifteenth century the soil of this
cemetery has been held to be sacred earth from Jeru-
salem, and as such it has been asked for and obtained,
under papal sanction, by many localities when new
cemeteries were to be laid out. This tradition, in
connexion with the immediate vicinity of the graves
of the Apostles and with the memory of the first
martyrs under Nero, fully justifies the name of
campus sanctus, " holy field".
In 796 Charlemagne, by permission of Pope Leo III, founded on ground adjoining this spot a hospice for pilgrims, which was intended for the people of his empire. In connexion with the hospice was a church dedicated to the Saviour and a graveyard for the burial of the subjects of Charlemagne who died in Rome. From the beginning this foundation was placed under the care of the ecclesiastical authorities of St. Peter's. The decline, soon after this period, of the Carlovingian empire, brought the hospice, the Francorum, entirely under the jurisdiction of the basilica: at the same time the original intent of a place for pilgrims and the poor was preserved. In the complete ruin which overtook Rome during the residence of the popes at Avignon (1309-1378), and during the following period of the Schism, the eccle- siastical foundations in the vicinity of St. Peter's sank into decay. After the return of the popes new life sprang up, and the enthusiasm for building and en- dowing foundations in this part of the Eternal City was rekindled under Popes Martin \, Eugenius IV. and Nicholas V. The remembrance of Charlemagne and his hospice revived in the mind of the large and influential German colony then residing at Rome, and during the reign of Martin V (1417-1431) the enlarged cemetery was surrounded with a wall built by Freder- icus Alemannus, who also erected a house for its guardians. Johannes Assonensis, a German confessor attached to St. Peter's and later Coadjutor Bishop of Wurzburg. assembled his countrymen there during the pest of 1448 and founded among them a brother- hood, the object of which was to provide suitable burial for all poor Germans dying in Rome. This brotherhood built a church, a new hospice for Ger- man pilgrims on the adjoining land, and developed the Campo Santo into a German national institution.
In the fifteenth, sixteenth, and even in the nine- teenth century the German nation was represented at Rome by numerous officials at the papal court and by guilds of German bakers, shoemakers, and weavers; in these ages Germans were to be found in every industry of ordinary life, and German bank- ers ami inn-keepers were especially numerous. Nev- ertheless the steadily decreasing German population of Rome during the seventeenth and eighteenth centu- ries caused the Campo Santo, as a national founda- tion, and the brotherhood to sink more and more into neglect. Pius IX, who thoroughly understood the change of conditions and the demands of modern times, in 1876 sanctioned a new foundation in a col- lege for priests in which archaeological studies and church history were to be pursued. Friends of the undertaking in Germany endowed five free scholar- Ill — 15
ships and made possible the acceptance of resident
students. The library contains 6000 volumes and
embraces large collections of works on Christian
antiquities and modern church history. The mu-
seum includes sarcophagi, carvings, inscriptions, a
large number of early Christian lamps, textile fabrics
of the sixth century from Egypt, and many small
articles of various kinds. In 1SS7 a periodical was
established under the name of "Romische Quartal-
schrift fiir christliche Altertumskunde und fur Kirch-
engeschichte", and in 1901 another periodical entitled
"Oriens Christianus". These publications afford the
members of the college the opportunity to publish at
once the results of their studies and researches. The
college gives the German people a new institution for
the cultivation and development of ecclesiastical
science. Its students have already furnished a large
number of university professors and church digni-
taries of high rank. The church of the foundation
lias been restored and adorned with stained-glass
windows and the building greatly enlarged and newly
furnished; furthermore, it has received a large num-
ber of sacred utensils and vestments.
The tombstones in the adjoining cemetery bear many distinguished names, among them those of Cardinal Hohenlohe, Archbishop de Merode, Bishop von Anzer, Monsignor Schapman, and other church dignitaries. The names of many artists also occur, as those of Koch, von Rhoden, Ahlborn, Achter- mann; among the diplomats and scholars buried here are Theiner, Platner, Diekamp; other tombs are those of the queen-mother Carlotta of Denmark, Princess Caroline Wittgenstein. Princess Sophie Hoh- enlohe, and other women of high rank. Some of the monuments are of artistic value. Formerly the Campo Santo was seldom visited by the Germans in Rome and was scarcely known in Germany. Now, especially on the great church festivals, they gather for service and prayer in the church of the Campo Santo and in the cemetery. The priests of the col- lege often guide German travellers through the cata- combs and accompany them on visits to the other objects of interest in the Eternal City. The Campo Santo is a national foundation for the Catholics of the former German Confederation, that is, it is intended Doth for Austrians and Germans. The secular pro- tector is the Emperor of Austria, while the spiritual protectorate is exercised by a cardinal in the name of the pope. The cardinal protector has, in conjunc- tion with the archbishops of Salzburg, Munich, and Cologne, the right to name the rector.
Ehses. Festschrift (1907): De Waal. La Schola Francorum (1897); Buchberger, Kirchtiches Haiidhx. (.Munich. 1906).
Anton De Waal.
Camus de Pont-Carre, Jean-Pierre, French bishop, b. 3 November, 1584, at Paris; d. there 25 April, 1652. A Burgundian of good birth, he was ordained priest, immediately won a reputation for eloquence, and by a special dispensation of Paul V was made Bishop of Belley at the age of twenty-six, being consecrated by St. Francis of Sales, Bishop of Geneva. From that event (1609) dates the close friendship which ever united the two prelates. The episcopal administration of Camus was marked by an ardent, though somewhat inconsiderate, zeal. In 1614 he went as delegate of the clergy to the Etats- Generimx, and there stoutly defended the rights of the Church, hove of study and contemplation tempted him to resign his see, but, in deference to the counsels of St. Francis of Sales, Camus remained at his post until the death of that saint in 1629, when he left Belley and retired to the Abbey of Aulnay, near Caen. The coveted retirement, however, was of brief duration. Francois de Harlay, Archbishop of Rouen, being incapacitated by illness, claimed the services of Camus as auxiliary. This connexion with the archiepiscopal see lasted until the resigna-
