Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 3.djvu/353

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CANTICLE


301


CANTICLE


property without the concurrence of the monastic chapter, and the efforts of the archbishops to rid themselves of the control of the Canterbury monks gave rise to the frequent disputes between prelate and chapter that recur throughout the history of the diocese. From these foundations as centres the parochial system gradually spread. Another char- acteristic was the purely Roman character of the Church in Kent. It was free from all such conflicts with Celtic Christianity as took place in the North, and in liturgy it never developed a local use, but fol- lowed the Roman Rite that St. Augustine had intro- duced. The first five archbishops were all Romans, St. Deusdedit being the first Englishman to rule the see. He was succeeded by St. Theodore, a Greek, one of the greatest of the archbishops, who travelled throughout England, and organized the primatial power and metropolitan jurisdiction. He was fol- lowed by a line of monastic prelates, chiefly local administrators. Under one of these, Jaenberht (766- 790), during the supremacy of Mercia, the very pri- macy was threatened by the establishment of an Archbishopric of Lichfield, but this did not last. After Alfred's time came several archbishops trans- lated from other sees, and bringing wider knowledge, so that the see grew in authority until it rose to its height during the episcopate of .St. Dunstan, whose genius marked an epoch in diocesan, as in national, history. Under him the influence of Canterbury was felt throughout the land. While relying chiefly on the work of the greater monasteries, he also en- couraged the secular clergy, whose parochial settle- ments always followed the missionary work begun from the houses of the regulars. St. .Elphcge, mur- dered by the Danes in 1012, added the glory of mar- tyrdom to the chair of Canterbury. The last of the Saxon prelates was Stigand, regarded as uncanonical because he had received his pallium from an anti- pope, and he was finally dispossessed by William the Conqueror in 1070. Until this time there had been a sort of auxiliary bishop, or chorepiscopus, with the title "Bishop of St. Martin's", who held the church of that name at Canterbury, and whenever the arch- bishop was absent filled his place. The last of these prelates was Godwin, who died in 1065. The new archbishop, Lanfranc, refused to continue the ar- rangement. Lanfranc introduced the prebendal system at Canterbury, and reorganized the arrange- ment of property, dividing off that of the archbishop from that of the monastery, with the result that from that time the close bond that had previously existed between them disappeared. Thenceforth, too, the Archbishops of Canterbury became absorbed in the wider duties of primate, as is seen in the episcopate of St. Anselm. who contested with the king the rights of the Church involved in the question of investitures. The widened sphere of archiepiscopal activity was signalized when the pope appointed Theobald (1139- 1161) as legatua natus. He was succeeded by St. Thomas of Canterbury, whose long struggle was crowned by martyrdom in 1 170. Henceforth Canter- bun', as the place of his shrine, entered on new glories, becoming famous through all Christendom for the miracles wrought at the tomb, the devotion of the pilgrims, and t lie splendour of the shrine. The next archbishop, Richard, had to maintain the primacy of Canterbury against the claims of York, the question being finally compromised by the pope, who gave York the title "Primate of England" and Canterbury that of " Primate of All England". Succeeding arch- bishops played prominent parts as statesmen, notably Hubert Walter and Stephen Langton, the latter tak- ing the leading part in obtaining Magna Charta from King John. Endless disputes with the monks and fruitless struggles against papal exactions and royal abuses marked the short and unhappy episcopate of St. Edmund of Canterbury (1234-1240), the last of


the canonized archbishops. From his time to the Reformation the archbishops were men distinguished in many ways, under whom the privileges and power of the diocese were constantly increased. The tradi- tion was not reversed till the time of Cranmer, who, like his predecessors, received his pallium from the pope, but considered that he held the archbishopric from the king. Having broken his own vow of celibacy, he easily divorced the king from Queen Catherine. He allowed the shrine of St. Thomas to be desecrated and plundered in 1538, and in 1541 he ordered the tombs of all the canonized archbishops to be destroyed. Much of the property of the see he was forced to surrender to the king. In 1539 the two great monasteries of Christ Church and St. Augustine's had been suppressed, and their property seized. By his office Cranmer was the head of the Church in England, but under Henry he helped to despoil it, and under Edward he led the reforming party against it, abolishing the Mass, and stripping the churches. The spiritual and material ruin thus accomplished could not be effectually remedied dur- ing the brief episcopate of Cardinal Pole (1556-1558). This prelate did all that was possible in so short a time, but his death, which took place on the 17th of November, 1558, brought to a close the line of Catho- lic archbishops. With the accession of Elizabeth — which took place on the same day — the new state of things, which has continued to the present time, was begun. Canterbury, as a city, has never recovered from the loss of St. Thomas's shrine and the destruction of the two great monasteries, but the cathedral still remains, one of the finest buildings in the country, as a witness to its former glory.

The arms of the see were: Sapphire, an episcopal staff in pale, Topaz, and ensigne.d with a cross patee Pearl, surmounted of a pall of the last, charged with four crosses, formee, fitehee, Diamond, edged and fringed as the second.

Somner. Antiquities of Canterbury (1640); Battely, Enlarged Edition of Somners Antui uit,.:-. , [.ominn. 1703): Dart, History of Cathedral Church of Cni, ,1, . i i|7.t. : Hasted, History of the City of Canterbury (Canterbury, 1799); Willis; Architectural History of Canterbury Cathedral (London, 1843); Stanley. Historical Memorials of Cant, rb try i London, 1855); Hook, Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury (1S65-75); WaLCOTT, Memorials of Canterbury 1 I ,1 MSS.

Commission Fifth Report (1876), Eighth do. (1881), and Ninth do. (1883); Jenkins, Canterbury, in lh ta an Histories (London. 1880 1; Smith. Chronological History of Cantt rb ry < !anterbury. 1883); Vilerae Cantuarit nscs in /,' N 1 1 on. Ion. I - several other volumes j n t ne game sit,. WITH SS, <ant>r- bury: the Cathedral and See (London, 1896); Cox, Canterbury 1 1. on. Ion, I'.io.'.i; Kf.i \u, Ti. eoixjgical Society, Lrchawlooia Cantiana, 27 vols. (1858-1905).

Edwin- Bitrton.

Canticle. — Although the word is derived from canticulum, dim. of canticvm, a song (Lat. canere, to sing), it is used in the English Catholic translation of the Bible as the equivalent of the Vulgate canticum in most, but not all. of the uses ,,f tha( word; for where canticvm is used fur a sacred song, as in the ten can- ticles found in the Breviary (as given below), it is always rendered "canticle", whilst in other connex- ions (e. g. Gen., xxxi. 27. secular songs; Job, xxx, 9, song of derision: Is., xxiii. 15, "harlot's song") it is rendered "song". The Authorized Version does not make such a distinction, but regularly translates from the Hebrew and the Greek "song". From the Old Testament the Roman Breviary takes seven canticles for use at Lauds, as follows: (1) On Sundays and Festivals, the "Canticle of the Three Children" (Dan., iii, 57). (2) On Mondays, the "Canticle of I ' ; the Prophet" (Is., xii\ (3) On Tuesdays, the "Canticle of Ezechias" (Is., xxwiii, 10-20). (4) On Wednesdays, the "Canticle of Anna" (I Kings, ii. 1 10). (5) On Thursdays, the "Canticle of Moses" (Exod., xv, 1-19). (0) On Fridays, the "Canticle of Habacuc" (Hah., iii. 2-19). (7) On Saturdays, the "Canticle of Moses" (Deut., xxxii,