ECHTER
271
ECK
to the curious " dancing procession ' ' which takes place
annually on Whit Tuesday, in honour of St. Willi-
brord. The cult of the saint may be traced back
almost to the date of his death, and the stream of pil-
grims to his tomb in the abbey church has never
ceased. The Emperors Lothair I, Conrad, and Maxi-
milian may be numbered amongst them. The tomb
stands before the high altar, and has been recently
entirely renewed. On it is a recumbent effigy of the
saint, and amongst other relics preserved there are a
mitre, crosier, and chasuble said to have been used by
him. The origin of the procession cannot be stated
with certainty. Authentic documents of the fifteenth
century speak of it as a regular and recognized custom
at that time, but for earlier evidence there is only
tradition to depend upon. The legend is that in 1347,
when a pestilence raged amongst the cattle of the
neighbourhood, the symptoms of which were a kind of
trembling or nervous shaking followed by speedy
death, the people thought that by imitating these
symptoms, more or less, whilst imploring the interces-
sion of St. Willibrord, the evil might be stayed. The
desired result was obtained, and so the dancing pro-
cession to the saint's tomb became an annual cere-
mony. Nowadays it is made an act of expiation and
penance on behalf of afflicted relations and especially
in order to avert epilepsy, St. Vitus's dance, convul-
sions, and all nervous diseases. The function com-
mences at nine o'clock in the morning at the bridge over
the Sure, with a sermon by the pari.sh priest (formerly
the abbot of the monastery) ; after this the procession
moves towards the basilica, through the chief streets of
the town, a distance of about H kilometres. Three steps
forward are taken, then two back, so that five steps
are required in order to advance one pace. The result
is that it is well after midday before the last of the
dancers has reached the church. They go four or five
abreast, holding each other by the hand or arm.
Many bands accompany them, playing a traditional
melody which has been handed down for centuries.
A large number of priests and religious also accom-
pany the procession and not infrequently there are
several bishops as well. On arrival at the church, the
dance is continued around the tomb of St. Willibrord,
when litanies and prayers in his honour are recited, and
the whole concludes with Benediction of the Blessed
Sacrament. Though curious and even somewhat
ludicrous, the people perform it in all seriousness and
as a true act of devotion. It usually attracts to
Echternach a great concourse of tourists as well as
pilgrims, and as many as ten thousand people gener-
ally take part in it. The procession took place annu-
ally without intermission until 1777. Then, on ac-
count of some abuses that had crept in, the music and
dancing were forbidden by the Archbishop of Trier,
and in 1780 Joseph II abolished the procession alto-
gether. Attempts were made to revive it ten years
later bvit the French Revolution effectually prevented
it. It was recommenced, however, in 1802 and has
continued ever since. In 1826 the Government tried
to change the day to a Sunday, but since 1830 it has
always taken place on Whit Tuesday, as formerly.
Ste-Mahthe. Gallia Christiana (Paris, 1785), XIII; Mak- TENE AND DnRAND, Vo'/afje lilli'raire de deux Benediclins (Paris. 1724), III; MiGNE, Did. rfcs ^6fca«c.? (Paris, 1856); Khier, La Procession dansanie h Echternach (Luxemburg, 1888); Rein- ERH. Die St. Willibrords Stiftung Echternach (Luxemburg, 1896); Taunton, Echternach and the Dancing Pilgrims in Cath- olic World (New York, 1S91 ), LXV.
G. Cyprian Alston.
Echter von Mespelbrunn, Julius, Prince- Bishop of Wiirzburg, b. IS March, 1545, in the Castle of Mespelbrunn, Spe.ssart (Bavaria); d. 13 Sept., lfiI7, at Wiirzburg. Descended from an ancient family in the .service of the archbishops of Mainz, he received a good education in the schools of that city, also at Louvain, Douai, Paris, Angers, Pavia, and Rome ; it was in Rome that he became a licentiate of
canon and civil law. In 1567 he entered on his duties
as canon of Wiirzburg, an office to which he had been
appointed in 1554; in 1570 he became dean of the
cathedral chapter, and in 1573, at the age of twenty-
eight, even before his ordination to the priesthood,
was appointed Prince-Bishop of Wurzburg. Various
causes had combined to bring the diocese into a sad
state. Deeply in debt and poorly administered, it
had an almost entirely Protestant population. The
clergy, in point of virtue and learning, were for the
most part unequal to their task, and the cathedral
chapter was adverse to any ecclesiastical reform.
During the first ten years of Echter's government the
attempt to unite the Abbey of Fulda and the Bishop-
ric of Wurzburg, after the deposition of the Prince-
Abbot Balthasar von Dernbach, caused much con-
fusion. This was due to the youthful ambition of
Echter, and not, as some wish to interpret it, a sign of
any anti-Catholic sentiments on his part. From the
outset he endeavoured to carry out a thorough eccle-
siastical restoration. For this reason he encouraged,
as far as possible, the Jesuits and promoted their benef-
icent ministry. In the same spirit he conceived the
plan of founding a university at Wurzburg, and
despite all difficulties it was solemnly opened (2 Jan.,
1582) and became a model for all similar Counter-
Reformation institutions. Under the Jesuits it
flourished, grew rapidly, and furnished the see with
the priests and officials needed to counterbalance the
more or less irreligious temper of the population.
The bishop was now able to take decisive steps against
Protestantism. He banished all Lutheran preachers
from his territory and removed all priests who were
unwilling to observe the rules of their office. The
public officials had to be Catholics, and none but
Catholic teachers could be appointed. He began,
moreover, courses of careful instruction for non-
Catholics, and to some extent threatened them with
penalties and even with banishment. Within three
years about 100,000 returned to the Catholic Church.
Public worship was also improved by the introduction
of new devotions, processions, and the establishment
of confraternities. Bishop Echter restored ruinous
monasteries or devoted their revenues to the erection
of new parishes and to the building of three hundred
new churches. The tapering towers of these churches,
called after the bishop "Julius towers", still preserve
his memory. His most beneficial and lasting monu-
ment, after the university, is the Julius Hospital,
which he foimded with the endowment of the aban-
doned monastery of Heiligenthal. By skilful ad-
ministration he improved the decadent economic con-
ditions of his ecclesiastical states, reduced taxes, per-
fected the administration of justice, and established
many primary schools. In a word, he proved himself
one of the most capable rulers of his time. Not only
in his own diocese did he display an extraordinary and
varied activity, but as the founder and soul of the
Catholic League, he exercised a decisive influence on
the future of Germany.
BucHiNGER, Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn (Wurzburg, 1843); Wegele in Allgemeine dcutsche Biographic, XIV, 671-
84. Patricius Schlager.
Eck (EcKius), Johann, theologian and principal adversary of Luther, b. 15 Nov., 1486, at Eck in Swa- bia; d. 10 Feb., 1543, at Ingolstadt. His family name was Maier, and his father, Michael Maier, was for many years magistrate in the town, the latinized name of which, Eckius or Eccius, was adopted after 1505 by Johann. His uncle, Martin Maier, pastor at Rotheiiburg on the Neckar, received Johann in his house (1495) and educated him. In 1498, when twelve years old, he was admitted to the Heidelberg University; thence he went in 1499 to Tiibingen where he received the degree of Master of Arts in 1501 ; then to Cologne and in 1502 to Freiburg in the Breisgau. After his graduation in the faculty of arts
