FATHERS
15
FATHERS
volume of his invaluable " H istory of Early Christian
Literature". In the middle of the fourth century, St.
Epiphanius's book on heresies is learned but confused;
it is most annoying to think how useful it would have
been had its pious author quoted his authorities by
name, as Eusebius did. As it is, we can with difficulty,
if at all, discover whether his sources are to be depended
on or not. St. Jerome's lives of illustrious men
are carelessly put together, mainly from Eusebius,
but with additional information of great value, where
we can trust its accuracy. Germadius of Marseilles
continued this work with great profit to us. The
Western cataloguers of heresies, such as Philastrius,
Praedestinatus, and St. Augustine, are less useful.
Collections of documents are the most important matter of all. In the Arian controversy the collec- tions published by St. Athanasius in his apologetic works are first-rate authorities. Of those put together by St. Hilary only fragments survive. Another dos- sier by the Homoiousian Sabinus, Bishop of Heraclea, was known to Socrates, and we can trace its use by him. A collection of dociunents connected with the origins of Donatism was made towards the beginning of the fourth century, and was appended by St. Opta- tus to his great work. Unfortunately only a part is pre- served; but much of the lost matter is quoted by Optatus and Augustine. A pupil of St. Augustine, Marius Mercator, happened to be at Constantinople during the Nestorian controversy, and he formed an interesting collection of pieces juslificatives. He put together a corresponding set of papers bearing on the Pelagian controversy. IrenEeus, Bishop of Tyre, amassed documents bearing on Nestorianism, as a brief in his own defence. These have been preserved to us in the reply of an opponent, who has added a great number. Another kmd of collection is that of letters. St. Isidore's and St. Augustine's are im- mensely numerous, but bear little upon history. There is far more historical matter in those (for instance) of Ambrose and Jerome, Basil and Chrysostom. Those of the popes are numerous, and of first-rate value ; and the large collections of them also contain letters ad- dressed to the popes. The correspondence of Leo and of Hormisdas is very complete. Besides these collec- tions of papal letters and the decretals, we have sepa- rate collections, of which two are important, the Col- lectio Avellana, and that of Stephen of Larissa.
Councils supply another great historical source. Those of Nicsea, Sardica, Constantinople, have left us no Acts, only some letters and canons. Of the later oecumenical councils we have not only the detailed Acts, but also numbers of letters connected with them. Many smaller councils have also been preserved in the later collections; those made by Ferrandus of Car- thage and Dionysius the Little deserve special mention. In many cases the Acts of one council are preserved by another at which they were read. For example, in 418, a Council of Carthage recited all the canons of former African plenary councils in the presence of a papal legate; the Council of Chalcedon embodies all the Acts of the first session of the Robber Council of Ephesus, and the Acts of that session contained the Acts of two synods of Constantinople. The later ses- sions of the Robber Council (preserved only in Syriac) contain a number of documents concerning inquiries and trials of prelates. Much information of various kinds has been derived of late years from Syriac and Coptic sources, and even from the Arabic, Armenian, Persian, Ethiopic and Slavonic. It is not necessary to speak here of the patristic writings as sources for our knowledge of Church organization, ecclesiastical geog- raphy, liturgies, canon law and procedure, archeol- ogy, etc. The sources are, however, much the same for all these branches as for history proper.
Pathistic Study. — (1) Editors of the Fathers. — The earliest histories of patristic literature are those contained in Eusebius and in Jerom.e's "De viris
illustribus". They were followed by Gennadius, who
continued Eusebius, by St. Isidore of Seville, and by
St. Ildephonsus of Toledo. In the Middle Ages the
best known are Sigelfert of the monastery of Gem-
bloux (d. 1112), and Trithemius, Abbot of Sponheim
and of Wiirzburg (d. lolG). Between these come an
anonymous monk of Melk (Mellicensis, c. 1135) and
Honorius of Autun (1122-5). Ancient editors are not
wanting; for uistance, many anonymous works, like
the Pseudo-Clementines and Apostolic Constitutions,
have been remodelled more than once; the translators
of Origen (Jerome, Rufinus, and unknown persons)
cut out, altered, added; St. Jerome published an
expurgated edition of Victorinus "On the Apoca-
lypse". Pamphilus made a list of Origen's writings,
and Possidius did the same for those of Augustine.
The great editions of the Fathers began when printmg had become common. One of the earliest editors was Faber Stapulensis (Lefevre d'Estaples), whose edition of Dionysius the Areopagite was published in 1498. The Belgian Pamele (1536-87) published much. The controversialist Feuardent, a Franciscan (1539-1610) did some good editing. The sixteenth century pro- duced gigantic works of history. The Protestant "Centuriators" of Magdeburg described thirteen centuries in as many vokmies (1559-74). Cardinal Baronius (1538-1607) replied with his famous " Anna- les Ecclesiastic!", reaching to the year 1198 (12 vols., 1588-1G07). Marguerin de la Eigne, a doctor of the Sorbonne (1546-89), published his "Bibliotheca veterum Patrum" (9 vols., 1577-9) to assist in refut- ing the Centuriators.
The great Jesuit editors were almost in the seven- teenth century; Gretserus (1562-1625), Fronto Du- CiBUS (Fronton du Due, 1558-1624), Andreas Schott (1552-1629), were diligenteditorsof theGreek Fathers. The celebrated Sirmond (1559-1651) continued to publish Greek Fathers and councils and much else, from the age of 51 to 92. Denis Petau (Petavius, 1583-1652) edited Greek Fathers, wrote on chronol- ogy, and produced an incomparable book of historical theology, "De theologicis dogmatibus" (1644). To these may be added the ascetic HalloLx (1572-1656), the uncritical ChifHet (1592-1682), and Jean Gamier, the historian of the Pelagians (d. 1681). The greatest work of the Society of Jesus is the publication of the "Acta Sanctorum", which has now reached the be- ginning of November, in 64 volumes. It was planned by Rosweyde (1570-1629) as a large collection of lives of saints; but the founder of the work as we have it is the famous John van BoUand (1596-1665). He was joined in 1643 by Ilenschenius and Papebrochius (162S-1714), and thus the Society of Bollandists began, and continued, in spite of the suppression of the Jesuits, until the French Revolution, 1794. It was happily revived m 1836 (see Bollandists). Other Catholic editors were Gerhard Voss (d. 1609), Albaspinseus (De I'Aubespine, Bishop of Orleans, 1579-1630), Rigault (1577-1654), and the Sorbonne doctor Cotelier (1629-86). The Dominican Comb^fis (1605-79) edited Greek Fathers, added two volumes to de la Eigne 's collection, and made colltetions of patristic sermons. The layman Valesius (de Valois, 1603-70) was of great eminence.
Among Protestants may be mentioned the contro- versialist Clericus (Le Clerc, 1657-1736); Bishop Fell of Oxford (1625-86), the editor of Cyprian, with whom must be classed Bishop Pearson and Dodwell ; Grabe (1666-1711), a Prussian who settled in England; the Calvinist Basnage (1653-1723). The famous Galilean Etienne Baluze (1630-1718), was an editor of great industry. The Provengal Franciscan, Pagi,_ pub- lished an invalual^le commentary on Baronius in 1689-1705. But the greatest historical achievement was that of a secular priest, Louis Le Nain de Tille- mont, whose " Histoire des Empereurs" (6 vols., 1690) and "M^moires pour servir a 1 'histoire eccMsiastique
