GERARD
468
GERARDUS
master loved him, but t}ie foreman treated him cru-
elly. His reverence for the priesthood and his love of
suffering led him to take service in the house of a prel-
ate, who was very hard to please. On the latter's
death Gerard returned to his trade, working first as a
journeyman and then on his own account. His earn-
ings he divided between his mother and the poor, and
in offerings for the souls in purgatory. After futile at-
tempts first to become a Franciscan and then a hermit,
he entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Re-
deemer in 1749. Two years later he made his pro-
fession, and to the usual vows he added one by which
he bound himself to do always that which seemed to
him more perfect. St. Alphonsus considered him a
miracle of obedience. He not only obeyed the orders
of superiors when present, but also when absent knew
and obeyed their desires. Although weak in body,
he did the work of three, and his great charity earned
for him the title of Father of the Poor. He was a
model of every virtue, and so drawn to Our Lord in
the tabernacle that he had to do violence to himself to
keep away. An angel in purity, he was accused of a
shameful crime; but he bore the calumny with such
patience that St. Alphonsus said: "Brother Gerard is
a saint ". He was favoured with infused knowledge of
the highest order, ecstasies, prophecy, discernment of
spirits, and penetration of hearts, bilocation, and with
what seemed an unlimited power over nature, sick-
ness, and the devils. When he accompanied the
Fathers on missions, or was sent out on business, he
converted more souls than many missionaries. He
predicted the day and hour of his death. A wonder-
worker during life, he has continued to be the same
since his death.
Vila (Id Beato Gerardo Majella (Rome, 1893); Vassall, Life of BU Gerard Majella (London, 1893); Saint-(3mer, Life, Vir- tues, and Miracles of S. Gerard Majella (Boston, 1907).
J. Magnier.
Gerard of Cremona, a twelfth-century student of Arabic science and translator from Arabic into Latin; b. at Cremona, in 1114; d. in 11S7. The place and date of Gerard's birth are not given in any document prior to the fourteenth century. Tiraboschi, in his " Storia della letteratura italiana ", is at pains to refute the contention of some Spanish writers that Gerard was born, not at Cremona in Italy, but at Carmona in Spain. While conceding that Gerard spent a good many years at Toledo, Tiraboschi shows that Cremona and not Carmona is his birthplace. In fact, the MSS. of his writings style him Cremonensis, or Chermonensis (which seems to be a corrupt form of Cremonensis). From the "Chronicle" of the Dominican Francisco Pipino, who flourished about the year 1300, we learn, besides the place and date of his birth and death, that impelled by his interest in the works of the astronomer Ptolemy, he went to Toledo, and, applying himself to the study of Arabic, soon acquired so great a profi- ciency in that language that he was able to translate not only the "Almagest", but also the entire works of Avicenna, into Latin. He died in the year 1187 and was buried in the church of St. Lucy at Cremona, to which he bcciucathcd his valuable library. The number of books which lie translated from Arabic into Latin is said by Pipino to be seventy-six. Whether he is the author of original treatises is uncertain. The works sometimes attributed to him are almost certainly to be ascribed to Gerard of Sabionetta, who lived in the thirteenth century. He must have been a man of extraordinarily wide taste in scientific matters, for he translated, according to the "Chronicle" of Pipino, works on dialectic, geometry, philosophy, physics, and several other sciences. His activity as a translator, combined with the efforts in the same line of Michael Scott, and of the i^roup of men who formed a regular collci^c of trarislalors at Toledo under the direction of Bishop liaynioiid, brought the world of Arabian learn- ing within the rcacli of the scholars of Latin Christen-
dom and prepared the way for that conflict of ideas
out of which sprang the Scholasticism of the thirteenth
century. In this work Gerard was a pioneer. If the
description of his moral qualities given by Pipino is
not overdrawn, he was a man whose single-minded
devotion to the cause of science enabled him to over-
come the difficulties which in those days were inevi-
table in a task such as he undertook.
MuRATORi, Rer, Hal. Scrip/ores, IX, 6U0 .sqq.; Tiraboschi, Sloria della letteratura ital. (Florence, 1806), II, 2, 376-382.
William Turner.
Gerardus Odonis, also Geraldus Othonls, or Ottonis, a medieval theologian and Minister General of the Franciscan Order; b. probably at Chateauroux, in the present department of Indre, France, date un- known; d. at Catania, Sicily, 134S. Whether he was the son of Count Andr6 de Chauvigny is very doubtful. After he had entered the Order of St. Francis, most probably at Chateaurou.x, and conse- quently had belonged to the Touraine province of the order, he became a member of the Aquitanian prov- ince and still belonged to this latter (without, how- ever, being provincial minister) when he was elected minister general of the order, 10 June, 1329, at the general chapter. The presiding officer of this chapter was Cardinal de la Tour, a Franciscan, whom John XXII (131G-34) had appointed vicar-general of the order. The previous minister general, Michael of Cesena, had been deposed by John XXII on 6 June, 1328, on account of his rebellious attitude towards the Holy See in the discussion regarding the rule of pov- erty (see Fraticelli and Michael of Cesena). Gerardus Odonis was inclined to give up poverty, the principle of the order, on account of which Michael of Cesena had come into conflict with the pope. The gen- eral chapter held at Paris (1329) took a position, in the name of the entire order, on the side of the pope and formally expelled the small party made up of Michael of Cesena's adherents which opposetl the Holy See.
Gerardus Odonis openly showed his readiness to abandon the rule of poverty at the general chapter of Perpignan (1331), where he won over to his side four- teen provincial ministers. In reference to this ques- tion they presented a petition to John XXII which the pope rejected in the consistory of 1 August, 1331. Owing to his lax views concerning poverty Gerardus also became entangled in a dispute with King Robert and Queen Sanzia of Naples and Sicily. These rulers were unwavering protectors of the rigid adherents to theruleof poverty as well as of the followers of Michael of Cesena and of the Fraticelli. Notwithstanding the papal letters of admonition and the fact that John XXII sent Gerardus Odonis as his representative to the Court of Naples in 1331 and the following year, Gerardus had new statutes drawn up with the view of changing the form of the Franciscan Order to that of the old orders of monks. These regulations were con- firmed, 28 November, 1.336, by Benedict XII (1334- 42); consequently Gerardus was able at the chapter held at Cahors, 7 June, 1337, to obtain, in spite of strong opposition, the enactment of the so-called " Constitutiones Benedictinae". Nevertheless, he was in danger of being removed from his position, nor did the statutes remain in force longer than the lifetime of Benedict XII and the period during which Gerardus was general. The general chapter of Assisi abro- gated, 1 June, 1343, the "Constitutiones Benedic- tina?" and re-enacted, with some additions, the consti- tutions of Narbonne (12G0).
There is some truth in the assertion made as to Gerardus Odonis that he both resembled and imitated Brother Elias, the lax minister general seconil in suc- cession from St. Francis of Assisi; indeed, he even exceeded Elias. However, it must be said to his credit that, in union with the pope, he zealously pro- moted Franciscan missions, constantly sending fresh
