OESTA
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OESTA
cording to Kolping's enactment, is always the presi-
dent of the local Verein in Cologne. On account of
the importance of this position, the presidents of Vi-
enna, Munich, Breslau, and Mtinster take part in the
election. As a rule, only unmarried Catholic journey-
men bet,ween the ages of 17 and 25 are admitted-
after three months' probation — to regular membership.
Those who are married or have completeil their ap-
prenticeship are retained on the list of honorary or
extraordinary members. No member is allowed to
join any association whose aims are opposed to those
of the Verein. Each member of a local Verein is at the
same time member of all the federated societies; hence
the importance of the federation as a whole.
The discussion of political matters and every kind of religious polemic are forbidden in the local Verein. Ample provision is made for the material welfare of the members. Each Verein must secure suitable quarters where its members can assemble at evening, especially on Sundays and festivals, for instruction antl social enjoyment. The hospices (over 400 in number) provide board and lodging for resident work- men at an exceedingly moderate cost, and for journey- men gratuitously until they find work. In places where there is no regular hospice, the local Verein secures proper accommodation for journeymen in houses under its control. Excellent service has also been renderefl in the way of providing employment, establishing funds for the care of the sick, and opening accounts for savings. The principal publication is the "Kolpingsblatt", which appears weekly at Co- logne in an edition of 45,000 copies.
The objects for which Kolping strove have been realized to a remarkable degree, as is evident from the wide development of the work he founded. "The Gesellenverein", says Schaffer, "has extended over hundreds of thousands its protective influence, teach- ing the ignorant, arousing the lukewarm, filling the timid with earnestness and self-respect, strengthening the weak and saving them from the perils to which so many workmen, especially through the efforts of social democracy, are everywhere exposed". These socie- ties are among the few institutions of Catholic origin which have been appreciated, commended, and even imitated by Protestants. The latter, however, have enrolled but a small number of workmen.
Owing to special conditions the Gesellenverein has so far shown but little signs of development in the United States. The almost total absence of the old trades' organization (apprentice, journeyman, master) in the country, the reluctance of the young artisans to travel from place to place, and the phenome- nal development of the factory system have pre- vented the growth of these societies. To this may be added the fact that efforts to create the Gesellen- verein have been made liy the German Catholics only. Branches of the Gesellenverein exist in Dayton, O., Paterson, N. J., Chicago, 111., St. Paul and Minneap- olis, Minn., and in New York. The membership varies from 40 (Paterson) to 450 (Dayton). The Dayton branch has a library of 3500 books. All these branches are affiliated to the society at New York, in close relation with the central authority in Germany.
Kolping. Der GeseUem}erei7i (Coloene, 1849); Schaffer, Adolf Kolping, flcr GeRellenvater (3d ed., Paderborn, 1894); Wenzel, Kolping der Gescllenvater (Berlin, 1896) ; Schweitzer, Der Kalh. Gesellenverein Hanrlhuch (C^ologne, 1905); Der Kath. Gesellenv. in s. sozialen Bedeutung (Cologne, 1907) .
Joseph Lins.
Gesta Dei per Francos, the title adopted by Gui- bert de Nogent (d. about 1124) for his history of the First Crusade. In the eleventh century the name of "Frank" was applied in a general manner to all the inhabitants of Western Europe, being a survival of the political unify estalilished by the Carolingians forthe benefit of the Franks. The Byzantine chroniclers never otherwise refer to the Westerns. Ilerve, a Nor- man adventurer in the service of the Byzantine em-
perors in the eleventh century, is called "J"ranco-
poulos" (Son of the Franks). It was therefore quite
natural that this name of "Frank" should be used by
the Orientals in referring to the crusaders, and it is
evident that they called themselves by the same name.
" Gesta Francorum" is the title of one of the chief ac-
covmts of the Crusades. Since the Crusades the word
Frank remains in the east a synonym for Western, and
to-day the term is still used in that sense. Moreover,
the idea that the Franks were a people chosen by God
arose soon after their conversion to Christianity, and
finds expression many times in the traditions relative
to Clovis, which Gregory of Tours transmits to us.
We read in one of the prologues of the Salic Law:
"Glory to Christ, who loves the Franks! May He
preserve their kingdom! May He replenish "their
leaders with His grace, for this is the strong and brave
nation which has richly covered with gold the bodies
of the holy martjTS." With ( 'harlemagne the Franks
protected the Roman Churcli from the Lombard inva-
sion, destroyed paganism among the Saxons, drove
back the Mussulmans, and established their protector-
ate over the Holy Sepulchre. Hence the crusade
was, for the men of the eleventh century, merely
the crowning of that alliance between God and the
Franks, and after the discourse of Urban II at Cler-
mont, it was to the cry of "God wills it!" that all
made haste to take the cross.
Guibert, b. in Picardy about 105.3, was a monk at Saint-Germer-de-Fly, elected Abbot of Nogent-sous- Coucy in 1104, had been a witness of the enthusiasm aroused by the preaching of the crusade, perhaps he had even assisted at the Coimcil of Clermont. Desir- ing to write an account of the Crusades, he chose this title of the "Doings of God through the Franks", and in his accoimt, wherein the marvellous occasionally mingles with reality, he affirms at different times the Divine mission of the Franks. This work, dedicated to Gaudri, Bishop of Laon, is not an original account of the crusade, and in part follows the anonymous author of the " Gesta Francorum ". It is nevertheless not without great value, for it shows the profound impression created throughout Europe by the con- quest of the Holy Land. Although Guibert was a contemporary of the events which he relates, they receive already in his account an epic colouring. The interest of these seven books, composed between 1108- 1112 consists in their revealing to us the doctrine of the providential role, which the men of the Middle Ages assigned to the Westerns, but in Guibert's mind the only Franks worth considering were his compatri- ots, the French. To them the popes turned when they suffered injuries inflicted by other nations, and he contrasts their conduct with that of the Teutons, in re- volt against the Church. He therefore considers the crusade as a wholly French imdertaking (Bk. II, i). When, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, Jacques Bongars (1546-1612) undertook to publish the works of all the known historians of the Crusades, he chose as the title of his collection "Gesta Dei per Francos" (Hanover, 2 v., 1612).
Guibert de Nogent in Histor. Ocrid. Croisades, IV, 115-263; MoNOD, Le moine Guibert et iion temps (Paris, 1905).
Louis Brehier.
Gesta Romanorum, a medieval collection of anec- dotes, to which moral reflections are attached. It was compiled in Latin, probably by a priest, late in the thirteenth or early in the fourteenth centiuy. The ascription of authorship to Berchorius or Helinandus can no longer be maintained. The original object of the work seems to have been to provitle preachers with a store of anecdotes with suitable moral applica- tions. Each story has a heading referring to some virtue or vice (e. g. dc dileclione) ; then comes the anec- dote followed by the moralisalio. The collection be- came so popular throughout Western Europe that
