to his haven in the dayes of the good Emperours Iovian and Valentinian who were an Asylum or refuge not to him onely but likewise to all the persecuted people of God This godly Father lived to the seventh year of Valentinian and then rested in the Lord anno Christi 371. This was a familiar speech of his Verberari Christianorum propium est flagellare autem Christianos Pilati Caiphae officia sunt It s proper for Christians to be beaten but to scourge them is the office of Caiphas Pilate he was Bishop of Alexandria forty six years of whose most excellent endowments Gregorie Naziane is the Trumpeter who speaks thus of him in his funeral oration Athanasium laudare idem esse ac virtutem ipsam laudare to commend Athanasius is to praise vertue it self Indeed no Doctour of the Church ever endured so sharp disputes and so bitter afflictions for the truth as he Photius the Arch-bishop of Constantinople writing to his brother Tarasius concerning the works of this pious Father he thus expresses him Athanasius in sermonibus ubique locutione clarus est brevis simplex acutus tamen altus argumentationibus omnino vehemens in his tanta ubertas ut admirabilis sit Athanasius in his Sermons is clear in epxression and short and plain yet acute and high in his arguments altogether vehement and in these so great fertility that it is admirable Theodoret calls propugnaculum veritatis the fortress of truth Nazianzen lumen ecclesiae the light of the Church Epiphaneus latrem rectae fidei the Father of the Orthodox Faith Others orbis oraculum the Oracle of the world Bishop Andrews of Winchester stiles him Athanasius the Great great in many respects but especially great for the Creed he compiled His writings against Apollinarius do excel for grace and ornament as also those Epistles of his wherein he doth excuse his banishment Possevinus saith of him Athanasius fuit tanquam columna ecclesiae adversus omnes haereticos Athanasius was as as it were the pillar of the Church against all hereticks And another calls him haeraeticorum Malleum The beetle of Hereticks as one which knockt them at head by his solid and substantiall reasonings When Iulian the Emperour had by his Imperiall Edict banisht him from Alexandria he comforted his people and friends whom he found lamenting his condition Bono animo estoto filioli Nubecula est brevi evanescet Be of good courage my sons it s but a little cloud and will vanish instantly Sixtus Senensis tells us That Gregorie a Divine did set forth the life of this Father in an excellent Oration Hilarius Pictaviensis HIlarius Pictaviencis Episcopus Bishop of Poicttiers did shine most brightly in the Reigns of these following Emperours Constantius Iulian Iovinian Valens and Valentinian He was an eloquent Preacher and a notable Disputant he did by his solid writings establish the disperst Churches of Illyria France and Italy We reade that he was banished with many other Orthodox Bishops by the power and Policie of the Arians of whom he was a mighty opposer and Antagonist but at length prevailing with the Emperour Constantius for his return he came back to his Charge at Poictiers in the yeer 360. Where he found all grievously distracted and miserably afflicted with the Arians leaven so that like a good and skilfull Chirurgion he laboured to binde up the wounds and to heal the distempers He wrote twelve books of the Trinity wherein as Ierom observes in an Epistle of his Ad Romanum Oratorem quod Duodecim Quintiliani libros stylo imitatus est numero That he imitated the twelve books of Quintilian both in style and also in number And in that worke of his he confuted the blasphemous doctrine of the Hereticke Arius Ierome tells us that he died in the yeer of Christ 372. when Valerian was Emperour and he bestowes on him this worthy Character Hillarius Gallicano attollitur cothurno Eloquentiae Latinae Rhodanus Hilary is lifted up with his Gallican buskins the Rhine of Latine eloquence And elsewhere the same Father stiles him Latinae Sermonis tubam The Trumpet of the Latine tongue Some say he wrote on the whole book of Psalms which work of his is extant in Spain being a great reader and studier of Origen he is said to make use of Heliodorus a Priest who was better skild in the Greek tongue then himself Hence some do impute his misinterpretation of the Psalms whilst in some places he leaves the Grammatical sense and turns it into one that is Allegoricall and Anagogicall meerly to his ignorance in the Hebrew language Sixtus Senensis Speaking of that work of his and of that on St. Matthew he gives us this account of the style of them Stylus absque ulla artis affectatione pressus interdum subobscurus ob id a simplicium fratrum lectione procul est His style short without any artificiall affectation sometimes dark and obscure and for that very reason not to be understood or read by unskilfull and illiterate men T is a commendation which Erasmus gives him In Hilario grandi materiae parem grandiloquentiam atque ut ita dicam cothurnum admiramur This Bishop took such great paines to purge the Churches of France of the Arian Heresie and so far prevailed by his unwearied labours that Ierom resembles him to Deucalion who both saw the flood of waters overflowing Thessalie and the abating of them also Even so this Hilarius saw in his time both the growth and the decay of Arianisme in France One Fortunatianus a successour of his wrote his life in Hexameter verse being Bishop of Poictiers in the yeer 570. Didymus Alexandrinus VVAs an excellent Grammarian and for his eminency in that Art was elected Governour of the School of Alexandria Ierome so highly extols him in his 65 Epistle that he saith there Se quod nescivit didicisse a Didymo quod sciebat illo docente non perdidisse That he learnt what he knew not of Didymus and that he preserved what he knew by his instruction Nicephorus doth seem to eclipse him with a report of some errours that he should seem to adhere and cleave to But Socrates in his History giveth him this credit That he was a chief Maintainer and Patron of the Nicene Faith And Zozomene informs us Arianis in Aegypto nihil fuisse integri quamdiu Didymus in ea floruerit That Arius had no hold at all in Egypt so long as Didymus flourished there This man was a great acquaintance and an intimate familiar of Ieromes insomuch that that Father was greatly delighted with his society He tells us this of him That although he was blinde from his younger dayes yet he proved an excellent Geometrician which chiefly requires the Instrument of sight to the wonder of the whole World He wrote a heavenly Book de Spiritu Sancto of the Holy Ghost which the said Ierome translated into the Latine Tongue and is now mingled with his Works
ecclesiae scripsit that he wrote many most pious works of most elegant phrase and neer Ciceroes candour to the edification of the Church he was an extreme charitable man for as soon as he was turned from gentilisme to christianity he gave up all his substance to the support of poor Christians Ierome writing to Paulinus saith of this Father Quod instar fontis purissimi levis incessit placidus that like a most pure fountain he ran light and pleasing he wrote a famous treatise of mortality on purpose to comfort men against approching death in the time of a fearful pestilence Among all his writings that treatise of his de unitate ecclesiae of the unity of the Church is most set by and advanced Erasmus in an Epistle thus commends this man inter Latinos ad apostolici pectoris vigorem ubique sentias loqui pastorem ac martyrio destinatum And again saith he In Cypriano spiritum veneramur apostolicum we reverence in Cyprian an apostolical spirit t' is Austins in the second book against the Donatists chap. 1. non me terret autoritas Cypriani quia reficit humilitas Cypriani the autority of Cyprian doth not terrifie me because the humility of Cyprian doth refresh me A Deacon of his by name Pontius wrot the History of his life and Martyrdome he was martyred under Valerian and Galienus Arnobius ARnobius was a famous Rhetorician in Affrick the master of Lactantius of whom Eusebius Pamphilus reports that being a teacher of Rethorick and a Gentile he was constrained through sundry dreames to beleeve the glorious Gospel and yet the Christian Bishops would not receive him to their Fellowship till he had written and published those excellent Books of his against Gentilisme wherein he confuted that vain Superstition and Idolatry whereof he had been before so great a Patron and Advocate He wrote but seven books in number and the eighth which is thereto added is none of his compiling but as some say the Author of it was Minutius Felix He is said besides these books to have written Commentaries on the Psalmes But they are as Bellarmine well observes the workes of some later Author which he proves by their making mention of the Pelagian Heresie which was not broached till the time that Austine lived which was many yeers after Arnobius and besides Salmeron speaks of another Bishop of the same name to whom he ascribes those Expositions This man flourished about the yeer of Christ Christ 300. He is not without some speciall Characters Barthius saith this of him Si non extaret Densa nox foret in Superstionibus veterum If this man had not been living it had yet been right in the Superstitions of the Ancients Dempster calls him virum reconditae eruditionis styli asperioris A man of deep learning of rougher stile But Henisius above all others doth advance him Ille Patrum praesul optimus ille Christianae Varro maximus eruditionis That president of the Fathers that Varro of Christian Erudition but yet in some respects Ierome doth depresse him Arnobius inaequalis nimius est absque operis sui partitione confusus Arnobius is unequall and too much and without partition of his work confused Lactantius Firmianus LActantius Firmianus whom Alstedius stiles by the name of Cicero Christanorum the Christians Cicero was the Disciple of Arnobius who being eminent for eloquence in the raign of Diocclesian taught Rethorick at Nicomedia and and wrote those elegant books against the Religion of the Heathens of whom Ierome said Lact antius quasi quidam fluvius eloquentiae Tullianae vtinam tam nostra confirmare potuisset quam facile aliena destruxit Lactantius as it were a certain river of Ciceronian Eloquence I would to God he could as well have confirmed our own as he he did destroy the Religion of our Adversaries Lodovicus Vives having occasion to mention him saith this of him Septem scripsit volumina elegantissima acutissima nec est ullus inter Christianos scriptores tam vicinus dictioni Tullianae He wrote seven most elegant and acute volumes neither doth any among our Christian Writers come so neer the speech of Tully Pisecius stiles him Lacteum mellitissimum Scriptorem A milkie and most honey writer And Amesius too speaking of hm in his Book entituled Bellarminus Enervatus thus saith Quod inter omnes Patres audit Ciceronianus That among all the Fathers he is the Ciceronian I shall add but one Elogie more to him and t is that of Henisius Quid Tertulliani porro vim ac lacertos Quid Clementis variam prope incredibilem scientiam aut Hilarii Cothurnum aut Chrysostomi digressiones melle dulciores aut acumen Augustini aut diffusam cum solo Cicerone conferendam Firmiani eloquentiam commemorem What should I commemorate the force and strength of Tertullian Why the incredible Science of Clemens or the statelinesse of Hilary or the digressions of Chrysostome more sweet then Honey or the acutenesse of Augustine or the diffused eloquence of Firmianus who alone is comparable to Cicero And yet he is charged by Bellarmine with many errours whose words are these Lib. 1. de Sanct. beat Cap. 5. circa fin Lactantius in plurimos errores lapsus est praesertim circa futurum seculum cum esset magis librorum Ciceronis quam Scriptur arum Sanctarum peritus Lactantius fell into very many errors especially about the world to come seeing he was more skilfull in the workes of Cicero then in the books of the holy Scriptures Hence Chemnitius discourages us from reading of him saying Non multum potest juvare Lectorem He cannot much profit the reader Ierome particularly notes this in him that he denied the Holy Spirit to be a substance or person and beside this errour he addes another whilst he attributes reason to brute creatures lib. 3. instit cap. 1. He wrore his book of Divine Institutions under Dioclesian as himself expresseth it in the fourth Chapter of the fifth book and he published it in the Raign of the Great Constantine to whose Imperiall Majesty he doth direct his speech in it He was called Firmianus from his Countrey Town Firmii situate among the Picens in Italy and Lactantius as one well notes a Lacteo eloquentiae flumine from his milkie river of Eloquence He was in his old age Tutour to Crispus the son of Constantine how he dyed I read not Eusebius EUsebius was Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine he flourished about the yeer of our Lord 320. He was looked on at the first as the principall man of the Arian faction Chemnitius de lect Patr. stiles him apertissimum propugnatorem Arii A most open defender or abetter of Arius Baronius stiles him with Tertullian manifestum Hereticum a manifest Heretick Ierom in both his books which he wrote against Ruffinus doth not onely call him Arianum an Arian but likewise signiferum principem Arianorum The Standard bearer or Ensign of the Arians Yet certainly at the Councill of
Philosopher of Athens turned Christian and flourished if we may believe Bellarmine in the year of Christ 142. when Antonius Pius was Emperour and Telesphorus the Roman Bishop though Baronius will not have him to appear till the year of our Lord 179. which was the time when Aurelius sat in the Throne and Soter or Eleutherius in the Chair He was a man of very gteat esteem with the said Prince for his vast abilities and profound learning he wrote an Apology in the behalf of his fellow Christians and likewise undertook an Embassie that he might speak as an Advocate for them to the Roman Majesty He published a golden book as one cals it of the Resurrection set out and interpreted by Andreas Gesner Epiphanius cites this mans Apology in the Heresie of Origen where he relates the words of Proclus out of Methodius Bellarmine in his book of Ecclesiastical Writers saith Scriptorem hunc carere suspicione That this Writer is without suspition and yet he is constrained to confesse that he was over-passed both by Eusebius and Ierome Varro saith that this Author writ also some books of Husbandry How he dyed I read not what is now extant of his Works you have printed in one volume with Iustine Martyr Irenaeus IRenaeus flourished say some about the 160. year of Christ others the 180. when Aurelius Antonius and Commodus were Emperours and in that he saith that in his childhood he converst with Polycarpus some of the learned think that he was born either at Smyrna or not far from it that he was a Greek his name is their warrant to conjecture it Eusebius saith that he succeeded Pothinus in the Bishoprick of Lyons where he governed the Church say some for thirty years others say more Some which have written Martyrologies speaking of his death doe tell us that he was butchered by the Tyrant Maximinus who was a great persecutor of the Saints and people of God Bargnius saith that he was martyred with almost all his people of Lyons in that horrid storm which was raised against the Christians by the Emperour Severus He wrote against the heresies of those times which Satan had spread abroad on purpose to eclipse if not altogether to extinguish the sun-shine of the Truth He was at Rome with Eleutherius where he indeavoured the conviction of Blastus and Florinus two notable Schismaticks and to allay that malignant spirit of error which their stinking breath had raised He also sharply reyroved the Roman Bishop Victor for that he had injuriously excommunicated the Asian Churches so saith Eusebius Erasmus thinks that this Author wrote in Latine and not in Greek and being skilled in Greek he therefore useth Graecismes But Rhenanus judges the contrary because Ierome reckons him among the Grecian Writers Tertullian doth bestow on this man this following admirable character Irenaeus omnium doctrinarum curiosissimus explorator A most exquisite and curious searcher into all manner and kind of learning Epiphanius cals him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Most blessed and most holy Ireneus Erasmus in an Epistle of his thus sets him forth first he commends him from his name Magnus ille Ecclesiae propugnator pro sui nominis augurio pacis Ecclesiae vindex and then he goes on highly extolling his writings spirant illius scripta priscum illum Evangelii vigorem ac phrasis arguit pectus martyrio paratum habent enim Martyres suam quandam dictionem seriam fortem masculam That great defender of the Church for the divination of his name a maintainer of the Churches peace his writings breath that ancient vigour of the Gospel and his phrase argues a heart prepared for martyrdome for Martyrs have a certain serious expression valiant and masculine Bellarmine speaking of the books which this man wrote saith of them Quod pleni sum doctrina pietate that they are full of learning and piety Yet notwithstanding this great Light had his eclipses as appears by somewhat that is unsound in his own writings Particularly he was entangled with the snare of Papias who was the Father of the Chiliasts this Eusebius doth charge him with as we find it in the third book of his history the six and thirtieth chapter against which opinion of his Dionysius Bishop of Alexandria is said to have written somewhat in confutation so saith Sixtus Senensis He was likewise once an allower of free-will in spirituals though afterwards he expressed himself to the contrary saying Non a nobis sed a Deo esse bonum salutis nostrae that our salvation is not from our selves but God There was one strange opinion more to which he was addicted and that was Animas a corpore separatas habere hominis figuram characterem corporis ut etiam cognoscantur That souls departed and separated from the body have mans figure and form of his body so that they may be known by it Pantaenus PAntaenus was of the School of Alexandria where at first he professed the Philosophy of the Stoicks but afterwards became very eminent in the profession of Christian Divinity It s said of him by learned Pareus Quod primus scholam ex ethnica in christianaem mutavit that he was the first which changed an ethnick school into a christian He was sent from Alexandria by Demetrianus the Bishop thereof into India to establish that church in the sacred Truth which the Apostles of our Lord Jesus had there planted where meeting with the Gospel of St. Matthew written in Hebrew and left there with those Eastern people by Bartholomew he brought it thence say some to the City of Alexandria though Eusebius tels us that it remained there even in his time He was the Master of that famous Schollar Clemens Alexandrinus he flourished under the Emperours Severus and Antonius Caracalla about the year of Christ 200. he left behind him some certain Commentaries on the holy Scripture which are not now extant though Ierome had in his time the knowledge of them Eusebius stiles him a famous learned man and one in great estimation lib. 5. cap. 9. and Senensis speaking of him tels us that he was eminent propter tam secularis literaturae quam sacrae eruditionis gloriam as well for the glory of his secular learning as his sacred erudition Clemens Alexandrinus CLemens Alexandrinus So called because he was a Presbyter of Alexandria preached the Gospel both at Ierusalem and at Antioch he was the master of Origen and moderated in the School of Alexandria after Pantaenus He flourished in the raign of Severus and his son Antonius He wrote many learne books Eusebius calls him in Divinis Scripturis exercitatum one exercised in the Divine Scriptures Causabon inexhaustae Doctrinae virum a man of unexhausted learning Henisius Penu eruditionis Seientiae The granary of Erudition and Science Caussinus Plutarchum Christianum The Christian Plutark Dempster gravem disertum authorem A grave and eloquent author but the Centuriators of of Magdeburg are full and large in
Nice this man brake off his compliance with that Hereticall party and from thence forward joyned himself in fellowship and society with the Orthodox Nay he is conceived by some Authors to have been the compilers of the Nicene Creed He wrote in ten books an Ecclesiasticall History from Christs time to the yeer 325. Ierome saith of him quod pulchre contexuerit Historiam Ecclesiasticam Basil calls him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Worthy of credence and Chemnitius comparing this authors History with that of Nicephorus he saith Major est gravitas in illius historia quam in Nicephori There is much more gravity in his History then in that of Nicephorus Besides this work he writ also a Panagyrick of the life of Great Constantine which comprehendeth Acts done in the Church for the space of thirty yeers together with the Lawes and Edicts that the Emperour had made relating to the Christian faith He refuted the Ethnicks and Jewes in his Books of Preparation for and Demonstration of the Gospell he left behinde him a Chronology from Abrahams birth to the 326. yeer of our Lord which doth in all contain 2347. yeers He condemned that pestilent fellow Arius with his own hand in the Nicene Councell and yet further to cleer him from all suspicion of favouring that wicked Heresie and Heretick Socrates hath written an Apology in his behalf which you will meet in his history He died about the yeer of Christ 340. He was called Pamphilus from the affection and singular love he did bear to Pamphilus the Martyr with whom he was most familiar and intimate Bibliander gives him this Character Eusebius inter Graecos Theologos Antesignanus Eusebius among the Greek Divines the principall Causabon calls him virum longe doctissimum in omni literarum genere exercitatissimum A most learned man and most exercised in all kinde of literature T is Ludovicus Vives his description of him Vir fuit immensa lectione proinde summa eruditione He was a man of immense reading and for that cause of very great erudition Scaliger commends him in one respect and in another disparages him as appears by these words of his Quo speaking of this Eusebius nullus Ecclesiasticorum veterum plura ad Historiam contulit Christianismi Then whom none of the Ancient Ecclesiastick writers hath contributed more to the History of Christianisme There is his commendation Nullus plura errata in scriptis suis re liquit Nullius plures hallucinationes extant No man hath left more faults in his writings No man hath extant more errours There 's his disparagement The Arrians having unjustly procured the deposition of Eustatius the Bishop of Antiochia they desired that his Office might be supplied by this Eusebius but he refusing it the Emperour Constantine so far commended his modesty therein that he said of him He deserved to be made Bishop of the whole world Ierome observing in this mans Commentaries on the Prophet Esay that he swerved from his purpose and promise whilst in many places he imitated Origens Allegories He said this of him Ita separata consociat ut mirer cum nova sermonis fabrica in unum corpus lapidem ferumque conjungere He so unites things which are separate that I wonder he doth in his new Fabrick and Structure of speech joyn together into one body Stone and Iron Athanasius AThanasius worthy to be immortall in his fame as his name importeth was born at Alexandria and consecrated Bishop of that City in the room of Alexander deceased this honour was conferred on him in the yeere 325. at which time the Churches of God were most grievously infested and distracted with the Heresie of Arius so that this holy man saw he was to sail in a very stormie and tempestuous sea which made him desirous at the beginning to decline that high advancement whereunto he was preferred His life was not unlike unto a Comedy his five banishments being fitly resembled to the five Acts thereof the chief cause of his troubles say some was Eusebius the then Bishop of Nicomedia a principal member of the Arian faction For when Arius condemned by the Nicene Council had made his appeal to great Constantine with promise never to disturb the Churches peace again and thereupon was licensed to return unto his charge at Alexandria where he was a Priest This Athanasius did refuse to admit him thereto and wrote unto the Emperour an account of his refusal which was to this effect Nempe quod semel damnatum haereseos ab ecclesia non fas esset recipere absque legitima cognitione ecclesiae that it was not lawful to receive an heretick condemned by the censure of the Church without the cognizance of the Church especially when there appeared no outward symptomes of repentance and amendment from him Now this reply from Athanasius gave the Emperour great discontent so that he most sharply menaced the holy Bishop if he did persist in his denial and now Eusebius thinking this opportunity very lucky to his designe he so farr improves it that good Athanasius is most strangely traduced many scandalous matters laid unto his charge as if he imposed intolerable burdens on the Churches of Egypt and as though he practised treason against the life of his soveraign but at length being by a Warrant fetcht to Constantinople he so wiped off all these foule aspersions that he returned with apparent testimonies of a spotless innocence Caesar himself dismissing him not without honour and applause But yet his enemies bearing towards him implacable malice and not satisfied with this publike tryal of his Christian sincerity do not give over their furious chace but further accuse him of other misdemeanours as witchcraft and murder but the Judge appointed to hear his cause acquitted him of all those calumnies and once again the Emperour commends his integrity and exhorts him to vigilancy in his episcopal function But yet at length these Arians prevailing through their importunate slanders procured his exise to Trevers in France where he hid his head for the space of two years and four months with the Bishop Maximinus neither did his sufferings end with the death of Constantine but his two sonnes swaying the Scepter after him he was much persecuted through the influence his enemies had upon Constantius of whom they effected that he was three times banished first to Rome then into the remote corners of the east and lastly into the deserts of Lybia Thus indeed was this excellent Prelate tossed to and fro finding no rest for his peaceable feet no not in those halcyon dayes of the good Emperour Constantine much less in the raign of Constantius who being also removed by death Iulian the Apostate succeeds in the empire one which at first favoured both the person and cause of Athanasius restoring to him his liberty and attendance on his office but in the end he persecuting the truth was likewise stirred up to thunder out a banishment against him however God brought him peaceably
the Longobards who had with violence entred Italy and wasted many of the Churches He wrote many books which were consumed after his death by them that hated them a few onely being preserved through the intercession of Petrus Diaconus He dyed in the year of Christ 606. he is said to have countenanced Images in Churches although we finde no such toleration in the writings of former Fathers but no wonder if being a Monk he was a Patron of Superslition and Idolatry yet Barthius gives him this character Ejus Homiliae mirifice bonis rebus plenae exemplar sequentium seculorum doctoribus His Homilies are wonderfully full of good things and as a copy set for the Doctors of the following ages to write after Nay Erasmus calls him simplicem pium And again sayes he In Gregorio pluram nulloque fuco picturatam sanctimoniam agnoscimus We acknowledge in Gregory pure sanctimony and painted with no false deceitful colour But Martin Luther doth not without some colourable grounds disparage him whilst he hath this passage in the 49 Chapter of Genesis Gregorium admodum tenuiter cognovisse Christum verbum Evangelii That Gregory knew Christ and the word of his holy Gospel very slenderly The successor of this Pope Sabinianus by name out of spight and spleen to his memory endeavoured the destruction of all his Works Of which Sabinianus we reade that he was the first Inventer of the use of Bells and of Lamps perpetually burning Isidorus Hispalensis ISidorus Hispalensis lived in the yeer of the Lord 630. and dyed in the raign of the Emperour Heraclius Gesner saith that he wrote a Commentarie almost on all the Scripture besides he wrote a book De ortu obitu Sanctorum Of the birth and death of the Saints and of the Nativity Passion and resurrection of our Saviour together with many Philosophicall Treatises as of Astronomy Cosmography and Grammaticall learning moreover he wrote two books of Epistles to severall persons contemporary then with him Iohn Gerson doth affirm that the acts of the Councills were collected by this Isidore Sixtus Senensis saith that this man was conceived to have been the Disciple of Great Gregorie Our Bishop Downham having an occasion to mention him tells us that he was Archbishop of Sivill in Spain and one of the most learned writers which have been in the Church within these thousand yeers He is said to have culd and gathered out of the immense writings of the ancient Fathers innumerable volumes of all Arts and Sciences To him in regard of his great Sanctity of life Annuall honours on the sixteenth of Ianuary are decreed Hildephonsus composed a Catalogue of his works This Isidore was called Isidore Iunione or the younger Isidore in distinction to another of that name called Isidore Pelusiota who flourished about 450. yeers after Christ and was the disciple of Iohn Chrysostome He wrote a hundred and thirty Greek Epistles now extant as some write in the Vaticane Library wherein he did explain the deep mysteries of the Christian Religion Cardinall Baeronius has inserted into his Annalls an Epistle of this mans written to the Emperour Theodosius in whose Raign he flourished Suidas doth thus advance him telling us quod una cum simplicitate veritatem amaret probaret sine omni simulatione loqueretur That he loved the Truth with simplicity That he approved of it and would speak it without dissimulation or hypocrisy And Demster gives Hispalensis Isidore this following Elogie Grammaticus necessarius in que pleraque quae nusquam alibi A needfull Grammamarian in whom there are many things no where else to be met with Beda BEda was an English man by birth calle Venerabilis venerable for his great learning and gravity and yet he was miserably ensnared with Popish errours which in those times had overspread like a Gangrene every Nation wherein there was a possession of Christianity so that it might be said that as the whole world was once called Arian so then it might have been stiled Antichristian Yet this man though corrupt in his opinions and judgement was very zealous in the duties of his calling fervent in prayer laborious in reading writing and preaching of the Gospel But there is nothing makes more for his commendation then his noble patience in bearing those heavy and fearfull agonies which he underwent immediately before his death He was of great fame in the Raign of Iustinian the second of that name about the yeer of Christ 690. He lived as some reports Vitam longissimam till he was very aged He dyed under Leo the third in the yeer 731. so some say but others 734. His works are set out in eight Tomes His Commentaries on Pauls Epistles he gathered out of Augustine as himself doth insinuate by these words in the preface of them In Apostolum quaecunque in opusculis S. Augustini exposita Inveni contra per ordinem transcribere curavi Whatsoever I have found expounded on the Apostle in the works of S. Augustine I have taken care to transcribe them in their order Durandus writes of this Bede that being blinde by reason of his great Age he caused himself to be led into the villages by certain guides that he might preach the Word unto the people and when on a time they carried him into a valley full of stones and his leaders deluded him saying that there was a throng of people met together whereas indeed there was not a man come to hear him he began to preach very zealously as was his manner and when he had concluded his Sermon with these words per secula seculorum instantly all the stones cryed out with a loud voice Amen Venerabilis Beda Amen whence it was saith this Durandus that he was ever after stiled Venerable Beda Johannes Damascenus IOhannes Damascenus was a superstitious Monk the disciple of Cosmus contemporary with Bede who appeared in the West as he did in the East He was for a time mingled with the Saracens and for fear of death committed Idolatry amongst them worshipping as they did the bones of Mahomet He stood stifly for Imagery whereupon he was excommunicated in the General Council assembled by Constantius Copronymus He was much conversant in the books of the ancient Fathers as appears by his Treatise de Orthodoxa Fide but if he had been as narrow a searcher of the holy Scriptures he had not fallen into those Popish snares He was the first man that brought Christian Religion to a certain method in imitation of whom Peter Lombard styled The Master of the sentences did the like He flourished under Leo Isaurus and Constantius Copronymus about the year of Christ 730. Suidas does commend him in these words Damascenus vir doctrissimus aetatis suae nulli eorum qui doctrina illustres fuerunt secundus Damascene a most learned man second to none of his age that were accounted learned Baronius censures him for a vain empty light and lying Writer And Bellarmine lib. 2. de
Purgator cap. 8. doth disparage and extenuate this mans authority and yet he makes use of a book of his to prove his Purgatory Those Orations which this Author did write concerning Images this is Baronius his judgment of them Fidem illius scripti in multis vacillare compluribus scatere mendaciis Tom. 2. Annal. ann 31. 675. Rabanus Maurus RAbanus Maurus by Nation a German was the fourth Abbot of Fulda and from that degree advanced to the Archbishoprick of Ments being the sixth Prelate which possessed that Chair He was sometime scholar to that famous English man Alcuinus All the while he was Abbot his Monks hated him because they saw him so intent upon his studies and so neglectful of worldly advantages and interests Whereupon he left them and went to Lewis the Emperour and would not return any more unto his Abbey though much importuned by those his Monks to come God so ordering it for their downfal and destruction for no sooner was he advanced to his Archiepiscopal See of Ments but their confusion immediately followed While he lived in his Monastery some say that he compiled Commentaries on all the Scriptures being encouraged thereunto by the Emperours Lewis and Lotharius which he gathered out of the Latine Fathers from Ierome to Venerable Bede evermore holding to their sayings sentences and senses and in those places wherein he did not meet with the Expositions of those foresaid Fathers he made supply with his own yet withall for distinction sake that the Reader might know and understand which was his Explanation and which theirs he alwayes set the Authors Names to their Annotations Trithemius in his Catalogue of famous men bestows upon him this Elogie In omni eruditione tam secularium quam divinarum Scripturarune longe doctissimus evasit cui similem suo tempone non habuit Ecclesia He was esteemed most learned in all manner of erudition as well sacred as secular The Church had not his fellow or equal in his time And Sixtus Senensis speaks as full as much in the praise of this man who styles him Virum omnium disciplinarum cognitione absolutissimum Rhetorem Poetam Astronomum Philosophum Theologum cui nullum in illo seculo Germania habuit parem A man most absolute in the knowledge of all disciplines a Rhetorician a Poet an Astronomer a Philosopher and a Divine to whom Germany in that age could not finde a Peer Helvieus saith that this man flourished in the year of Christ 814. others 840. Bellarmine calls him Virum aeque doctum ac pium a man equally learned and pious Haymo HAymo a Monk of Fulda and near kinsman of the Reverend Bedes was one of Alcuinus his scholars and school-fellow together with Rabanus Maurus He was chosen Bishop of Halberstade about the year of our Lord 840. He wrote Commentaries on the Scriptures which he gathered out of those that were before him He was of the Romish Church but yet he is not altogether so erroneous as other Popish Writers both before and after him Besides his foresaid Commentaries he published in ten Books a compendious Ecclesiastical History He continued in his Episcopal See about thirteen years some say he died in the year of Christ 853. and that he lieth buried in that Cathedral Sixtus Senensis styles him virum sanctitate eruditione insignem a man famous for his sanctity and learning and the same Author speaking likewise of those good Commentaries this man put out he gives them this following commendation Pietate brevitate dictionis simplicitate ac perspicuitate laudandos To be praised for their piety brevity simplicity of expression and perspicuity And further he saith of this Expositor Quod versatus est ferme semper in allegoricis anagogicis sensibus quos velut spiritualis apicula ex omnium antiquorum hortis ac pratis florentissimis excerpsit quo legentibus esset parata saluberrimi mellis copia He was almost alwayes conversant in allegorical and anagogical senses which as a spiritual Bee he gathered out of the most flourishing gardens and meadows of all the Ancients whereby there might be provided for them which reade him plenty of most wholesom honey And Trithemius in his Catalogue of illustrious men thus pourtrayeth him Vir in divinis Scripturis eruditissimus insecularibus literis nulli suo tempore secundus ingenio acutus sermone disertus vita conversatione devotus in declamandis ad populum Omiliis celeberrimis industriae fuit A man most learned in the Scriptures and for secular learning second to none in his time of an acute wit eloquent in speech devout in life and conversation and in declaiming of Homilies to the people he was of a most transcendent industry And yet Erasmus doth somewhat diminish him in these words Haymo non uno altero loco deliravit Haymo hath doted more than in a few places Theophylactus THeophylactus was Archbishop of Bulgaria There is difference among Writers concerning the time when he lived Gerhard in his Patrologie tells us that he flourished when Alexander was Pope and Diogenes was Emperour about the year 1071. though Baronius and Bellarmine say it was in 880. and others 990. and Eutropius 760. But it s likely because he was the instrument that converted the Bulgariaus that he appeared sooner than some will have him He wrote Commentaries on the Gospels on Pauls Epistles the Acts and on some of the Prophets all in the Greek Tongue which were translated by Montanus and some others He was an imitator of Chrysostome Hence saith Sixtus Senensis of him that he was in Chrysostomi lectione diu multumque versatus ac detritus much worn and a long while conversant in the reading of Chrysostome Nay all his Comments are reputed nothing else but an Abridgement of the Writings of that excellent Author and so the foresaid Senensis intimates in these words Redegit in breve apertum compendium quicquid admirabilis ille pater ex aureo suo ore veluti ex abundantissimo fonte in exponendis scripturis sanctis effuderat He did reduce into a short and open Compend whatsoever that admirable Father had in expounding of the holy Scriptures poured out of his golden mouth as it were out of a most abundant fountain He did sharply refute the Hereticks of old but for the errours of the Roman Church in his own time he did too much indulge to He had an honourable esteem of Marriage and was of opinion that Antichrist should then appear when the Roman Empire did begin to sink Erasmus gives him this Elogie Bulgarius Interpres Graecus recentior sed haud quaquam malus mea sententia The Bulgarian Bishop a more late Greek Interpreter but not a bad one in my opinion 'T is Luther's Augustinus Hilarius Theophylactus excellunt In Coll. Mens cap. 30. Bellarmine proves this man schismatical because in the third Chapter of Iohn he reproves the Latines for believing the holy Ghost to proceed also from the Son Oecumenius OEsumenius
was a Greek Writer as well as Theophylact but when he likewise flourished it s controverted by many Authors some say be lived about 900 years after Christ others 1000. Sixtus Sinensis tells us that it must be after the 800 year in regard of those Authors he makes use of in his Works This man collected out of the Commentaries of the Fathers Expositions on the Acts the seven Canonical Epistles and all Saint Pauls which were rendred into Latine by Maximus Florentinus It s said That after this man had set out his Comments Theophylacts were not so highly valued the one being so much preferred in that way before the other and he also borrowed most of his Expositions from Chrysostome Sixtus Senensis speaking of this Writer calls him Graecum autorem valde doctum a Greek Author very learned and further he addes In explicandis divinis scripturis brevis apertus elegans in unfolding or expounding the divine Scriptures brief clear and elegant One Theodulus a Priest of Coelosyria has some Annotations on the Epistle to the Romans but they are all taken out of this Oecumenius Lanfrancus LAnfrancus an Italian by nation borne at Papia was Arch-bishop of Canterbury and in great esteem for his profound learning with our William the Conquerour he was Berengarius his great Antagonist and writ against him maintaining the errour of Transubstantiation which the said Berengarius had so stifly opposed he was one of those 113. Bishops which were convened by Pope Nicholas the second at Rome for the rooting out of that Sacramentall truth Berengarius had published It s a thing observed by the Orthodox learned that before this age of Lanfrancus the Doctrine of Augustine was universally received and followed first published by Egyppus Fulgentius his equal afterward by Fulgentius himself then by Primasius all of these being African Divines and eminent for their learning And so it continued to be maintained by Isidore Hispalensis Maximus Taurinensis and Prosper of Aquitane Nay ratified it was likewise by Council as the Aurasicane and the sixth Constantinopolitane and before that Charles the great governed the Roman Empire it was stoutly defended by Bede a Saxon and his Disciples Alcuinus Claudius Rabanus Maurus and by many other learned Doctors for the space of 500 yeers and upwards But now began men to swerve from that good and pure doctrine of Augustine and especially about that Article of the Sacrament Satan by his instruments promoting as Pareus expresseth it immanem illum Transubstantiationis errorem infinitorum aliorum fontem that huge errour of Transubstantiation the fountain of many others This Lanfrancus though he had so great an interest in the favour of the Conquerour as that he ordered all his Affaires both in Church and State yet when Rufus came to enjoy the crown he had not that influence for the Nobles of the Realme out of emulation and envy had alienated the young Kings affections from him which occasioned his sicknesse whereof he soon dyed Ranulphus relates this of him that it was his serious and frequent desire he might dye of no other disease then a Feaver or Dysenterie because in those distempers the use of speech would continue to the last breath he sate in his Archiepiscopal Chaire about nineteen yeers and dyed in the third yeer of the Raign of King Rufus Sixtus Senensis calls this man omnium suitemporis in omni literarum genere doctissimum of all men of his time the most learned in all kindes of learning and speaking of those works which he hath written he saith this of them Quod inter alia praestantis ingenii monumenta reliquit pios atque eruditos in totum psalterium commentarios That among many other monuments of his excellent wit he left behinde him pious and learned Commentaries on the whole book of Psalms He flourished when Henry the third enjoyed the imperiall diadem about the yeer of our Lord 1060. So saith Sixtus Senensis Anselmus ANselmus succeeded Lanfrancus in the Archiepiscopall See of Canterbury who for a Popish Writer was a man of great fame in the times he lived and of no mean repute for his learning even in the reformed Churches He was by birth a Burgundian and advanced from an Abbot to that eminent Ecclesiasticall dignity by William Rufus then King of England betwixt whom and this Bishop there happened afterwards hot contentions because the King had put up in his coffers some rents of Defunct Bishops which the Prelat would ever have peculiar and appropiate to the Church hereupon he was twice banished out of England but at last returning upon a solemne friendly invitation from the said King he was received by the people with high acclamations and great joyes This Bishop was very much against the marriage of the Clergie which it seems was in use till his time in England and he is said to attribute the honour to the Virgin Mother as he did to our Lord her Son He fell sick at Edmondbury and and on the 28th day of Aprill in the yeer of Christ 1109. being aged 76 yeers he dyed at Canterbury whether he had been removed in the time of his sicknesse and was buried at the head of his Predecessor Lanfrancus Though afterwards he was taken up and interred in the eastern part of the said Cathedral which he had in his life-time adorned with a most sumptuous structure This man because by his notable writings he had advanced the Papal Tyranny and depressed as much on the other side the Kingly Soveraignty therefore did Pope Urban Order and Decree That he and his successors should sit at his right Foot in every General Council and thus it was proclaimed when that place was given him in the open Assembly Includamus hunc in orbe nostro tanquam alterius orbis Papam Sixtus Senensis thus describes him Anselmus vir tam divinis quam humanis disciplinis nobiliter excultus stylo mire simplici puro sed non in jocundo His life was written by his intimate friend Edinerus He wished when he was dying that he might have had a little more time here allowed him till he had perfected that most obscure Problem of the Souls Original which it seems he had in his life-time taken in hand to determine but sayes one of him Hoc tempus datum ei non est ut majus bonum in aeternitate ei daretur This time was not given him that a greater good might be given to him in Eternity Bernardus BErnardus Abbot of Claraval flourished in the time of the Schoolmen and yet is reckoned as one of the Fathers for his sanctity of life and soundness of Doctrine Chemnitius saith of him this Recentissimus est vixitque post confirmatam Episcopi Romani Tyrannidem He is the latest Father and lived after that the Tyranny of the Roman Bishop was established Yet he did much inveigh against the impiety of the Pope his Cardinals Bishops and all that Antichristian Clergy Bishop Carleton sayes Utinam tales papistas multos imo vel unum talem hodie haberemus in toto regno Pontificio qualem Bernhardum fuisse constat I would to God we had this day many such Papists nay but one such as it is manifest Bernhard was â—e solidly disputes as the foresaid Bishop further doth observe of the chief Fundamentals and Heads of Faith as of the Scriptures of the Church of Mans Misery of free Justification of Grace of New Obedience all of these against the Fables of the Trent Council And saith Carleton Is he a Papist that follows the Catholick Church and the consent of the ancient Fathers against the Jesuites and the Trent Impostors Hence it is that many Princes made use of him for decision of controversies and composing of contentions in the Church This was he which advised Count Theobald when he saw him at great expences in the building of Temples that he would rather supply the houshold of Faith and build up the living Tabernacles of the most High He died in the 64 year of his age This is Erasmus his character of him Bernhardus festivus jucundus nec segnis in movendis aeffectibus Bernhard is pleasant sweet and not slow in moving the affections And again sayes the same Author Bernhardus vir Christiane doctus sancte facundus pie festivus in cap. 1. Rom. p. 243. This is Bishop Mortons Elogie which he gives him In atro Romanae Ecclesiae nocte fere solus â—ffulsit Bernhardus qui tam doctrinae quam vitae fuae lumine in multis articulis tenebras pontificias dispulit In the dark night of the Romish Church almost onely Bernhard shined forth who as well by the light of his doctâ—â—â—e as his life hath in many Articles scattered the Popish darkness I will adde no more but that of Sixtus Senensis who saith thus of him Oratio ubique dulcis ardens ita delectat ardenter incendit ut ex suavissima lingua ejus mel lac verborum fluere ex ardentissimo ejus pectore ignitorum affectuum incendia erumpere videantur His speech every-where sweet and ardent doth so delight and fervently inflame that there do seem to flow from his most sweet tongue honey and milk of words and out of his most ardent breast fires of burning affections to break out FINIS
He lived to the 83 year of his age and was almost all his time desirous of privacy and retiredness Ierome saith of him Se in multis Scripturae locis difficilibus eo magistro usum That he made use of him to help him out in the explication of many hard Texts of Scripture And further speaking of his Writings he gives him this Elogie Certe qui hunc legerit latinorum furta cognoscet contemnet rivulos cum coeperit haurire de fontibus Imperitus Sermone est sed non Scientia Apostolicum virum ipso stylo exprimens tam sensus lumine quam simplicitate verborum Truly he that will reade him will know the thefts of the Latines and he will despise the rivulets when he hath begun to drink of the fountains he is in Speech unskilful but not in Science in his very style expressing an Apostolick Author as well in the light of his sense as in the simplicity of his words Antonius a Monk travelling in company with him to the City of Alexandria used these or the like words to him as Sixtus Sinensis delivers them Nihil O Didyme turbet te corporalium oculorum jactura talibus enim destitutus es oculis quibus Muscae culices videre possunt sed laetare quod oculos habes quibus Angeli vident Deus consideratur lux ejus apprehenditur Let not the loss of thy corporal eyes trouble thee O Didymus for thou art deprived of such eyes wherewith Flies and Gnats can see but rejoyce thou that thou hast eyes by which Angels do behold and God is considered and his light is apprehended He flourished under the great Theodosius Optatus BIshop of Milevita appeared glistering in his Orb about the time that Valentinian and Valeus were Emperours Morn lib. 1. de Euchar. cap. 6. saith that he lived paulo ante Augustinum magni in Africa nominis a little before Augustine of great fame in Africa He was a man well skill'd in most kindes of Literature his life was pious and his doctrine sincere and sound He shewed himself a notable Antidonatist and thereupon he wrote six Books for the confutation of Parmenianus So Ierome But now they are numbred seven the seventh consenting in all respects with the six so that Ierome's number is conceived to be erroneous Barthius calls this man Pium elegantemque scriptorem quod in eo dignum honore summo summum argumentandi artificem A pious and elegant writer and which is praise-worthy a most exquisite artist in arguing and disputing Paraeus thus expresses him Vir fuit instructus multiplici eruditione constanti pietate doctrina sincera He was a man well furnished with various learning constant piety and sound doctrine Mr. Leigh in his Treatise of Religion and Learning calls him that learned Bishop of Milevita Whereas the Donatists of old did assert that the Church of God was no where else but onely among them limited unto and shut up in a corner of Africk where their Heresie prevailed this excellent man confuted that opinion by that of the second Psalm where God saith in a promise to his blessed Messias Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession Which Scripture doth evidently demonstrate the Church of the Gospel to be spred all over the whole world and not to be restrained as these Donatists did vainly imagine to a particular Region And whereas they affirmed likewise That the Ordinance of Baptism was altogether ineffectual unless some of their Ministers were in place to perform it He to confute them replied That when God made the world at the beginning the presence of the glorious Trinity was powerful enough in operation to create Water though none of the Donatists were then in presence Even so saith he the blessed Trinity can work effectually in Baptism although not administred by the Donatists yea and that it was God the Author of Baptism and not the Minister which did sanctifie a cording as it is expressed by the holy man David Psal 51. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow Basilius Magnus BAsil the Great was Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia his father was of the same name and a devout Christian his brethren were Gregory of Nyssa and Peter of Sebasta who conform'd to him both for purity of doctrine and piety of conversation He was brought up at Athens the School of the Philosophers under Libanius his Master where he fell into acquaintance with Gregory Nazianzen But after a while leaving Athens he returned to Caesarea where being called to the Pastoral Function by the Bishop of the place Eusebius he expounded some places of Scripture with that gravity and accurateness that he was had in great admiration for his abilities and gifts but at length there arising some difference betwixt him and Eusebius he discreetly withdrew himself on purpose to prevent a greater combustion However in the end he was constrained to return through the Faction of the Hereticks that he might strengthen the hands of the Bishop against them But Eusehius after a few years deceasing this Basil was by the general consent chosen Bishop in his room And now he was no sooner entred on his charge but he met with many violent and tempestuous storms raised by that tyrannous Emperour Valens against him For he coming to Caesarea would have forced this holy man to have closed with the doctrine of Arius threatning his refusal with banishment and death But Basil was most resolute and couragious as appears by this his gallant answer Pueris inquit ille ista terriculamenta proponenda esse sibi vero vitam eripi posse sed confessionem veritatis eripi non posse Those affrightments saith he should be proposed to children Life indeed might be taken from him but the confession of the truth could never be taken away from him It is reported That when he was at his devotions in the Temple the Emperour coming with his Guard to apprehend and seize him he was himself on the sudden surprised with such a Vertigo or dizziness that he had faln immediately if one of his servants had not supported him Socrates tells us in his Ecclesiastical History Chap. 21. of thefourth Book That this Emperours Son by name Galeates falling sick of a dangerous and desperate disease and being given over by Physicians Dominica his Mother told her husband that the same night she was fearfully disquieted with horrible shapes and dreadful visions and that the childe was visited with sickness because of their ill usage of Basil the Bishop The Emperour well marking the words of his Wife at length sent for that good man and because he would know the truth he reasoned thus with him If thy Faith he meant of one substance be true pray that my Son die not of this disease Then Basil answered If thou wilt promise to believe as I do and to bring the Church to Unity and