Listed 10 sub titles with search on: Religious figures biography for wider area of: "SPAIN Country IBERIAN PENINSULA" .
CORDOBA (Town) ANDALUCIA
Hosius, (Hosios, i. e. Holy), sometimes written Osius, an eminent Spanish ecclesiastic
of the fourth century. As he was above a century old at the time of his death,
his birth cannot be fixed later than A. D. 257, and is commonly fixed in 256.
That he was a Spaniard is generally admitted, though if he be (as Tillemont not
unreasonably suspects), the person mentioned by Zosimus (ii. 29), he was an Egyptian
by birth. That he was a native of Corduba (Cordova) is a mere conjecture of Nicolaus
Antonio. As he held the bishopric of Corduba above sixty years, his elevation
to that see was not later than A. D. 296. He assisted at the council of Iliberi
or Eliberi, near Granada, and his name appears in the Acta of the council as given
by Labbe. (Concil. vol. i. col. 967, &c.) The date of this council is variously
computed. Labbe fixes it in A. D. 305, and Cave follows him; but Tillemont contends
for A. D. 300. Hosius suffered, as his own letter to the emperor Constantius shows,
in the persecution under Diocletian and Maximian, but to what extent, and in what
manner, is not to be gathered from the general term "confessus sum," which he
uses. The reverence which his unsullied integrity excited was increased by his
endurance of persecution ; and he acquired the especial favour of the emperor
Constantine the Great. In A. D. 324 Constantine sent him to Alexandria with a
soothing letter, in which he attempted to stop the disputes which had arisen between
Alexander, the bishop of Alexandria, and the presbyter Arius. He was also instructed
to quiet, if possible, the disputes which had arisen as to the observance of Easter.
The choice of Hosius for this conciliatory mission, which, however, produced no
effect, shows the opinion entertained by the emperor of his moderation and judgment.
In A. D. 313 he seems to have been concerned in the distribution of
money made by Constantine to the churches in Africa (Euseb. H. E. x. 6.) : perhaps
it was owing to something which occurred on this occasion, that he was accused
by the Donatists of having assisted Caecilianus in persecuting them, and of having
instigated the emperor to severe measures against them. They also affirmed that
he had been condemned on some charge not stated by a synod of Spanish bishops,
and absolved by the prelates of Gaul. Augustin (Contra Epistolam Parmeniani, i.
7) virtually admits the truth of this statement; and, from the nature of the Donatist
controversy, it is not improbable that the charge was of some unworthy submission
during the persecution of Diocletian--a charge not inconsistent with the closing
incident in the career of Hosius.
Hosius certainly took part in the council of Nicaea (Nice) A. D. 325;
and, although the earlier writers, Eusebius, Sozomen, and Socrates give no ground
for the assertions of Baronius (Annal. Ec-c/es. ad ann. 325, xx.) that Hosius
presided, and that in the character of legate of the pope, who was absent, and
even Tillemont admits that the proofs of these assertions are feeble, yet it is
remarkable that the subscription of Hosius in the Latin copies of the Acta of
the council stands first; and Athanasius says that he usually presided in councils,
and that his letters were always obeyed. Perhaps also his presidency may be intimated
in what Athanasius (Histor. Arian. ad Monach. c. 42) makes the Arian prelates
say to Constantius, that Hosius had published the Nicene creed (ten en) Nikaiai
pistin exetheto), an expression which Tillemont interprets of his composing the
creed. We hear little of Hosius until the council of Sardica, A. D. 347, where
he certainly took a leading part, and at which probably he was again president.
In A. D. 355 Constantius endeavoured to persuade Hosius to write in condemnation
of Athanasius, and the attempt, which was not successful, drew from the aged bishop
a letter, the only literary remain which we have of him, which is given by Athanasius
(Hist. Arian. ad Monach. 44). Constantius sent for Hosius to Milan A. D. 355,
in hopes of subduing his firmness, but not succeeding, allowed him to return.
In 356-7 the emperor made a third trial, and with more success. He compelled Hosius
to attend the council of Sirmium; kept him there for a year in a sort of exile
(Athanas. ut sup. c. 45), and, according to the dying declaration of the old man,
confirmed by Socrates, had him subjected to personal violence. Hosius so far submitted
as to communicate with the Arian prelates Valens and Ursacius, but could not be
brough t to condemn Athanasius, and with this partial submission his persecutors
were obliged to be content. (Athanas. l. c.) This was in 357, and he was dead
when Anathasius wrote the account of his sufferings a year after. The manner of
his death is disputed. An ancient account states that while pronouncing sentence
of deposition on Gregory of Iliberi, who had refused, on account of his prevarication
at Sirmium, to communicate with him, he died suddenly. His memory was regarded
differently by different persons; Athanasius eulogises him highly, and extenuates
his tergiversation; Augustin also defends him. (Athanas. Augustin. Euseb. Il.
cc.; Euseb. De Vit. Constantin. ii. 63, iii. 7; Socrat. H. E. i. 7, 8, ii. 20,
29, 31; Soz. i. 10, 16, 17, iii. 11; Tillemont, Memoires, vol. vii.; Ceillier,
Auteurs Sacres, vol. iv.; Nicolaus Antonio, Biblioth. Vet. Hisp. lib. ii. c. i.
; Baronius, Annales Eccles.; Galland. Bibl. Patrun, vol. v. Proleg. c. viii.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
TOLEDO (Town) CASTILLE-LA MANCHA
Eugenius, who was bishop of Toledo from A. D. 646 to 657, is mentioned under Dracontius
as the editor and enlarger of the work by Dracontius upon the Creation. He is
known also as the author of thirty-two short original poems composed on a great
variety of subjects, chiefly however moral and religious, in heroic, elegiac,
trochaic, and sapphic measures. These were publisted by Sirmond at Paris, 1619,
will be found also in the collected works of Sirmond (Paris 1696 and Venice 1728),
in the Bibl. Patr. Max. Lugdun. 1677, and in the edition of Dracontius by Rivinus,
Lips. 1651. Two Epigrams by Eugenius -one on the invention of letters, the other
on the names of hybrid animals. are contained in the Anthologia Latina of Burmann.
Dracontius, a Christian poet, of whose personal history we know nothing, except
that he was a Spanish presbyter, flourished during the first half of the fifth
century, and died about A. D. 450. His chief production, entitled Hexaemeron,
in heroic measure, extending to 575 lines, contains a description of the six days
of the creation, in addition to which we possess a fragment in 198 elegiac verses
addressed to the younger Theodosius, in which the author implores forgiveness
of God for certain errors in his greater work, and excuses himself to the emperor
for having neglected to celebrate his victories. Although the Hexaemeron is by
no means destitute of spirit, and plainly indicates that the writer had studied
carefully the models of classical antiquity, we can by no means adopt the criticism
of Isidorus: "Dracontius composnit heroicis versibus Hexaemeron creations mundi
et luculenter, quod composuit, scripsit", if we are to understand that any degree
of clearness or perspicuity is implied by the word luculenter, for nothing is
more characteristic of this piece than obscurity of thought and perplexity of
expression. Indeed these defects are sometimes pushed to such extravagant excess,
that we feel disposed to agree with Barthius (Advers. xxiii. 19), that Dracontius
did not always understand himself.
It is to be observed that the Hexaemeron exists under two forms. It was published
in its original shape along with the Genesis of Claudius Marius Victor, at Paris,
1560; in the "Corpus Christianorum Poetarum," edited by G. Fabricius, Basil. 1564;
with the notes of Weitzius, Franc 1610; in the "Magna Bibliotheca Patrum," Colon.
1618; and in the "Bibliotheca Patrum", Paris, 1624.
In the course of the seventh century, however, Eugenius, bishop of
Toledo, by the orders of king Chindasuindus, undertook to revise, correct, and
improve the Six Days; and, not content with repairing and beautifying the old
structure, supplied what he considered a defect in the plan by adding an account
of the Seventh Day. In this manner the performance was extended to 634 lines.
The enlarged edition was first published by Sirmond along with the Opuscula of
Eugenius, Paris, 1619. In the second volume of Sirmond's works (Ven. 1728), we
read the letter of Eugenius to Chindasuindus, from which we learn that the prelate
engaged in the task by the commands of that prince; and we find the Elegy addressed
to Theodosius. The Eugenian version was reprinted by Rivinus, Lips. 1651, and
in the "Bibliotheca Maxima Patrum", Lugdun. More recent editions have appeared
by F. Arevalus, Rom. 1791, and by J. B. Carpzovius, Helmst. 1794.
The Dracontius mentioned above must not be confounded with the Dracontius
to whom Athanasius addressed an epistle; nor with the Dracontius on whom Palladius
bestowed the epithets of endoxos and Daumastos; nor with the Dracontius, bishop
of Pergamus, named by Socrates and Sozomenus.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Dec 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ELVIRA (Town) ANDALUCIA
Gregorius of Baetica, otherwise of Illiberis, so called because he was bishop of Illiberis or Illiberi
(now Elvira, near Granada), in the province of Baetica (now Andalusia), in Spain,
was an ecclesiastical writer of the fourth century. Jerome, who mentions hint
in his Chronicon (ad Ann. 371), describes him as a Spanish bishop, a friend of
Lucifer of Caralis (Cagliari), and a strenuous opponent of the Arians, from whom,
in the time of their ascendancy, he suffered much. The emperor Theodosius the
Great addressed an edict to Cynegius, praefect of the praetorium, desiring him
to defend Gregory and others of similar views from the injuries offered to them
by the heretics. Gregory was the author of divers treatises, among which was one
De Fide, which Jerome characterises as "elegans libellus". This work is supposed
by Quesnel, editor of the Codex Canonum Romanus, to be the third of the "tres
Fidei Formulae" contained in that work, and which bears an inscription ascribing
it improperly to Gregory Nazianzen. The work De Fide contra Arianos given in some
editions of the Bibliotheca Patrum, under the name of Gregory of Baetica is really
by Faustinus. The pseudo Flavius Dexter identifies this Gregory of Baetica with
Gregory, praefect of the praetorium in Gaul.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Dec 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
SEGOVIA (Town) CASTILLE-LEON
Flavius Dextet, a Spaniard, the son of Pacian. He was praetorian praefect, and a devoted advocate of Christianity. He was a contemporary of St. Jerom, who dedicated to him his book De Viris Illustribus. He was said, according to Jerom, to have written a book entitled Omnimoda Historia, but Jerom had not seen it. This book had been long considered as lost; when, in the end of the sixteenth century, a rumour was spread of its discovery, and a work under that title was published, first at Saragossa, A. D. 1619, and has been since repeatedly reprinted, but it is now generally regarded as a forgery.
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