IIIKCMAR. 



HIND, JOHN RUSSELL. 



Hilduin, hi* niccrssor Lewis, an illegitimate grandson of Charlemagne, 

 again introduced him to the court of the emperor, who presented him 

 with the government of the abbeys of Notre-Dame at Compiogne and 

 8t-< lenner. On this occaaion he etincod hU respect for the observance 

 of the canon law, which at that period waa often set aside, in request- 

 ing the sanction of the bishop of the diocese, and that of his own 

 abbot, previous to accepting that preferment In the year 845 was 

 assembled the first council of Beauvais, .consisting of ton bishops of 

 the province* of Kheims and Sens. In that council the deposition of 

 Kbboniux, archbishop of Kheims, was confirmed, and Hincmar was 

 elected by the clergy and people to succeed him. During the session 

 of the council of Beauvais, eight articles of convention between the 

 emperor and Hincmar were drawn up, defining the extent of their 

 Mparate jurisdictions in matters spiritual and temporal During the 

 same year a council waa likewise held at Meaux, presided over by 

 Hincmar and the primates of Sens and Bourges, in which the powers 

 of the metropolitan bishops were more clearly denned and extended. 



About this period Godeschalcns, a native of Germany, and monk of 

 Orbais in France, attracted popular notice by a new exposition of the 

 doctrines of St. Augustine on predestination ; bis peculiar views on 

 this abstruse subject were prominently brought forward during a 

 pilgrimage which he made to Rome, and drew upon him the dis- 

 pleasure of the principal theologians of the day. A council was 

 convened at Mayence by Raban Maurus, archbishop of that city, in 

 which the opinions of Qodeschalcus were combated and condemned, 

 the arguments against him being chiefly deduced from the writings of 

 St. Augustine himself. It was there resolved to transmit his case, 

 and to leave the judgment to be pronounced upon him to Hincmar, 

 in whose province was situated the monastery of Orbais. The peculiar 

 opinions of Orbais, magnified by the hostile interpretation of them 

 which Raban sent to Hincmar, brought upon him a severe chastise- 

 ment from one who had already begun to rule the Church with an 

 iron hand. Hincmar caused him to be accused before thirteen bishops 

 at the council of Quiercy, where he was declared an incorrigible 

 heretic, and deposed from the order of priesthood, into which it 

 appears he had been irregularly admitted. This punishment however 

 was not sufficient to appease the rancour of his judges ; the bold 

 enunciation of his tenets was construed into contumacy, and, as such, 

 punishable, according to the rule of St. Benedict, by corporal chas- 

 tisement : he was condemned to a public flagellation, and to commit 

 his writings to the flames, which sentence was executed with all the 

 cruelty so characteristic of that barbarous period ; he was afterwards 

 confined in the monastery of Hautvilliers, where, twenty years after- 

 wards, he ended his miserable existence. 



In the year 852 Hincmar embellished and enlarged the church of 

 St. Remy at Kheiins, and caused a magnificent vault to be constructed, 

 in which he deposited the relics of its patron saint. The following 

 year he assisted at the council of Soissoua, in which all the ministerial 

 acts of his predecessor Ebbonius were declared to be void, the adminis- 

 tration of baptism alone excepted. In 857 he composed his first 

 great work on Predestination, the preface of which is the only part 

 extant ; in bis zeal to combat in it the doctrine of Godeschalcus, he is 

 accused of having fallen into the opposite error of Semi-Pelagianism. 

 About this time also he wrote several letters to Charles the Bold, in 

 which he complains of the frequent pillage of the churches and 

 monasteries, and appears to intimate that the depredators were 

 emboldened, if not by the countenance of the king, at least by the 

 knowledge that the offence would go unpunished. These letters pre- 

 sent a singularly interesting picture of the lawless manners of the 

 age. A few years after he wrote a second treatise on the subject of 

 Predestination, which has been preserved. The arguments in it are 

 chiefly directed against the opinions of the learned John Scotus 

 Krigena, whom he accuses of error respecting the doctrine of the 

 Trinity in Unity, and the real presence in the eucharist 



In the" year 862 we find Hincmar engaged in controversy with the 

 pope, Nicholas L, one of the most learned ecclesiastics of the age. 

 The occasion of it was as follows : Rothadius, bishop of Soissons, 

 had incurred the displeasure of his metropolitan, Hiucmar, on account 

 of the deposition of a priest of his church, whom Hincmar wished to 

 restore to office. Rothadius, refusing to re-admit this priest, was 

 condemned in two councils held at Soissous, excommunicated, and 

 afterwards deposed and imprisoned. On on appeal of Rothadius to 

 Komc, the pope issued a peremptory order to Hincmar to restore this 

 bishop to his see within thirty days, or to appear at Rome, either in 

 person or by legate, to answer the charge which had been made 

 against him. In the year following Hincmar commissioned Odo, 

 bishop of Beauvais, to proceed to Rome, and to request a confirmation 

 of the decrees of the council of Soissons. Nicholas, irritated at the 

 opposition of Hincmar, rescinded the decisions of that council, and 

 demanded the liberation of Rothadius, in order that he might plead in 

 person at Rome the cause of his appeal. This demand was at first 

 resisted by Hincmar, but through the interference of the king 

 Rothadius was released, and deputies were finally sent by Hincmar to 

 the pope to state the reasons of his conduct This triumph of Nicholas 

 was soon xuccteded by one more important : Rothadius was restored 

 to the episcopal dignity, and ho returned to his diocene accompanied 

 by a legate of the pope. The pretensions of Rome in this affair were 

 founded on the ' Decretals of the Ancient Pontiffs,' a work probably 



composed by Isidore Mercator, but claiming much greater antiquity. 

 Hincmar, though the most learned canonitt of the age, does not appear 

 to have doubted the authenticity of these Decretals. 



The interference of the pope in temporal matters was however 

 more successfully resisted. On the death ef Lothaire, king of Lorraine, 

 Adrian II. was desirous of excluding Charles the Bold from the suc- 

 cession of his states, and to bestow them upon the Emperor Lewis. 

 To this effect he addressed two letters, one to the nobles of Lot-ruin .- 

 and the other to the subjects of Charles, threatening excommunication 

 should they disobey his injunctions to favour the cause of Lewis. 

 Hincmar, in the name of his fellow-subjects, replied to the pretensions 

 of the pope. In his letter he remarks that Adrian should bear in 

 mind that "be is not at the same time king and bishop, and that his 

 predecessors had regulated the church, which was their concern, not 

 the state, which is the heritage of kings." The opposition was suc- 

 cessful, and Charles, with the aid of Hincmar and other prelates, took 

 possession of the throne of Lorraine, of which all the subsequent efforts 

 of the disappointed pontiff were unable to deprive him. 



In the year 871 Hincmar presided at the Council of Douzi, com- 

 posed of twenty bishops, assembled by the order of Charles the Bald, 

 for the purpose of inquiring into the conduct of Hincmar, bishop of 

 Laon, nephew of the Archbishop of Rheims. He was accused of 

 spoliation of church revenues, of usurpation of powers not properly 

 belonging to a bishop, and of revolt against his sovereign. His uucle 

 appears to have conducted the trial with severe impartiality, and, on 

 conviction, sentenced him to be degraded from his ecclesiastical office. 



About ten years after these events, Hincmar exercised the same 

 firmness in defending the rights of the church against the encroach- 

 ments of regal authority that he had shown in opposing the claims of 

 the Roman pontiff. Lewis III. wished to bestow the bishopri of 

 Beauvais upon Odacer, a favourite courtier, who had been rejtv 

 unworthy of the office by the Council of Vienne ; and he endeavoured, 

 both by supplication and menace, to obtain the acquiescence of 

 Hincmar to his nomination. This prelate however boldly defended 

 the liberty of canonical elections, and the independence of the Church. 

 In a letter addressed to Lewis, he fearlessly reminds him of the sanctity 

 of the oath he had taken to respect the privilege which the Church 

 possesses to refuse induction to unworthy candidates, and warns him 

 against arrogating to himself a power which had been denied to the 

 most eminent of his predecessors. In a second letter he used still 

 stronger language, and terminates it with these ominous words : " It 

 is your lot soon to depart from this earth, but the Church with its 

 pastors, under J. C. their chief, has, according to his promise, on 

 eternal existence." " This threat," says Fleury, " appeared a prophecy, 

 when the king, while yet in the strength of his youth, died the following 

 year." (Fleury, b. liii. c. 31.) 



Hincmar did not however long survive his royal master. About 

 this period the Normans extended their predatory incursions as far as 

 his province, the principal towns of which they pillaged and destroyed. 

 They were advancing towards Rheims when notice of their approach 

 was given to Hincmar, who was obliged to leave the city by night, 

 having previously takeu the precaution to secure the. treasures of the 

 church and the relics of St. Remy. The aged prelate arrived at 

 Kpernay, worn down by fatigue and anxiety. Severe illness compelled 

 him to remain in that town, where on the 21st of December 882 he 

 ended his eventful life. 



The name of Hincmar, though associated with the darkest period of 

 ecclesiastical history, will ever be conspicuous as that of one of the 

 moat zealous defenders of the liberties of the Church. His great object 

 was to produce that unity among its members which could alone 

 present an effectual barrier against the encroachments of regal and 

 papal authority. The memorable words which he uttered when he 

 heard that the pope was about to visit France, and threatened tin; 

 excommunication of its bishops, are a sufficient index of his fearless 

 spirit: "Si excommunicaturus venit, excommunicatus abibit;" "If ho 

 comes to excommunicate, he will return excommunicated." 



The principal works not alluded to in this article are 1, ' A Treatise 

 on the Duties of a King,' addressed to Charles the Bald ; 2, ' On the 

 Ordeal by Water,' which practice he attempts to authorise by quota- 

 tions from Scripture, and which unfortunately proves that he was not 

 superior to the superstitions of the age ; 3, ' On the Rights of v 

 politan Bishops ;' I, ' On the Translation of Bishops, and on their 

 Duties ;' 5, ' Ou the Council of Nice ;' and, 6, ' On the Nature and 

 Sanctity of Oaths;' besides several letters and ' Capitulana.' II, 

 works have been collected in two volumes folio by the learned Sirmoud, 

 Paris, 1045, and another volume was added to this collection by (Yllot, 

 in 1668. 



HIND, JOHN RUSSELL, a distinguished astronomer, was bom 

 on the 12th of May, 1823, at Nottingham, where his father, a hue- 

 manufacturer, was one of the first to introduce the Jacquard loom. 

 Young Hind received only the ordinary education of a tradesman's 

 son, and in the science of astronomy may be said to have been sell- 

 taught, lu 1840 he came to London, and was employed at first in 

 the office of a civil engineer ; but as this employment was little suited 

 to the taste which he hod acquired for astronomical studies, ho 

 obtained, through the influence ot Professor Wheatstone, a situation in 

 the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, where he remained from No vein 

 her 1840 to June 1844, profiting largely in his studies by the oppor 



