MIS 



HONIFAGK RONN. 



nencert cardinals could not save him from the 

 commission of gross blunders. He was more skilled 

 in the arts of simony and extortion. He sold the 

 vmie heneficc repeatedly, established the annates in 

 1372, and lavished ihe treasures tints procured on liis 

 'relations, or in costly edifices ; the fortification of the 

 c.istle of St Angelo, for instance, and the capitol. 

 He supported the pretensions of Ladislans to the 

 throne of Naples, and, during the greatest part of his 

 pontificate, was engaged in negotiations at Avignon, 

 with his rivals, Clement VII., and Benedict XIII. He 

 .lied in 1 Ml. 



BOMF.ACK VIII., Hi nedict Cajetan ; born at Anag- 

 ni, of an ancient C'auilonian iainily ; elected pope 

 Dec. ? lili. 1294. He received a careful education, 

 studied jurisprudence, was a canon at Paris and Lyons, 

 advocate of the consistory, and protonotary of the 

 pope at Rome. After Martin IV. had elevated him 

 to the dignity of a cardinal (1251), he went as legate 

 to Sicily and Portugal, and was intrusted with embas- 

 sies at several courts ; in particular, with the charge 

 of' reconciling the king of Sicily with Alphonso of 

 Arragon, and Philip the Fair with Edward I. of Eng- 

 land. After Coelestine V. had resigned the pupal 

 dignity, at Naples, in 1294, at the instigation of B., 

 tin- latter was chosen pope. He met with opposition 

 from the cardinals of the family Colonna, and re- 

 venged himself by excommunicating them. His in- 

 duction was magnificent. The kings of Hungary and 

 Sicily held his bridle on his way to the Lateran, and 

 served him, at table, with their crowns on their heads. 

 B., however, was not successful in his first efforts for 

 the increase of his power. The sovereignty of Sicily 

 " .^ denied him, and Frederic II. was crowned king 

 there in spite of his excommunication. He was 

 equally unsuccessful in his attempt to arbitrate be- 

 tween England and France. The bulls which he 

 issued, at this time, against king Philip the Fair of 

 France, obtained no consideration. This was also the 

 case with the interdict which he pronounced against 

 him at the council of Rome, in 1308. Supported by 

 the states and the clergy of France, Philip defended 

 his royal rights against the encroachments of the 

 pope. The pope was accused of duplicity, of simony, 

 of usurpation, of heresy, of unchastity ; and it was 

 resolved to condemn and depose him at a general 

 council at Lyons. Philip went still further : he sent 

 Nogaret to Italy, in order to seize his person, and 

 bring him to Lyons. Nogaret united himself, for this 

 purpose, with Sciarra Colonna, who, with his whole 

 family, had been oppressed by B., and was, in conse- 

 quence, his enemy. B. fled to Anagni, where No- 

 garet and Colonna surprised him. B., on this occa- 

 sion, acted with spirit. " Since I am betrayed," said 

 he, " as Jesus Christ was betrayed, I will die at least 

 as a pope." He assumed the pontifical robes and the 

 tiara, took the keys and the cross in his hand, and 

 seated himself in the. papal chair. But the insignia 

 of his holy office did not save him from arrest. Nay, 

 Colonna went so far as to use personal violence. B. 

 remained in a disagreeable confinement for two days, 

 when the Anagnese lookup arms and delivered him. 

 After this, he departed to Rome, where he died, a 

 month later, in 1303. From fear of poison, he had 

 not taken any food during his captivity. This absti- 

 nence brought on a fever, which terminated fatally. 

 Boldness in his views, and perseverance in his resolu- 

 tions, cannot be denied to B. ; but these qualities 

 were stained by ambition, vanity, a spirit of revenge, 

 and a mean pliability. Dante assigns to him, as guilty 

 of simony, a place in hell, between Nicholas III. and 

 Clement V. B. founded, in 1300, the centennial 

 jubilee, .and enriched his treasury by the frequent 

 sale of indulgences. He was an accomplished man, 

 for the times in which he lived. 



RIMKACK, St ; the apostle of Germany, who Eryt 

 preached Christianity, and spread civilization among 

 the Germans. He was born in England (<iso), ami 

 his original name was Winfrid. In his thirtieth year, 

 he was consecrated a priest. A great part of Europe, 

 at this period, was inhabited by heathens, and several 

 missionaries set out from England to convert them. 

 Gallus, in 614, went to Allemania ; Ennui T,m, who 

 died 652, to Bavaria ; Kilian, who died <iS;i, to l-'nin. 

 conia; Wilibrord, who died G96, to Friesland ; S j- 

 frid to Sweden ; Swidvert to Friesland. In 71(i, I',. 

 conceived the plan of preaching Cliristianity among 

 the Frieslanders ; but was prevented by the war be- 

 tween Charles Martel and the king of _Friesland ; 

 Radbod. He therefore returned to England, when; 

 he was chosen abbot In 718, he went to Koine, 

 where Gregory II. authorized him to preach tli< 

 pel to the nations of Germany. He commenced hs 

 labours in Thuringia and Bavaria, passed three years 

 in Friesland, and journeyed tlirough Hesse in Saxony, 

 baptizing every where, and converting the pat-an 

 temples to Christian churches. In 723, he was in- 

 vited to Rome, made a bishop, by Gregory II., and 

 recommended to Charles Martel and all princes ami 

 bishops. His name Winfrid he changed to B. In 

 724, he destroyed the oak sacred to Thor, near Geis- 

 mar, in Hesse, founded churches and monasteries, 

 invited from England priests, monks, and nuns, and 

 sent them to Saxony, Friesland, and Bavaria. In 

 732, Gregory III. made him archbishop and primate 

 of all Germany, and authorized him to establish 

 bishoprics, the only existing bishopric being the one 

 at Passau. He founded those of Freisingen, Ratis- 

 bon, Erfurt, Barabourg (transferred afterwards lo 

 Paderborn), Wurtzburg, and Aichstadt. In 7o9, he 

 restored the episcopal see of St Rupert, at Salzburg. 

 After the death of Charles Martel, he consecrated 

 Pepin the Short king of the Franks, in Soissons, by 

 whom he was made bishop of Mentz. He held eight 

 ecclesiastical councils in Germany, founded the famous 

 abbey of Fulda, and undertook, in 754, new journeys 

 for the conversion of the infidels. He was killed at 

 Dockum, in West Friesland, by some barbarians, in 

 755, in his seventy-fifth year. In Fulda, a copy of 

 the Gospels, in his own handwriting, is to be seen. 

 At the place where B. built, in 724, the first Christian 

 church in North Germany, near the village of Alten- 

 burg, in the Thuringian forest, a monument has been 

 erected to his memory, consisting of a candelabrum, 

 thirty feet high. The most complete collection of 

 the letters of B. was published at Mentz, 1789, folio 



BONN ; capital of the Prussian government of Co- 

 logne, formerly the residence of the elector of Co- 

 logne, on the left bank of the Rhine, with 1 10!) 

 houses, four Catholic, and, since 1817, one Protestant 

 church. It contains 10,600 inhabitants, among whom 

 are 200 Jews, who dwell in a particular street. B. 

 was formerly fortified : the works were demolished in 

 1717. A lyceum was instituted here in 1802. An 

 academy had been established in 1777, and, in 1786, 

 erected into a university. This institution was super- 

 seded by the lyceum. The manufactures are not im- 

 portant. The commerce is chiefly in the hands of the 

 Jews. A walk, with four rows of trees, and 12OO 

 paces in length, leads to the beautiful palace of Cle- 

 mensruhe, near the village of Poppelsdorf. B. con- 

 tains the university of the Rhine, the charter of which 

 was given, Oct. 18, 1818, at Aix-la-Chapelle, by the 

 king of Prussia, who, at the same time, endowed it 

 with an annual income of 80,000 Prussian dollars, 

 16,000 of which are appropriated to the botanical 

 garden. The former residence of the elector of Co- 

 logne was bestowed on the university. It has 

 been fitted up at great expense, and is^ surpassed, 

 in extent and beauty, by no unn-er-ily buildings 





