V I G 



V I G 



punftually fulfilled his engagements to the emprefs, he 

 wrote a letter to the emperor, in which he folemnly pro- 

 fefTed the orthodox faith ; and in another letter to the pa- 

 triarch of Conftantinople, he commended him for his zeal in 

 favour of the council of Chalcedon, which by his engage- 

 ment to Theodora he condemned, and anathematized as 

 heretics thofe perfons whom he had lately admitted to his 

 communion. The emperor Juftinian, fond of exercifing 

 authority in matters of faith, was induced, in 542, to ilTue 

 an edift, condemning the writings of certain prelates who 

 were inchned to the Neftorian tenets, famous under the ap- 

 pellation of " The Three Chapters ;" and his edict was 

 received by almoft all the Eaftern bifhops. Vigihus, at the 

 head of thofe of the Weftern churches, refufed to concur in 

 what they conceived to be an alFumption of authority in 

 matters of faith, which belonged only to a general council. 

 Upon this refinance, Vigilius was fummoned by the em- 

 peror to repair to Conftantinople. He left Rome amidft 

 the curfes of the people, who charged him with enormous 

 crimes, and arrived at Conftantinople in the beginning of 

 the year 547. At firft he declared againft the imperial 

 ediEl, and excluded from his communion the patriarch and 

 all the bifhops who had fubfcribed it. The emperor's mea- 

 fures, however, caufed him to waver ; and at a council 

 held at Conftantinople, he iffued a decree, entitled " Judi- 

 catum," in which the " Three Chapters" were formally 

 condemned. But when he found that this decree excited a 

 great oppofition on the part of the Weftern bifhops, he got 

 it revoked, under a pretence of referring the matter to a 

 general council. Without ftating the violence and coercion 

 of the emperor on the one hand, or the refiftance and tergi- 

 verfation of the pope on the other, it will be fufficient to 

 obferve, that after Vigilius had a fourth time changed his 

 declaration relating to the " Three Chapters," which he 

 finally condemned by a folemn conftitution, he was per- 

 mitted to return to Rome, which had been in"_^the mean time 

 facked by Totila, and recovered by Narfes. But during 

 his voyage he was feized with a tit of the ftone, and obliged 

 to land in Sicily, where he died in 555. A fummary of 

 the letters of this pope, ftill extant, is given by Dupin. 

 Bower. Dupin. Mofheim. 



VIGINTIVIRATE, a dignity among the ancient Ro- 

 mans, eftablifhed by Csefar. 



This dignity comprehended four others ; for of the vi- 

 gintiviri, or twenty men which compofed the company, 

 there were three who fat and judged all criminal affairs ; 

 three others had the infpeftion of the coins and coinage ; 

 four took care of the ftreets of Rome ; and the reft were 

 judges of civil affairs. 



VIGLES, in Geography, a town and caltle of Hun- 

 gary; 5 miles S.S.E. of Akfol. 



VIGNACOURT, a town of France, in the department 

 of the Somme ; 9 miles N.W. of Amiens. 



VIGNAIS, or ViKHAES, a town of Portugal, in the 

 province of Tra los Montes ; 15 miles W. of Bragan^a. 



VIGNE, Andrew de la, in B'wgrjphy, a French 

 writer of the 15th century, bore arms under Charles VHI., 

 and was fecretary to his queen, Anne of Britanny. In 

 conjunftion with Jaligui, he compofed a " Hiftory of 

 Charles VIII.," folio, printed at the Louvre, under the 

 care and with the notes of Denis Godefroy. He alfo wrote 

 " Vergier d'Honneur," Paris, 1495, containing an exacl 

 account of the expedition of Charles VIII. againft Naples, 

 at which he was prefent. Nouv. Dift. Hift. 



ViGXE, Anke de la, a French poetefs, was born in 

 1634 at Vernon -fur-Seine. Her talent for poetry appeared 



4 



fo foon, that PelifTon faid of her, fhe feemed to have been 

 fuckled by the Mufes. Menage compliments her with hav- 

 ing furpafTed the ancients, and excited the jealoufy of the 

 moderns, by the beauty and fonoroufnefs of her verfe. She 

 is faid to have united the ftudy of philofophy with that of 

 polite literature, and her charafter is reprefented as no lefs 

 cftimable than her talents. Huet fpeaks highly of her 

 cheerfulnefs and amenity, notwithftanding the feeblenefs of 

 her conftitution, and the pains (he fuffered. She clofed life 

 under the anguifh of a calculous complaint in 1684, at the 

 age of 50. Her principal pieces are an ode, entitled 

 " Monfeigneur le Dauphin au Roi," for which fhe received 

 from a perfon unknown a lyre in gold enamelled, with a 

 copy of verfes in her praife ; " Ode a Mademoifelle de Scu- 

 dery ;" " Reponle k Mademoifelle Defcartes ;" and feveral 

 other " Pieces de Vers," collefted in a fmall oftavo. Mo- 

 reri. Huet. Gen. Biog. 



ViGNE, Pierre delle, a celebrated miniiler of the em- 

 peror Frederic II., was born of mean parentage in Capua, 

 at the end of the twelfth century ; and ha\-ing purfued his 

 ftudiesto good effetl as a mendicant fcholar at Bologna, he 

 was introduced to Frederic II., and ingratiated himfelf with 

 this prince to fuch a degree, that he gave him a lodging in 

 his court, and the opportunity of further improvement. He 

 became a proficient in civil and canon law, and acquired an 

 elegant ftyle of writing, fo that he was advanced by the em- 

 peror to the pofts of prothonotary of his court, judge, and 

 chancellor ; and he became the confident of all his defigns. 

 His ability and learning raifed him to the higheft reputation, 

 and his influence in the court of Frederic was boundlefs. 

 The emperor afforded him opportunity of amaffing immenfe 

 treafures, and employed him in a variety of the moft im- 

 portant embaffies, which our limits will not allow us to re- 

 count. But before the clofe of his life, he loft the emperor's 

 attachment and confidence, for which various reafons, none 

 of which are fatisfaftory, have been alfigned. To the 

 jealoufy and envy of court attendants, the fall of favourites 

 may often be juftly afcribed. Whatever was the caufe in 

 this inftance, Vigne fuffered feverely under his matter's dif- 

 pleafure : he was deprived of fight, and fhut up in prifon ; 

 and finking into defpair, he put an end to his fife. The 

 time of his death is not known. The chronicle of Placentia 

 dates his being blinded in 124S. Six books of letters re- 

 main, which Tirabofchi regards as one of the moft valuable 

 monuments of the 13th century. The laft edition of them 

 is that of Bafil, in 1 740. He alfo collefted and arranged 

 the laws of the kingdom of Sicily ; and to him are attributed 

 a work " Concerning the Imperial Authority," and a book 

 " On Confolation," in imitation of that of Boethius. He 

 alfo compofed fome Italian poems. Gen. Biog. 



VIGNETTE, in the art of Printhtg, is a French word, 

 now often ufed among Englifh artiftsand writers, to denote 

 the flourifh or ornament placed at the beginning of a book, 

 preface, or dedication. Thefe vignettes or head-pieces are 

 very various in their form and flze. See the defcription of 

 PRIXTING-Pr^y}. 



VIGNIER, NiCHOL.^s, in Biography, an hiftorian and 

 chronologift, was born at Bar-fur-Seine in 1530, and 

 brought up a Proteftant. Having loft his property in the 

 civil wars, he withdrew to Germany, and praftifed phyfic 

 with reputation and advantage. Upon his return to France, 

 he conformed to the eftablifhed religion, and was appointed 

 phyfician to the king, as well as hiftoriographer-royal. 

 One of the moft curious of his works is his " Traite de 

 I'Origine et Demeure des anciens Fran(;ois," 1582, 410., 

 which was tranflated into Latin by Andrew du Chefne. 

 His other works may be confulted with advantage by thofe 



who 



