The most recent episode of the Renaissance English History podcast discusses the Pilgrimage of Grace during the reign of Henry VIII.
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Today in Catholic History – Clement XVI issues Cum Primum (On Civil Obedience) in response to uprising in Poland
June 9, 2010 – 9:57 am
On 9 June 1832, Pope Clement XVI issued his encyclical Cum Primum concerning the 1830-31 Polish uprising against Russian occupation.
Clement XVI condemned a rebellion against the “legitimate authority” by those operating “under the pretext of religion.” He urged the Polish Catholics to remain obedient to the Russian government in civil matters because “Your emperor will act kindly toward you; at no time will he deny his patronage for the good of the Catholic religion and he will always listen patiently to your requests.”
Many Polish Catholics felt this encyclical to be a betrayal, that Clement XVI had preferred to support the non-Catholic Russian Emperor over the Pole who had long defended the Catholic Church. Thus, the encyclical severely damaged relations between the Polish Catholics and the Vatican. Indeed some historians argue that a restoration of Polish Catholic faith in the Vatican did not return until the papacy of Pope John Paul II.
Gregory XVI did not condemn the Polish rebellion directly. Instead he offered general condemnation against any attack on “legitimate authority”. Clement XVI had witnessed first-hand the effects of revolution in 1831 in the Papal States. He had depended on the support and assistance of the Austrian Empire to restore his authority and had come to oppose all revolution wherever it took place.
Moreover, Clement XVI hoped that by trying to show that the Vatican supported Russian political authority, Tsar Nicholas I would permit the free exercise of the Catholic faith in Poland. Clement believed that Nicholas was in full control of Poland and calling for further resistance to Russia would be hopeless and only encourage further repression. The best policy would be to attempt to convince Nicholas of Polish loyalty in the hopes that he would not act against the Polish Church. This hope was not fulfilled and when Nicholas I continued to attack the Catholic Church in Poland, Clement XVI became much more critical of Russia saying in 1836 that “Catholicism has no more greater and more cruel foe than Nicholas I”.
See “Metternich, Pope Gregory XVI, and Revolutionary Poland, 1831-1842” by Alan J. Reinerman in The Catholic Historical Review, Vol. 86, No. 4 (Oct., 2000), pp. 603-619 available here in .pdf format
Today in Catholic History – Viking raid on Lindisfarne
June 8, 2010 – 7:27 am
On 8 June 793, the Viking Age began with a raid upon the Benedictine monastery at Lindisfarne in northern England. The monastery was an important center of learning in Europe. Sources at the time described the raid in dramatic terms:
In this year fierce, foreboding omens came over the land of Northumbria. There were excessive whirlwinds, lightning storms, and fiery dragons were seen flying in the sky. These signs were followed by great famine, and on June 8th the ravaging of heathen men destroyed God’s church at Lindisfarne.
and
Never before has such terror appeared in Britain as we have now suffered from a pagan race. . . .The heathens poured out the blood of saints around the altar, and trampled on the bodies of saints in the temple of God, like dung in the streets.
During the raid, the monks were killed in the monastery, drowned in the sea or carried off into slavery. The reported savagery of the attack would help establish the traditional image of Vikings as bloodthirsty warriors in the minds of Europeans.
The Vikings would assault Lindisfarne several times seeking wealth and eventually the monks would be forced to flee the monastery in 875. Benedictine monasteries were not designed to withstand severe attacks, which also made them preferable targets by the Vikings. The monks would return in 1093 and remain until the monastery was suppressed in 1536 under Henry VIII.
Today in Catholic History – Benedict XI excommunicates Guillaume de Nogaret
June 7, 2010 – 7:17 am
On 7 June 1304, Pope Benedict XI excommunicated Guillaume de Nogaret, the minister of French king Philip IV, and several Italians who had played a part in the seizure and abuse of Pope Boniface VIII in the bull Flagitiosum scelus. Boniface and Philip had come into serious conflict regarding the power of the papacy versus the power of the secular ruler. This conflict had led Boniface to issue the bull Unam Sanctum proclaiming that salvation required that one be subject to the Roman pontiff and Philip to send Guillaume and his army to arrest Boniface in the hopes of putting him on trial. While Boniface had escaped, he died soon after regaining his freedom.
Benedict after a pontificate of only eight months and while there was some suspicion that Guillaume may have had him poisoned, there is no direct evidence for this. After Benedict’s death, Clement V will become pope and under French pressure will lift the excommunication of Guillaume de Nogaret. Guillaume will also be very active in Philip IV’s persecutions of the Knights Templar.
Today in Catholic History – Augustin Bea becomes first president of the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity
June 6, 2010 – 11:22 am
On 6 June 1960, Cardinal Augustin Bea became the first president for the newly established Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, a department within the Curia responsible for promoting ecumenical relations. Pope John Paul II will later change its name to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
Initially, the responsibilities of the Secretariat were to help other Christians follow the course of the upcoming Second Vatican Council. Today the Pontifical Council is responsible for working with the World Council of Churches, to send representatives to major events associated with other Christian denominations and in turn invite representatives of those denominations to major events in the Catholic Church.
Cardinal Bea was to become very influential in the Second Vatican Council, especially in the document Nostra Aetate, which condemned anti-Semetism. He also had a great influence upon Pope Pius XII’s encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu, which permitted modern methods of Biblical interpretation and was Pius’ confessor.
While Bea was supportive of union, he was also aware of the great challenges ahead, saying: “There is no need to fool ourselves about the prospects for union. There are veritable mountains to scale. In addition to the work of the divine spirit of union, there must be cooperation of all the baptized in a long and patient effort, gradually to come closer and to understand each other.” So Bea himself would set an example by answering more than 2,000 letters a year as President of the Secretariat and becoming good friends with the heads of other Christian denominations.
Today in Catholic History – First Issue of United States Catholic Miscellany
June 5, 2010 – 11:26 am
On 5 June 1822, Bishop John England of the Diocese of Charleston, South Carolina began the first Catholic newspaper in the United States called United States Catholic Miscellany.
Bishop England began the newspaper as a means of defending the Catholic faith and the Irish in the face of attacks from the Nativist movement which opposed what it considered foreign and anti-American influence in the United States.
United States Catholic Miscellany was a weekly newspaper which explained and defended Catholic teaching, reviewed books, published biographies of famous Catholics and informed its readers about events related to religion. Its subscription reached a height of 1,030.
When South Carolina seceded from the United States in 1860, United States Catholic Miscellany changed its name to Catholic Miscellany and in 1861 to Charleston Catholic Miscellany. On 11 December 1861, a fire destroyed the offices of the newspaper and it ceased publication, but it would much later be revived and is now known as The Catholic Miscellany – the official newspaper of the Diocese of Charleston.
#235 – The Philosopher’s Game
June 4, 2010 – 9:04 pm
During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Rithmomachia was one of the most popular games played in the universities and theological schools and promoted by Roger Bacon and Thomas More. Today, it has fallen into obscurity.
Links:
Wikipedia has a good simple presentation of the basics of rithmomachia
Here is a Renaissance presentation of rithmomachia
Rules for playing rithmomachia can be found here and here
For the really adventurous, here are the rules of Boolean rithmomachia
Computer [Java] versions of rithmomachia can be found here and here
Rithmomachia boards and pieces can be purchased here and here
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Today in Catholic History – Solidarity victorious in Polish elections
June 4, 2010 – 10:56 am
On 4 June 1989, the Polish trade union Solidarity was victorious in the first relatively free elections in Poland since the Second World War. Despite pre-election polls which predicted a victory for the Communist Party, Solidarity was successful in virtually every seat which it had contested.
Solidarity is deeply rooted in Catholic teaching and history. Pope John Paul II put forward the concept of solidarity with the poor as an essential element of the Christian life in his Solicitudo Rei Socialis. One of the founders of Solidarity, Lech Wałęsa, confirmed the influence of Pope John Paul II saying, “The Holy Father, through his meetings, demonstrated how numerous we were. He told us not to be afraid”. One of the priests which was actively involved in Solidarity was Father Jerzy Popiełuszko who was killed by the Communist leadership in Poland because of his ministry to workers and will be beatified by the Catholic Church on 6 June 2010.
The success of Solidarity in Poland will inspire similar movements elsewhere and contribute to the eventual collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.
The home page of Solidarity
Today in Catholic History – Thomas Becket consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury
June 3, 2010 – 11:09 am
On 3 June 1162, Thomas Becket became the Archbishop of Canterbury. The English king Henry II had pressured him to become the Archbishop believing that Becket who had previously shown great support for the powers of the king would continue to do so as archbishop. Becket did not want to become archbishop because he feared it would cause grave difficulties between him and the king. He wrote, “our friendship will turn to hate.”
Indeed, once he became archbishop Becket instead became a strong defender of the independence of the Catholic Church from secular control in the many conflicts between Thomas Becket and Henry over the attempts to place clergy under the jurisdiction of secular rather than religious courts. Eventually, Henry’s frustration over Becket’s opposition would lead him to reportedly utter the infamous phrase, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?” Which will be understood as a command by Henry’s men to arrest Becket and when Becket refused to accompany Henry’s soldiers – they would murder him in the Cathedral of Canterbury.
Today in Catholic History – The Vandals Sack Rome
June 2, 2010 – 6:32 am
On 2 June 455, the Vandals led by their king Genseric began their sack of the city of Rome. Genseric had made a peace treaty with the previous emperor of the Western Roman Empire Valentinian III. However, when Valentinian was killed and replaced by Petronius Maximus, Genseric declared the peace treaty had been broken.
According to Prosper of Aquitaine, Pope Leo I managed to persuade the Vandals to only plunder the city of Rome and not burn any buildings or murder its inhabitants. Though writers in the 17th century who idealized Rome would blame the Vandals for its destruction. For example, the poet John Dryden wrote, “Till Goths, and Vandals, a rude Northern race, Did all the matchless Monuments deface.” In 1794, bishop Henri Grégoire would use the term vandalism to describe the destruction of art during the French Revolution based upon the presumed devastation which took place during the 455 sack of Rome.
The Vandals would plunder the city for fourteen days, whereas the previous Visigothic sack of 410 was only three days. Much gold and silver would be taken as well as several boats full of captives including the Eudoxia, the wife of Petronius Maximus who had been killed by a Roman mob as he tried to flee the attack of the Vandals. Among the treasures taken by the Vandals was the wealth of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem which had been captured by Emperor Titus in 70 AD.
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