dioceses were, with the dioceses of Havelberg and Zeitz (transferred later to Naumburg) made suffragan sees of the Archdiocese of Magdeburg, which was established in 962, and which is the greatest of Otto's foundations. Otto secured special privileges for the new metropolis and singled out the city for special favors; and it is fitting that he found his last resting place there. The diocese of Oldenburg, which he established and which was later transferred to Lübeck, belonged to the Bremen Province. Of his successors, St. Henry II. (1002-1024) was most active in promoting the interests of the Church. The establishment of the diocese of Bamberg and the building of its cathedral, which was consecrated by Pope Benedict VIII., are his work; and he, too, is buried in the church he built. Of the councilors of Otto I., special mention must be made. of the Swabian monk Ekkehard, surnamed Palatinus from living in the Emperor's palace. He had achieved fame as a savant and teacher in St. Gall and had taught the Swabian Duchess Hadwig Latin and Greek, when Otto made him tutor of his sons and always kept him near his person. He died in Mainz, in 990, where he was Provost of the Cathedral. Hermann, surnamed Contractus, was a second celebrated savant of St. Gall. He taught at Reichenau, and died in 1054. He was learned in many fields, and wrote poetry and composed music. His antiphon Alma Redemptoris Mater has been introduced into the liturgy, and the Salve Regina is also attributed to him by some historians. Bishop Meinwerk of Paderborn (d. 1036) labored in Saxony. His cathedral school is the subject of a song, whose beginning and conclusion read as follows: "Studiorum multiplicia Sub eo floruerunt exercitia.... Et dictaminibus (compositions) Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim (d. 1022) was not only a faithful churchman, but was noted besides for his scholarship and artistic skill. The chandelier and the bronze doors of the Hildesheim cathedral are his handiwork. To the period of the Ottos belongs also the first German poetess, Hroswitha, Abbess of Gandersheim, who wrote in Latin hexameters about the founding of her abbey (856) and the deeds of Otto I. The folk poetry asserted itself beside this artistic poetry inasmuch as it contributed to the stock of German legends, which was com pleted about this time, and in which Christian traditions blended with national and local elements. 9. That the truths of Christianity had entered deeply into the daily life of the people, is further evidenced by the Christian proverbs, phrases, and words in general, which have, in part, come down to us, and which are, like the remaining churches, monuments of the age. The results of the Christianization of Germany can be visualized by considering the state of the ecclesiastical provinces of Germany about the year 1000. At the head was the Archdiocese of Mainz. A diocese even in the Roman period, it was made the metropolitan see by St. Boniface. At the present time Mainz is still the seat of a bishop, but much of its former territory is now incorporated with the Archdiocese of Freiburg. Six of its suffragan dioceses dated from the Roman period. Four of these are still existing: Speyer, Augsburg, Strassburg, and Chur, while two, Constance and Worms, have ceased to exist. Two of the suffragan sees of Mainz were established by St. Boniface: Würzburg, prepared by Kilian, and Eichstädt. Four of the suffragan sees dated from the Carolovingian period, but only two of these are still existing, Paderborn and Hildesheim, while Halberstadt and Verden are no longer seats of bishops. The second province was Cologne, embracing the diocese of Liége, dating from the Roman period, the diocese of Utrecht, the foundation of Willibrord, and the foundations of Charlemagne: Münster, Osnabrück, and Minden, of which the last-named is no longer in existence. Trier was the third province, and embraced the Archdiocese of Trier, now a diocese, and the diocese of Metz. The Archbishops of Mainz, Cologne, and Trier were later made Electors of the Holy Roman Empire. Salzburg constituted the fourth province, and embraced the older diocese of Brixen, besides Freising, founded by Corbinian, and the dioceses founded by St. Boniface, Passau and Ratisbon (prepared by Emmeram), all of which are still in existence, with this one change that the Freising See has been transferred to Munich and has been raised to the rank of an archdiocese; the dioceses of the East Alpine country were added later. The northern and eastern districts were subject to the Bremen and the Magdeburg Provinces, which have with their suffragan sees ceased to exist. Bamberg, being exempt, occupied a unique position, and is at present the archdiocese of Franconia. The missions, of which the Christianization of Germany was but a part, began to extend, since the ninth century, to the northern and eastern nations, and the German dioceses and abbeys were the bases of supplies for these missionary expeditions. The Apostle of the North, Ansgar, was a monk in Corbey Abbey and was later elevated to the Archbishopric of Bremen (d. 865). The first Bohemians were baptized in Ratisbon, and Bohemia belonged to the Ratisbon diocese till Prague received, in 973, its own bishop. The Bohemian Wojtech, who in baptism received the name Adalbert, was educated in Magdeburg and was the second bishop of Prague. Adalbert baptized the Hungarian crown prince Vaik, who is known in history as the Apostolic King of Hungary, St. Stephen. Adalbert preached the Gospel in Poland also, and was martyred in Prussia. The diocese of Gnesen, established in 968, belonged to the Magdeburg Province, and the brother of Adalbert, Radim or Gaudentius, was its first bishop. Bishop Otto of Bamberg made missionary journeys into Pomerania since 1124, and these were the beginning of the Christianization of that country. 10. The varied material admits of different combinations for the purpose of assisting the understanding and the memory. The subject-matter itself suggests some combinations, and a few of these may be briefly indicated here. The chronological order of the events can be best fixed in the memory by means of the following formula: 500 conversion of the Franks, 600 conversion of the Anglo-Saxons, 730 conversion of central Germany, 800 conversion of the Saxons, 900 conversion of the Slavs. The following is a comparative summary of the circumstances attending the conversion: the Anglo-Saxons were converted while lords of their land; the Thuringians, etc., while subject to the Franks; the Saxons had to be supplied at one and the same time with the ecclesiastical order and a new political order of things; and the Slavs had to submit to a foreign nation: hence the struggles in the Christianization of the Saxons and Slavs. The teacher may group whatever circumstances. were favorable or unfavorable to the missions. Favorable circumstances were, for instance, the consciousness of religious needs, the spectacle of the Christian achievements, the assistance of pious women, etc. But unfavorable were the attachment to the old religion, as in Radbod, or fierce passions, as in Gotzbert. All these topics will prove good material for oral and written compositions. The Christianization of the Germans may well be compared with the efforts of the Roman Cæsars to subjugate them. In both cases, Rome was the moving force; and Gaul and Britain, the bases of supplies; and it is noteworthy that momentous events in both movements occurred at one and the same place; for instance, the Donar Oak and the Irminsul were near the Teutoburg Forest. Boniface's three journeys to Rome are the chief points in his life: the first in 718, from which he returned an authorized missionary; five years later came the second journey, from which he returned a bishop; and fifteen years later came the third journey, from which he returned the primate of Germany. The date of Pepin's coronation, 752, recalls Boniface's relation to Pepin's father and son. The dates 744 and 755 are connected with Fulda: founding-burial. The Saxon wars may be summarized in the key-words: Eresburg, Paderborn, Verden, Hase. The relation between Boniface and his disciples may be visualized in a kind of pedigree: Boniface is the spiritual father of Sturm; the latter, of Baugulf; Baugulf, of Rhabanus; and Rhabanus is at the same time the spiritual son of Alcuin and the spiritual father of Otfried. Finally, we may add that the historical sayings found should be grouped and filed. For correlating the subject with the pupil's circle of interest, the teacher should make use of poems, pictures, statues, etc. The mural paintings in the Benedictine church of St. Boniface, in Munich, represent the principal events in the Saint's life. All places that are of special importance for the German mission, have been celebrated in song and story. Even in the elementary German instruction, if it is based on local and national legends, the pupil will find many points of contact. But the advanced course will find new phases in the old material. Karl Simrock's collection, Die geschichtlichen deutschen Sagen aus dem Munde des Volkes und deutscher Dichter, will furnish much pertinent material. Many legends are connected with Corbey Abbey, and a whole cycle of tales has grown up about the Bamberg Cathedral. In Wolfgang Menzel's Deutsche Dichtung, 1858, Vol. I, pp. 290 ff., the teacher will find a conspectus of the legends dealing with the present subject. One of the most charming legends, whose value is enhanced by its didactic elements, relates how St. Wendelin, son of a king of Scotland, first lived as a hermit near Trier, then became a shepherd, and finally rose to be Abbot of Tholey. The small town of St. Wendel grew up near his grave. The beautiful sketches of Führich are helpful aids to visualizing the legend. CHAPTER LIII. Explanatory Instruction. school, must be explained; The explanation will vary A religious classic requires 1. The classics that are read in hence the explanatory instruction. with the kind of book that is read. an explanation different from that of a profane classic. The religious classic must be explained theologically; and the profane classic, philologically. The object of the theological exegesis is knowledge, edification, and guiding principles for life; but the object of the philological explanation is linguistic knowledge. The theologian looks upon the book he explains as an authority in theoretical and ethical matters; but the philologist considers the literary classics as authorities in technical and æsthetical matters only. The principles underlying these two kinds of explanation must be duly distinguished and rightly understood, else we shall have, on the one hand, the philologist charging the exegete with reading his preconceived notions into the text, instead of accepting its obvious meaning; and, on the other hand, the exegete retorting that the philologist merely ascertains the author's precise meaning and criticises the aptness of his expression, but never stops over these grammatical and rhetorical inquiries, to examine into the truth or propriety of what is said. The teacher's explanation, which is didactic, should reconcile these opposite views, for he can not do justice to a text unless he employ a method that embodies elements of both philological and theological interpretations. When reading a profane author, the teacher must first proceed along philological lines; his first aim must be to find the objective meaning of the text; and the text should then be used as a source, not only of linguistic knowledge and technique, but also of varied knowledge of persons and things. But in reading even profane authors the teacher may not ignore the fact that all language and literature instruction must aid in developing the moral sense. He must, consequently, apply the moral standard to the characters and conditions depicted in the classics, and supplement and correct particularly the ancient conceptions by means of the Christian world-view.1 The explanation deals with a larger or smaller linguistic whole as expressing some thought or embodying some intel 1 Supra, ch. XXXV, 4. |