enriched with so many indulgences, and new privileges and benefice being bestowed upon them almost daily, they have spread everywhere and they are to be found in almost every town and city throughout the whole of Christendom.[1] It is worthy of remark that on the very same day that this Confraternity was erected at Cologne, Blessed Alan de la Roche of blessed memory, the most eminent promoter of the devotion of the Holy Rosary, died at Rostock;[2] and his beloved disciple, Fr. Michel Françis de l’Isle, who was sometime Master of Sacred Theology at Cologne,[3] gave Fr. Sprenger the most valuable assistance when the Rosary was being established, as we have related above. The works of Fr. James Sprenger are well approved by many authors as well as Trithemius; since amongst others who have praised him highly we may mention Albert Leander, O.P.;[4] Antony of Siena, O.P.;[5] Fernandez in his Concert. & Istor. del Rosar, Lib. 4, cap. 1, fol. 127; Fontana in his Theatro & Monum. published at Altamura, 1481; and, of authors not belonging to our Order, Antonius Possevinus, S.J.,[6] Miraeus,[7] Aegidius Gelenius in his De admiranda Coloniae Agrippinae urbis Ubiorum Augustae magnitudine sacra & ciuili, Coloniae, 1645, 4to, p. 430; Dupin,[8] and very many more.
Of Henry Kramer, Jacques Quétif and Echard, Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum, Paris, 1719, Vol. I, pp. 896–97, sub anno 1500, give the following account: Fr. Henry Kramer (F. Henricus Institoris) was of German nationality and a member of the German Province. It is definitely certain that he was a Master of Sacred Theology, which holy science he publicly professed, although we have not been able to discover either in what town of Germany he was born, in what Universities he lectured, or in what house of the Order he was professed. He was, however, very greatly distinguished by his zeal for the Faith, which he most bravely and most strenuously defended both by his eloquence in the pulpit and on the printed page, and so when in those dark days various errors had begun to penetrate Germany, and witches with their horrid craft, foul sorceries, and devilish commerce were increasing on every side, Pope Innocent VIII, by Letters Apostolic which were given at Rome at S. Peter’s in the first year of his reign, 1484, appointed Henry Kramer and James Sprenger, Professors of Sacred Theology, general Inquisitors for all the dioceses of the five metropolitan churches of Germany, that is to say, Mainz, Cologne, Trèves, Salzburg, and Bremen. They showed themselves most zealous in the work which they had to do, and especially did they
- ↑ In 1486 a priest in London writes to his patron in Yorkshire: “I send a paper of the Rosary of Our Lady of Coleyn, and I have registered your name with both my Ladis names, as the paper expresses, and ye be acopled as brethren and sisters.” “Plumpton Correspondence” (Camden Society, p. 50).
- ↑ Later authorities say Zwolle in Holland.
- ↑ Michel François de l’Isle, O.P., Bishop of Selymbria, born circa 1435; died 2 June, 1502. In 1488 this famous theologian was Regent of Studies at Cologne. An ample biography may be found in Quétif-Echard, “Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum,” Paris, 1719, sub anno 1502, Vol. II. pp. 7–9. Selymbria, or Selybria, is a titular see in Thracia Prima, suffragan of Heraclea.
- ↑ He was the socius of Francis Silvester, O.P., of Ferrara, a celebrated theologian, who was born circa 1474, and died at Rennes, 19 September, 1526.
- ↑ Lusitanus, born near Braga in Portugal; died at Naples, 2 January, 1585. The praise of Sprenger may be found, in his “Bibliotheca Ordinis Praedicatorum.” He is called “of Siena” because of his great devotion to S. Catharine of Siena.
- ↑ Theologian and papal envoy. Born at Mantua in 1533 or 1534; died at Ferrara, 26 February, 1611. His many writings include “Moscovia,” Vilna, 1586, an important work on Russian history; “Del Sacrificio della Messa,” Lyons, 1563; “Apparatus sacer ad Scripturam Ueteris et Noui Test.,” Venice, 1603–6; “Il soldato cristiano,” Rome, 1569; and a “Bibliotheca Selecta,” Rome, 1593.
- ↑ Aubert Le Mire, ecclesiastical historian, born at Brussels, 30 November, 1573; died at Antwerp, 19 October, 1640. He was a canon of Antwerp Cathedral, and in 1624 he became Dean of the chapter and Vicar-general of the diocese. He has left thirty-nine vast works on profane, ecclesiastical, and monastic history. See De Ridder’s “Aubert Le Mire, sa vie, ses écrits, mémoire historique et critique,” Paris, 1865.
- ↑ Louis-Ellies Dupin, born 17 June, 1657; died 6 June, 1719. He wrote at great length upon the Fathers, many of whose works he edited with commentaries. Some of his statements involved him in disputes with Dom. Petit-Didier and later with Bossuet. Dupin is an extremely prolific author, but several of his propositions were regarded as suspect in orthodoxy.
