in the newly conquered territories in Macedonia, Thessaly, and Thrace. Bulgaria fell unavoidably within the range of the Photian schism, and so, from the end of the ninth century, the diocese of Achrida was lost to Western and papal influences. The overthrow of the independent Bulgarian kingdom in the early part of the eleventh century by Basil the Macedonian brought Achrida into closer touch with Constantinople. At a later date some of the great Byzantine families (e.g. the Ducas and the Comneni) claimed descent from the Kings, or Cars, of Bulgaria. In 1053 the metropolitan Leo of Achrida signed with Michael Cærularius the latter's circular letter to John of Trani (Apulia in Italy) against the Latin Church. Theophylactus of Achrida (1078) was one of the most famous of the medieval Greek exegetes; in his correspondence (Ep., 27) he maintains the traditional independence of the Diocese of Achrida. The Bishop of Constantinople, he says, has no right of ordination in Bulgaria, whose bishop is independent. In reality Achrida was during this period seldom in communion with either Constantinople or Rome. Towards the latter see, however, its sentiments were less than friendly, for in the fourteenth century we find the metropolitan Anthimus of Achrida writing against the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son (see Trinity). Latin missionaries, however, appear in Achrida in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, mostly Franciscan monks, to whom the preservation of the Roman obedience in these regions is largely owing (see Albania). The Latin bishops of Achrida in the seventeenth century are probably, like those of our of own time, titular bishops. The ecclesiastical independence of Achrida seeming in modern times to leave an opening for Roman Catholic influence in Bulgaria, Arsenius, the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople, had it finally abolished in 1767 by an order of Sultan Mustapha. At the height of its authority, Achrida could count as subject to its authority ten metropolitan and six episcopal dioceses.
Farlati, Illyr. Sacr., VIII, 18, 158; Lequien, Oriens Christianus, II, 282–300; III, 953–954; Duchesne, Les églises autocéphales, in Les églises séparées (Paris, 1896); Gelzer, Das Patriarchat von Akrida (1902); Krumbacher, Gesch. d. byzant. Litt. (2d ed., Munich, 1897), 994 sqq.; Neher, in Kirchenlex., I, 165–167.
Achterfeldt, Johann Heinrich, theologian, b. at Wesel, 17 June, 1788; d. at Bonn, 11 May, 1877. He was appointed professor of theology at Bonn in 1826 and in 1832 he founded with his colleague, J.W.J. Braun (d. 1863), the "Zeitschrift für Philosophie und Katholische Theologie" (1832–52), the chief purpose of which was to defend the teachings of Hermes. (q. v.). He also published under the title "Christkatholische Dogmatik" (Münster, 1834–36) the theological writings which Hermes (d. 1831) had left in MSS. This publication was followed by sharp controversy, and eventually by the condemnation of the works of Hermes, which Pope Gregory XVI placed upon the Index, 26 September, 1835. In 1843, Achterfeldt incurred suspension from his professorial chair rather than sign the declaration of faith required by the Coadjutor Archbishop von Geissel of Cologne. Though Hermesianism lost ground and finally disappeared during the revolution of 1848, Achterfeldt clung to his views. In 1862, however, he was reinstated as professor, and in 1873, having made his submission to ecclesiastical authority, he was freed from suspension.
Müller, in Dict. de théol. catholique, s. v.; Hergenröther, Handbuch d. allg. Kirchengesch. (Freiburg, 1886), III, 969.
Achtermann, Theodore William, a German sculptor, was born in 1799, at Münster in Westphalia, of poor parents. After working on a farm he became a cabinet-maker. His carving was so clever and graceful that it attracted attention, and procured him the good will of some art patrons, who sent him to Berlin (1831), where he studied under the direction of Rauch, Tieck, and Schadow, then the foremost sculptors of Germany. Achtermann, however, being of a profoundly religious character, was drawn irresistibly to Rome, where he arrived in 1839 and remained till the end of his life. The first prominent product of his Roman studies was a Pietà which was secured for the Cathedral of Münster and which has often been copied.
Pietà by Achtermann, in the Cathedral of Münster
In 1858 the same cathedral acquired a group of seven life-size figures representing the descent from the Cross which is regarded as one of its chief art treasures. His last great work, finished when the artist had passed his seventieth year, was a Gothic altar with three reliefs representing scenes from the life of Our Saviour. This was set up in the cathedral at Prague in the year 1873. He died at Rome in 1889. Achtermann's art is characterized by deep religious feeling and great imaginative power, though, on account of his having taken to an artistic career when somewhat advanced in life, he did not attain the technical mastery which he might otherwise have acquired.
Hertkens, Wilhelm Achtermann (Trier, 1895).
Acidalius, Valens (German, Havekenthal), philologist, Latin poet, and convert to the Catholic Church, b. 1567 at Wittstock in the Mark of Brandenburg; d. 25 May, 1595, at Neisse. After his education at the universities of Rostock, Greifswald, and Helmstädt, he began the study of medicine, but later devoted most of his time to the Latin classics, spending three years in the universities of Padua
