Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/828

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752

ARNULF


752


ARRAS


Amulf of Lisieuz (LEXo\^EMSIS or Luxoviensis), in France, d. 31 August, 1184. He was educated by his brotlier, the Bishop of Seez (Sagi), studied canon law at Rome, and wrote in defence of Pope Innocent II a violent letter against Gerard, Bishop of Angoulerae (Muratori, SS. RK. Ital., Ill, 423-432), a partisan of the Antipope Anacletus II (Petrus Leonis). In 1141 he was raised to the See of Lisieux, accompanied Louis VII on his crusade (1147), was faithful to Alexander III during the schism, and encouraged his brother bishops to defend the cause of ecclesiastical liberty against Henry II of England. He was a partisan of the king in the conflict between Henry and St. Thomas Becket, and after the murder of the latter undertook the royal defence before the pope. In 1181 or perhaps a little earlier, he lost the good will of the king, and for a while that of Pope Lucius. He then resigned his see because of age and feebleness and retired to the Abbey of St. Vic- tor at Paris, where he died. His writings include a collection of letters, made by himself, and- some poetry, and are in P. L. , CC.

PoTTHAST, Bibl. Hist. Med. jEvi, 2d ed., I, 121; Moli- NIEB, Sources de I'hist. de France (1902), II, n. 1908.

Thomas J. Shahan.

Amulf of Metz, Saint, statesman, bishop under the Merovingiaas, b. c. .580; d. c. 640. His parents belonged to a distinguished Prankish family, and lived in Austrasia, the eastern section of the kingdom founded by Clovis. In the scliool in which he was placed during his boyhood he excelled through his talent and his good behaviour. According to the custom of the age, he was sent in due time to the court of Theodebert II, King of Austrasia (595-612), to be initiated in the various branches of the govern- ment. Under the guidance of Gundulf, the Mayor of the Palace, he soon became so proficient that he was placed on the regular list of royal officers, and among the first of the king's ministers. He distin- guished himself both as a military commander and in the civil administration; at one time he had under his care six distinct provinces. In due course Arnulf was married to a Prankish woman of noble lineage, by whom he had two sons, Anseghisel and Clodulf. While Arnulf was enjoying worldly emoluments and honours he did not forget higher and spiritual things. His thoughts dwelled often on monasteries, and with his friend Romaricus, likewise an officer of the court, he planned to make a pilgrimage to the Abbey of L6rins, evidently for the purpose of devot- ing his life to God. But in the meantime the Episco- pal See of Metz became vacant. Arnulf was univer- sally designated as a worthy candidate for the office, and he was consecrated bishop of that see about 611. In liis new position he set the example of a virtuous life to his subjects, and attended to matters of ecclesiastical government. In 625 he took part in a council held by the Prankish bishops at Reims. With all this Arnulf retained his station at the court of the king, and took a prominent part in the national life of his people. In 613, after the death of Theode- bert, he, with Pepin of Landen and other nobles, called to Austrasia Clothaire II, King of Neustria. When, in 623, the realm of Austrasia was entrusted to the king's son Dagobcrt, Arnulf became not only the tutor, but also the chief minister, of the yo\ing king. At the time of the estrangement between the two kings, in 625, Arnulf with other bishops and nobles tried to efTect a reconciliation. But Arnulf dreaded the responsibilities of the episcopal office, and grow weary of court life. About the year 626 ho obtained the appointment of a successor to tlio Kpi.scopal See of Motz; he himself and his friend Romaricus withdrew to a solitary place in the moim- tain'i of the Vosges. There he "lived in communion with f'lod until his death. His remains, interred by Ttomaricus, were transferred about a year after-


wards, by Bishop Goeric, to the basilica of the Holy Apostles in Metz.

Of the two sons of Arnulf, Clodulf became his third successor in the See of Metz. Anseghisel re- mained in the service of the State; from his union with Begga, a daughter of Pepin of Landen, was born Pepin of Heristal, the founder of the Carlo- vingian dynasty. In this manner Arnulf was the ancestor of the mighty rulers of that house. The life of Arnulf exhibits to a certain extent the episcopal office and career in the Merovingian State. The bishops were much considered at court; their advice was listened to; they took part in the dispensation of justice by the courts; they had a voice in the appointment of royal officers; they were often used as the king's ambassadors, and held high admin- istrative positions. For the people under their care, they were the protectors of their rights, their spokes- men before the king and the link uniting royalty with its subjects. The opportunities for good were thus unlimited; and Arnulf used them to good advantage.

Acta SS., Jul. IV. 423 sq.; Monum. Germ. Hist.: Script. RR. Meroving., II, 426 sq.; Waitz, Deutsche Verfaasungsge- schichte (Berlin, 1882), II, pta. 1, 2; Daiin, Die Kdnige der dermanen (Leipzig, 1895), VII, pt. 3; Halck, Kircheng. Deutschlands (Leipzig, 1887), 1.

Francis J. Schaefer.

Arran, Soijth Isles of See Argyll .vnd the Isles.

Arras (Atrebatum), The Diocese of, comprises the Department of Pas-de-Calais in France. On the occasion of the Concordat, the three Dioceses of Arras, Saint-Omer, and Boulogne were united to make the one Diocese of Arras. It was a suffragan of Paris from 1802 to 1841, in which year Cambrai again became an archdiocese and Arras returned to it as sufTragan. At the beginning of the sixth century St. Remi (Remigius), Archbishop of Reims, placed in the See of Arras St. Vedastus (St. Vaast) (d. c. 540), who had been the teacher of Clovis after the \ic- tory of Tolbiac. His successors, Dominicus and Ve- dulphus, are both venerated as saints. After the death of the latter, the See of Arras was transferred to Cambrai, and it was not until 1093 that Arras again became a diocese. Among the bishops of Arras are Cardinal Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, Coun- cillor of the emperor, Charles V, Bishop of Arras from 1545 to 1562, later Archbishop of Malines and Viceroy of Naples; Frangois Richardot, a celebrated preacher, Bishop of Arras from 1562 to 1575; Monseigneur Parisis (d. 1866), who figured prominently in the politi- cal assemblies of 1848. The old cathedral of Arras, constructed between 1030 and 1396, and dedicated to St. Vaast, was one of the most beautiful Gothic structures in northern France. It was destroyed during the Revolution. Two famous relics were long greatly venerated at Arras: the "sacred manna ", said to have fallen from heaven in 371 during a severe famine, and the "holy candle", a wax taper said to have been given to Bishop Lambert in 1105 by the Blessed Virgin, to stop an epidemic. Not far from Arras, the city of Saint-Omer, a diocese till the Revolution, perpetuates the memory of St. Au- domare, or Omer, Bishop of Tlidrouanne, the apo.stle of the Morini in the sixth century. Its cathedral, a Gothic monument of the fourteenth century, was built over the saint's tomb. The ruins of St. Vaast at Arras, and of St. Bertin at Saint-Omer, keep alive the memory of two celebrated abbeys of the same name; the Abbey of St. Bertin (founded in the seventh century) gave twenty-two saints to the Church. The Diocese of Arras at the end of 1905 contained 955,,391 inhabitants, 52 parishes, 690 cluirches of the second class, and 53 vicariates formerly with state subventions.

OnUia Christiana (ed. Nova, 1725), III, 318-371, 470-471;

Instrumenta 77-100; Tf.rnintk, Essni historique et mono-