MURATORIAN
642
MURET
n work, which attracted considerable attention, on
the i|iU'.stion as to how far freedom of thinking might
go in rehgious matters, " De ingeniorum moderationc
in rehgionis negotio" (Paris, 1714). Many of his
views and opinions were openly eliallenged; for in-
stance those concerning tlic Iininaculiitc Conception
of tlic HIessetl \'irgin and the manner of worshipping
the saints. Another work, which ton(^hes upon re-
ligions qiiestiong, "Delia regolata divozione de'
Cristiani" (Venice, 1723), also called out attacks.
He defended himself in his work, "De superstitionc
vitanda" (Milan, 1742). In the quarrel about
Hermesianism, his book, "De ingeniorum modera-
tionc", was translated into German by Biunde and
Braun (Coblenz, 1837) in the interest of the followers
of the Hermesian doctrines. Charity is discussed by
Muratori in his "Delia caritil cristiana" (Modena,
1723). He still continued his literary studies, as is
shown by his works on Petrarch ("Vita e rime di F.
Petrarca", Modena, 1711) and Castelvetro ("Vita ed
opere di L. Castelvetro", Milan, 1727). On phi-
losophy he wrote, "Filosofia morale esposta" (Ven-
ice, 1736), "Dalle forze dell' intendimento umaiio"
(Venice, 1735), and "Delle forze della fantasia"
(Venice, 1745). Law and politics are treated in
"Governo della Peste politico, medico ed ecclesias-
tico" (Modena, 1714; frequently reprinted), "De-
fetti della Giurisprudenza" (1741), "Della pubblica
feliciti" (1749). Muratori really proved himself to
be a universal genius of rare calibre, at home in all
fields of human knowledge. He showed extraordi-
nary quaUties as priest and man ; he was zealous in the
ministry, charitable to the poor, and diligent in visit-
ing the abandoned and imprisoned. He corresponded
with a large circle of acquaintances. A collection
of his letters by Selmi appeared in Venice (2 vols.,
1789) ; another by Ceruti in Modena (1885). A com-
plete edition is being jiublished by M. Campori
("Epistolario di L. A. Muratori", Modena, 1901 sq.).
In spite of many attacks which he had to suffer for
his religious views, and notwithstanding many of his
opinions regarding ecclesiastical politics were not ap-
proved of in Rome, he was highly esteemed in the most
e.xalted ecclesiastical circles, as is shown in the let-
ter which Benedict XIV., on 15 Sept., 1748, wrote to
him with the intention of easing his troubled mind.
Cardinal Ganganelli, later on Clement XIV, also sent
him a letter in 1748, in which he assured him of his
highest esteem and respect.
MuRATOBl, Vii^ del proposto L. A. Muratori (Venice, 1756); ScHEDONi, ElogiodiL. A. Muratori (Modena, 1818); Reina, Vita di L. A. Muratori in Annali d' Italia, I (Milan, 1818) ; Fabronidb, Vitit Itatorum, X, 89-391; Historisch-poiitische Blatter, LXXIV (1874), 353. 524; Gat, L. A, Muratori, padre della storia italiana (.\sti, 188.5). J. P. KiRSCH.
Muiatorian Canon, or Muratorian Fragment, after the name of the discoverer and first editor, L. A. MrR.\TORi (in the "Antiquitates italica;", III, Milan, 1740, 851 sq.), the oldest known canon or list of books of the New Testament. The MS. containing the canon originally belonged to Bobbio and is now in the Bibliotheca Ambrosiana at Milan (Cod. J 101 sup . ) . Written in the eighth century, it plainly shows the uncultured Latin of that time. The fragment is of the highest importance for the history of the Bib- lical canon. It was written in Rome itself or in its environs about 180-200; probably the original was in Greek, from which it was tr;mslated into Latin. This Latin text is preserved solely in the MS. of the Am- brosiana. A few sentences of the Muratorian Canon are preserved in some other MSS., especially in codices of St. Paul's Epistles in Monte Cassino. The canon consists of no mere list of the Scriptures, but of a BUn'ey, which supplies at the same time historical and other information regarding each book. The begin- ning is missing; the preserved text begins with the last line concerning the second Gospel and the notices, pre-
served entire, concerning the third and fourth Gospels.
Then there are mentioned: The Acts, St. Paul's Epis-
tles (including those to Philemon, Titus, and Timothy;
the spurious ones lo the Laodiceans and Ahxandrians
are rejected); furthermore, the Epistle of St. Jude
and two Epistles of St. John; among the Scriptures
which "in catholica habentur", are cited the "Sapi-
entia ab amicis Salomonis in honorem ipsius scripta",
as well as the Apocalypses of St. John and St. Peter,
but with the remark that some will not allow the
latter to be read in the church. Then mention is
made of the Pastor of Hermas, which may be read
anywhere but not in the divine service; and, finally,
there are rejected false Scriptures, which were
used by heretics. In consequence of the barbarous
Latin there is no complete understanding of the cor-
rect meaning of some of the sentences. As to the
author, many conjectures were made (Papias, Hege-
sippus, Caius of Rome, Hippolytus of Rome, Rhodon,
]\Ielito of Sard is were proposed) ; but no well founded
hypothesis has been adduced up to the present. The
Muratorian Canon was newly editetl by Tregelles,
"Canon Muratorianus" (Oxford, 1867); Westcott,
"A general survey of the history of the canon" (6th
ed., 1889); Buchanan, in "Journal of Theol. Stud.",
VIII (1907), 540-12 ; Harnack in " Zeitschr. f. Kirchen-
gesch.". Ill, 595-99; Preuschen in "Analecta, klirzere
Texte zur Geschichte der alten Kirche und des
Kanons" (2nd ed., Tubingen, 1910), 27-35; Rauschen,
"Florilegium patristicum". III (Bonn, 1905).
Zahn, Gesch. des neutest. Kanons, I, 1 (1890), 1-156; KuHN, Dns Muratorische Fragment (1892) ; Chapman in Revue binidictine (1904), 240 sq.. 369 sq.; Robinson, The Authorship of the Mura- torian Canon in The Expositor, I (1906), 481 sq.; Bahtlet, Ibid., II (1906), 210 sq.
J. P. KiRSCH.
Murcia. See Cartagena, Diocese of.
Murder. See Homicide.
Muret, Marc-Antoinb, French humanist, b. at Muret, near Limoges, in 1526; d. at Rome, in 1585. He studied at Poitiers and was greatly influenced by Scaliger, whom he twice visited at Agen. He taught successively at Poitiers (1546), Bordeaux (1547), and Paris. Becoming intimate with Dorat, Joachim du Bellay, and the poets of the Pleiad, he published in French a commentary on the "Amours" of Ronsard (1553) and a collection of Latin verses, the "Juve- nilia". His prosperity seemed unclouded, when accu- sations of heresy and immorality drove him from Paris to Toulouse, and thence to Lombardy. At last he settled at Venice, where he taught for four years (1555-58).
To the Venetian period of Muret's life belong his editions for Paulus Manutius, of Horace, Terence (1555), Catullus, Tibullus, and Propertius (1558), to which must be added the three orations "De studiis htterarum" (1555). It was at Venice that he became connected with Lambinus. In 1559 Muret pub- lished the first eight books of his "Variie lectiones", which occasioned Lambinus to accuse him of plagiar- ism and brought their friendship to an end. With the year 1559 began the insecure period of Muret's life, when he devoted himself to private tuition. He next entered the service of Ippolito d'Este, Cardinal of Ferrara, in whose suite he went to Paris, and thence to Rome, where he spent the remainder of his life (1563-85) expounding Aristotle, Cicero, Plato, Juve- nal, and Tacitus, and teaching jurisprudence. In 1576 he received Holy orders.
Muret's editions of Latin authors and translations of Plato and Aristotle, while they hardly entitled him to rank with the great philologists of his time, show good taste, acumen, and care. As a stylist, he was long esteemed one of the modern masters of Latinity. He succeeded in imitating Cicero rather by a felici- tous resemblance between his own temperament and that of his model than by any painfully laborious
