ROMANESQUE
154
ROMANOS
tariaio aposU>lico partecipantf (.Faenza, 1751); Brunet, Le parfait
notaire apostolique et procureur des officialMs et formules ecclis-
iastiques (Lyons, 1775); Mickk, De protonotariis apostohcxs
dissertatio (Breslau. 1S6G); RenaVD, Dcs protonotaires aposto-
liques in Rer. des Sciences cccUs. (1807); Trombetta, De juribus
et prinlegiis prceUUorum Romance Cutut (Sorrento, 19061.
Benedetto Ojetti. Romanesque Architecture. See Ecclesiasti- cal Architecturk. Roman Inquisition. See Inquisition; Roman
COXGREGATIOXS.
Roman Law. See Law.
Rom£tnos, Saint, surnamed 6 fi€\t^b6% and o Oeop- p-flTiJip. poet of the sixth century. The only authority for the hfe and date of this greatest of Greek hymn- writers is the account in the Menaion for October; his feast is 1 October. According to this account he was by birth a Syrian, served as deacon in the church at Berytus, and came to Constantinople in the reign of Anastasios. It was in the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos (e/s t4 Kvpov) that he received the charisma of sacred poetry. "After a religious re- treat at Blachernaj he returned to his church, and one night in his sleep saw a vision of the Most Holy Theotokos, who gave him a volume of paper, saying, 'Take the paper and eat it'." The saint, in his dream, opened his mouth and swallowed the paper. It was Christmas Day, and immediately he awakened and marvelled and glorified God. Then, mounting the ambo, he began the strains of his
7) irapdevos ffrjfjiepov rbv VTripo'ufflov rlKrei. He wrote also about one thousand kontakia for other feasts before he died.
Beyond this passage, there are only two mentions of Romanos's name, one in the eighth-century poet St. Germanos, and once in Suidas (s. v. avaKkdifievov), who calls him "Romanos the melode". None of the Byzantine writers on hymnology allude to him: his fame was practically extinguished by the newer school of hymn-writers which flourished in the eighth and ninth centuries. Krumbacher has made it fairly certain, b}' a number of critical arguments, that the emperor named in the Menaion as reigning when Romanos came to the capital is Anastasius I (a. d. 491-518), not Anastasius II (a. d. 713-16); Pitra and Stevenson are of the same opinion. Prob- ably, then, he lived through the reign of Justinian (a. d. 527-6.5), who was himself a hymn-writer; this would make him contemporary with two other Byzantine melodes, Anastasios and Kyriakos. "In poetic talent, fire of inspiration, depth of feeling, and elevation of language, he far surpasses all the other melodes. The literary history of the future will perhaps acclaim Romanos for the greatest ecclesias- tical poet of all ages", says Krumbacher, and all the other critics of IJyzantine poetry subscribe to this enthusiastic praise. Some have called him the Christian Pindar. Down till the twelfth century his ChrLstmas hymn was performed by a double choir (from S. Sophia and the Holy Ajrostles) at the im- perial banquet on that feast day. Of most of the others only a few strophes survive. The long hymns (kont/ikm) consist of twenty-five strophes (Iroparia), usually of twenty-fine verses each, with a refraiiL Besides the Christmas hymn we may cite the follow- ing titles to exemplify St. Romanos's choice of sub- jects: "Canticum Paschale", "de CrucisTriumpho", "de lufla Proditore", "de Petri Negatione", "de Vir- gine iuxta crucem ". Dramatic and pathetic dialogue plays a great part in the structure. The simple sin- cerity of tone wimetimes puts the readier in mind of the Latin medieval hymns, or the earliest Italian religious verse;. Romanos, like the other melodes, obeys a purely accentual or rhythmic law; the quantitative scansions are obsolete for those to whom he sings (see Byzanti.ne Literatitrk, IV). Edi- tions: Twenty-nine hymns in Pitra, "Analecta Sacra",
I, 1876; three more in Pitra, "Sanctus Romanus
veterum melodorum princeps" (1888); Krumbacher
long ago promised a complete critical edition accord-
ing to the Patmian codices, but has not yet achieved
it.
Pitra, Hymnographie de VEglise grecque (Rome, 18G7) ; BouvY, Poiles et Melodes (Nlmes, 1886); Krumbacher, Gescli. d. byz. Literatur, Munich, 312-18; Idem, Studien zii Romanos (Munich, 1899); Idem, Umarbeitungen bei Romanos (Munich, 1899); Jacobi, Zur Geschichte des gricchischen Kirchenliedes in Bri&- gers Zeilschrift fur Kirchengeschichte (1882), V, 177-250.
J. S. Phillimore.
Romanos Pontifices, Constitutio. — The res- toration by Pius IX, 29 Sept., 18.50, by letters Apostolic "Universalis e(;('lesi;c" of the hierarchy in England, and the consequent transition to the new order of things, necessarily gave rise to misunder- standings and discussion in various matters of juris- diction and discipline, particularly between the episcopate and rehgious orders. Bishops, as was in- cumbent upon them, strenuously maintained the rights of the hierarchy, while religious superiors were loath to surrender prerogatives previously exercised. The chief points of controversy related to the ex- emption of regulars from the jurisdiction of bishops; the right of bishops to divide parishes or missions con- ducted by regulars, and to place secular priests in charge of these newly-created missions; the obliga- tion of regulars engaged in parish work to attend conferences of the clergy and diocesan synods; the force of their appeal from synodal statutes; their liberty to found new houses, colleges and schools, or to convert existing institutions to other purposes; the right of bishops to visit canonical^ institutions in charge of regulars; and certain financial matters. Individual bishops sought to cope with the situation until finally a proposition of Cardinal Manning, made in an annual meeting of the English hierarchy in
1877, to submit these difficulties to Rome for definite settlement, met with unanimous approval. In July,
1878, the bishops of Scotland formally associated themselves with their English brethren in the con- troversy. Negotiations were opened with Propa- ganda, but Cardinal Manning later suggested to Pope Leo XIII the appointment of a special com- mission to examine the claims of the contestants and to prepare a constitution. Repeated delays ensued, so that it was not until 20 Sept., 1880, that a special commission of nine cardinals chosen to consider the question had its first sitting. Four other sessions followed, and in Jan., 1881, a report was made to the pope. Finally the constitution "Romanos Ponti- fices" of Leo XIII was issued 8 May of the same year, defining the relations in England and Scotland be- tween bishops and religious. This constitution has been extended to the United States (2.5 Sept., 1885), to Canada (14 March, 1911), to South America (1 Jan., 1900), to the Philippine Islands (1 Jan., 1910), and quite generally to missionary countries. The pro- visions of the "Romanos Pontifices" may be grouped into three heads: the exemption of religious from episcopal jurisdiction; relations to bi.shops of re- ligious engaged in parochial duties; and matters pertaining to temporal goods. The constitution makes clear the following: though regulars according to canon law are subject immediately to the Holy See, bishops are given jurisdiction over small com- munities. The constitution "Romanos Pontifices" makes a further concession exempting regulars as such, living in parochial residences in small numbers or even alone, almost entirely from the jurisdiction of the ordinary. "Wo hesitate not to declare", it states, "that regulars dwelling in residences on the mission, no less than regulars living in their own mon.'isteries, are exc^rnpt from the jurisdiction of the ordinary, exc(!pt in cjises exjircssly inentioruMl in law, and generally speaking in matters pertaining to the
