FORT
150
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physiological sufferings it imposes upon woman. It is
probably an academic theme. Fortunatus also took
part in ecclesiastical life, assisting at synods, being
invited to the consecration of churches, all of which
occasions were made the pretext for verses. He was
especially associated with tiregory of Tours, who in-
fluenced him to make and publish a collection of his
verses, with Leontius of Bordeaux, who sent him many
invitations, and with Felix of Nantes, whom he
praised, especially for the rectifying of a watercourse
(III, 10). Fortunatus was now a celebrated man and
a much-sought-for guest. Rendered more free by the
death of his friends, he visited the Court of Austrasia,
where he was received with greater evidence of regard
than on a former occasion when he had arrived from
Italy poor and unknown. To this period belongs his
account of a journey on the Moselle which is fuU of
graceful details (X, 10). He celebrates the comple-
tion of the basilica of Tours in 590 (X, 6), and in 591
the consecration of Plato, the new Bishop of Poitiers,
an archdeacon of Gregory (X, 14). His predecessor
Maroveus, whose barbarous name indicates that he
was a person lacking in culture, had been entirely
neglected by the Roman Fortunatus and his refined
friends. This date is the last known to us, but some
time before the end of the sixth century he succeeded
to the See of Poitiers. In the episcopal list of that
city he follows Plato and may have become bishop
about 600. He was already dead when, shortly after
this time, Baudonivia, a nun of the monastery of the
Holy Cross, added a second book to Venantius' life of
Radegunde.
The poems of Fortunatus comprise eleven books. The researches of Wilhelm Meyer have established the fact that Fortunatus himself published successively Books I-VIII, aliout 576; Book IX in 584 or 585; Book X after 591. Book XI seems to be a posthumous col- lection. A Paris manuscript has happily preserved some poems not found in the eleven-book manuscripts. These poems form an appendix in Leo's edition. Apart from these occasional poems Fortunatus wrote between 573 and 577 a poem in four books on St. Mar- tin. He follows exactly the account of Sulpicius Sev- erus, but has abridged it to such an extent as to render his own work obscure unless with the aid of Sulpicius Severus. He wrote in rhythmic prose the lives of sev- eral saints, St. Albin, Bishop of Angers, St. Hilary and Pascentius, Bishops of Poitiers, St. Marcellus of Paris, St. Germanus of Paris (d. 576), his friend Radegunde, St. Paternus, Bishop of Avranches, and St. Medardus. The poetical rnerit of Fortunatus should not be over- estimated. Like most poets of this period of extreme decadence, he delights in description, but is incapable of sustaining it; if the piece is lengthy his style runs into mannerisms. Hisvocabularyisvaried but affected, and while his language is sufficiently exact, it is marred by a deliberate obscurity. These defects would render him intolerable had he not written in verse; poetic tradi- tion, Boissier well says, imposed a certain sobriety. The prose prefaces which Fortunatus adds to each of his works exhibit a command of bombastic Latin scarcely inferior to the " Hisperica famina ". His versification is monotonous, and faults of prosody are not rare. By his predilection for the distich he furnished the model for most Carlovingian poetry. Fortunatus, like a true Roman, expresses with delicate sincerity the sen- timents of intimacy and tenderness, especially when mournful and anxious. He interprets with success the emotions aroused by the tragic occurrences of sur- rounding barbarian life, particularly in the hearts of women, too often in those times the victims of brutal passions. In this way, and by his allusions to con- temporary events and persons, and his descriptions of churches and works of art, he is the painter of Mero- vingian society. His entire work is an historical docu- ment. Fortunatus has been praised for abstaining from the use of mythological allegory, despite the fact
that his epithalamium for Sigebert is a dialogue be-
tween Venus and Love. Occasionally one encounters
in his works the traditional academic themes, but in
general he refrains from these literary ornaments less
through disdain than through necessity. Every
writer of occasional verse is perforce a realist, e. g. Sta-
tius in the "Silvie", Martial in his epigrams. In his
portrayal of the barbarian society of Gaul Fortuna-
tus exhibits the manner in which contemporary Chris-
tian thought and life permeated its gross and uncul-
tured environment. Leaving aside the bishops, all of
them Gallo-Romans, it is the women of the period,
owing to native intuition and mental refinement, who
are most sensitive to this Christian culture. They are
the first to appreciate delicacy of sentiment and charm
of language, even refined novelties of cookery, that art
of advanced civilizations and peoples on whose hands
time hangs heavily. From this point of view it may
be said that the friendship of Fortunatus with Rade-
gunde and Agnes mirrors with great exactness the life
of sixth-century Gaul.
The best edition of Fortunatus is that of F. Leo and B. Rrusch ; the former edited the poems, the latter the prose writings in "Mon. Germ. Hist.: Auct." (Berlin, 1881-85), IV.
Hameun, De vitd et operibus V. Fortunali (Rennes, 1873); Meyer. Der Gdegenheitdichter V. Forltinatus (Berlin, 1901); Leo, Venantius Fortunatus in Deutsche Rundschau (1882), XXXII, 414-26; B\rdenhewer, Patrology, tr. Shahan (Frei- burg im B., St. Louia, 190S), 647-50.
Paul Lejay.
Fort Wayne, Diocese of (Wayne Castrensis). — The Diocese of Vincennes, Indiana, U. S. A., estab- lished in 1834, comprised the whole State of Indiana till the Holy See, on 22 September, 1857, created the Diocese of Fort Wayne, assigning to it that part of Indiana north of the southern boundary of Warren, Fountain, Montgomery, Boone, Hamilton, Madison, Delaware, and Randolph Counties, a territory of 17,431 square miles, numbering 20,000 Catholics, with 14 priests, 20 churches, and two religious institutions, with educational establishments of the Fathers, Brothers, and Sisters of the Congregation of the Holy Cross. The Right Rev. John Henry Luers was nom- inated first Bishop of Fort Wayne and consecrated in Cincinnati, Ohio, 10 January, 1858. He was born 29 September, 1819, in Germany, and emigrated to America in 1831. He was ordained priest in Cincinnati, 11 November, 1846. Entering upon the administra- tion of the new diocese, he devoted himself zealously to the founding of new parishes and missions, provided a home for the orphans, and built a cathedral. In June, 1871, during a vacancy of the See of Cleveland, Ohio, he was called to that city to confer ordination on a number of seminarians. After the function, on his way to the train, he suffered an apoplectic stroke and fell dead (29 June, 1871). At the time of Bishop Luer's death there were in the Diocese of Fort Wayne 69 priests, 75 churches, 10 chapels, 1 hospital, 1 or- phan asylum, 1 college, 11 academies for girls, 40 parochial schools, and a Catholic population estimated at 50,000.
The Rev. Joseph Dwenger was then appointed to the see. He was born near Minster, Ohio, in 1837. Orphaned at an early age, he was educated by the Fathers of the Precious Blood, entered their commu- nity, and was ordained priest 4 September, 1859. Ap- pointed professor in the seminary of his community, he filled that position until 1862, and was then as- signed to parochial work. From 1867 to 1872 he was occupied in preaching missions. He was consecrated 14 April, 1872. In 1874 Bishop Dwenger was the head of the first American pilgrimage to Rome. In 1875 he erected an orphan asylum and manual labour school for boys at Lafayette. He was a zealous pro- moter of the parochial school system. In 1884 he attended the Third Plenary Council at Baltimore, and
