GEOFFREY
428
GEOGRAPHY
istration. He added to tlie buildings a guest hall and
an infirmary with chapel attached, and spent large
sums on a new shrine to which he translated the body
of St. Alban, 2 Aug., 1129. Geoffrey endowed the
nunnery at Sopwell, and founded another at Markyate,
in Bedfordshire, for his friend and counsellor, Christina
the recluse. He also opened a leper hospital near St.
Alban's. Finally, he succeeded in saving the abbey
when it was threatened with destruction during the
Civil War in the reign of Stephen.
Gesia Abbatum S. Albani in Rolls Series, I. 72-105 (London. 1867); Wright, Biog. Brit. Lit. (London, 1844). 11, 109; Hunt in Diet. Nat. Biog. (London, 1890), s. v. Geoffrey of Gorham, with references to medieval sources.
Edwin Burton.
Geoffrey of Monmouth (Gaufridus Artdrus, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galffrai or Gruffyd AB Arthur), Bishop of St. Asaph and chronicler; b. at Monmouth about 1100; d. at Llandaff, 1154. He was the son of Arthur, a priest, and was educated by his uncle Uchtryd, id'tcrwards Bishop of Llandaff. It has been surmised thai Ik- liccameaBenedictine monk, but this Is uncertain. At Oxford he met Walter the Arch- deacon, who suggested to him the idea of his great work, "Historia Regum Britanniae". About 1140 he accompanied Uchtryd to Llandaff, where he became archdeacon of St. Teilo's, and opened schools in which many clerics and chieftains were educated. The " His- toria" had appeared before 1139, but Geoffrey con- tinued to work at it, and in 1147 he completed it in its final form. In 1151-2 he was elected Bishop of St. Asaph and was consecrated at Lambeth by Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, on 24 Feb., having been ordained priest a week before ; but he died without having entered his diocese. Geoffrey's " History" has been one of the great influences in EngUsh Uterature, making itself especially felt in the national romance from Layamon to Tennyson. Shakespeare, Milton, Dryden, Pope, and Wordsworth have all used his legends, while many of the earlier chroniclers followed him as an historian. But the twelve books of his "History", recounting how Brut, great-grandson of ^neas, founded the kingdom, and narrating the ad- ventures of subsequent kings, are in truth not history at all but the beginning of English storj'-telling. Among his legends is that of King Arthur, which be- came the most famous of the great cycles of romance so popular in the Middle Ages. Geoffrey's legend having received a new form from Sir Thomas Malory in the fifteenth century has again been given fresh life by Tennyson in the "Idylls of the Iving". Geoffrey claimed that his work was founded on a " most ancient book" — probably a collection of British legends no longer extant. Geoffrey also wrote a Latin version of the Cymric "Prophecies of Merlin" and a hfe of Mer- lin is attributed to him. His stories exercised a wide influence in Germany, France, and Italy, while in England they furthered the unification of the English people by spreading belief in a common origin of Briton, Saxon, and Norman. The "Historia Brit- onum" was first printed at Paris, 1508; the latest editions being those of Giles (London, 1844) and Schulz (Halle, 1854).
Wright, Biographia Brit. Lit., Anglo-Norman period (Lon- don, 1846). 143-.50; Idem, Literary History of Geoffrey of Mon- mouth's History of the Britons in Archceologia, XXXII (1847), 335-49; Hardy, Descriptive Catalogue, giving list of MSS. (1862-71); Ward, Catalogue of Romances in the MSS. Depart- ment Brit. Museum (1883); Zimmer, Zeitschr. nenfranzOs. Sprache und Lit. (1890), XII, i. 231-256; Tedder in Diet Nat. Biog., a. v.; Uvchehne, L' Historia Britonum in Renue Celtique, XVII (1896), 1-5; Chevalier, Bio-Bibl. (Paris, 1905), p. 1707. Edwin Burton.
Geoffrey of Vendome, (Goffridus abbas Vin- docinen.sis), cardinal, b. in the second half of the eleventh cent ury of a noble family, at Angers, France ; d. there, 2(1 M;ir'ch, 1 i:i2. At an early age he entered the Benedictine community of the Blessed Trinity at
Vendome in the diocese of Chartres; and in 1093, while
still very young and only a deacon, was chosen abbot
of the community. During all his lifetime he showed
a great attachment to the Holy See. Thus, in 1094, he
went to Rome in order to help Pope Urban II (1088-
99) to take possession of the Lateran still held by the
faction of the antipope Clement III (1080-1100); the
money which he offered to the custodian brought
about the surrender. In compensation he was created
a cardinal-priest by Urban II, with the titular church
of St. Prisca on the Aventine. No less than twelve
times did he make the journey to Italy in the interest
of the Church of Rome during the pontificates of Urban
II, Paschalll (1099-1118), and Callistus II (1119-24);
and on three different occasions he was made a cap-
tive. In 1096 and 1107 he extended the hospitality of
his monastery to Popes Urban and Paschal. He took
part in the councils held at Clermont, in 1095, by Pope
Urban; at Saintes, in 1096, by the Apostolic Legate
Amatus of Bordeaux; and at Reims, in 11.31, by Inno-
cent II (1130-4.3). He also strenuously defended the
ecclesiastical principles in the question of investitures,
which he qualified in several small tracts as heresy and
simony ; he wrote in the same spirit to Pope Paschal II
when the latter made concessions (1111) to Emperor
Henry V (1106-25). Finally, he always defended
firmly the prerogatives, the rights, and the property
of his abbey at Vendome against the encroachments of
either bishops or secular princes. Geoffrey was one of
the distinguished men of his age, and was in corres-
pondence with many eminent personalities of that
time. His writings consist of a number of letters; of
a series of tracts on the investitures of ecclesiastics by
laymen, on the Sacraments of the Holy Eucharist,
Baptism, Confirmation, and Extreme LTnction, on as-
cetic and paf3toral subjects; hymns to the Blessed
Virgin and St. Mary Magdalene ; sermons on the feasts
of C)ur Lord, the Blessed Virgin, Mary Magdalene, and
St. Benedict.
The best edition of his works is that of Sirmond (Paris, 1610), reprinted in P. L., CLVII. The tracts on the investitures are found also in "Mon. Germ. Hist.: Libelli de Lite", II, 680 sqq.
COMPAIN, Elude sur Geoffroi de Venddme (Paris, 1891); Notitia historica litteraria in P. L., CLVII, 9 sqq.; Sackur in Mon. Germ. Hist.: Lib. de Lite. II, 676 sqq.; Idem in Neues Archiv, XVII (1892), 329 sqq.; XVIII (1893), 666 sqq.; Mirbt in Realencykl. fiir prot. TheoL, s. v. Gottfried von Venddme; Che- valier, Bio-Bibl., s. V. Geoffroy d' Angers.
Francis J. Schaefer.
Geography, Biblical. — With the exception of the didactic literature, there is no book in the Bible which, to a greater or less extent, does not contain mention of, or allusions to, the geography and topography of the Holy Land. In early times, when the perusal of the Sacred Books was confined within the limits of the country in which they had come to light, there was little need of any special attention to geographical details. Palestine has a small area, and every one of its inhabitants was acquainted with almost every by- corner and nook in it. Not so, however, the outside reader — the Jew of the Diaspora, for instance. But Uttle ditl he care, in many cases, for such trifles as topographical niceties; God's message was all he was looking for in Holy Writ; as to those who longed for a fuller knowledge of the land of their forefathers, an occasional pilgrimage thither, at a time when local traditions were still alive, afforded ample opportunities. After A. D. 70, Jewish pilgrims ceased to flock to Pales- tine; on the other hand, zealous Christians, whilst at times casting a glance towards the land whence the light of the Gospel had come, would rather "stretch forth themselves to the things that are before", and direct their conquering steps to new shores. It thus happened tliat when the Clnirch obtained her long- delayed frci'<l()iii from the throes of persecution, and her scholars turned their minds to a .searching study of
