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PETER
LOMBARD[1]
(1554-1625) “The
great theologian who has not expressed himself in print makes a
comparatively poor appeal to posterity”[2] Does
the above quotation explain why today, Lombard is so little known?
If you mention the name of Peter Lombard to any typical Waterfordian you
will find, probably, that a few will mutter something about Lombard
Street - although that street was not laid down until 1726, a hundred
years after Lombard's death - but that will be the extent of most
people's knowledge of this man whose fame was once European; a man who
was an advisor to five Popes; who was the great O'Neill's agent in Rome
and a man who was regarded as one of the great Philosopher theologians
of an age that produced Saint Robert Bellarmine[3]
and Francisco Suarez.[4]
Lombard’s
family was descended from those merchant princes who contributed so much
to the wealth and prosperity of Italy in the middle ages.[5]
For some long forgotten reason a group of those merchants came to
Waterford in the 14th century from the plains of Lombardy in
Italy. Needless to say,
members of the group were not all named Lombard but, in that typical
Waterford way, they became known collectively, because of their origins,
as ‘The Lombards.’ Over
the passage of time these people adopted the name ‘Lombard,’
originally given them as a mark of nationality. Their descendants were
influential for over 350 years in the administrative and business
affairs of the city and the list of the city mayors in the fourteenth,
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries is liberally sprinkled with the
Lombard name. Indeed the
city’s first mayor, in 1377, was one William Lumbard (Lombard). The
name of Waterford was made glorious throughout Europe in the 16th
and 17th centuries by the number of great ecclesiastics it
produced - five Waddings, including the famous Luke[6](1588-1657); his brother Ambrose and his cousins Michael Wadding, Peter
Wadding and Luke Wadding (the Jesuit); Thomas Walsh,[7]
(1580-1654) Archbishop of Cashel; Patrick
Comerford,[8]
Bishop of Waterford; Peter Lombard, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of
Ireland and the great scriptural commentator and scholar, Paul Sherlock.[9]
All were scholars and writers and almost all were related to each
other by birth or by marriage. Luke Wadding and Peter Lombard were first cousins -
Wadding’s mother, Anastasia Lombard being an aunt of Lombard.
Peter Lombard’s life can be divided into three distinct phases;
His early life in Waterford city where, in 1554, he was born; his life
in the University, both as a student and as a professor and, lastly, as
a prelate/politician deeply involved in the great controversies of the
Church and as the accredited ambassador, to the Papal Court, of the
great O’Neill. Elizabeth
had come to the throne in 1558 and, though the penal laws against
Catholics had yet to reach a peak, it was not a propitious time to
profess openly the Catholic faith.
Notwithstanding the perilous times, the Lombard’s, like their
cousins, were deeply religious and an idea of the Catholic ethos of the
home can be judged from a description of the practice in Luke
Wadding’s home where, every day, the whole household, including the
servants, recited the Rosary and the Little Office of the Mother of God.
Twice a week they added the Seven Penitential Psalms together
with the Litany of the Saints and its appended prayers.
Their daily lives were lived in strict conformity with the
Gospel. We can be sure that
the home life of the future Archbishop of Armagh was no less religious. Despite
the religious persecution ordered by Elizabeth, Waterford was reputed to
be one of the most Catholic cities in Ireland and this was due, in no
small part, to the influence of the White family, originally from
Clonmel and cousins of both Wadding and Lombard.
Two of the family, James and John White were Vicars Apostolic of
the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore.
In 1577 the Lord President of Munster, Sir William Drewry (Drury)
wrote to Elizabeth’s Secretary of State, Sir Francis Walsingham that “John
White is worshipped like a God between Kilkenny, and Waterford, and
Clonmel. He suborneth all
the dwellers of those parts to detest the religion established by her
Majesty. He is a chief preacher to the contrary, an arrogant enemy to
the Gospel, and one that denieth all duties to her Majesty.”[10]
Drewry
then described the condition of the city and wrote that the main
supporters of the Catholic cause were Waterford students, educated at
Louvain “by
whom…the proud and undutiful inhabiters of this town are so cankered
in Popery, undutiful to her Majesty, slandering the gospel publicly as
well this side the sea as beyond in England, that they fear not God nor
man, and hath their altars, painted images, and candlesticks, in
derision of the Gospel, every day in their synagogues, so detestable
that they may be called the unruly newters, rather than subjects.
Masses infinite they have in their several churches every morning
without any fear. I have
spied them, for I chanced to arrive last Sunday at five of the clock in
the morning, and saw them resort out of the churches by heaps.
This is shameful in a reformed city.”[11] Another
brother was the celebrated teacher and humanist Peter White, the teacher
of Peter Lombard and all the other famous Waterford men previously
mentioned. It is interesting to read the comments of the Protestant
historian, Anthony á Wood on Peter White. “Peter
White, noted for his excellency in humane learning, while he continued
in the University [Oxford] was born in the Diocese of Waterford in
Ireland, elected Fellow of Oriel College An. 1551, and in the year 1555
was admitted Master of Arts. About
the beginning of Queen Elizabeth’s reign (1558) he returned to his
native country and became the happy schoolmaster of Munster, and Dean of
Waterford (1566) for a time. From
which last place being ejected for his religion about 1565 [sic, recte,
1570] he continued notwithstanding in his beloved Faculty of Pedagogy,
which was then accounted a most excellent Employment in Ireland by the
Catholics; especially for this reason, that the sons of Noblemen and
Gentlemen might be trained up in their religion, and so consequently
keep out Protestancy. His
school was, during this time, in a flourishing condition, and by his
care and industry many learned persons issued thence.”[12]
Peter
White was appointed Dean of the Diocese on the fifth of June 1566 on the
recommendation of Bishop Patrick Walsh who wrote that Peter White was “a
man very well learned, past degrees in schools, and of virtuous sober
conversation [living][13] The
Bishop continued, that by his industry “a
great part of the youth both of this country [Waterford] and of Dublin
have greatly profited in learning and virtuous education”.[14] He
was deposed four years later because of his zeal in opposing the
Protestant religion. It was
then that White, the most distinguished Irish pedagogue of all time
founded his celebrated classical school, perhaps the most famous school
in Ireland, to where the gentlemen and noblemen of Munster and Leinster
sent their sons to be educated in the classics, prose and verse, and in
the tenets of the Catholic religion.
Many years later, Luke Wadding described the schoolmaster. “Tall
of stature, with black hair and complexion slightly sallow, the lucky
schoolmaster, with his handsome acquiline nose, inspires me even now
with affectionate confidence. I
feel myself back again in the old schoolroom where, in company with
Richard Stanihurst, Peter Lombard, and Patrick Comerford, I listen to
the charming utterances of the Munster scholar.
I can now see him as of old, with pointer in hand and map spread
before him, cleaving the waters of the Piraeus – holding with a
master-hand, to our young feasting eyes, the ruined but unrivalled
beauties of the city with the violet crown.”[15] This,
then, was the school to which Lombard was sent for his preparatory
studies under the watchful eyes of Dr. White and from where he would
graduate to the great University of Louvain in Flanders, where so many
of his Waterford predecessors had distinguished themselves.
There is some disagreement as to whether Lombard attended
Westminster school in London before he journeyed to Louvain.
Stuart, in his “Historical memoirs of the City of Armagh”
states that Lombard studied at Westminster under the celebrated Camden[16]
and that he was there indoctrinated thoroughly in the tenets of
Protestantism. The main
evidence adduced for this belief is a passage from one of Camden’s
letters “I
brought there [at Westminster School] to church divers gentlemen of
Ireland, as Walshes, Nugents, O’Raily [sic], Shees, the eldest son of
the Archbishop of Cashel, Peter Lombard, a merchant’s son of
Waterford, a youth of admirable docility, and others bred popishley and
so affected.” – Letter to Usher, 10th July, 1618.
Moran[17]
comments that the subject of Camden’s letter cannot be our future
Archbishop of Armagh because Camden was invited to Westminster only in
1575 and we know that Lombard was at that time completing his
philosophical course and beginning his theological studies at Louvain
where he had commenced in 1572. There
was indeed another Peter Lombard from Waterford, perhaps a cousin of the
subject of this paper and maybe it was he to whom Camden referred. At all events Lombard left Waterford and Ireland in 1572. He was fated never to see either again. [1] Pronounced Lumbard in Waterford [2] POWER, REV. P., (1920) Waterford saints & scholars (Waterford: The Waterford News, Ltd.). Although Lombard wrote voluminously only two works were published (apart from some official documents) - “Casus Circa Decretum Clementis Papae VIII,” (Antwerp, 1624) and “De Regno Hiberniae Sanctorum Insula, Commentarius,” (Louvain, 1632). (The latter was reprinted in Dublin in 1868, edited by Dr. Moran and most of his theological works are preserved in the Barberini Library, in Rome). [3] BELLARMINO, ROBERTO (1542-1621), Italian cardinal and theologian, an opponent of the Protestant doctrines of the Reformation. Bellarmine entered the Society of Jesus in 1560. Ordained at Louvain in 1570. He became embroiled in the great debate regarding the Augustinian doctrines of grace and free will then engulfing the Low Countries and he was one of the leaders of the Counter Reformation. As a consultor of the Holy Office, he took a prominent part in the first examination of Galileo's writings. Bellarmine was sympathetic to Galileo's views and defended his right to publish them. He warned him not to defend the Copernican theory but to regard it only as a hypothesis. Fearing scandal, Bellarmine thought it best to have the Copernican theory declared "false and erroneous" The church so decreed in 1616. He was canonised in 1930 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1931. [4]
SUAREZ, FRANCISCO (1548-1617), Spanish Jesuit theologian and
philosopher. Professor
of Theology at Coimbra, where he died in 1617.
He refuted the theory of the divine right of kings (then
being expounded by James I of England) and he wrote that political
authority derives from the consent of the people. He was one of the
first to argue for a human being’s right to life, liberty and
property, foreshadowing Paine’s “Rights of Man.” He condemned the exploitation of the native Indians of the
New World by the Spanish and he also condemned slavery. He is regarded as a major modern theologian and as
one of the founders of international law. [5] These merchants became so famous for business acumen that the term ‘Lombard’ is still used to denote a banker or moneylender. [6] LUKE WADDING, Franciscan scholar. Born in Waterford 1588. Ordained in Portugal in 1613. Founded the Franciscan college of St. Isidore in Rome in 1625. He was the author of thirty-six books including his monumental history of the Franciscan order in eight volumes, the Annales Minorum (1625-54). He also edited the entire work of his fellow Franciscan, JOHN DUNS SCOTUS (twelve volumes, 1639). Instigator and director of the 1641 rebellion, he encouraged Owen Roe O’Neill to return in 1642, he was the chief advocate in Rome of the Catholic Confederation and it was he who petitioned the Pope (1645) to send Nuncio Rinuccini to Ireland. He was also responsible for the sending of money, ships and arms to the Confederates. The Supreme Council of the Confederation sent letters to Urban VIII on 14th June, 1644, and to Innocent X on 23rd November of the same year, to raise Wadding to the cardinalate but he himself succeeded in suppressing the documents at Rome. It was only after his death that they were discovered among his papers. Writing to the Supreme Council, Wadding excuses himself for this act of humility, alleging that he though he could serve his country more effectively in a position less prominent than that of cardinal. It is stated of Wadding, by contemporary writers, that he received votes to be pope. Wadding's piety was equal to his learning, and his death was that of a saint. [7] THOMAS WALSH, Archbishop of Cashel. Born in Waterford 1580. At eighteen years he left Waterford to study in Lisbon. He then went to Salamanca where he studied Philosophy and Theology and where he was ordained. Despite the activity of priest hunters Walsh spent some time on the Waterford mission. In 1610 he was reported to be in the city and in 1613 he was reported as Bishop elect of Waterford. This nomination was through Lombard’s influence and, at his solicitation. However, due to the religious persecution he was never consecrated as Bishop and he governed the Diocese as Vicar instead. In 1624 Pope Urban VIII nominated him Archbishop of Cashel. This came at a very difficult time for the Church – his chapels were in ruins and his clergy were in hiding. He himself was arrested in 1633 but was released for lack of evidence. He threw in his lot with the Confederancy and was a staunch supporter of the Nuncio. He was in Limerick when it was taken but he escaped and was not captured until 1652. He was taken then to Clonmel prison and eventually to Waterford. He was then old, worn out with care and bed-ridden. In 1654 he was allowed leave the country and he made his way to Compostella in Spain where he died shortly after his arrival. [8] PATRICK COMERFORD, Bishop of Waterford. Born in Waterford 1586. Studied at Lisbon and Bordeaux. Entered the Augustinian Hermits at Lisbon and, after a short time in the Azores, he was ordained in Lisbon. He was sent by the Pope to the Irish mission where he was designated Prior of Callan. For ten years the outlawed Friars kept their rule and ministered to the suffering people in Callan. Urban VIII elevated him to the title of Bishop of Waterford, the first such in fifty years. During that time the diocese was administered by three vicars, John & James White and Robert Power. Although the Cathedral and the churches were in heretical hands, the Bishop held synods, confirmations and even ordinations, but secretly and in secluded places. He was Bishop when Cromwell invested the city and when the city surrendered to Ireton the Bishop somehow escaped to France where he died in 1652. He was buried in Nantes Cathedral and, when his grave was opened ten years later to receive the body of Bishop Barry of Cork, his body was found to be intact and uncorrupt. [9] PAUL SHERLOCK, Scriptural scholar. Born Waterford or Wexford 1595. He lived in a house at the south-east corner of Arundel Square. He entered the Society of Jesus in Spain and trained priests for the Irish mission. He was appointed President of the Irish Seminary at Compostella and, later, of the University of Salamanca. He died there in 1646. His outstanding work of scholarship is his Commentaries on Solomon’s Canticle of Canticles – a monumental work in three folio volumes (1634, 1637, 1640). His erudition has been compared to that of St. Augustine and St. Gregory. [10] State Papers, Pub. Rec. Off. Ireland; cited in Moran, Patrick Francis (ed) (1868) De regno Hiberniae , sanctorum insula, commentarius, auctore Petro Lombardo, (Dublin: James Duffy) [cited hereafter as Commentarius]. [11] Ibid [12] RONAN, Very Rev. Myles. V., (1950) ‘Waterford in reformation times,’ in Waterford News, 29th December, p.2, col., 3. [13] Ibid, col. 2. [14] Ibid. col. 2 [15] POWER, Saints and Scholars, p. 7 [16] CAMDEN, WILLIAM (1551-1623), Antiquary and Historian. He received his B.A. in Oxford in 1570 but he was excluded from the Fellowship of All Saints College by the votes of the Catholic Fellows. He was Usher of Westminster School 1575-93 and Headmaster in 1593. He first published Britannica in 1586. [17] MORAN, PATRICK FRANCIS (1830-1911), Cardinal. Born Leighlinbridge, Co. Carlow. Ordained at twenty-two, by special permission, Vice-rector of the Irish College in Rome 1856-66. In 1885 became the first Australian cardinal. He was an advocate of Home Rule for Ireland and Australian Federation. He edited, in 1868, the Commentarius of Peter Lombard. He also wrote the History of the Catholic Archbishops of Dublin (1864) and Spicilegium Ossoriense (1873-74). |
