LUKE WADDING
Historian
and theologian, born at Waterford, Ireland, 16th October, 1588; died at
St. Isidore's College, Rome, 18th November, 1657.
I.
BIRTH AND EDUCATION
He
was the son of Walter Wadding, a citizen of eminence, and Anastasia
Lombard, an aunt of Peter Lombard, Archbishop of Armagh. He was the
eleventh of fourteen children and was baptized on the feast of St. Luke.
Many members of his family distinguished themselves in their various
careers. His brother Ambrose, the Jesuit, taught philosophy with
applause at Dillingen, Bavaria, where he died in the flower of his age.
His cousins Richard Wadding, the Augustinian, and Peter and Michael
Wadding, Jesuits, shed lustre on their respective orders. He was brought
up piously by his excellent parents, who, Harold tells us, required all
their children, boys and girls, when able to read, to recite daily the
Little Office of the Blessed Virgin, and, at stated times, the
Penitential psalms with the litanies and orations, the Office of the
Dead, and other prayers contained in the so-called minor breviary of
Pius V, then much in use among Catholics in Ireland. At the age of
thirteen he had already acquired a good knowledge of the Classics, and
had learned to write Latin, prose and verse, with facility. The
excellence of his early classic training shows out through all his
writings. He lost both parents at the age of fourteen, but his brother
Matthew took charge of his education and put him to study philosophy. He
read logic and part of physics in Ireland, and then entered the Irish
seminary at Lisbon, prosecuting his studies under the Jesuits. After six
months he left the seminary to enter the novitiate of the Friars Minor
in the Convent of the Immaculate Conception at Matozinhos, near Oporto.
Having made solemn profession and received minor orders in 1605, his
superiors sent him to Leyria, the house of studies, to specialize in
Scotistic philosophy for two years. Richard Synott, of Wexford,
companion of Wadding's novitiate and studies, and afterwards Guardian of
S. Isidore's, Rome, died a martyr in Ireland at the hands of the
soldiers of Cromwell. Wadding read theology at Lisbon, and then for
three years at Coimbra, hearing in this latter place Didacus Limadensis,
O.F.M., at the College of S. Bonaventure, and Suarez and Ægidius a
Praesentatione, O.S.A., at the university. The Benedictine monk Leo a S.
Thoma bears witness to the great talents he displayed (see Harold,
"Vita", c.v.). Ordained priest in 1613 and commissioned to
preach, he showed himself a perfect master not only of rhetorical art
but also of the Portuguese and Castilian languages. He commenced in 1613
to draw up a sylva or commonplace-book of quotations from the
Scripture, the Fathers, the lives of the saints, etc., which is still
preserved in two large volumes of manuscript in the archives in the
order at Merchant's Quay, Dublin. After a brilliant academic display at
Lisbon during a provincial chapter, Antony a Trejo, the vicar-general of
the order, sent him to Salamanca for fuller opportunities. Here he
mastered Hebrew, composed his work on the origin and excellence of that
tongue, and was assigned the chair of theology in the College of St.
Francis.
II.
EMBASSY TO ROME
He
filled the office of professor till 1618, when, though only in his
thirtieth year, he was chosen by Philip III for the office of theologian
in the embassy that Philip was then sending to Paul V to promote the
doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. Antony a Trejo, Bishop of
Cartagena, who, as vicar-general of the order, had been Wadding's patron
and admirer, was the legate-extraordinary appointed for the purpose.
Leaving the Court of the Catholic King on 1 October, 1618, the embassy
reached Rome on 17 Dec. In search of materials for the work entrusted to
him, as well as for his other studies, Wadding spent whole days in the
libraries of Rome, visiting also those of Naples, Assisi, Perugia, and
other cities. The composition of the more important vota of the
legate, the preparation of the pleadings before the pope, and the
solution of the theological difficulties devolved in great measure on
him. He has given us the history of the embassy in his "Acta
Legationis", a succinct and objective statement of the proceedings
and of the theological issues demanding solution. At this time we find
him in close correspondence with the exiled Archbishop of Tuam, Florence
Conry, to whom he sent a manuscript copy of his "Acta" to
Louvain. In May, 1620, the legate returned to his diocese in Spain, but
Wadding was ordered to remain in Rome to assist the new chargé
d'affaires. While the commission lasted he was its accredited
theological adviser. Philip IV, in a gracious letter, thanked him
profusely for his services in this connection. The three opuscula
on the redemption, baptism, and death of the Blessed Virgin (1655 and
1656), were written as contributions to the question before the
commission.
III.
LITERARY ACTIVITY
Wadding's
activity, however, was not confined to the work of the embassy. His
predominating idea for a long time had been to vindicate the name of his
order by rescuing from oblivion the memory of the men who had rendered
it illustrious in every age. The publication of their writings and the
recording of their deeds he considered the best answer to those who
charged the order and its founder with being professionally opposed to
learning. He found an ardent and effective supporter in the general for
the time being, Benignus a Genoa, who in 1619 by encyclical letters to
the whole order ordained that suitable men should be told off in each
province to transcribe and forward to Rome all documents bearing on the
history of the order. The materials thus accumulated were handed over to
Wadding. The most distinguished of the collaborators referred to were
Bartholomew Cimareli and Jacobus Polius, the former working in the
archives and libraries of northern and central Italy, the latter in
those of Germany.
As
a first instalment Wadding published in 1623 at Antwerp a complete and
annotated edition of the "Writings of St. Francis" was in
course of preparation, Marius a Calasio, a learned Franciscan, died in
Rome, leaving unpublished four large tomes of a Hebrew concordance,
besides a Hebrew grammar and dictionary. Wadding undertook the
publication, being able, through the munificence of Paul V, to establish
for the purpose a printing press with Hebrew type at the Convent of Ara
Coeli. To this work, which was considered at the time a valuable
contribution to Biblical knowledge, he prefixed his own essay "De
hebraicae linguae origine, praestantia et utilitate ad ss. litterarum
interpretes", which he had composed at Salamanca. About the same
time he undertook the publication of the works of Angelo del Paz, a
friar of great learning who died in the odour of sanctity some twenty
years before in the convent of Montorio. The first tome appeared in
1623, being Angelo's commentaries on the Gospel of St. Mark; the
commentaries on the Gospel of St. Luke followed in 1625 and 1628, with
the promise of two other volumes that, however, never saw the light. In
1624 he issued in one volume the "Concordance of St. Antony of
Padua" and the "Promptuarium morale" of an anonymous
Irish Franciscan, probably Thomas Hibernicus, adding ample marginal
notes of his own. In this same year (1624) there appeared at Vienna, but
under another name, Wadding's account of the martyrdom at Prague of
fourteen Friars Minor, put to death for the Faith by the Bohemian
heretics. Hieronymus Strasser, to whom the author sent his manuscript
with a view to certain corrections, published the whole under his own
name: Wadding himself, who gives Strasser a place among the
"Scriptores", gives us at the same time the true genesis of
the German friar's work. It was also in this year (1624) that he
published his "Legatio Philippi III et IV".
In
1625 he issued at Madrid his "Apologeticum de praetenso monachatu
augustiniano S. Francisi", in refutation of the theory that the
founder of the Friars Minor had been an Augustinian. The third edition
(Lyons, 1641) contains the author's response to Thomas Herera, a learned
Augustinian. The singular theory has not since been broached. At the
desire of Urban VIII, Wadding undertook in 1630 to correct and edit, in
collaboration with Victoreli and Ughelli, the "Lives of the Popes
and Cardinals" by Alphonsus Ciacconius. Other minor publications
were: a "Life of Bl. Peter Thomas, Patriarch of
Constantinople" (Lyons, 1637); a corrected an annotated edition of
the metrical "Life of St. James della Marchia" by John
Petrucci, Archbishop of Tarentum (Lyons, 1641); an edition of the
"Oculus moralis" of Joannes Guallensis, O.F.M. (which had
hitherto attributed to Raymundus Jordanus, Canon Regular of St.
Augustine); an edition of the "Collection of saying and deeds of
celebrated Philosophers" and of the treatise "De Sapientia
sanctorum", by the same writer (Rome, 1655); a "Life of St.
Anselm", Bishop of Lucca, from materials which the author had come
across in his studies on the pontificate of Gregory VII (Rome, 1657); an
edition, on a new plan, of the "Summa casuum" of Emanual
Rodericus, brought out at Salamanca when the editor had just completed
his theological studies (1616); "Epigrammata pia", a
collection of Latin verses and inscriptions composed by Wadding when
professor at Salamanca, and published by Francis a Susa, ex- general of
the order, in his "Sanctorale seraphicum" (Salamanca, 1623).
Marraccio (ap. Joan, a S. Antonio) refers to the publication by Wadding
of a tractate, "De scandalis in controversia Immaculatae
Conceptionis", and Sbaralea (Supp.) mentions a posthumous work on
the Jansenists, published in 1696. Finally, the author himself in his
"Scriptores" mentions among his published writings
"Officia plurima, praesertim lectiones II Noct., Sanctorum
Ecclesiarum tum in Hispania, Germanica, Bohemia, Hungaria", etc.-
liturgical officer written in his capacity of consultor to the S.
Congregation of Rites.
But
Wadding's fame as a writer and a critic rests chiefly on his monumental
edition of Scotus, on the "Scriptores", and, above all, on the
"Annales ord. minorum". In 1639 he published at Lyons a
complete edition of the writings of the Subtle Doctor, in 16 volumes,
having devoted four years to the proximate preparation. He corrected the
text throughout according to the best manuscripts and earliest
impressions, inserted everywhere critical notes and learned scholia,
and enriched the edition with the commentaries of MacCaughwell, Hickey,
Lychetus, Ponce, and others. It was a colossal undertaking, and would
alone have immortalized his name. His life of John Duns Scotus, which is
prefixed to the first volume, appeared separately in 1644. The
"Scriptores ord. minorum" he published in 1650 in one folio
volume. It is an alphabetical list of the writers of the Seraphic Order
with a syllabus of their works. It still holds its place, along with the
"Supplementum" of Sbaralca, as the standard work on the
subject. A new edition by Dr. Nardecchia of Rome is now nearing
completion. But Wadding's greatest literary achievement was the
"Annales ord. minorum", a history of the Franciscan Order from
its foundation. Eight volumes appeared between 1625 and 1654, bringing
the work down to 1540. Two other volumes were to appear, but death
intervened. He closed the eighth tome with the words: "suspenso
calamo illud unum agam quod potissimum necesarium est: animae scilicet
procurandae totus incmbam". This great work, which critics, worthy
of the name, have never ceased to extol, has placed its author in the
foremost rank of ecclesiastical historians. To say that the work is free
from defects would be to demand for it more than is given to man to
accomplish. Considering the magnitude of the undertaking and that the
author's work was, largely, the work of a pioneer, it must be
acknowledged to be a compilation of exceptional accuracy. The strictures
of those critics who find "serious chronological errors" and a
"want of accuracy and scientific method" in the Annals are
hardly borne out by a close study of the work itself. "Only those
who have consulted the Annals hundreds and thousands of times",
writes Holzapfel (Geschichte des Franziskancrodens, 582), "can
appreciate its true worth." Wadding has had several official
continuators of the "Annales", but all of them vastly inferior
to himself, the author of Volume XIX being perhaps an exception.
Besides
the works he had succeeded in publishing, Wadding had projected various
others, for which he left a considerable amount of material. Among them
were the following: history of Popes Clement VIII, Leo XI, Paul V,
Gregory XV, and Urban VIII, and of the cardinals created by them; an
edition of the rarer works of Franciscan writers; the Annals of the
Kingdom of Ireland (from which project he withdrew owing to the
impossibility at that time of obtaining necessary documents from
Ireland); a volume of his own letters; the Acts of all the Chapters
General of the order (in which work he was anticipated by Michael Angelo
of Naples, who began the publication of the "Chronologia
historicolegalis" in 1650); a history of all the bishoprics of the
Universal Church; and an exposition of the Rule of St. Francis. Our
admiration at the activity displayed in so many works increases as we
recall the circumstances under which he wrote. His daily occupations,
says his biographer, were so numerous that most of his literary work was
done in the quiet hours between sundown and midnight. He himself, in his
preface to Vol. VI of the "Annales", writes: "In solo
noctis decursu licuit opus compingere, die universo per molestas curas
distracto." Moreover, though his energy was prodigious, his
physical constitution often proved unequal to the strain. From the age
of twenty-two he suffered from headaches of the most violent kind, once
and often twice in each month.
IV.
WORK FOR IRELAND
When
he arrived at Rome in 1618 he found the name of Ireland partly
ignominiously ignored, partly (owing to the wiles of her traditional
enemies) disparaged and reviled. But he lost no opportunity of
rectifying matters, and soon succeeded in making Ireland known and
respected. Two flourishing institutions founded by him now spoke in her
favour-the Irish Franciscan College of St. Isidore and the Ludovisian
College for Irish secular priests. St. Isidore's he founded in 1625,
being authorized thereto by letters patent of the general (13 June) and
a special Bull of Urban VIII (20 Oct.). Such men as Antony Hickey,
Patrick Fleming, John Ponce, and Martin Walsh were the first professors.
Wadding proceeded to extend the existing buildings (a suppressed Spanish
convent), which the generosity of his friends enabled him to purchase.
The college, as it stands today, is practically his exclusive creation.
He procured for the library 5000 select works, besides a precious
collection of manuscripts bound in 800 volumes. During the first thirty
years of its existence this college educated 200 students, 70 of which
number filled chairs of philosophy and theology in various corners of
Europe. Others, returning to Ireland, worked in the ministry, and many
of them were called to lay down their lives for the Faith. Each year
Wadding kept the Feast of St. Patrick with great solemnity at St.
Isidore's; and it is due to his influence, as member of the commission
for the reform of the Breviary, that the festival of Ireland's Apostle
was inserted on 17 March in the calendar of the Universal Church. A few
years after the foundation of the College for Irish Franciscans, Wadding
prevailed on Cardinal Ludovisi, protector of Ireland, to signalise his
protectorate by the endowment of a similar institution for the Irish
secular clergy. The cardinal consented, and, Wadding having drawn up a
code of constitutions, the college was opened on 1 January, 1628. The
students attended lectures in the halls of St. Isidore's until 1635,
when Wadding and his brethren surrendered the administration of the
college to the Jesuits. By a Rescript of Alexander VII given at Castel
Gandolfo in 1656, Wadding founded another house at Capranica, a town
some thirty miles north of Rome, to serve as a novitiate to St.
Isidore's.
Wadding
was not only the official representative and indefatigable agent in the
Roman Curia of the archbishops and bishops of Ireland, but the Holy See
took no measure of importance concerning that country without consulting
him. The Supreme Council of the Confederates, by letters patent of 6
December, 1642, nominated their agent and procurator in Rome and the
whole of Italy. It was at his suggestion that Father Scarampi, the
Oratorian, was sent in 1643 as papal envoy to Ireland, with supplies of
arms, and ammunition, and money. Wadding had sent similar supplies in
the preceding year, as well as Irish officers trained in the armies of
France and the Netherlands. He procured letters from the Holy See to the
Catholic powers of Europe to enlist their sympathies and secure their
aid in favour of the Irish war. In 1645 he prevailed on the new pope,
Innocent X, to send another envoy to Ireland, with the powers and
dignity of an Apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Rinuccini being sent. On his
departure from Rome the nuncio received from Wadding the sum of 26,000 scudi
towards the Irish cause. Wadding sent him a similar sum the year after
through Dean Massari, to mention only some of his contributions. Great
was the interest now evinced in Irish affairs at the Roman Court. The
tidings of O'Neill's victory at Benburb (5 June, 1646) caused much
rejoicing; a solemn Te Deum was sung in the Basilica of St. Mary Major,
and the standards taken in the battle, being sent out by the nuncio,
were hung as trophies in the cupola of St. Peter's. Innocent X, through
Wadding, sent is blessing to Owen Roe O'Neill and with it the sword of
the great Earl of Tyrone. But jealousy and disunion among the
Confederate chiefs ruined all, and no one felt the blow so much as
Wadding.
V.
OFFICIAL CAREER
Luke
Wadding was a lector jubilatus of sacred theology and
"chronologist of the whole Order of Friars Minor". He was
guardian, for four terms, of St. Isidore's, and praeses of the
Irish College. He was appointed procurator of the order in 1630, but did
not take office; reappointed in 1632, he retained the position to 1634.
In his capacity of procurator he was Lenten preacher to the papal Court.
Being nominated vice- commissary of the order in the Roman Curia in
1645, he insisted on being dispensed; but he was obliged to assume the
duties of commissary in 1648. Paul V nominated him qualificator of the
Holy Office, and Gregory XV consultor of the Index. He was made
consultor of the Rites and of the Propaganda by Urban VIII, and named
member of the commission for the reform of the Roman Breviary and the
other liturgical books by the same pontiff. He was, besides, the trusted
adviser of successive popes, many cardinals, and the superiors of his
order. Were it not for his humility, he might have attained to the
highest honours in the Church. He was postulated for many episcopal and
metropolitan sees, but constantly refused the dignity. He was invited by
prominent members of the cismontane section of the order to join their
family, with a view to qualifying for the election to the generalate
(which they promised in that event), but he declined. The Supreme
Council of the Confederation sent letters to Urban VIII on 14 June,
1644, and to Innocent X on 23 November of the same year, to raise
Wadding to the cardinalate. But he himself succeeded in suppressing the
documents at Rome, and 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. If this statement be true, it must
have reference to the conclaves of 1644 or 1645. Wadding's piety was
equal to his learning, and his death was that of a saint.
-Extracted
from the Catholic Encyclopaedia Online Edition.
WATERFORD
in 1575A.D. as it was during the lifetime of Luke Wadding |
|