Ficinus was liberally maintained throughout his life by his generous patrons of the house of the Medici, re- taining their favor for three generations— /isra ci rpi- TUTOKJiv uva<7(yiv. He was equally countenanced by Cosmo, Pietro, and Lorenzo. He took holy orders in the forty-third year of his age, having, according to some accounts, had his thoughts earnestly directed to religion by the preaching of the celebrated Savonarola. He was placed in charge of two churches in Flor- ence by Lorenzo di Medici, and promoted to a canonry in the cathedral by the future pope Leo X. Lorenzo made him a present of the villa of Careggi, where he died, seven years after the death of the donor, and five years after the expulsion of his patrons from Flor- ence. His constitution Avas always very feeble, his health uncertain, and his temperament melancholy. His frail body — for he scarcely attained half the or- dinarj' stature of man — required constant care and nursing, and it is surprising that he was not worn out by continual study long before reaching his climac- teric. His character was singularly pure and amia- ble; his attachments were strong and enduring; his tastes simple, and his desires moderate. He refused to profit by his powerful connections to enrich either himself or his family. He partook largely of the pop- ular superstitions of the time, which were accordant with the later Platonism which he professed; and is said to have reappeared after death to his friend Mi- chelc Mercati, according to promise, to assure him of the immortality of the soul.
The Medicean Academy was extinguished bj' the invasion of Charles VIII ; but Ficinus had dissemina- ted his influence and renown through the chair of phi- losopliy in the University of Florence, to which he had been appointed by the Cardinal di Medici, afterwards Leo X. Here he acquired many distinguished pupils and friends, among them Giovanni Pico di Mirandola, Cavalcaiito, I'olitian, etc. Enthusiasts came from the depths of Germany to profit ly his instructions. Rcuch- lin regarded him with reverence, and among other il- lustrious admirers he numbered Matthias Corvinus, the accomplished king of Himgary, and pope Sixtus IV.
The numerous jiroductions of Ficinus arc enumerated by ^Moreri, and a more correct list is given in the Bin- graphie UvivcrsMe. A life of him was written by Do- menico !Mellini, but it was never ])ublishcd, and it dis- appeared. Another life, composed by Giovanni Corsi in 1506, was published by Bandini (Pisa, 1771). The best account of the philosophy of Ficinus is given by Blihle, Gesckichte der PhiloKophie ; but the'follovving au- thorities may be consulted : Schelhorn, Amanita/is Lit. torn, i; Niceron, Mim. des Ilommes Illustres ; Negri,
Tst. Scritt. Florentini; 3. A. Fabricius, Biblioth. Med. et Inf. Latin, lib. vi, p. 496-7; Morhofius, Puli/histor. II, i, vii, § 15 ; Tiraboschi, Storia dellu Lett. Ital. tom. vi, lib. ii, c. ii, § xix-xxi; Brucker, Hid. Crit. Phil. per. iii, pt. i, lib. i, c. ii, § iii ; Roscoo, Life of Lorenzo di Medici; Hallam, Hist. Lit. i, ch. iii, § 85-7, 115. (G, F. H.)
Fiddes, Richard, a clergyman of the Church of England, and author of several works marked by in- dustry and research rather than talent, was born at Hunmanby, Yorkshire, in 1071. He took his bache- lor's degree at University College, Oxford, in 1693. He was made rector of Halsham in 1G94, but, losing his health, he devoted himself to authorship. Among his works are, A Body (f Biinniti/ (Lond. 1718-20, 2 vols, fol.) : — Fifly-tico pracliail Discourses (London, 1714, 3 vols. 8vo) : — Life of Cardinal Wolsei/ (London, 1724, fol.) : — General Treatise on Morality (Lond. 1724, 8vo). He died at Putney in 1725. Knight, in his Lfe of Erasmus (introd. p. 15 sq.), accuses Fiddes of being at heart a Romanist. Knight accounts for Fiddes's speaking irreverently of Erasmus "probabh- because he had by his writings favored the Reformation. Dr. Fiddes censures the Reformation ; and, to give it the more home strokes, goes to the very root of it, and does all he can to evince the unjustifiable grounds it proceeded upon, ridicules the instruments of it, and would insinuate that there was a change made for the worse, and therefore palliates some of the most absurd doctrines of the Church of Rome, which were happily thrown oflT at the Reformation." He afterwards goes further, asserting, among other particulars, that Fiddes had "most partiallj', and indeed scandalously, reflect- ed upon the opening of the Reformation, laying on the grossest colors to hide the deformities of Poperj'," Ho then proceeds " to give tlie true rise and occasion of writing his life of Wolsey," which he declares to have been at the solicitation of the late bishop Atter- bur}', on occasion of the dispute in which he was then engaged with archbishop AVake. — New General Biog. Diet. V, 323.
Fidejussores, sureties, a title borrowed from the Roman law, and employed hy Augustine to represent the office of sponsor. 13aptism at an early period was considered in the light of a contract ; and as many of the leaders in the early Church had, before their con- version, been engaged in the interpretation or admin- istration of law, it was natural for them to use a term which they had been accustomed to emplo}'^ in civil transactions. See Sponsors.