Fulgentius, St., Fabius Claudius Gordi- anus, bishop of Ruspe, called "the Augustine of the 6th centur}'," was born at Telepta (Leptis), in the province of Bj'zacena, North Africa, A.D. 468. His father dying in his childhood, the care of Jiis education fell on his mother, who had him carefullj' instructed in the Greek language. It is said that when a boy he could repeat the whole of Homer. In earlj' manhood he was made procurator of his native place, but, disgust- ed with the world, he threw up his office and devoted himself to the monastic life, against his mother's will. He first entered a monastery at Byzacena, but in the disorder of the times he was compelled to abandon it, and retired to Sicca, where he was severely treated by the Arians. Afterwards he resolved to go into Egj'pt, but was dissuaded bj- Eulalius, bishop of Syracuse, be- cause the monks of the East had separated from the Catholic Church. He went from Sicily to Rome about A.D. 500, and then returned to Africa and founded a new monastery. The see of Ruspe becoming va- cant, he was ordained bishop, much against his will, in the year 504. " Though become a bishop, he did not change either his habit or manner of living, but used the same austerities and abstinence as before. He defended his faith at once boldly and respectfully against his Arian sovereign. He speaks thus to the king in an apologetic treatise which the monarch him- self had called for {Lib. Hi ad Trasimunduni) : ' If I freely defend my faith, as far as God enables me, no reproach of obstinacy should be made against me, since I am neither forgetful of n\y own insignificance nor of the king's dignitj- ; and I know well that I am to fear God and honor the king, according to Rom. xiii, 7; 1 Pet. ii, 17. He certainly pays you true honor who answers j'our questions as the true faith requires.' After praising the king in that he, the monarch of a yet uncivilized people, showed so much zeal for the knowledge of scriptural truth, he says : 'You know well that he who seeks to know the truth strives for far higher good than he who seeks to ex- tend the limits of a temporal kingdom.' He was ban- ished twice to Sardinia. 'There he was the spiritual guide of many other exiles, M'ho united themselves to
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him. From hence he imparted counsel, comfort, and confirinatidn in the faitii to his forsaken Christian friends in Africa, and to those from other countries who sought liis advice in sjiiritual things and in per- jjlexities of tlie heart' " (Xeander, Light in Dark Places, N. Y. 1I^5:S, ol sq.). After the death of Tlirasimund, lie and all the other expelled bishops were recalled by Hilderic, son of Thrasimund (A.D. 523). Fulgentius thencefoiTvard enjoj-cd the quiet possession of his see till A.D. 533, when he died, " full of honor, and re- nowned for piety, learning, and every Christian vir- tue." lie is commemorated in the Church of Kome as a saint on the 1st of January'. His writings are mostly controversial, against Arianism and Pelagianism. The most important are, against Arianism : Libn Hi ad Tra- slmundum: — De Trinitaie Li.'jer : — Contra SermonemFas- iidiosi A Hani ; against Pelagianism : Libri Tres ad Mo- nemiim : — De Verltate Prcedestinaiimiis it gratia Dei: — Liber de Frndesiinatione et Gixdia. I'ulgentius was led to write against Pelagianism by the writings of Faustus (if Khegium (q. v.), which were laid before him for his judgment. He explained "the system of Augustine with logical consistency, but in doing this he carefully avoided the harsh points of the Predestinatian view of the matter. He severely censured those who talked of a predestination to sin. He spoke, indeed, of a two- fold predestination (prredestinatio duplex), but by this lie understood either the election to eternal happiness of those who were good by the grace of God, or the predestination of those who were sinners by their own choice to deserved punishmimt" (Neander, Ch.Hist. ii, G50. See also Hageiibach, I/istori/ of Doctrines, § 114). Editions of his writings: Basel, 155G, 1566, 1587; Ant- werp, 1574; Cologne, 1618 ; Lyons, 1633, 1052, 1671 ; best, that of Paris, 1684, 4to ; reprinted at Venice, 1742, fol., and in Migne, Patrologia Laiina, t. Ixv. See Herzog, Peal-Enct/fc/op. iv, 627; Wetzer u.Welte, ICirchen-Lex. iv, 249 ; Ccillier, A utenrs Sacns (Paris, 1682), xi, 1 sq. ; Dupin, Eccles. Wiiters, v, 13 sq. ; Flcury, Hist. Eccles. Yh. xxx, xxxi.
Fulgentiiis, Ferrandus, a friend and pupil of Fulgentius of Ruspe, who with him partook of exile in Sardinia. On his i-eturn to Carthage he became a deacon, A.D. 523. He died A.D. 551. He Avas one of the first to declare against the condemnation of the Three Chapters. He also took part in the controversy' at that time agitating the Church whether it wr.s or- thodox to say, " One person of the Trinity lias suffer- ed." Fulgentius defended this expression, but recom- mended to add "in the flesh which he assumed." Of liis writings, we have a Breviatio Canonmn (An Aiiridg- ment of the Ecclesiastical CaiKiis), containing 232 can- ons of the councils of Ancyra, Laodicea, Nice, Antioch, Gangra, and Sardica, the canons of which last council, it is most probable, he took from Dionysius Exiguus. It was published by the Jesuit Chifflet at Dijon (1640, 4to). He left also a number of Epistles, which, with tlie Canons, may be found in Bib. Max. Patr. ix, 475, and in Migne, Patrol. Laiina, vols. Ixv, Ixvii, Ixviii. A work against the Arians and other heretics Avas first published by A. Mai {Coll.nour. t. iii.)— Ilerzog, Beal- Encijklop. iv, 626 ; Wetzer u. 'W'elte, Kiirhen-Lex. iv, 250 ; Cave, Hist. Liter. ; Clarke, Succession of Sac. LJt.