German Theology. See Theology, Geujiax.
Germanus, the name of three patriarchs of Con- stantinople. (I.) The first was transferred from the see of Cyzicus to that of Constantinople in 715, and was a zealous defender of image-worship, for which he was degraded, in a council held at Constantinople in 730. He died in 740, and was anathematized hy a council at Constantinople, fourteen j'ears afterwards (754). A treatise of his, ttcOi tmv ayiuo}' oiVoc/if riicwj' aiivocwv, etc., may be found in H. Justel's Bibliotheca Canonica, and in Le Moj'ne, Varia Sacra : there also remain some letters and homilies of his (Hib. ^fax. Pair, xvii, xx). His remains are all given in Migne, Patrologia Grceca, torn. 98. See also Fabricius, Bibli- otheca Gneca, ed. Harles, xi, 155 ; Ceillier, Auteurs Sa- cres (Paris, 1862), xi, 36 sq.
(II.) Germanus the younger, a monk of the Propon- tis, who became patriarch in 1222 ; but as Constantino- ple was then in the hands of the Latins, he resided at Nicaja, in Bithynia. He corresponded with pope Greg- ory IX, in hope of bringing about a union between the Eastern and Roman churches, but in vain. He was deposed in 1240, restored again to his see in 1254, and died in 1255. His Ejnsiles and Homilies are given bj' Migne, Patrologia Grceca, torn. 140.
(III.) Germanus, bishop of Adrianople, became pa- triarch of Constantinople in 1267. He accepted the
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honor with great rehictance, and resigned it in a few months, to retire to a monastery. ^ — Neander, Ch. Hist. iii, 'J03; Fabricius, hibl. Grwca, vii, 10; viii, 84; xi, 162 ; Cave, Hist. Lit. i, 021 ; ii, 289 ; Hoefer, Nouv. Bi- ofjraphie Generale, xx, 238.
GermanusoFAi'.KKHRE, St., one of the most strik- ing figures in tlie period of tlie fall of the Roman empire, •was born in Auxerre, in Konian Gaul, of illustrious par- ents, about A.D. .380. He was placed in the best schools of Gaul, and having finished his early education, he went to Rome, to pursue a course of civil law and study elo- quence. His merit, and his marriage with a lady of high rank, brought him into notice at the court of the emperor Honorius, and procured for him, besides the government of Auxerre, the office of duke or general of the troops of several provinces. Although a Chris- tian, he was a skilful hunter, and was in the habit of hanging on a large tree, in one of the public squares, the heads of the animals he had killed. This custom l)earing some resemblance to pagan superstitions, St. Amatorius, bishop of Auxerre, one day, when the duke ■was absent, caused the tree to be cut down, and the monuments of his vanitj^ to be removed. Germanus suffered this correction with impatience, and threaten- ed to be revenged, but God ordered it otherwise. Am- atorius was advanced in years, and discerning in Ger.- manus such qualities as were calculated to make a great bishop, he convoked in his church an assembly of the faithful, and Germanus being present, he seized on him, and compelled him to assume the ecclesiasti- cal habit, without giving him time to reflect, and in- formed him that he was to be his successor. On the death of Amatorius, Maj' 1, 418, Germanus was elected bishop b}' the clergy and people. From that time he ■was completeljr changed. He practised his episcopal, duties to their fullest extent. The Christians of Great Britain, frightened at the progress of Pelagianism in their island, had applied to pope Celestine pnd the bish- op of Gaul to obtain aid, and they, in an assemlily held in 428-9, sent them Germanus, with tvhom they joined Lupu,s, bishop of Troyes. Both set o;f instantly. This mission had great success at the time, but Pelagianism reappeared seventeen or eighteen years afterwards, and Germanus went again with Severus, bishop of Tro3'es, to extirpate it. To prevent its return, Ger- manus established schools in Britain, which afterwards became celebrated. He had scarcely arrived again at Auxerre, when the Armoricans entreated him to me- diate for them with Evaricus, who had been sent by -^Etius to chastise them for an imputed reltellion. Ger- manus set out immediately, saw the prince of the bar- barians, and succeeded in arresting his march. As this affair could not end without the consent of the em- peror, Germanus went to Ravenna, where the court ■Nvas then held : he was received with great honor by Placidia, mother of Valentinian III. This Mork was the last which the holy bishop undertook. He died in Ravenna, on the 31st of July, 448, after having lieen thirty years bishop of Auxerre. He is commemorated as a saint on the 31st of .July. — Hook, ErcJ.Biofj. v, 303; Smith, L'clig. of Anc. Britain, p. 1G8 ; Neander, Lirjht in Dark Places, p. 50-54 : Baillet,T7es des Saints, July 3. Germanus, St., of Paris, was born at Autnn, A.D. 496; was made deacon 533, presbyter 536, and bishop of Paris 555. He was noted for his strict asceticism, for his great charitj' to the poor, and especially for his zeal in the purchase and redemption of slaves. He died in 576. There is extant a letter of his to queen I$runehild {Condi, torn. v). He was buried in St. Vin- cent's church, which was burnt by the Normans in 881, and reconstructed in 116.3, nnder tlie name of St. Germain des Pros. The monks of St. Germain, of the Benedictine rule, have their abbey here. Bouillart, Benedictine of St. jNIaur, published in 1724 a Ilidoire (Je I'abbai/e de St. Germain, ip which he gives a life of Germanus. The aristocratic quarter of St. Germain in Paris is named from the abbey and church. — Migne ;