NICETAS
54
NICETAS
IGlh. and I7th Centuries. In our Cyclopcedia Niceron's work lias frequently proved of great service. Indeed no bibliographical labors can be satisfactorily performed on the periods with which it deals without the aid of Niceron's labors. See Labbe Gouget, " Eloge de J. P. Niceron," in Jlemoii-es pour servir a Vhistoire des Hom- ines illustres, vol. xl. (J. H.W.)
Nicetas, St. (1), a Christian martyr of the 4th century, was of Gothic descent, and born near the Dan- ube. Though he had long been a Christian, he met with no molestation on that account until the persecu- tion under Athanaric in A.D. 370. That monarch of the Eastern Goths ordered an idol to be drawn about on a chariot through all the places where Christians liveil. The chariot stopped at the door of every professed Chris- tian, and he was ordered to pay it adoration. Upon a refusal the house was immediately set on fire, and all within were burned. This was the case with Nicetas, who became a martyr to his Christian constancy', being consumed to ashes iu his own house, Sept. 15, 372. — Fox, Book of Martyrs, p. 71 ; Hardwick, Ch. Hist, of the Mid- dle Affcs, p. 293.
Nicet(as) or Nicetius, St. (2), a French prelate and mart3'r to the Christian cause, died in the first part of the 7th century, probablj' in 612. He is commem- orated on Jan. 31 ; j'et BoUandus has published his acts under the date of Feb. 8. But little is known of the life of this St. Nicetas. He was archbishop of Besan^on when St. Colombanus, arriving in Sequania, founded there the monastery of Luxeuil. Later St. Colombanus, pursued by the Gauls, passed through Besancjon : St. Nicetas gave the most honorable reception to this illus- trious outlaw, and assisted him to retreat into Italy. Nicetas was very zealous in maintaining the purity of the faith in his vast diocese, which he traversed fre- quently, preaching and instructing the people. Greg- ory the Great had great confidence in Nicetas, and con- sulted him on all important occasions. See Dunod dc Charnage, lii^t. de VEyUse de Besan^on, vol. i ; Gallia Christiana, vol. xv, col. 12 ; L'abbe liichard, Hist, des Dioc. de Besan^on et de St. Claude, vol. i.
Nicet(as) or Nicetus, St. (3), of Treves, one of the most celebrated prelates of ancient Gaul, lived in the 6th century. His life has been written by Gregory of Tours; it is found in ch. xvii of the Vitce Patrum. At first a monk, then abbot of an unknown monastery, he gained in this position the esteem and friendship of the king, Theodoric, whom, however, according to re- port, he failed not to reprimand for the looseness of his moral habits. After the death of St. Aprunculus, The- odoric chose Nicetas archbishop of Treves. It is sup- posed that the ceremony of his ordination took place in 527. Nicetas owes his renown to the firmness of his character. He more than once censured the govern- ment and the manners of Theodoric and his successors. He even had the boldness to excommunicate king Clo- taire, for which the latter finally drove Nicetas from his seat. But Clotaire's successor, king Sigebert, recalled Nicetas. He attended the councils of Clermont in 535, of Toul in 540, of Orleans in b^A, the second Council of Clermont, convened about the same time, and the Ct uncil of Paris in 555. He died Dec. 5, 560. Gregory of Tours has not been the only biographer of Nicetas ; Florien, abbe of Roman-Moutier, has left us a grand eulogy of his eloquence and his virtue. Fortunatus says of him, " Totius orbis amor, pontificumque caput." Several other contemporaries have equally jiraised this powerful bishop. lie enjoyed great authority, which made him so bold as to admonish the emperor Justinian himself about 503, and to charge him to disavow the principles of the Eutychian heresy. Several writings of Nicetas are preserved. D'Achery has published in vol. iii of his Spicilei/ium the treatises De Vifjiliis servo- rum Dei and De rsulmodim bono. In addition to these two works are two letters, one to Justinian, the other to CJodosiuda, queen of the Lombards, urging her to work
for the conversion of her husband, Alboin, who was an Arian. Several times reproduced by the press, these two letters are found in the Councils of Gaul of Don Labat, col. 1145, 1151, and in the collection of Don Bou- quet, iv, 76-78, See Hist. litt. de la France, iii, 291 ; Gallia Christiana, xiii, 380; Gregorius Turonensis, T'i- t(B Patrum, ch. xvii ; Lea, Studies in Ch. Hist. p. 300.