2. Theodulus or Theodorus II, bishop of Valais, is mentioned in the spurious articles of endowment by king Sigismund to the Convent of St. Maurice, and was evidently confounded by the author of that document witli Theodorus I, as he is made to urge the erection of a new convent and an appropriate endowment, on the ground tliat the bones of the Thebaic martyrs were yet unburied; all this so late as A.D. 515. Despite the doubts raised hv this anachronism, he must be supposed to have existed, as his name occurs in the ancient and trustworthy list of Agaunensian bishops, and in all sub- sequent lists as well. He is also mentioned by an
THEOGNOSTUS
324 TIIEOLOGIA GERMANICA
anonymous contemporary, in the life of abbot Ambrose of Stl Maurice, as having raised collections in behalf of the new church edifice, anil as having assisted in the collection of relics for its endowment. A new bishop, Constantius, apix-ars in the Synod of Epaon in A.D. 517 ; the death of Theodorius was accordingly prior to that date. See liolland, ad Aihg. 27.
3. TiiKonouis HI, i)referably called Tiieodulus, the most famous, hut also the most imperfectly authen- ticated, bishop of Valais of tlifs name, is reputed to have lived in the time of Ciiarlemagne. The only source for the assumption that he lived is the legend of St. Tlieo- didus, by Kucidpert, which runs as follows : Thcodulus, of the noble family of (irammont, in Burgundy, was in- vited by Charlemagne to a general council which was to devise means for restoring his peace of mind. All the bishops respondal to the monarch's tears with the promise of twenty, and even more, prayers and sacrifices, but Thettdulus promised only a single one. His prayer was continued day and night and ftillowed with tlie mass, so that God sent an angel who revealed to The- odulus the emperor's crime, ami assured him that it was forgiven. Thus attested, tlie emperor could not doubt the bishop's assurance, and rewarded the latter with the prefecture of his country', that he might be able to control the rude inhabitants, while exempting the cler- gv from the civil authorities. A later addendum to this le'^end relates that Theodulus had revealed to him by an angel that the pope intended to spend a night in the embraces of a concubine. While thinking upon this revelation, the devil drew near in female form. Theodulus seized him, leaped on his shoulders, and compelled him to serve as a medium of transportation to Rome, where he was able to prevent the papal sin. The BoUandists add to the above a miracle, through which Theodulus tilled all obtainable vessels with the juice of a single grape which he had blessed at a time when the vintage had faileih This miracle elevated him to the rank of patron saint of the country, in which character he is still commemorated with great rejoic- ings on Aug. Ifi. No martyrologies or similar docu- ments mention this Theodulus. Ruodpert is clearly a mvthical personage. The bishop under consideration is imaginary, and probably developed out of the fact that donations to the Church of Valais were made in himorem S. Mai-ice or S. Theodori {TTieoduli), and the other fact that Charlemagne had a court bishop named Theodore, who dedicated the Church of Zurich. See Gelpke, Kirchem/esch. d. Schineiz, i, 91 sq., 120 sq. ; ii, 9.5 sq. ; Briguet, Vullesia C/iristiana (1744), p. 48 sq., 95 sq. ; Kivaz. Be la Ler/ion T/tebeenne (1779), p. 37, etc. ; Comment. Pra'vius Gulielrai Cuperi,etc. — Herzog, Real- Encykli>p. s. V.
Theognostus. A person of this name is said by riiilip of Sida (see iXidwell, Dissert, in Iren. [Oxon. 1689], p. 488 sq.) to have presided over the catechetical school of Alexandria in the second half of the 3d cen- tury. Photius calls him an Alexandrian and an ex- egete; and he was unipiestionably an Origenist, in the strict sense. Photius also expressly states that Theog- nostus shared the errors of Origon with respect to the Trinity, and termed the Son Kr/rr/ici (comp. Dionys. Al- exand., and see Athanasius, De BIrrsp/i.in Spirit. Sanc- tum ; also Origen, De Princ. i, 3, 7, 63). Theognostus wrote seven Ijooks of ////pot/ieses, which, according to Photius, constitute a doctrinal work constructed in the order of loci — (1) of God the Father as the exclusive originator of the world (against an assumed eternity of matter); (2) of the Son; (3) of the Holy Spirit;" (4) of angels and daimons; (5 and (!) of the incarnation: (7) of the world-order. The brief extracts from, this work which were preserved by Athanasius in De Decrct, \ic. Synod. § 25, and a fragment from that father's work .On the Blasphemy nf the Holy (IhosI (Athau. /,;). 4 ad Scrap. § 11) may be found in Kouth, Reliq. Sacr. iii, 221 sq. See Galland, liibl. Vet. Patr. iii; Guericke, De Schola Alexand. (Halle, 1824), i, 78; ii, 325 sq.
Theogony (Sfoyovia), the name given in ancient (ircece to a class of poems recounting the (jenealogy of the (jod.<. Jlusauis is said to have written the earliest Tlteogony; but his work, as well as the theogonies of Orpheus (q. v.) and others, have perished; that of Ilesiod being the oidy one that has come down to us. This has been translated by Thomas Cook (Lond. 1728, 2 vols. 4to).