Prudentius, St., :i French prelate of the 9th cen- tury, was a native of Spain. The name of his family Be took the name of Prudentius in mem- pry of the Christian poet, his compatriot. Taken when young to France, he passed several years at court, where it appears he occupied some important charge, mi i il his election as bishop of Troyes in 846; then he subscribed. Feb. II. 847, to the privilege accorded by the Council of Paris to Paschasius Radbertus, abbe of Corbie. People came from all parts to consult him. and he was called one of the most learned bishops of the Gallican Church. Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims, par- ticularly wished to have advice how to treat Gott- Bchalk, or Godeschalcus (q. v.), in the dispute about predestination raised by Gottschalk. At first Pruden- tius sided with Hincmar, but afterwards took a medi- atory position. Towards the end of 849, or the be- ginning of 850, he, however, abandoned Hincmar and wrote in defence of Gottschalk, then a prisoner, and di- rected his work to Hincmar and his confederate Papill- itis, bishop of Lyons. Prudentius begins with an enco- mium of St. Augustine, whose doctrines, he say--, were also supported by Fulgentius and Prosper of Aquitanius. He then affirms a twofold predestination, one to dam- nation, the other to salvation. Vet God has not pre- destined the reprobate to guilt, but to punishment. Christ has given his blood only for the elect, for he says it is given for many. It follows that it is God's will not to call and save all men. These propositions Prudentius undertakes to support by the authority of the Scriptures, and of a number of fathers, especially of the Latin Church ; the most recent of the latter author- ities thus invoked is Beda. Ratramnus, a learned monk of Corbie, and Servatus Lupus, the accomplished abbot ofFerrieres, sided with the bishop of Troyes. Rabanus Maurus speaks thus of this work, sent to him by Hinc- mar : " Prudentius's views converge sometimes with ours, when he asserts that God is not the author of evil, that the reward of the good is undeserved grace, and the punishment of the bad just expiation. But when he says that God, by his predestination, compels the sinner to go to ruin, it seems to me that the conse- quence of it is, according to the views of Gottschalk, a twofold predestination (see Op. Sirmond. ii, 1296)." To- wards the close of 851 Scotus Krigena published his work on predestination against Gottschalk which he had composed at the request of Hincmar. This work. which undertook to solve the question from the philo- sophical standpoint, and argued for the unbiassed free- dom of the will, only complicated the dispute. Erige- na was charged with Semi-Pelagianism and other heroics. Wenilo. archbishop Oi Sens, extracted from il nineteen articles, and sent them to Prudentius for ref- utation, l'rudi ntius replied in a writing addressed to Wenilo, and divided into nineteen chapters, followed by an epilogue (BUHioth. Max. Patr. xv. 167-597). This Tractatus de Pradestinatione contra ./<>//. Scot. Eriff. was written in the year 852, and Gfrorer says ol it: ■•Prudentius wrote against Erigena a ponderous book-, in which the work of the philosopher was, with cutting sagacity and Sturdy orthodoxy, so dealt with that nothing remained of it." Tins, il should be re- membered, i> the testimony of one who advocates pre- destination, and agrees with Erigena that evil is only a /!/) ov, condemnation, not a positive punishment on the part -I i iod : that it only consists in the tormenting con- sciousness of ha\ ing missed one', destiny. See Wili . In the ensuing year (853) Hincmar held a national synod at Chiersy— the first had taken place in 849 where four article. [Capitula Carisiacd), embodying a moderate form of Augustinianism, were adopted against
Gottschalk. Although Prudentius put his name to
these "quatuor capitula," he soon afterwards endeavored
to refute them by writing a Tractoria Epistola adv. 1
ent. Carts. It is possible that he signed his
name at Chiersy by demand of king Charles the Laid.
Iii the later development of this contest, Prudentius seems to have given up his position. He died April 6, 861, and is revered as a saint in Troyes. The Bolland- i-t~ do not recognise his title to sanctity. Although Prudentius held himself against opposing heresies, and particularly against the doctrines o( the Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians, he was suspected by some authors to have concealed the truth in the prosecution of error, and Les .\i/mi!,.< d, St. Beiiin accuse him of having written articles against the faith. From a letter of Servatus Lupus to Prudentius, we ham (Ep. 63) that these two men were sent by king Charles to visit and reform the monasteries of France. See Gallia Christi- ana, iii: Breyer (canon at Troyes), Lift of Pruden- tius (1725); Gfrorer, Gesch. <i< r Carolinger (1848), i, 210 sq. ; Wenck, Das Frankiscfo Reich nach ■ trag run Verdun I 1851 1, p. 382; Milman, Hist, of Latin < 'hristianitg, iii. 2 II sq.; Neander, ( '//. Hist. ( see Index) ; Manguin, Vett. Auctorum qui in Sec. IX </< Pradest. scripserunt <>i»ra ,i Fragm. (Paris, 1650, 2 vols. 4to); Kurtz, Ch. Hist. t» thi Reformation, i 91, -1: Hard- wick, Ch. Hist. (Middle Ages), p. 163 sq.; Hefele, Con- ciliengesch. iv, 124 sq. ; Jahrb.Jiir </< uisch. Theol. 1859, art. by Weizs&cker; Amer. Presb. Rev. Jan. 1861, p. 200. (J. II. W.)