Radegunda, St., daughter of Berthar, a prince of Thuringia, flourished in the earlier part of the 6th cen- tury. Having been carried as a pri-otier to France in
the twelfth year of her age bj Clothaire V, al that time
RADER
RAEIN
king of the district whose capital is now called Soissons, she was educated in the Christian religion, and when she reached a maturer age was induced, very reluctant- ly, to become his wife. Her own wish having been to become a nun, her married life was in great measure given up to works of charity and religion, and Clothaire complained that he "had married a nun rather than a queen." Romanists delight in extolling her virtues, and many curious feats are reported to have been performed by her. Thus they tell that one day, as she walked in her garden, she heard the prisoners, who were only separated from her by a wall, weeping and imploring pity. She thought only of her own sorrows in the past, and she prayed earnestly for them, not knowing how else to aid them; and as she prayed, their fetters burst asunder, and they were freed from captivity. Event- ually, about the year 553, Radegunda obtained the king's leave to retire to a monastery at Noyon, where she was consecrated a deaconess by the bishop Medard. Soon afterwards she founded a monastery at Poitiers, in which she lived as a simple sister, but which she endowed richly, not only with money and lands, but also with relics and other sacred objects obtained from the Holy Land and all the more eminent churches of the East and West. It was on the occasion of the transla- tion to her church at Poitiers of a relic of the holy cross that the Christian poet Venantius Fortunatus composed the celebrated and truly magnificent Latin hymn, Vexilla Regis Prode rent. Radegunda outlived him by more than a quarter of a century, during which she was regarded as a model of Christian virtue ; and her life has formed the subject of many beautiful legends, still popular in Germany and France. Her monastery, before her death, which took place in 587, numbered no fewer than 200 nuns. Her feast is held on August 13, the anniversary of her death. In ecclesiastical paintings she is repre- sented with the royal crown, and beneath it a long veil. See Butler, Lives of the Saints, Aug. 13; Montalembert, Monks of the West, vol. ii, bk. vi; Chambers's Encyclop. s. v. ; Rettberg, Kirchengesch. Deutschlands, vol. ii.
Rader, Matth^jus, a learned German Jesuit, was born at Jeichingen, in the Tyrol, in 1561. He nourished for a while as a teacher of rhetoric at Augsburg, then joined the order, and was engaged in various important missions for the Jesuits. He died at Munich in 1634. He published several editions of classical and ecclesias- tical writers, and wrote, among others, Vita Canisii (1614) :— Bavaria Sancta (1615) :— Bavaria Pia (1628): — Viridiarium Sanctorum (1604-12).
Radewin, Florentinus, a Roman Catholic of note, was born at Leyerdam, in Holland, about 1350, studied at Prague, and was for some time canon at Utrecht. He became associated with Gerard de Groot, and was one of the founders of the Brethren of the Common Life, and after De Groot's death (1384) was placed at the head of the brotherhood. He died about 1400. He was also the founder of the convent of the regular canons at Windesheim, near Zwolle, and of the frater-house at Deventer; he thus became, so to speak, the second founder of the Brethren of the Common Life. His Life was written by Thomas a Kempis. See Ullmann, Reformers before the Reformation, ii, 81 sq.; Gieseler, Kirchengesch. 'ii, 3, 226 sq. (J. II. W.)
Radha Vallabhis, a Hindu sect which worships Krishna as Radha Vallabha, the lord or lover of Radha. This favorite mistress of Krishna is the object of adora- tion to all the sects who worship that deity, but the adoration of Radha is of very recent origin. The founder of this sect is alleged to have been a teacher named Hari Vans, who settled at Yrindavan, and es- tablished a math there, which, in 1822, comprised be- tween forty and fifty resident ascetics. He also erect- ed a temple there which still exists. — Gardner, Faiths of the World, s. v.
Raey, John nrc, a Dutch theologian and philoso- pher, flourished in the second half of the 17th century,
at Leyden. He was a devoted Cartesiahist, and dis- tinguished himself greatly as such in 1665 at public disputation. He was in favor of complete alienation of philosophy from religion, and had a dangerous tend- ency to scepticism of the very worst character. See Spanheim, Epistola, in Opp. i, 059. Raffaelle. See Raphael.
Rafflenghen, Franz, a Dutch theologian of note, was born at Lancy, near Ryssel, in 1539. He was edu- cated at Leyden University, and greatly distinguished himself in the Greek and Oriental languages. He was first made professor of the former at Cambridge, and later of the latter languages at his alma mater. He died in 1597. Rafilenghen corrected the Antwerp Poly- glot, and wrote, Lexicon Arab. (Leyden, 1599): — Diet. Chald.: — Gramm. Hebr.,a.nd other works.
Raffles, Thomas Stamford, Sir, an English
philanthropist, was llritish governor of the island of Java from 1811 to 1816, and, after a visit home, re- turned to the East as resident at Bencoolen, in Sumatra, and was instrumental in founding a college for the pro- motion of Anglo-Chinese literature. He died in Eng- land, 1826. He published a Hist, of Java.