JOHANN.
AVENGING OF THE SAVIOR. See Apocrypha, B, I, 7.
AVERCIUS, a-ver'shius (AVIRCIUS, ABERCIUS), OF HIEROPOLIS (in the Glaucus valley, not Hierapolison the Lycus): A Phrygian, the inscription on whose gravestone is preserved in a legendary life, written probably about 400, and was found, in part, on a portion of the actual stone by W M. Ramsay in 1883 at the warm baths near Hieropolis. The inscription, with restorations, may be rendered as follows:
I, the citizen of a noble city, have made this (monument) in my lifetime that I might have here a resting-place in the eyes of men for my body, Avercius by name, the servant of a holy shepherd who pastures flocks of sheep upon the hills and meadows; whose eyes are large and all-seeing; for he taught me . . writings worthy of faith. To Rome he sent me that I might see the king and the queen in golden apparel with sandals of gold. But I saw a people there bearing a shining seal. I saw likewise the plains of Syria and all its cities (as well as) Nisibis, after I had crossed the Euphrates. But everywhere I had a companion, for Paul sat in the chariot with me. And Faith led the way (as guide) and in all places set before me as food a fish from the spring, gigantic, pure, which a holy virgin had caught. And this (fish) he (Faith) gave at all times as food to friends, — (Faith) who has good wine, giving mixed drink and bread. This have I, Avercius, while I stood by, ordered to be written down; seventy-two years old was I when it was done. You who understand the meaning of this, pray for Avercius, every one that is of the same mind. In my grave let no one lay another. But if any one do so, he shall pay to the treasury of the Romans 2,000, and to the loved native city Hieropolis 1,000, pieces of gold.
From this wording G. Ficker concludes that Avercius was a priest of Cybele, while Harnack would make him out the member of a sect partially Gnostic, partially heathen, wherein pagan mysteries were combined with one of the mysteries of the Christian faith, namely, the Lord's Supper. The weight of authority, however, is in favor of the Christian character of the inscription. It must be dated somewhere about 200, — a time when it was not safe to make too open profession of Christian faith; hence Avercius phrases his confession in mysterious language which has a double meaning, yet is easily intelligible to one " who understands." The life already referred to supports this view, being based apparently on a well-established local legend corroborative in many details of the writing
RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Ava Avitus
on the tombstone. Possibly the author may have been the Avercius Marcellus, a native of Phrygia, to whom a work against the Montanists was dedicated about the year 193 (Eusebius, Hist, eccl., v 16). As internal evidence, are cited the unmistakable allusion to the Lord's Supper, to baptism (the " shining seal "), and the reference to Paul, which may be taken to mean either that Avercius had the works of the apostle with him on his travels or compared his own journey to that of Paul from Damascus to the west. The inscription is now in the Lateran museum at Rome. (T. Zahn.)
Bibliography: The life is in MPG, cxv. Consult J. B. Pitra, Spicilegium Solesmense, iii, 532-533, Paris, 1855; idem, Analecta sacra, ii (1884), 180-187; W. M. Ramsay, in the Journal of Hellenic Studies, iv (1883), 424-427; idem, in The Expositor, ix (1889), 156-180, 253-272; idem, The Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia, vol. i, part 2, 709-715, 722-729, Oxford, 1897; G. B. de Rossi, Inscriptions Christianm, ii, pp. xii-xxv, Rome, 1888; J. B. Lightfoot, The Apostolic Fathers, ii. part 1, 493-501, London, 1889; T. Zahn, Forschungen, v, 57-99, Leipsic, 1892; G. Ficker, in Sitzungsberichte der Berliner Akademie, 1895, 87-112; A. Harnack, TV, xii, 4, Leipsic, 1895.
AVES, HENRY DAMEREL: Protestant Episcopalian bishop of Mexico; b. in Huron Co., O., July 10, 1853. He was educated at Kenyon College, Gambier, O. (Ph.B., 1878), the Cincinnati Law School (1879-80), and the theological seminary attached to Kenyon College (B.D., 1883). He was • then rector successively at St. Paul's, Mt. Vernon, 0. (1883-84); St. John's, Cleveland (1884-92); and Christ Church, Houston, Tex. (1892-1904). In 1904 he was consecrated bishop of Mexico.
AVIGNON, a"vi"nyen': The capital of the department of Vaucluse, southern France, situated on the Rhone, about 400 m. s.s.e. of Paris, and 50 m. n.n.w. of Marseilles. It became the papal residence in 1309, at which time it was under the rule of the kings of Sicily (the house of Anjou); in 1348 Pope Clement VI bought it from Queen Joanna I of Sicily for 80,000 gold gulden, and it remained a papal possession till 1791, when, during the disorders of the French Revolution, it was incorporated with France. Seven popes resided there, — Clement
V, John XXII, Benedict XII, Clement VI, Innocent
VI, Urban V, and Gregory XI; and during this period (1309-77; the so-called Babylonian Captivity of the popes) it was a gay and corrupt city. The antipopes Clement VII and Benedict XIII continued to reside there, the former during his entire pontificate (1378-94), the latter until 1408, when he fled to Aragon. Avignon was the seat of a bishop as early as the year 70, and became an archbishopric in 1476. Several synods of minor importance were held there, and its university, founded by Pope Boniface VIII in 1303 and famed as a seat of legal studies, flourished until the French Revolution. The walls built by the popes in the years immediately succeeding the acquisition of Avignon as papal territory are well preserved. The papal palace, a lofty Gothic building, with walls 17-18 feet thick, built 1335-64, long used as a barrack, is now to be turned into a museum.
AVILA, a'vi-la, JUAN DE: Ascetic writer, called the apostle of Andalusia; b. at Almodovar del Campo (16 m. s.w. of Ciudad Real) in the
archdiocese of Toledo, between 1494 and 1500; d. in Montilla (18 m. s.e. of Cordova) May 10, 1569! In 1516 he entered the University of Salamanca to study law, but soon retired to his home and lived a strict ascetic life for three years. Then he studied theology at Alcala under Domingo de Soto. Having been admitted to orders, he continued his ascetic life and won fame as a preacher in different places. Through envy he was brought before the Inquisition and refused to defend himself, but was acquitted for his exemplary life. At the age of fifty he went into retirement, broken in body by his exertions in preaching and ascetic practises; thenceforth he addressed smaller circles and devoted himself to writing. He declined a profferred appointment as canon in Grenada, as well as the bishopric of Segovia and the archhishopric of Grenada. His tomb in the Jesuits' Church at Montilla bears the inscription, Magistro Johanni Aviloe, Patri optimo, Viro integerrimo, Deique amantissimo, Filii ejus in Christo, Pos- [uerunt]. His writings were collected in nine volumes at Madrid, 1757; the chief were Audi filia and the Cartas espirituales (in vol. xiii of the Biblioteca de Autores Espaiioles, Madrid, 1850).
K. Benrath.
Bibliography: Life in Spanish by Luis de Grenada (d. 1588) in vol. iii, pp. 451-486, of his works, Madrid, 1849; N. Antonio, Bibliotheca Hispana nova, i, 639-642, Madrid, 1783; L. degli Oddi, Life of the Blessed Master John of Avila, transl. from the Italian, Quarterly Series, vol. xcvii, London, 1898.
AVITUS, a-vai'tus, ALCIMUS ECDICIUS: Bishop of Vienne; d. Feb. 5, 518. He was born of a distinguished Romano-Gallic family, connected with the Emperor Avitus (455-456); his father, Hesychius, was bishop of Vienne, where the son seems to have been educated, probably in the involved and fanciful rhetorical style of Sapaudus, who was then teaching there. In 494 we find him mentioned as his father's successor in the see; and until the death of Gundobad (516) he exercised a predominant influence on the Church of Burgundy, and through it on the civil government. He induced Gundobad's son, Sigismund, to renounce Arianism, and the old king himself listened gladly to Avitus and seemed disposed to follow this example. In the contest over boundaries between the metropolitan sees of Vienne and Aries, Avitus won a decisive victory under Pope Anastasius II (496-498). He was a zealous supporter of the close connection between the south of Gaul and the Roman see which was restored in 494, and did his best to promote the power of the latter. His political influence was far from salutary, since it was exercised mainly for ecclesiastical ends. His theology was dominated by his opposition to Arianism and other kindred heresies; otherwise he appears to have been chiefly interested in questions of ritual and church law. His last great success was to call and preside over the Burgundian council at Epao in 517, some of whose canons show his authorship, even in their wording. His prose writings consist partly of sermons, partly of letters, which, as was customary at that time, attain the dimensions of complete tractates. These have
Aviz Azymites