RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Dogma Dominic
Dolcino sent three letters from Dalmatia to his followers and to all Christians, of two of which long extracts are preserved. The first was written in Aug., 1300, shortly after the death of Segarelli. It opens with declaration of the spiritual and apostolic character of Dolcino's community, and asserts that he, as its head, had received revelations from God. He then recounts the persecutions which had driven him to take refuge in flight, and describes four stages of the development of the lives of the saints on earth, each good in the beginning, and each degenerate at the close and therefore superseded by a new and better regime. These epochs were the period from the patriarchs of the Old Testament to Christ; when marriage was necessary to replenish the earth; from Christ to Pope Silvester and the emperor Constantine, when celibacy was better than wedlock and poverty preferable to wealth; from Silvester and Constantine to the time of Dolcino, when papal power and wealth had been requisite rather than apostolic poverty, although love for God and for one's fellow man had so far cooled that even the rules of Benedict and the stUl more rigid regulations of Francis and Dominic had proved unavailing to check the increasing degeneracy; from Dolcino to the end of the world, when the apostolic ordinances of life were to be renewed, and all things were to be in common. Dolcino then declares that he and his followers should be considered liars if the events which he foretold did not take place within three years. King Frederick of Sicily would be elected emperor, would set up new kings, and sweep Pope Boniface and all his creatures from the face of the earth, while peace would rule among all Christians. A new pope would be sent by God and would rule over the Apostolic Brethren, and all priests and monks who had divinely escaped the sword would now join them. Like the apostles of the early Church, they would receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and would spread throughout the world, while the smperor Frederick, the pope, and the new kings would remain untU a time known to Dolcino, when Antichrist would appear and rule.
Three years elapsed without the fulfilment of the prophecies, and in Dec, 1303, two months after the death of Boniface VIII., Dolcino issued the second letter, in which he practically repeated his assertions. Within three years, according to Isa. xvi. 14, the wicked would be rooted out, the pope and his cardinals would be destroyed in the following year (1304), and in the next all priests, monks, and nuns who persisted in their iniquity would disappear, after which, under the rule of Frederick and the pope chosen of God, the Apostolic Brethren would be free from all oppression, would be joined by all who were truly spiritual, would receive the Holy Ghost, and regenerate the Church. See Apostolic Brethren.
(Hugo Sachsse.)
Bibliography: Muratori, Scriptores, ix. 425 sqq., 25 vols., Milan, 1723-51; F. C. Schlosser, Abalard und Dulcin, Gotha, 1807; J. Krone, Fra Dolcino und die Patarener, Leipsic, 1844; L. Mariotti, Frb, Dolcino and His Times, London, 1853; G.S.A.S., Frh Dolcino, Milan, 1889.
DOLE, CHARLES FLETCHER: Unitarian; b. a(, Brewer, Me., May 17, 1845. He was graduated
at Harvard in 1868, and Andover Theological Seminary in 1872. After being professor of Greek at the University of Vermont 1873-74, he was pastor of Plymouth Church, Portland, Me., 1874-76, and since 1876 has been minister of the First Congregational (Unitarian) Society at Jamaica Plain, Boston. In theology he designates himself a " minister of the religion that is behind and beneath all the names." He has written The Citizen and the Neighbor (Boston, 1884); Early Hebrew Stories (1886); Jesus and the Men About Him (1888); The American Citizen (1891); The Golden Rule in Business (New York, 1895); .4 Catechism of Liberal Faith (Boston, 1895); The Coming People (New York, 1897); Luxury and Sacrifice (1898); The Young Citizen (Boston, 1899); The Theology of Civilization (New York, 1899); The Problem of Duty (1900); The Religion of a Gentleman (1900); Noble Womanhood (Boston, 1900); The Smoke and the Flame (1901); From Agnosticism to Theism (1903); and The Spirit of Democracy (New York, 1906).
DOMICELLUS: A canon who had not a seat and a voice in chapter, but enjoyed certain incomes. See Canon; and Chapter.