RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Fliesteden Vlorian
Bibliography: Helyot, Ordres monasliques, v. 392 sqq.; Heimbucher, Orden und Kongregationen, i. 267-268.
FLORENTIUS RADEWYNS, ra'de-wins: One of the founders of the Brethren of the Common Life (q.v.); b. at Leerdam (13 m. s. of Utrecht), Holland, in 1350; d. at Deventer March 24, 1400. The son of educated, wealthy parents, he studied at the University of Prague from 1375 to 1378, when he received the degree of licentiate. On his return to Leerdam he heard Geert Groote (q.v.) preach, and the two became friends about 1380. He then exchanged his canonry at Utrecht for a vicarage at Deventer that he might be able to accompany Groote in his travels, and was ordained priest. A band of earnest thinkers gathered around the pair, and Florentius's vicarage became their home. After Groote's death in 1384, Florentius became the head of this community. In 1391 the brethren moved into their own house and their number increased, although the plague of 1398 deprived them of many members. They accordingly moved to Amersfoort, only to return after a year. The community controlled by Florentius was, as Thomas a Kempis says in his Vita, a mirror of holiness and an ornament of morals, a refuge of the poor, a convent of the clergy, a school of life for the worldly, and a helper of poor scholars. The directions of Florentius became authoritative for all later foundations. After his conversion he was a harmonious picture of modern piety, which, rooted in humility, did not withdraw from the world, but by self-denial sought to win all men for the higher life. At 3 a.m. he began to prepare the work of the brethren and during the day the needy sought his help. No work of charity was too great or too small for him. He bathed the sick himself, and whoever met him once never forgot the deep impression of his personality. He encouraged severe self-examination, and gave prudent advice: " First think, and then act, but do not stop ; never work mechanically; never seek thyself." The literary activity of Florentius was scanty, and he restricted himself to matters concerning humility and the fear of God. His principal works are as follows: a letter written at the request of Henricus de Balueren, included by Jan Busch (q.v.) in his Chronicon Windeshemense, and appended in complete form to the life of Florentius by Thomas a Kempis; Tractatulus devotus de exstirpatione vitwrum et passionum et acquisitione verarum virtutum et maxime caritatis Dei et proximi et verce unionis cum Deo et proximo, seu tractatulus de spiritualibus exercitiis (ed. H. Nolte, Freiburg, 1862); Puncta qucedam secundum qum actus suos volebat moderari, <}wb quis legens poterit aliqualiter cognoscere interim ipsius, appended to the life by Thomas a, Kempis, and commonly called bona puncta. This latter work reflects the ideal of a man of benevolence and contains the conclusa et proposita prepared by Groote, but collected and enlarged by Florentius. It agrees, for the most part, with the Tractatulus. and is extant in many manuscripts and recensions of his pupils, but the most original form is given by ■!■ B. Malon, in his Recherches historiques et critiques w le veritable auteur du Livre de I'Imitation de Jesus-Christ (3d ed., Paris, 1858). Meditation
upon the principles of Florentius inspired the writings of his pupils, Thomas a Kempis, Theodore of Herzen, and Zerbold of Zutphen. A work of this character, reflecting the spirit of Florentius, was discovered by J. M. Wustenhoff in a Berlin manuscript and reprinted by him under the title Parvum et simplex exercitium ex consuetudine humilis patris domini Florentii et aliorum devotorum (Archief voor nederlandsche Kerkgeschiedenis. The Hague, 1894, 80 sqq.). L. Schtjlze.
Bibliography: Chief sources for a life are the Vita by Thomas a Kempis in the latter's Opera, ed. Sommalius, Antwerp, 1600, Eng. transl. in The Founders of the New Devotion, pp. 81-164, London, 1905; R. Dier, Scriptum, G. Grote et multis aliis fratribus, in G. Dumbar,
Analecta, 3 vols., Deventer, 1719-22, and Dumbar's Het kerkelyke en werentlyke Deventer, 2 vols., ib. 1732-38. Consult: K. Grube, Gerhard Groot und seine Stiftungen, pp. 66 sqq., Cologne, 1883; KL, ix. 728-729; ADB, vii. 130; and literature under Common Life, Brethren or the.
FLOREZ, HENRIQUE: Spanish priest; b. at Valladolid Feb. 14, 1701 (?); d. at Madrid May 5, 1773. He was an Augustinian friar, and became teacher of theology at the University of Alcala, rector of the royal college at the same place, theological adviser for the supreme council of Castile and finally general assistant of his order for the Spanish provinces. He wrote a number of works, of which the most important is the Espana Sagrada, thealro geografico-historico de la iglesia de Espana; the first volume appeared at Madrid in 1747, and the work was carried on by Florez to the end of vol. xxix (1775); a continuation, vols, xxx.-xlviii (1775- 1862), was made by his fellow Augustinians, Manuel Risco, Antonio Merino, Jose de la Canal, and the town librarian, P. S. de Baranda. The work contains a historical and statistical presentation of the Spanish bishoprics, with their respective chapters and monasteries, and a catalogue of their
bishops, martyrs, famous men, etc. , __
(A. Hauck.)
Bibliography: H. Hurter, Nomenclator literarius, vol. iii., Innsbruck, 1895. A list of his works is given in KL, iv. 1578-79.
FLORIAN, SAINT: The patron saint of Upper Austria, said to have suffered martyrdom by drowning in the Enns at Laureacum (Lorch or St. Lorenz, near Enns, 10 m. s.e. of Linz) during the Diocletian persecution. His Passio, however (ed. B. Krusch, MGH, Script, rer. Merov., iii., 1896, 65-71), is a recast of the Passio Irenazi Sirmii and of no value. The saint is first mentioned in the eighth century, when his relics are said to have been worshiped ad puoche ( = Buche, " the beech-tree," the site of the present abbey of St. Florian, 5 m. w.s.w. of Enns). There was probably a monastic settlement there as early as the eighth century under Otkar, an itinerant bishop. Charlemagne gave the cloister to Passau. In the beginning of the tenth century it is mentioned as a congregatio clericorum. Then it was destroyed by the Hungarians, but in the last quarter of the tenth century it was rebuilt, without, however, regaining its former flourishing condition until Bishop Altmann of Passau made it a foundation of regular canons in 1071, under an able leader, Hartmann. Since then its existence has never been shaken, but the relics of Florian are lost.
(A. Hauck.)
Floras Fonseca