THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
times form the central point of a long series of sermons. But even when they border on the burlesque he is always in earnest. It is true he sometimes goes too far in his similes and allegories, but allegorizing was the fashion of his time and the taste of his hearers was not refined. He rendered a great service to the German language by using exclusively the vernacular in his sermons and not a mixture of Latin and German, as was the custom of his time.
(G. Kawerau.)
Bibliography: Geiler's Ausgewahlte Schriften, ed. P. de Lorenzi (with omission of " offensive " passages), appeared in four volumes at Treves, 1881-83. The two early works on Geiler by J. Wimpfeling (1510) and B. Rhenanus (1513) are in J. A. von Riegger, Amcenitates literarim Friburgenses, Ulm, 1755. Consult: L. Dacheux (Roman Catholic), Un Reformateur catholique a la fin du xve. siecle, Paris, 1876; C. Schmidt (Protestant), Histoire litteraire de I Alsace, i. 335-461, Paris, 1879; ADB, viii. 509.
GELASIUS, je-le'shi-Tjs or gS"la-si'us: The name of two popes.
Gelasius I. : Pope 492-496. He was a Roman by birth, and entered upon his administration as successor to Felix III. on Mar. 1, 492. The schism with Byzantium which had begun under Felix in 484, on occasion of the excommunication of the Patriarch Acacius of Constantinople for his encouragement of the Monophysite doctrine (see Felix III.; Monophtsites), continued under Gelasius. Nor was Gelasius on good terms with Odoacer, the eastern emperor's " governor," but he got on better with the Ostrogothic king Theodoric, who from 493 resided at Ravenna as king of Italy, and as yet refrained from encroachments upon the province of the Church. This reserve of the Arian was of the utmost moment for Gelasius, who set his heart on extending the rights of the Roman primacy. In his letters he claimed the right to receive appeals from all parts of the world, and he contested the admissibility of appeal to any other tribunal from a deliverance by the bishop of Rome. The preeminence of the see of Rome is guaranteed for him by Matt. xvi. 18; beside it, the churches of Alexandria and Antioch occupy second and third rank. He spurned with indignation the equality with the Roman bishop desired by the bishop of Constantinople, and he upheld with great energy against the Emperor Anastasius the independence of the spiritual power. Concerning the genuineness of the so-called Decretum de libris recipiendis et non recipiendis ascribed to Gelasius I. there has been much disputation, but the matter is to be decided affirmatively. It may be that a part derives from Pope Damasus, maybe the entire matter was recast by Hormisdas in the sixth century; but the main portion was probably proclaimed under Gelasius at a Roman synod in 496. The decree comprises: (1) a table of the writings of the Biblical Canon; (2) a discussion of the primacy of the Roman Church; (3) a list of the synods to be accepted as valid; (4) and (5) a catalogue of the writings accepted and rejected by the Roman Church. Gelasius furthermore composed sundry dogmatic and polemical treatises ; the origin of the so-called Sacramentarium Gelasianum (ed. H. A. Wilson, Oxford, 1894) is debatable (see Liturgics). Gela-
sius died Nov. 19, 496, and is accounted a "saint" by the Roman Catholic Church.
Carl Mirbt. Bibliography: The Epistolw are in MPL, lix. 13-140 and one of them in MGH, Epist., iii (1891), 32-33. Sources are in Jaffe\ Regesta, i. 83-95, 619-743; Liber pontifiadU ed. Duchesne, i. 255, Paris, 1886, ed. Mommsen in MGH Gest. pont. Rom., i (1898), 116-118. Consult: A. Roux' Le Pape S. Gelase I., Paris, 1880 (on the life and writings)' J. Langen, Geschichte der romischen Kirche, ii. 159-214 Bonn, 1885; Zahn, Kanon, II., i. 259 sqq.; Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, ii. 616 sqq.; Bower, Popes, i. 282-291- Milman, Latin Christianity, i. 348-349.
Gelasius II. (Giovanni da Gaeta): Pope 1118- 1119. He was born at Gaeta, and, after receiving his education in the monastery of Monte Cassino, was drawn to the curia by Urban II., appointed chancellor, and also promoted to the rank of cardinal deacon. He loyally supported Paschal II. (q.v.) when this pope was taken captive by Henry V of Germany in 1111, and was sharply attacked by a portion of the college of Cardinals on account of the treaty he had concluded with the emperor in relation to investiture. After the death of Paschal II. Cardinal Giovanni was unanimously elected as his successor (Jan. 24, 1118), and he adopted the name of Gelasius II. The conclave was scarcely ended when he was taken captive by the Frangipani party, but was soon released. However, the news then reached him that Henry V., upon word that the papal election had occurred without his cooperation, was approaching in rapid marches. In the fear that a treaty similar to the one exacted of his predecessor might be forced upon him, Gelasius fled hurriedly to Gaeta, where, on Mar. 9 and 10, he was consecrated priest and bishop. Upon his declining the demands of Henry in regard to investiture, and when thereupon the latter induced the Romans to elect Mauritius Burdinus, archbishop of Braga, as antipope (Gregory VIII., q.v.), Gelasius decreed from Capua on Apr. 7 the ban of excommunication against the emperor and the schismatic pope. After Henry's departure from Rome, he returned thither himself, but was very soon compelled to leave the city anew to escape the Frangipani plots; he now turned to France. The contest with Henry V. was prosecuted with great energy in Germany by the popes legate, Kuno of Prseneste. Gelasius died at Cluny Jan. 18, 1119. Carl Mirbt.
Bibliography: The Epistolm are in Bouquet, Recueil, xv. 223-228, the Epistolm et privilegia, in MPL, clxiii. 487- 514. The early Vita by Pandulfus Aletrinus is in ASB, May, 9-13, and MPL, clxiii. 475-484. Consult: J. Langen, Geschichte der romischen Kirche, iv. 271-277, Bonn, 1893; J&S6, Regesta, i. 775 sqq.; G. Richter, Annalen der deutschen Geschichte im Mittelalter, III., ii. 603-607, Halle, 1898; Neander, Christian Church, iv. 141, 245; Milman, Latin Christianity, iv. 125-129; Bower, Popes, ii. 453-455.
GELASIUS OF CYZICUS: Greek church historian of the fifth century. He was the son of a presbyter at Cyzicus, and is known through his history of the First Council of Nicaea, which he composed in Bithynia about 475 for the purpose of combating Monophysite appeals to the Niccenum. The work, in three books, is largely a compilation from Eusebius, Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret. The data not derived from these sources came from an original documentary collection,