RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Jerome
Jerome of Prague
tative, especially in consideration of his lack of independence as a dogmatic teacher and his submission to orthodox tradition. He ap- 2. His proaches his papal patron Damasus Lack of with the most utter submissiveness, Independ- making no attempt at an independent ence. decision of his own. The Church founded upon the rock of Peter is to decide whether he is to recognize, with the Meletians, three hypostases in the divine ousia, or, with the Paulinians, one hypostasis with three prosopa or persons. " Decide, I pray thee, and I shall not fear to speak of three hypostases." He may be called not only the forerunner of modern ultramontanism, but even of the Jesuit unreasoning obedience. The tendency to recognize a superior comes out scarcely less significantly in his correspondence with Augustine (cf . the letters numbered lvi., Ixvii., cii.-cv., cx.-cxii., cxv.-cxvi. in his own, and xxviii., xxxix., xl., lxvii.-lxviii., lxxi.-lxxv., lxxxi.-lxxxii. in Augustine's).
Yet in spite of the defects and weaknesses already mentioned, Jerome has retained a rank among the western Fathers. This would be his due, if for nothing else, on account of the incalculable influence exercised by his Latin version of the Bible upon the subsequent ecclesiastical and theological development. But that he won his way to the title of a saint and doctor of the catholic Church was possible only because he broke away entirely from the theological school in which he was brought up, that of the Origenists. In the artistic tradition of the Roman Catholic Church it has been usual to represent him, the patron of theological learning, as a cardinal, by the side of the Bishop Augustine, the Archbishop Ambrose, and the Pope Gregory. Even when he is depicted as a half-clad anchorite, with cross, skull, and Bible for the only furniture of his cell, the red hat or some other indication of his rank is as a rule introduced somewhere in the picture. (O. ZocKLERf.)
Bibliography: The article in W. Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, ii. 459 sqq., London, 1890, is valuable as a bird's-eye view of Jerome's works, particularly in giving a table showing the numbers of the letters as they appear in the three principal arrangements. A valuable bibliography is given in Potthast, Wegweiser, pp. 595-596, 1370-71; another is in the British Museum Catalogue and Supplement; still another in U. Chevalier, Repertoire des sources historiques du moyen age, pp. 1263- 1265, Paris, 1894 sqq.
The edition of the " Works " by Erasmus, including all then known, appeared, 9 vols., Basel, 1516-20, followed by that of Marianus Victorinus, 9 vols., Rome, 1565-72; then came editions by U. Calixtus and A. Tribbechovius 12 vols., Frankfort, 1684-90, the Benedictine by J. Mertianay, 5 vols., Paris, 1693-1706; the edition of Vallarsi, 11 vols., Verona, 1734-42, reproduced in most subsequent editions, including that of MPL, xxii.-xxx. NPNF, 2d ser., vol. v. contains Eng. transl. of many of the 150 Letters, the Prefaces to his works, and a number of treatises, including his " Life of Hilarion," " Dialogue against Jovinianus " and " Dialogue against the Pelagians," with a valuable Introduction and Life.
The best sources for a life are his own writings, particularly his Letters and Prefaces, the latter of which often give a clear insight into his mental states as well as a knowledge of external events in his life. Augustine refers to him in Epist. 261, Ad Oceanum, Contra Julianum 1., and " City of God," xviii. 42; Sulpicius Severus records his impression, received during a stay with Jerome at Bethlehem lasting six months, in his Dialogi, i. 7-9. Elab-
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orate modern treatments of the life are O. Zockler, Hieronymus, sein Leben und Wirken, Gotha, 1865, and A. Thierryi S. Jerdme, la societe chretienne a Rome et I 'emigration romaine en terre sainte, 2 vols., Paris, 1875. Consult farther: F. C. Collombet, Hist, de S. Jerome: sa vie, set ecrits, et sa doctrine, 2 vols., Paris, 1844; W. S. Gilly, Vigilantius and his Times, pp. 91-124, London, 1844; C. F. de T. Montalembert, Les Moines d'occident, i. 144- 187, Paris, 1861; E. Bernard, Les Voyages de S. Jerdme, ib. 1864; E. L. Cutts, St. Jerome, in Fathers for English Readers, London, 1878; A. P. F. de Lambel, S. Jerdme, Tours, 1880; C. Martin, Life of St. Jerome, London, 1888; F. W. Farrar, Lives of the Fathers, ii. 150-297, New York, 1889; P. Largent, <S. Jerdme, Paris, 1898, Eng. transl., London, 1900; G. Grtitzmacher, Hieronymus, 3 vols., Leipsic, 1901-08; J. Brochet, S. Jerdme et ses ennemis, Paris, 1906; J. Tunnel, Saint Jerdme, ib. 1906; Jose de Seguenza (Father Fray), Life of St. Jerome, London, 1907; Tillemont, Memoires, vol. xii.; Ceillier, Auteurt sacres, vii. 545-711 et passim (other volumes contain much useful matter, consult Index); Schaff, Christian Church, iii. 205-214, 967-988, and in general, the church histories dealing with the period; DB, iv. 873-874; DGB, iii. 29-50. Volumes dealing with special phases of Jerome's activity are: M. Rahmer, Die hebraischen Traditionen in den Werken des Hieronymus, Breslau, 1861; Aemil. Liibeck, Hieronymus quos noverit scriptores et ex quibus hauserit, Leipsic, 1872; A. Ebert, Allgemeine Geschichte der Litteratur des Mittelalters, i. 176-203, ib. 1874; W. Nowack, Die Bedeutung des Hieronymus fur die alttestamentliche Textkritik, Gottingen, 1875; H. Goelzer, Etude lexicographique et grammatical de la latinite de S. Jerdme, Paris, 1884; A. Rohricht, Essai sur S. Jerdme, exegete, ib. 1891.
JEROME OF PRAGUE: One of the chief followers and most devoted friends of John Huss; b. at Prague about 1379; burned at the stake at Constance May 30, 1416. His family were well-to-do, and, as he was desirous of seeing the world, after taking his bachelor's degree at the University of Prague in 1398 he secured in 1399 permission to travel. In 1401 he returned to Prague, but in 1402 visited England, and at Oxford copied out the Dialogus and Trialogus of Wyclif, and thus evinced his interest in the great Oxford doctor. He also became an ardent and outspoken advocate of realism, and ever afterward Wyclifism and realism were charges which were constantly getting him into trouble. In 1403 he was in the Holy Land, in 1405 in Paris. There he took his master's degree, but Gerson drove him out. In 1406 he took the same degree in the University of Cologne, and a little later in that of Heidelberg. Nor was he any safer in Prague, to which he returned, and where, in 1407, he took the same degree. In that year he returned to Oxford, but was again compelled to flee. During 1408 and 1409 he was in Prague, and there his pronounced Czech preferences aroused opposition to him in some quarters. Early in Jan., 1410, he made before the university a cautious speech in favor of Wyclif's philosophical views, and this was cited against him at the council of Constance four years later. In Mar., 1410, the bull against Wyclif's writings was issued, and on the charge of favoring them Jerome was imprisoned in Vienna, but managed to escape into Moravia. For this he was excommunicated by the bishop of Cracow. Returned to Prague, he appeared publicly as the advocate of Huss. In 1413 he was in the courts of Poland and Lithuania, making a deep impression by his eloquence and learning. In Cracow he was publicly examined as to his acceptance of the forty-five articles which the enemies of
Jerome of Prague Jerusalem