THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
teratur, ii. 1, pp. 470-475, 622 sqq., 696-697, 716; Bardenhewer, Geschichte, pp. 392-399, 471-475.
On the " Preaching " consult, besides the works named in the text: TS, i. 1, pp. 86 sqq., Cambridge, 1891; T. Zahn, Geschichte des neutestamentlichen Kanons, ii. 2, pp. 820-832, Leipsic, 1892; Harnack, Litteratur, ii. 1, pp. 472-474; E. Hennecke, Die Neutestamentlichen Apokryphen, pp. 168-171, Tubingen, 1904; DCB, iv. 329-331; Vigouroux, Dictionnaire, fasc. xxxii., 414—415; Harnack, Litteratur, ii. 1, pp. 472 sqq.
The " Acts " are collected by R. A. Lipsius in Acta apostolorum apocrypha, part I., Leipsic, 1891, and are discussed very thoroughly in the same scholar's Die Apokryphen Apostelgeschichten und Apostellegenden, 3 vols., Brunswick, 1883-90. Consult further: A. Bell, Lives and Legends of the Evangelists, Apostles, and other Saints, London, 1901; E. W. Budge, The Contendings of the Apostles, 2 vols., ib. 1901; A. Baumstark, Die Petrusund Paulusacten in der litterarischen Ueberlieferung der syrischen Kirche, Leipsic, 1902; C. Schmidt, in TV, xxiv. 1 (1903); G. Ficker, Die Petrusacten, Leipsic, 1903; A. S. Lewis, in Horoz Semiticce, iv. 175-216, London, 1904; Harnack, Litteratur, ii. 1, pp. 549 sqq., and ii. 2, passim; DB, iii. 773-776.
PETER THE APOSTLE, FESTIVALS OF: The calendar of the Western Church from the close of the early period indicates four feasts i» honor of Peter.
I. The Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul: This festival on June 29 commemorating the interment of the remains of Peter and Paul, said to have taken place under consuls Tuscus and Bassus in 258, is already noted in the Kalendarium Liberianus prepared in 354. Ambrose and Prudentius both testify to it in the fourth century and no Western list of martyrs from the sixth century fails to notice it. In the Eastern Church the ecclesiastical history of Theodorus Lector states that this festival was already celebrated in Constantinople toward the end of the reign of Anastasius I. (518). It also appears in the calendars of the Copts, Ethiopians, and Armenians, the last of these naming Dec. 27 as well as June 29 as a memorial day of the martyrdom of Peter. The Roman Catholic Church regards this, together with Saint Paul's day on June 30, as one of the leading annual festivals. Benedict authorized a celebration of eight days in 1743, and Pius IX. lent new glory to this feast by the pompous celebration of the eighteenth centennial anniversary in 1867.
II. Feast of the Antiochian Accession of St. Peter: This festival, assigned to Feb. 22, in honor of the assumption of Peter of the bishopric is mentioned in the Calendarium Liberianum in 354. This oldest source as well as the calendar of Polemius Silvius of 448 leaves the seat of the bishopric to which the celebration pertains undetermined. The Ambrosian liturgy and the sacramentary of Gelasius I. do not mention this festival; after the Gregorian sacramentary mention is made in all the liturgies of the West but with a variation as to the seat. One recension of the Gregorian sacramentary refers the installation festival to Antioch and another to Rome.
III. Feast of Saint Peter's Accession at Rome: This festival, celebrated on Jan. 18, was not clearly distinguished from the last preceding before the eighth century. For example, some old liturgies of the Gallican Church knew of but one feast of installation, that of Jan. 18. Only from the Carolin-
gian epoch were both feasts firmly established as well as the tradition of a double installation of Peter.
IV. Feast of the Chains of Saint Peter: This feast, celebrated on Aug. 1, mention of which is lacking in the older sources, is sometimes referred after the ninth century to the imprisonment and miraculous deliverance of Peter under Herod Agrippa and by some older sources like the martyria of Jerome and Bede rather to that under Nero. In the Western Church the feast assumed the character of a thanksgiving for the harvest, since bread made of the first-fruits was offered in the churches. In the Eastern Church this feast is celebrated on Jan. 16; in the Armenian Church on Feb. 22.
V. Feast of the Finger of the Apostle Peter: Nothing is known with reference to the origin and meaning, except that it took place among the Armenians on May 24.
VI. A Memorial Day of Saint Peter: This was celebrated on July 31 among the Abyssinians. There is no further record. (O. ZocKLERf.)
Bibliography: K. A. H. Kellner, Heortologie, pp. 163-166, 173-178, Freiburg, 1901; J. C. W. Augusti, Denkwiirdigkeiten, iii. 175 sqq., Leipsic, 1820; F. X. Kraus, Real- Encyklopadie der christlichen Altertumer, i. 496—498, Freiburg, 1882; N. Nilles, Kalendarium manuale utriusque ecclesice, vol. ii., Innsbruck, 1885; F. Probst, Die altesten rdmischen Sacramentarien und Ordines, pp. 102, 272, 359, Miinster, 1892; DCA, ii. 1623-28; KL, 1879-80.
PETER OF ASPELT. See Aichspalt.
PETER OF BLOIS: Ecclesiastical author; b. at Blois (100 m. s.w. of Paris) about 1130; d. between 1204 and 1212. While he was not among the foremost in rank and station, he was in positions which make his productions worthy sources for the church history of his times. His education was begun young and was extended by wide reading before he went to Bologna for the study of law and medicine; he afterward took up the study of theology, but that he did so under John of Salisbury (q.v.) is not proved. In 1167 he accompanied Stephen, archbishop of Palermo, to Sicily, where he became keeper of the seal during the minority of King William II., but the disfavor of the Sicilians for Stephen compelled Peter to leave in 1169. Later he was called by Henry II. to England, where he served several persons of distinction as secretary or chancellor, among them Baldwin of Canterbury, Queen Eleanor, widow of Henry II., and possibly Archbishop Hubert Walter. He had also relations with the bishop of Bath, whose archdeacon he was 1175-91; he spent a joyless service also as dean at Wolverhampton, where his attempts at reform were opposed by the chapter.
The personality of Peter does not make a pleasant impression upon one. He seems to have suffered from discontent because he did not meet the recognition his abilities seemed to demand. He did not lack philosophical talent or practical skill; but he was not creative, nor did he seem to grasp opportunities to put himself in a commanding position. He possessed sincerity and an earnest ethical spirit, was a partizan of Pope Alexander III. and a foe to heretics, and also upheld his episcopal superiors against their unruly subordinates. His letters are