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Persecution may be defined in general as the unlawful coercion of another's liberty or his unlawful punishment, for not every kind of punishment can be regarded as persecution. For our purpose it must be still further limited to the sphere of religion, and in that sense persecution means unlawful coercion or punishment for religion's sake.
TheChurch has suffered many kinds of persecution. The growth and the continued existence ofChristianity have been hindered by culturedpaganism and by savageheathenism. And in more recent timesagnosticism has harassed theChurch in the various states of America andEurope. But most deplorable of all persecutions have been those thatCatholicism has suffered from otherChristians. With regard to these it has to be considered that theChurch herself has appealed to force, and that, not only in her own defence, but also, so it is objected, in unprovoked attack. Thus by means of theInquisition or religiouswars she was herself the aggressor in many instances during theMiddle Ages and in the time of theReformation. And even if the answer be urged that she was only defending her own existence, the retort seems fairly plausible thatpagan andheathen powers were only acting in their own defence when they prohibited the spread ofChristianity. TheChurch would therefore seem to be strangely inconsistent, for while she claims toleration and liberty for herself she has been and still remains intolerant of all otherreligions.
In answer to this objection, we may admit the fact and yet deny the conclusion. TheChurch claims to carry a message or rather a command fromGod and to beGod's only messenger. In point of fact it is only within recent years, when toleration is supposed to have become adogma, that the other "champions of Revelation" have abandoned their similar claims. That they should abandon their right to command allegiance is a natural consequence ofProtestantism; whereas it is theChurch's claim to be the accredited andinfallible ambassador ofGod which justifies her apparent inconsistency. Such intolerance, however, is not the same as persecution, by which we understand the unlawful exercise of coercion. Every corporation lawfully constituted has theright to coerce its subjects within due limits. And though theChurch exercises that right for the most part by spiritual sanctions, she has never relinquished theright to use other means. Before examining this latter right to physical coercion, there must be introduced the important distinction betweenpagans andChristians. Regularly, force has not been employed againstpagan orJew: "For what have I to do to judge them that are without?" (1 Corinthians 5:12); seeJEWS AND JUDAISM:Judaism and Church Legislation.
Instances of compulsory conversions such as have occurred at different periods of theChurch's history must be ascribed to the misplacedzeal of autocraticindividuals. But theChurch does claim theright to coerce her own subjects. Here again, however, a distinction must be made. The non-CatholicChristians of our day are, strictly speaking, her subjects; but in her legislation she treats them as if they were not her subjects. The "Ne temere", e.g., ofPius X (1907), recognizes the marriages ofProtestants as valid, though not contracted according toCatholic conditions: and thelaws of abstinence are not considered to be binding onProtestants. So, with regard to her right to use coercion, theChurch only exercises her authority over those whom she considers personally and formallyapostates. A modernProtestant is not in the same category with theAlbigenses orWyclifites. These were held to be personally responsible for their apostasy; and theChurch enforced her authority over them: It istrue that in many cases theheretics were rebels against the State also; but theChurch's claim to exercise coercion is not confined to such cases of social disorder. And what is more, her purpose was not only to protect thefaith of theorthodox, but also to punish theapostates. Formal apostasy was then looked upon as treason againstGod — a much more heinous crime than treason against a civil ruler, which, until recent times, was punished with great severity. (SeeAPOSTASY;HERESY.) It was a poisoning of the life of thesoul in others (St. Thomas Aquinas, II-II, Q. xi, articles 3, 4.)
There can be nodoubt, therefore, that theChurch claimed theright to use physical coercion against formalapostates. Not, of course, that she would exercise her authority in the same way today, even if there were aCatholic State in which otherChristians were personally and formallyapostates. She adapts her discipline to the times and circumstances in order that it may fulfil its salutary purpose. Her own children are not punished by fines,imprisonment, or other temporal punishments, but by spiritual pains and penalties, andheretics are treated as she treatedpagans: "Fides suadenda est, non imponenda" (Faith is a matter of persuasion, not of compulsion) — a sentiment that goes back toSt. Basil ("Revue de l'Orient Chrétien", 2nd series, XIV, 1909, 38) and toSt. Ambrose, in the fourth century, the latter applying it even to the treatment of formalapostates. It must also be remembered that when she did use her right to exercise physical coercion over formalapostates, that right was then universally admitted. Churchmen had naturally theideas of their time as to why and how penalties should be inflicted. Withal, the RomanInquisition was very different from that ofSpain, and thepopes did not approve the harsh proceedings of the latter. Moreover, suchideas of physical coercion in matters spiritual were not peculiar toCatholics (see TOLERATION). TheReformers were not less, but, If anything, more, intolerant (seeINQUISITION). If the intolerance of Churchmen is blamable, then that of theReformers is doubly so. From their own standpoint, it was unjustifiable. First, they were in revolt against the established authority of theChurch, and secondly they could hardly use force to compel the unwilling to conform to their own principle of private judgment. With this clear demarcation of the Reformer's private judgment from the Catholic's authority, it hardly serves our purpose to estimate the relativeviolence ofCatholic andProtestant Governments during the times of theReformation. And yet it is well to remember that the methods of the malignedInquisition inSpain andItaly were far less destructive of life than the religiouswars ofFrance andGermany. What is, however, more to our purpose is to notice the outspoken intolerance of theProtestant leaders; for it gave an additional right to theChurch to appeal to force. She was punishing her defaulting subjects and at the same time defending herself against their attacks.
Such compulsion, therefore, as is used by legitimate authority cannot be called persecution, nor can its victims be calledmartyrs. It is not enough that those who are condemned todeath should be suffering for their religious opinions. Amartyr is a witness to thetruth; whereas those who suffered the extreme penalty of theChurch were at the most the witnesses to their own sincerity, and therefore unhappily no more than pseudo-martyrs. We need not dwell upon the second objection which pretends that apagan government might be justified in harassingChristian missionaries in so far as it consideredChristianity to be subversive of established authority. TheChristian revelation is thesupernatural message of the Creator to His creatures, to which there can be no lawful resistance. Its missionaries have the right and theduty to preach it everywhere. They who die in the propagation or maintenance of the Gospel areGod's witnesses to thetruth, suffering persecution for His sake.
The brief outline here given of persecutions directed against theChurch follows the chronological order, and is scarcely more than a catalogue of the principal formal and public onslaughts againstCatholicism. Nor does it take into account other forms of attack, e.g., literary and social persecution, some form of suffering forChrist's sake being a sure note of the True Church (John 15:20;2 Timothy 3:12;Matthew 10:23). For a popular general account of persecutions ofCatholics previous to the nineteenth century See Leclercq, "Les Martyrs" (5 vols., Paris, 1902-09).
The persecutions of this period are treated extensively underMARTYR. See alsoACTS OF THE MARTYRS, and the articles on individualmartyrs or groups ofmartyrs (THE TEN THOUSAND MARTYRS;FORTY MARTYRS;AGAUNUM, for the Theban Legion).
Constantine's edict of toleration had accelerated the final triumph ofChristianity. But the extreme measures passed against the ancient religion of the empire, and especially by Constans, even though they were not strictly carried out, roused considerable opposition. And whenJulian the Apostate (361-63) came to the throne, he supported the defenders ofpaganism, though he strove to strengthen the old religion by recommendingworks of charity and apriesthood of Strictly moral lives which, a thing unheard of, should preach and instruct. State protection was withdrawn fromChristianity, and no section of theChurch favoured more than another, so that theDonatists andArians were enabled to return.
All the privileges formerly granted toclerics were repealed;civil jurisdiction taken from thebishops, and the subsidies towidows and virgins stopped. Highereducation, also, was taken out of the hands ofChristians by the prohibition of anyone who was not apagan from teaching classical literature. And finally, thetombs ofmartyrs were destroyed. The emperor was afraid to proceed to direct persecution, but he fomented the dissensions among theChristians, and he tolerated and even encouraged the persecutions raised bypagan communities and governors, especially in Alexandria, Heliopolis, Maiouma, the port ofGaza,Antioch,Arethusa, and Cæsarea in Cappadocia (cf. Grergory ofNazianzus, Orat. IV, 86-95; P.G., XXXV, 613-28). Many, in different places, suffered and even died for the Faith, though another pretext was found for their death, at least by the emperor. Of themartyrs of this period mention may be made of John and Paul (q.v.), who suffered inRome; the soldiers Juventinus and Maximian (cf.St. John Chrysostom's sermon on them in P.G., L, 571-77); Macedonius,Tatian, and Theodulus of Meros in Phrygia (Socrates, III, 15;Sozomen, V, 11); Basil, apriest ofAncyra (Sozomen, V, 11).Julian himself seems to have ordered the executions of John and Paul, the steward and secretary respectively ofConstantia, daughter of Constantine. However, he reigned only for two years, and his persecution was, in the words ofSt. Athanasius, "but a passing cloud".
When the persecution ofChristianity was abandoned by the Roman Government, it was taken up by Rome's traditional enemy, thePersians, though formerly they had been more or less tolerant of the new religion. On the outbreak ofwar between the two empires, Sapor II (310-80), under the instigation of the Persianpriests, initiated a severe persecution of theChristians in 339 or 340. It comprised the destruction or confiscation of churches and a general massacre, especially ofbishops andpriests. The number of victims, according toSozomen (Church History II.9-14), was no less than 16,000, among them being Symeon,Bishop ofSeleucia; there was a respite from the general persecution, but it was resumed and with still greaterviolence by Bahram V (420-38), who persecuted savagely for one year, and was not prevented from causing numerous individualmartyrdoms by the treaty he made (422) with Theodosius II, guaranteeing liberty ofconscience to theChristians. Yezdegerd II (438-57), his successor, began a fierce persecution in 445 or 446, traces of which are found shortly before 450. The persecution of Chosroes I from 541 to 545 was directed chiefly against thebishops andclergy. He also destroyed churches andmonasteries andimprisoned Persian noblemen who had becomeChristians. The last persecution by Persian kings was that of Chosroes II (590-628), who madewar on allChristians alike during 627 and 628. Speaking generally, the dangerous time for theChurch inPersia was when the kings were atwar with the Roman Empire.
Christianity was introduced among theGoths about the middle of the third century, and "Theophilus Episcopus Gothiæ" was present at theCouncil of Nicæa (325). But, owing to the exertions ofBishop Ulfilas (340, died 383), anArian,Arianism was professed by the great majority of theVisigoths of Dacia (Transylvania and WestHungary), converts frompaganism; and it passed with them into Lower Mœsia across the Danube, when a Gothic chieftain, after a cruel persecution droveUlfilas and his converts from his lands, probably in 349. And subsequently, when in 370 theVisigoths, pressed by the Huns, crossed the Danube and entered the Roman Empire,Arianism was the religion practised by theEmperor Valens. This fact, along with the national character given toArianism byUlfilas, made it the form ofChristianity adopted also by theOstrogoths, from whom it spread to theBurgundians, Suevi,Vandals, and Lombards.
The first persecution we hear of was that directed by thepaganVisigoth King Athanaric. begun about 370 and lasting for two, or perhaps six, years after hiswar withValens. St. Sabas was drowned in 372, others were burnt, sometimes in a body in the tents which were used as churches. When, in the fifth and sixth centuries, theVisigoths invadedItaly,Gaul, andSpain, the churches were plundered, and theCatholicbishops andclergy were oftenmurdered; but their normal attitude was one of toleration, Euric (483), theVisigoth King ofToulouse, is especially mentioned by Sidonius Apollinaris (Ep. vii, 6) as a hater ofCatholicism and a persecutor of theCatholics, though it is not clear that he persecuted to death. InSpain there was persecution at least from time to time during the period 476-586, beginning with the aforesaid Euric, who occupied Catalonia in 476. We hear of persecution by Agila (549-554) also, and finally by Leovigild (573-86). Bishops were exiled and church goods seized. His son Hermenigild, a convert to theCatholicFaith, is described in the seventh century (e.g. bySt. Gregory the Great) as amartyr. A contemporary chronicler,John of Biclaro, who had himself suffered for the Faith, says that the prince wasmurdered inprison by anArian, Sisibert; but he does not say that Leovigild approved of themurder (see HERMINGILD; and Hodgkin, "Italy and her Invaders", V, 255). With the accession of Reccared, who had become aCatholic,Arianism ceased to be the creed of the SpanishVisigoths.
As for theOstrogoths, they seem to have been fairly tolerant, after the first violences of the invasion. A notable exception was the persecution ofTheodoric (524-26). It was prompted by the repressive measures which Justin I had issued against theArians of the Eastern Empire, among whomGoths would of coarse be included. One of the victims of the persecution wasPope John I who died inprison.
St. Gregory the Great, in parts of his "Dialogues", describes the sufferings whichCatholics had to endure at the time of the Lombard invasion under Alboin (568) and afterwards. But on the whole, after Autharis's death (590) the Lombards were not troublesome, except perhaps in the Duchies ofBenevento andSpoleto. Autharis's queen, Theudelinda, aCatholic princess ofBavaria, was able to use her influence with her second husband, Agilulf, Autharis's successor, so that he, although probably remaining anArian, was friendly to theChurch and allowed his son to bebaptized aCatholic (seeLOMBARDY).
TheVandals,Arians like theVisigoths and the others, were the most hostile of all towards theChurch. During the period of their domination inSpain (422-29) theChurch suffered persecution, the details of which are unknown. In 429, under the lead of Genseric, theGoths crossed over toAfrica, and by 455 had made themselves masters of Roman Africa. In the North, thebishops were driven from their sees into exile. When Carthage was taken in 439 the churches were given over to theArianclergy, and thebishop Quodvultdeus (a friend ofSt. Augustine) and the greater part of theCatholicclergy were stripped of what they had, put on board unseaworthy ships, and carried toNaples. Confiscation ofchurch property and exile of theclergy was the rule throughout the provinces of the North, where all public worship was forbidden toCatholics. In the provinces of the South, however, the persecution was not severe. SomeCatholic court officials, who had accompanied Genseric fromSpain, were tortured, exiled, and finallyput to death because they refused toapostatize. NoCatholic, in fact, was allowed to hold any office.
Genseric's son, Huneric, who succeeded in 477, though at first somewhat tolerant, arrested and banished under circumstances of great cruelty nearly five thousandCatholics, includingbishops andclergy, and finally by an edict of 25 Feb., 484, abolished theCatholic worship, transferred all churches andchurch property to theArians, exiled thebishops andclergy, and deprived of civilrights all those who would not receiveArianbaptism. Great numbers suffered savage treatment, many died, others were mutilated or crippled for life. His successor, Guntamund (484-96), did not relax the persecution until 487. But in 494 thebishops were recalled, though they had afterwards to endure some persecution from Trasamund (496-523). And complete peace came to theChurch at the accession of Genseric's son Hilderic, with whom theVandal domination ended (seeAFRICA).
Christianity penetrated into South Arabia (Yemen) in the fourth century. In the sixth century theChristians were brutally persecuted by the Jewish King Dunaan, no less than five thousand, including the prince, Arethas, being said to have suffered execution in 523 after the capture of Nagra. The Faith was only saved from utter extinction at this period by the armed intervention of the King ofAbyssinia. And it did in fact disappear before the invading forces ofIslam.
With the spread ofMohammedanism inSyria,Egypt,Persia, and North Africa, there went a gradual subjugation ofChristianity. At the first onset of invasion, in the eighth Century, manyChristians were butchered for refusing toapostatize; afterwards they were treated as helots, subject to a special tax, and liable to suffer loss of goods or life itself at the caprice of the caliph or the populace. InSpain the firstMohammedan ruler to institute a violent persecution of theChristians was the viceroy Abderrahman II (821-52). The persecution was begun in 850, was continued by Mohammed (852-87) and lasted with interruptions till 960, when theChristians were strong enough to intimidate their persecutors. The number ofmartyrs was small, Eulogius,Archbishop of Toledo (11 March, 859), who has left us an account of the persecution, being himself the most famous (seeMOHAMMED AND MOHAMMEDANISM).
The troubles brought on theChurch of the East by theIconoclastic emperors cover a period of one hundred and twenty years. Leo III (the Isaurian) published two edicts against images about 726 and 730. The execution of the edicts was strenuously resisted. PopesGregory II andGregory III protested in vigorous language against the autocratic reformer, and the people resorted to openviolence. But Constantine V (Copronymus, 741-75) continued hisfather's policy, summoning a council at Constantinople in 754 and then persecuting theorthodox party. Themonks formed the especial object of his attack. Monasteries were demolished, and themonks themselves shamefully maltreated andput to death. Under Constantine VI (780-97), through the influence of his mother, the regent Irene, the Seventh Œcumenical Council was summoned in 787, and rescinded the decrees of Copronymus's Council. But there was a revival of the persecution under Leo V (813-20), thebishops who stood firm, as well as themonks, being the special objects of his attack, while many others were directly done to death or died as a result of cruel treatment inprison. This persecution, which was continued under Michael II (820-29), reached its most fierce phase under Theophilus (829-42). Great numbers ofmonks wereput to death by this monarch; but at his decease the persecutions ended (842) (seeICONOCLASM).
We have reviewed the persecutions undergone by theChurch during the first millennium of her existence. During her second millennium she has continued to suffer persecution in her mission of spreading the Gospel, and especially inJapan andChina (seeJAPANESE MARTYRS;MARTYRS IN CHINA). She has also had to face the attacks of her own children, culminating in the excesses and religiouswars of theReformation.
For an account of the persecutions ofIrish, English, and ScotchCatholics, seeENGLAND;IRELAND;SCOTLAND;PENAL LAWS; and the numerous articles on individualmartyrs, e.g.EDMUND CAMPION; OLIVER PLUNKETT.
Within the last century,Poland has suffered what is perhaps the most notable of recent persecutions.Catholicism had continued to be the established religion of the country until the intervention of Catherine II ofRussia (1762-96). By means of political intrigues and open hostility, she first of all secured a position of political suzerainty over the country, and then effected the separation of theRuthenians from theHoly See, and incorporated them with theOrthodox Church ofRussia. Nicholas I (1825-55), and Alexander II (1855-81), resumed her policy of intimidation and forcible suppression. The latter monarch especially showed himself a violent persecutor of theCatholics, the barbarities that were committed in 1863 being so savage as to call forth a joint protest from the Governments ofFrance,Austria, and Great Britain. After his death theCatholics were granted a certain measure of toleration, and in 1905 Nicholas II granted them full liberty of worship (seePOLAND;RUSSIA).
For the persecution ofCatholics in theOttoman Empire see TURKEY.
In modern times, however, a new element has been added to the forces opposing theChurch. There have indeed been occasional recrudescences of the "Reformers",violence dictated by a frenzied fear ofCatholic progress. Such were for instance the Charleston and Philadelphia disturbances in 1834 and 1844, and the "No Popery" cries against the establishment of theCatholichierarchy inEngland andHolland in 1850 and 1853. But this was no more than the spirit of theReformation. For the attitude of the South American republics during the nineteenth century, see the articles on those countries.
A new spirit of opposition appears in the so-called "Liberalism" and in Free Thought, whose influence has been felt inCatholic as well asProtestant countries. Its origin is to be traced back to the infidel philosophy of the eighteenth century. At the end of that century it had grown so strong that it could menace theChurch with armedviolence. InFrance six hundredpriests weremurdered by Jourdan, "the Beheader", in 1791, and in the next year three hundredecclesiastics, including anarchbishop and twobishops, were cruelly massacred in theprisons ofParis. The Reign of Terror ended in 1795. But the spirit of infidelity which triumphed then has ever since sought and found opportunities for persecution. And it has been assisted by the endeavours of even so-calledCatholic governments to subordinate theChurch to the State, or to separate the two powers altogether. InSwitzerland theCatholics were so incensed by the attacks of the Liberal party on their religious freedom that they resolved on an appeal to arms. TheirSonderbund (q.v.) or "Separate League" was at first successful in thewar of 1843, and in spite of its final defeat by the forces of the Diet in 1847 the result has been to secure religious liberty throughoutSwitzerland. Since that time the excitement caused by thedecree onPapal Infallibility found vent in another period of hostile legislation; but theCatholics have been strong enough to maintain and reinforce their position in the country.
In other countriesLiberalism has not issued in such directwarfare against theChurch; though the defenders of theChurch have often been ranged against revolutionaries who were attacking the altar along with the throne. But the history of the nineteenth century reveals a constant opposition to theChurch. Her influence has been straitened by adverse legislation, the monastic orders have been expelled and theirproperty confiscated, and, what is perhaps most characteristic of modern persecution, religion has been excluded from theschools anduniversities. The underlying principle is always the same, though the form it assumes and the occasion of its development are peculiar to the different times and places. Gallicanism inFrance, Josephinism inAustria, and the May Laws of theGerman Empire have all the same principle of subordinating theChurch to the Government, or separating the two powers by a secularist and unnaturaldivorce. But the solidarity ofCatholics and the energetic protests of theHoly See succeeded often in establishing Concordats to safeguard the independentrights of theChurch. The terms of these concessions have not always been observed by Liberal or Absolutist Governments. Still they saved theChurch in her time of peril. And the enforced separation of Church from State which followed the renunciation of the Concordats has taught theCatholics in Latin countries the dangers of Secularism and how they must defend theirrights as members of a Church which transcends the limits of states and nations, and acknowledges an authority beyond the reach of political legislation. In the Teutonic countries, on the other hand, theChurch does not loom so large a target for the missiles of her enemies. Long years of persecution have done their work, and left theCatholics with a greater need and a greater sense of solidarity. There is less danger of confusing friend and foe, and the progress of theChurch is made more apparent.
GENERAL: SYDNEY SMITH,The Pope and the Spanish Inquisition inThe Month, LXXIV (1802), 375-99; cf.Dublin Review, LXI (1867), 177-78; KOHLER,Reform und Ketzerprocess (Tübingen, 1901); CAMUT,La Tolérance protestante (Paris, 1903); RUSSELL,Maryland; The Land of Sanctuary (Baltimore, 1907); PAULUS,Zu Luthers These über die Ketzerverbrennung inHist. Polit. Blätter, CXL (1908), 357-67; MOULARD,Le Catholique et le pouvoir coercitif de l'Église inRevue pratique de l'Apologétique, VI (1908), 721-36; KEATING,Intolerance, Persecution, and Proselytism inThe Month, CXIII (1909), 512-22; DE CAUZOUS,Histoire de l'Inquisition en France, I (Paris, 1909).
ROMAN MARTYRS: An exhaustive and reliable work is Allard, "Les Persécutions" (5 vols., Paris, 1885); also his "Ten Lectures on the Martyrs" (New York, 1907); and for an exhaustive literature see Healy, "The Valerian Persecution" (Boston).
JULIAN THE APOSTATE: SOZOMEN,Church History V.11; SOCRATES,Church History III.15; AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS, XXI-XXV; TILLEMONT,Mémoires, VII, 322-43; 717-45; LECLERCQ,Les Martyrs, III (Paris, 1904); ALLARD,Le Christianisme et l'empire romain de Néron à Théodore (Paris, 1897), 224-31; IDEM,Julien l'Apostat, III, 52-102; 152-158 (Paris, 1903); DUCHESNE,Histoire ancienne de l'Église, II (Paris, 1907), 328-35.
PERSIA: SOZOMEN,op. cit., 9-14;Acta Sanctorum Martyrum, ed. ASSEMANI, I (Rome, 1748), Syriac text with Lat. tr.;Acta Martyrum et Sanctorum, II, III, IV, ed. BEDJAN (Leipzig, 1890-95), Syriac text (for discussion of these two authorities See DUVAL,Littérature syriaque (Paris, 1899), 130-43). A list of martyrs who suffered under Sapor II was first published by WRIGHT and reproduced in theMartyrologium Hieronymianum by DE ROSSI AND DUCHESNE inActa SS., Nov., II, part I, lxiii (Brussels, 1894); HOFFMANN,Auszüge aus syrischen Akten persischer Martyrer, text, tr., and notes (Leipzig. 1886); LECLERCQ,op. cit., III; DUVAL,Littérature syriaque (Paris, 1897), 129-47; LABOURT,Le Christianisme dans l'empire perse (Paris, 1904); DUCHESNE,op. cit. (Paris, 1910), 553-64.
GOTHS: KAUFFMAN,Aus der Schule des Wulfila: Auxentii Dorostorensis Epistola de fide, vita et obitu Wulfila (Strasburg, 1899). AUXENTIUS'S account is also found in WALTZ,Ueber das leben und die lehre des Ulfila (Hanover, 1840); HODGKIN,Italy and her Invaders, I (Oxford, 1892). 80-93; DUCHESNE,op. cit., II (Paris, 1908); SCOTT,Ulfilas, Apostle of the Goths (Cambridge, 1885). For general account of Goths and Catholicism, See UHLHORN,Kampfe und Siege des Christentums in der germanischen Welt (Stuttgart, 1898).
FOR VISIGOTHS: SOCRATES,op. cit., IV, 33; Contemporary letter onSt. Sabas, Acta SS., 12 April; see also later document onSt. Nicetas, ibid., 15 Sept., and HODGKIN,op. cit., I, 1, 175; DAHN,Urgeschichte der germanischen und romanischen Volker, I (Berlin, 1881), 426 sq., for Athanaric's persecution; SIDONIUS APOLLINARIS, ep. vii, 6 inMon. Germ. Hist.: Auct. Antiq., VIII, HODGKIN,op. cit., II, 484, for Euric; JOHN OF BICLARO inMon. Germ, Hist,: Auct. Antiq., XI, 211; GORRES,Kirche und Staat im Westgotenreich von Eurich bis Leovigild inTheol, Stud. u. Krit. (Gotha, 1893), 708-34; GAMS,Kirchengeschichte Spaniens, I, II (Augsburg, 1862), 4; LECLERCQ,L'Espagne chrétienne (Paris, 1906); ASCHBACH,Gesch. der Westgoten (Frankfort, 1827).
FOR OSTROGOTHS:Vita S. Severini inMon. Germ, Hist.: Auct. Antiq., 1; PAPENCORDT,Gesch, der stadt Rom. (Paderborn, 1857), 62 sq.; PFEILSCHRIFTER,Der Ostrogotenkönig Theodoric der Grosse und die Katholische Kirche inKirchengeschichtliche Studien, III (Münster, 1896), 1, 2; GRISAR,Geschichte Roms und der Papste im Mittelalter, I (Freiburg im Br., 1901), 86, 481.
AMONG THE LOMBARDS: ST. GREGORY THE GREAT,Dialogues, III, 27, 28, 37, 39; iv, 21-23, see HODGKIN,op. cit., VI, 97, 104; PAUL THE DEACON,Historia Langobardorum, I-IV inMon. Germ. Hist.: Script. Langob. et Ital. (Hanover, 1878), 45 Sq., see HODGKIN,op. cit., V. 68-80; DAHN,op. cit.; GRISAR,op. cit.
AMONG THE VANDALS: IDATIUS inMon. Germ, Hist.: Auct. Antiq., XI, 13-36; MIGNE,P.L., LI; VICTOR VITENSIS,Historia persecutionis Africanæ provinciæ, ed, HALM inMon. Germ. Hist., loc. cit., III; PETSCHENIG,Corpus Script. eccles. lat., VII (Vienna, 1881); MIGNE,P.L., LVII; PROSPER,Chronicon inMon. Germ. Hist., loc. cit. IX; MIGNE,P.L., LI; RUINART,Hist. persec. Vand. inP.L., LVIII; PAPENCORDT,Gesch. der Vandalischen Herrschaft inAfrika (Berlin, 1837); DAHN,op. cit.; HODGKIN,op. cit., II, 229-30, 269-82; LECLERCQ,L'Afrique chrétienne, II (Paris, 1904); IDEM,Les Martyrs, III (Paris, 1904); DUCHESNE,op. cit., III, 626-45.
IN ARABIA: FELL,Die Christenverfolgung in Südarabien inZeitsch. der deutschen morgent. Gesellechaft (1881), XXV. (See ARABIA.)
UNDER THE MOHAMMEDANS: PARGOIRE,L'Église byzantine, (Paris, 1905), 153-6, 275-9; LECLERCQ,L'Afrique chrétienne, II (Paris, 1904); IDEM,Les Martyrs, IV (Paris, 1905). For Spain: See EULOGIUS and Bibliography;Vita S. Eulogii, by ALVARUS inP.L., CXV, 705 sq.; EULOGIUS,Memoriale Sanctorum seu libri III de martyribus cordubensibus; MIGNE,P.L., CXV, 731; Dozy,Histoire des Mussulmans d'Espagne, II (Leyden, 1861); GAMS,Kirchengesch. Spaniens, II (Ratisbon, 1864); HAINES,Christianity and Islam in Spain, 756-1031 (London, 1889); LECLERCQ,L'Espagne chrétienne (Paris, 1906).
ICONOCLASTS:Theodori Studitæ Epistola, P.G., XCIX; TOUGARD,La Persécution iconoclaste d'après la correspondance de S. Théodore Studite inRevue des Questions historiques, L (1891), 80, 118; HERGENROTHER,Photius, I, 226 sqq. (Ratisbon, 1867); LOMBARD,Constantin V, Empereur des Romains (Paris, 1902); PARGOIRE,L'Église byzantine de 527-847 (Paris, 1905), contains abundant references to lives and acts of martyrs.
MODERN PERIOD: BRÜCK-KISSLING,Gesch. der kath. Kirche im neunzehnten Jahrh. (5 vols., Mainz and Münster, 1908); MACCAFFREY,History of the Catholic Church in the Nineteenth Century (2 vols., Dublin, 1909); GOYAU,L'Allemagne religieuse (3 vols., Paris, 1906).
APA citation.Bridge, J.(1911).Persecution. InThe Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11703a.htm
MLA citation.Bridge, James."Persecution."The Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 11.New York: Robert Appleton Company,1911.<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11703a.htm>.
Transcription.This article was transcribed for New Advent by Douglas J. Potter.Dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ.
Ecclesiastical approbation.Nihil Obstat. February 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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