Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/30

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PHILIP


6


PHILIP


Philip IV, by his formal condemnation of the memory of Boniface VIII, appointed himself judge of the or- thodoxy of the popes. It was laid down as a principle. Bays Geoffrey of Paris, that "the king is to submit to the spiritual power only if the pope is in the right faith". The adversaries of the "theocracy" of the Middle Ages hail Philip IV as its destroyer; and in their enthusiasm for him, by an extraordinary error, they proclaim him a precursor of modern liberty. On the contrary he was an absolutist in the fullest sense of the term. The Flats gcneraux of 1302, in which the Third Estate declared that the king had no superior on earth, were the precursors of the false Galilean theo- ries of Divine right, so favourable to the absolutism of sovereigns.

The civilization of the Middle Ages was based on a great principle, an essentially liberal principle, from which arose the political liberty of England; according to that principle, taxes before being raised by royal authority, ought to be approved by the tax-payers. Boniface VIII in the conflict of 1302 was only main- taining this principle, when he insisted on the consent of the clergy to the collection of the tithes. In the struggle between Philipand Boniface, Philip represents absolutism, Boniface the old medieval ideas of auton- omy. " The reign of Philip IV", writes Renan, "isthe reign which contributed most to form the France of the five succeeding centuries, with its good and bad qualities. The milites regis, those ennobled plebeians, became the agents of all important political business; the princes of the royal blood alone remained superior to or on an equality with them ; the real nobility, which elsewhere established the parliamentary governments, was excluded from participating in the public policy. " Renan is right in declaring that the first act of the French magistracy was "to diminish the power of the Church per fas el tiefas" to establish the absolutism of the king; and that such conduct was for this magis- tracy "an original sin".

Historiens de la France, t. XX, XXIII: Lanqlois in Lavisse, Histoire de France, III (Paris, 1903); Boutaric, La France sous Philippe le Bel (Paris. 1S61) ; Renan, Eludes sur I'histoire re- ligieuse du rignede Philippe le Bel (Paris, 1899); Wenck, Philipp der Schdne von Frankreich, seine Personlichkeit und das Urteil der Zeitgenossen (Marburg, 1905); Finke, Zur Charakleristik Philipps des Schonen in Mitl< iJinuj'-n des Instiluls fiir osterreichische Ge- schichte, XX\'I t I'.tll.'i : Ml^inges sur le Regne de Philippe le Bel: recueil d'arlich .rfr.nls dn ,l/o!/en .4ffe (Clialon-sur-Saone, 1906); HoLTZMANN. Wilhdm urn X„garet (Freiburg im Br., 1897); Paris, Un prods crimmel sous Philippe le Bel in Revue du Palais (Aug.. 1898) ; Lanqlois, Les papiers de G, de Nogaret el de G. de Plaisians Tresor des Charles {Notices et exlraits des manuscrits), XXXIV; Langlois, Doliances du clerge de France an temps de Philippe le Bel in Retme Bleue (9 Sept.. and 14 Oct., 1905) ; Lizerand. CUment V el Philippe IV le Bel (Paris, 1910); ARGniLLlERE, L'Appel au concile sous Philippe le Bel et la gcnkse des theories conciliares in Revue des QueMions Historiques (1911).

Georges Goyau.

Philip, Acts of Saint. See Apocrypha, sub- title III.

Philip, Antipope. See Stephen IV, Pope.

Philip Benizi, Saint, propagator and fifth General of the Servite Order, b. at Florence, Italy, 15 Aug., 1233; d. at Todi, in Umbria, 23 Aug., "l285. His parents were scions of the renowned Benizi and Frescobaldi families. After many years of married life had left them childless, Philip was granted to them in answer to their prayers. HTien but five months old, on beholding St. Alexis and St. Buona- giunta approaching in quest of alms, he exclaimed: "Mother, here come our Lady's Servants; give them an alms for the love of God ". At thirteen years of age, in \'iew of hi.s precocious genius, he was sent to the University of Paris. Here he led a life of study and edification, and after a brilliant career, completed his course in medicine at the University of Padua. He practised mcclioine at Florence for one year, chiefly for the benefit of the poor. As a layman he lived like a member of a religious community, entertaining high


ideals. In a vision of the Blessed Virgin he was finally directed to enter the order of her servants, known as the Servites. St. Philip was received into the order in 1254 by St. Buonfiglio, its first superior. Because of his purity and deep humility, he asked to be enrolled as a simple brother, and was sent to Mt. Senario near Florence, there to continue his life of penance and sacrifice. The miraculous fountain that sprang forth in his grotto is still seen enclosed in a small Byzantine chapel built on the native rock. In 1258 while on a journey to Siena, his great ability and learning, hith- erto concealed from his brethren, was accidentally dis- covered. He was at once ordered to prepare for Holy Orders.

The following year he was ordained to the priest- hood by Bishop John Mangiadoro of Florence. He made great progress in sanctity, drawing his inspira- tion to holiness and Ndrtue principally from the Passion of Jesus and the Sorrows of Mary. His abil- ity was so recognized that he rose rapidly from one post in the order to another, until finally on 5 June, 1267, he was unanimously chosen Superior General. In this position his administrative powers and apos- tolic zeal enjoyed a broad field for development. He travelled throughout Europe preaching and working miracles. Under his care the order grew in numbers and holiness, many of his spiritual children having been raised to the honours of the altar. The greatest perhaps was St. Juliana Falconieri, foundress of the Servite Nuns. After the death of Clement IV in 1268, the cardinals were about to choose St. Philip as his successor, but the saint, learning of their intention, fled secretly and remained in solitude until another choice had been made. In 127-1 he was present at the Council of Lyons, where he possessed the rare and apostolic gift of tongues. When the furious strife between Guelph and Ghibelline was at its height, Philip was active everywhere as a peace-maker, espe- cially in Florence, Pistoia, Arezzo, Forli, and Bologna. God having revealed to him his approaching end, he placed the government of the order in the hands of Blessed Lotharingus. He then repaired to Todi, where he selected the smallest and poorest convent for the scene of his death, which occurred after a short illness. Many miracles were wrought at his intercession; even the dead were raised to life. He was canonized by Clement IX in 1671.

Soulier, Vie de Saiyit Philippe Bfnizi (Paris. 1886; tr. London. 1886); Annales Ord. Serr. B. M. V., passim; Life of Saint Philip Benizi (London, 1874) in Oratorian Series, ed. Bowden.

Charles F. McGinnis.

Philip of Hesse. See Hesse; Luther, Martin.

Philip of Jesus, Saint, b. in Mexico, date un- known; d. at Nagasaki early in February, 1597. Though unusually frivolous as a boy, he joined the Discalced Franciscans of the Province of St. Didacus, founded by St. Peter Baptista, with whom he suffered martyrdom later. After some months in the Order, Philip grew tired of monastic life, left the Franciscans in 1589, took up a mercantile career, and went to the Philippines, where he led a life of pleasure. Later he desired to re-enter the Franciscans and was again admitted at Manila in 1590. After some years he was to have been ordained at the monastery in Mex- ico, the episcopal See of Manila being at "that time vacant. He sailed, 12 July, 1.596, but a storm drove the vessel upon the coast of Japan. The governor of the province confiscated the ship and imprisoned its crew and passengers, among whom were another Franciscan, Juan de Zamorra, two Augustinians, and a Dominican. The discovery of soldiers, cannon, and ammunition on the ship led to the suspicion that it was intended for the conquest of Japan, and that the missionaries were merely to prepare the way for the soldiers. This was also said, falsely and unwarrant-