BARON
304
BARONIUS
Aichbishopric of Cashel. but that he declined the
office. He was appointed historiographer (1676) by
Cosmo de' Medici. Grand-duke of Tuscany, and was
elected a member of the Academy of Florence.
While under the patronage of the grand-duke he pub-
lished the "Trias Tuscia", in honour of three re-
markable religious of the coimtn.-, and, in the same
year, the Orbes Medicei". His last work was a his-
tory of the Order for Redemption of Captives, from
1198 till 1297. He died 18 March, 1696, and was
buried at St. Isidore's in Rome, where his tomb with
the inscription, wTitten by John De Burgo, a rector
of the college, still exists. Two contemporarj' oil
paintings of him have come do-mi to us, one preserved
in St. Isidore's, the other in the Franciscan house,
Dublin. His principal works are: "Panegj-rici Sacro-
prophani" (Rome, 1G43: Lyons, 1656); "Obsidio et
expugnatio Arcis Duncannon sub Thoma Preston";
"Pislusiones Philosophies" (Rome, 1651; Lyons,
1661); "Boetius Absolutus" (Rome, 1653); "Scotus
defensus et amplificatus" (3 vols., Cologne, 1664);
"Ctu-sus Theologicus" (6 vols., 1670); "Opuscula"
(4 vols., 1666-71); "Annales Ordinis Sancta? Trinita-
tis pro redemptione captivorum ab aimo 1198 usque
ad annum 1297" (Rome, 1864).
Annahe Minorum (Fom-ca. 1731); Ware. Irish TTriffrs. ed. H.iRRls, 253; Gilbert ed., History of Irish Confederation and War in Ireland, IS^l-iS (Dublin, 1882); Franciscan MSS. (Dublin); Meehan, Rise and Fall of the Irish Franciscan Monasteries (Dublin, 1S72), 89-93, 217.
J.uiES M.^cCatfrey.
Baron, Vincent, a Dominican theologian and preacher b. at Martres, in the department of the Haute-Garonne, France, 17 May, 1604; d. in Paris, 21 January 1674. At the age of seventeen he passed from the college of the Jesuits in Toulouse to the Dominican convent of St. Thomas in the same city. There he made his religious profession, 16 May, 1622, completed his course in pliilosophy and theologj', and taught these branches. As early as 1634 he was first professor in his convent and conventual doctor in the I'niversity of Toulouse. Rare erudi- tion, depth of thought, and clearness of exposition earned for him the reputation of being one of the lead- ing theologians of France. While discharging his professorial duties he delivered courses of Lenten sermons in the principal churches of Toulouse, Avignon, Bordeaux, and other cities of Southern France. Upon the in\-itation of the bishops of Lan- guedoc he preached throughout their dioceses for ten years, reviving the faith of Catholics, elevating their morals and combating the errors of the Cal- vinists, with vi-hose ministers he frequently joined in open debate, sometimes in their public sj-nods. He published an abridgment of these controversies under the title "L'h^r&ie convaincue" (Paris, 1668). Of his sermons to Catholic congregations we have only those preached at Paris in 1658 and 1659 (Paris, 1660), doctrinal discourses and panegjTics possessing much intellectual merit, composed in the forced style and manner of his age. In the pulpit Father Baron was always a teacher; but while intent upon forming the minds of his hearers he won their hearts by his disinterestedness, sincerity, and charity. From 1630 to 1659 he filled the office of prior in the convents of Toulouse (twice), Rhodcz, Castres, Albi. Avignon, and in the general no\-itiate in Paris, always promoting the reforms in study and religious observance inaugurated by Sebastian Michaelis in the first years of the century In 1660, having de- chned the office of provincial in the Province of Tou- louse, he was sent by the master-general of his order to make a canonical ^-isitation of the Portuguese convents. On his return to Paris he devot d himself during the remaining fourteen years of his life to the composition of theological works.
His most important productions were written to sat- isfy the desire expressed by Pope Alexander VII to the
Dominicans assembled in a general chapter at Rome
in 1656, that they should publish a coinse in moral
theology co:!formable to the doctrine of St. Thomas,
and thus correct the la.xity of morals encouraged by
certain casuists. These works were: (1) "Theologize
Jloralis adv. laxiores probabUistas pars prior" (Paris,
1665); (2) " Manuductionis ad Moralem Theologiam
pars altera " (Paris. 1665); (3) "Theologiae moralis
Summa bipartita" (Paris, 1667). In these works, while
condemning opinions that seemed too lax, and censur-
ing others that appeared to be too rigorous, he ably de-
fended the system of Probabiliorism. With the fa-
mous critic Jean de Launoy he was long in controversy
as to the " Summa Theologica " of St . Thomas Aquinas
the authenticity of which he ably defended, although
he did not demonstrate it, as later writers have done.
The manuscript of a work entitled "Apologia pro
sacra congregatione Indicis having been pub-
lished with alterations made by a stranger, wTiich
brought upon it the condemnation of the Sacred
Congregation, he promised a new edition, which
was embodied in his "SS. Augustini et Thomae vera
et una mens de libertate humana" (Paris, 1666).
Another valuable work is his "Libri V apologetici
pro religione, utraque theologia, moribus ac juribus
Ord. Pra?d. " (Paris, 1666). At the time of his death
he was engaged on a complete course in theology
to be entitled "D. Thomas sui Interpres". From
this work, but half completed and never published,
the one bearing the same title by Antoninus Mas-
souli6, O.P., is entirely distinct.
QrETiF ET EcHARD, Script. Ord. Prad., II. 655; ToURoN, Hist, des hommes illust. de I'ordre de St. Dominique, V, 489-498.
Akthth L. McMahon.
Baronius, Cesare. Venerable, Cardinal and ec- clesiastical historian, b. at Sora in the Kingdom of Naples, 30 August, 1538; d. at Rome, 30 June, 1607; author of "Annales Ecclesiastiei", a work which marked an epoch in historiography and merited for its aut hor, after Euse- bius, the title of a Father of Ecclesi- astical Historj'.
Baronius was descended from the Neapolitan branch of a once powerful family, whose name, de B a r o n o , was changed by Cesare himself to the Roman form, Ba- ronitis. His par- ents, humble citi- zens of Sora in the Sabines, some sixty miles east of Rome, could bestow no ances- tral wealth and power upon their only son. He was, however, to pos- sess qualities which better proclaim nobility — a deeply religious spirit, a charity to which selfishness was painfully repugnant , a firmness of will tempered in humble obedience, and a keenness and vigour of mind scrupulously dedicated to the cause of truth. These qualities distinguished Baronius as a peer in sanctity and scholarship among many saintly and learned contemporaries. He inherited his more vigorou.- traits of character from his father. Camillo, a worldly and ambitious man, whose strong will and tenacity of purpose were one day to clash with like qualitie?
Carddc.u. Cesare B
