assimilation took place. In times of persecution the martyrs were
buried among the rest of the faithful, but one can understand that
their tombs, at which gatherings took place at least on the day of
their anniversary, were distinguished from the ordinary tombs by
some sign. When the peace of the Church permitted it, they were
enshrined in chapels and often in sumptuous basilicas. In the West
these buildings were raised over the tomb, which was left intact;
but in the East there was no hesitation in disturbing the graves of
the saints and removing the bodies to a basilica built to receive them. It is in this way that the relics of St Babylas were placed in the sanctuary built by Gallus at Daphne (Socrates, Hist. eccl. iii. 18; Sozomen, Hist. eccl. v. 19). As a matter of fact, the discipline of the Eastern churches with regard to the relics was, from the very beginning, much less severe than that of Rome and a great number
of the Western churches. From the 4th century on are recorded
cases of translation of the bodies of saints, and they did not even
shrink from dividing the sacred relics. In the West the principle
already laid down by St Gregory the Great in his letter to Constantia,
namely that of not disturbing the bodies of the saints, was for a long
time the rule in all cases, and the portions distributed to the churches
were simply brandea, that is to say, linen which had lain upon the
tomb of the saint, or, in other words, representative relics. But
as early as the 7th century there is proof of a relaxation of this
rule which had so well safeguarded the authenticity of the relics. It
was finally disregarded altogether; in the 9th century translations
of rltilicfs were extremely frequent, and led to inextricable confusion in the future.
As to the belief in the efficacy of the prayers of the saints for those still living on earth, and similarly in the efficacy of the prayers addressed to the saints, St Cyril of Jerusalem indicates in the following words the advantages of the commemoration of the saints: “Then we make mention also of those who have fallen asleep before us, first of patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, that God would at theirf prayers and intercessions receive our supplication” (Cat. Myst. v. 9). It is difficult to understand a much-discussed passage of Origen (De oratione, 14), except as applying to prayer addressed to the saints. The Fathers of the 4th century, and notably the Cappadocian Fathers, provide us with a quantity of evidence on this subject, which leaves no doubt as to the practice of the invocation of saints, nor of the complete approval with which it was viewed. St Basil, for example, says: “I accept also the holy apostles, prophets and martyrs, and I call upon them for their intercession to God, that by them, that is by their mediation, the good God may be propitious to me, and that I may be granted redemption for my offences” (Epist. 360).
The cult of the saints early met with opposition, in answer to which the Church Fathers had to defend its lawfulness and explain its nature. The Church of Smyrna had early to explain its position in this matter with regard to St Polycarp: “We worship Christ, as the Son of God; as to the martyrs, we love them as the disciples and imitators of the Lord” (Martyrium Polycarpi, xvii. 3). St Cyril of Alexandria defends the worship of the martyrs against Julian; St Asterius and Theodoret against the pagans in general, and they all lay emphasis on the fact that the saints are not looked upon as gods by the Christians, and that the honours paid to them are of quite a different kind from the adoration reserved to God alone. St Jerome argued against Vigilantius with his accustomed vehemence, and especially meets the objection based on the resemblance between these rites and those of the pagans. But it is above all St Augustine who in his refutation of Faustus, as well as in his sermons and elsewhere, clearly defined the true character of the honours paid to the saints: “Non eis templa, non eis altaria, non sacrificial exhibemus. Non eis sacerdotes offerunt, absit, Deo praestantur. Etiam apud memorias sanctorum martyrum cum offerimus, nonne Deo offerimus? . . . Quando audistis dici apud memoriam sancti Theogenis: offero tibi, sancte Theogenis: aut Poffero tibi Petrc, aut: offero tibi Paule?" (Sermo, 273. 7; cf. Contra Faustum, xx. 21). The undoubted abuses which grew up, especially during the middle ages, raised up, at the time of the Reformation, fresh adversaries of the cult of the saints. The council of Trent, while reproving all superstitious practices in the invocation of the saints, the veneration of relics and the use of images, expresses as follows the doctrine of the Roman Church: “That the saints who reign with Christ offer to God their prayers for men; that it is good and useful to invoke them by supplication and to have recourse to their aid and assistance in order to obtain from God His benefits through His Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, who alone is our Saviour and Redeemer” (Sess. xxv.). At the present day the canonization (q.v.) of saints is reserved in the Roman Church to the sovereign pontiff. The Anglican Church, while still commemorating many of the Catholic saints, has not, since the Reformation, admitted any new names to the authoritative list, with the single exception of that of King Charles I., whose “martyrdom” was celebrated by authority from the Restoration until the year 1859.
See D. Petavius, De theologicis dogmatibus, De incarnation, l., xiv.; F. Suarez, Defensio fidei catholicae (against King James I.); L. Duchesne, Les Origines du cults chrétien, ch. viii.; E. Lucius, Die Anfänge des Heiligenkults (Tübingen, 1904); H. R. Percival, The Invocation of Saints (London, 1896); A. P. Forbes, An Explanation of the Thirty-nine Articles (Oxford, 1878). (H. De.)
ST AFFRIQUE, a town of Southern France, capital of an
arrondissement in the department of Aveyron, on the Sorgues,
68 m. N.N.W. of Beziers on a branch line of the railway to
Clermont Ferrand. Pop. (1906) town, 4473; commune 6571.
An old bridge over the Sorgues and some megaliths in the
neighbourhood, especially, the dolmen at Tiergues, are of antiquarian
interest. There is considerable trade in wool and
Roquefort cheese.
St Affrique grew up in the 6th century around the tomb of St Africain, bishop of Comminges. In the 12th century a fortress was built on the neighbouring rock of Caylus. The possession of St Affrique was vigorously contested during the wars of religion. It was eventually occupied by the Huguenots till 1629, when it was seized and dismantled by a royal army.
ST ALBANS, EARLS AND DUKES OF. The English title of earl of St Albans was first borne by Richard Bourke, or de Burgh, 4th earl of Clanricarde (d. 1635), who was lord president of Connaught from 1604 to 1616 and governor of Galway in 1616. In 1624 he was made Baron Somerhill and Viscount Tunbridge in the English peerage, and in 1628 earl of St Albans, Baron Imanney and Viscount Galway. He, became the third husband
of Frances, dowager Countess of Essex, whose first husband had been Sir Philip Sidney, and his English titles became extinct on the death of his only son, Ulick, 2nd earl of St Albans and marquess of Clanricarde, in 1657.
The second creation of an earl of St Albans was in 1660, when Henry, Baron Jermyn, was made an earl under this title; but again it became extinct on his death in 1684.
The dukedom of St Albans was created in 1684 in favour of Charles Beauclerk (1670–1726), a natural son of Charles II. by Nell Gwynne. Born in London on the 8th of May 1670, Charles was made Baron Hedington and earl of Burford in December 1676. He became colonel in the 8th regiment of horse in 1687, and took service with the emperor Leopold I., being present at the siege of Belgrade in 1688. After the battle of Landen in 1693, William III. made him captain of the gentlemen pensioners, and four years later gentleman of the bedchamber His father had given him the reversion of the office of hereditary master falconer and that of hereditary registrar of the Court of Chancery, which fell vacant in 1698. His Whig sentiments prevented his advancement under Anne, but he was restored to favour at the accession of George I. He died at Bath on the 10th of May 1726. His wife Diana, daughter and heiress of Aubrey de Vere, last earl of Oxford, was a well-known beauty, who became lady of the bedchamber to Caroline, princess of Wales, and survived until the 15th of January 1742. Charles was succeeded by his eldest son, Charles Beauclerk, 2nd duke of St Albans (1696–1751), while his youngest son, Lord Aubrey Beauclerk (c. 1710–1741), became a captain in the royal navy, and perished in a fight in the West Indies on the 22nd of March 1741. The second duke's son and heir, George Beauclerk, 3rd duke (1730–1736), was followed by his second cousin, George eauclerk (1758–1787), 4th duke, who died unmarried, and was succeeded as 5th duke by his cousin, Aubrey Beauclerk (1740–1802). He was succeeded by his son Aubrey, the 6th duke (1765–1815), Whose infant son Aubrey, 7th duke (b. 1815), died within a year of his father. The 8th duke, William (1766–1825), was the second son of the 5th duke. His son William (1801–1849), the 9th duke, married the actress Harriot Mellon, widow of the banker Thomas Coutts. She was celebrated for her beauty, and was painted by Romney. Her fortune derived from her first husband passed to her granddaughter Angela, Baroness Burdett-Coutts in her own right. he 9th duke was succeeded by his son by a second marriage, William Amelius Aubrey de Vere (1840–1898), whose son, Charles Victor Albert Aubrey de Vere; became the 11th holder of the title.
ST ALBANS, HENRY JERMYN, Earl of (c. 1604–1684), was the third son of Sir Thomas Iermyn of Rushbroke, Suffolk. At an early age he won the favour of Queen Henrietta Maria, whose vice-chamberlain he became in 1628, and master of the horse in 1639. He was a consummate courtier, a man of dissolute morals, and much addicted to gambling. He was member for Bury St Edmunds in the Long Parliament and an active and reckless royalist. He took a prominent part in the army plot of 1641, and on its discovery iled to France. Returning to England in 1643, he resumed his personal attendance on the queen, and after being raised to the peerage as Baron Jermyn of St Edmundsbury in that year, he accompanied Henrietta Maria in 1644 to
