Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/875

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SIMON


799


SIMON


tive is simply but learnedly set forth. The work was published at Basle (1517), Cologne (1533, 1540), and Ratisbon (1733). He is likewise the author of an " Expositio super evangelia " (Venice, 1486; Florence, 1496), of a work in Italian on the evils existing among the clergy (Milan, 1521; Turin, 1779), and a treatise "De beata Virgine" (Basle, 1517). Unpublished works of his are "De doctrina Christiana"; "De vita Christiana"; "De cognitione peccati"; "Expositio symboli"; "De speculo crucis"; "De conflictu christiano".

HURTER. Nomenclalor. BLANCHE M. KeLLY.

Simon of Cramaud, cardinal, b. near Rochechou- art in the Diocese of Limoges before 1360; d. at Poi- tiers 14 Dec, 1422. He studied law at Orleans and later enjoyed an excellent reputation as a canonist. In 1382 he became Bishop of Agen, was transferred to Beziers in 1383, and to Poitiers in 1385. He never occupied the See of Sens to which he was named in 1390; but the following year he became titular Patri- arch of Alexandria and Administrator of the Diocese of Avignon. His appointment to the archiepisco- pal See of Reims (1409) was followed by his eleva- tion to the cardinalate in 1413, and from that date until his d(!ath he was Administrator of the Diocese of Poitiers. A very prominent figure in the Great Schism, he resolutely championed the cause of Clem- ent VII, but was a decided opponent of his successor, Benedict XIII. In diplomatic missions and at na- tional synods he agitated in favour of the withdrawal from the latter's obedience. As a president of the Council of Pisa in 1409 he proclaimed the deposition of both Gregory' XII and Benedict XIII, and secured the election of Alexander V. At the Council of Constance an extraordinary form of papal election, which granted a vote to certain national delegates along with the cardinals, was carried largely through his efforts. In his writings, still widely scattered and to a great extent unedited, he so exaggerates the authority of the civil power to the detriment of the spiritual rights of the Ajiostolic See that some of liis \i('ws are really schismat ical. 1 le has been right ly culled a pre- cursor of both theological and pohtical Gallicanism.

Salembier in Diet. Thiol. Cath., Ill (Paris, 1908), s. v. Cramaud I Idem, The Great Schism of the West (New York, 1907), 157, passim.

N. A. Weber.

Simon of Cremona, a theological writer and cele- brated preacher belonging to the Order of St. Au- gustine, date of birth unknown; d. at Padua, 1390. He flourished in the second half of the fourteenth cen- tury, and the field of his labours was Northern Italy, especially the Venetian territory. Excerjjts from his sermons were published under the title "Postilla super Evangeliis et Epistolis Omnium Dominicarum" (Reutlingen, 1484). He left several works in manu- script, among which may be mentioned "In Quatuor Libros Sententiarum", "Qua^stiones de indulgentia Portiuncula;", and "Qua>stiones de sanguine Christi".

OasiNGER, Bibl. August. (Ingolstadt, 1768), 27,'j sqq.

James F. Driscoll.

Simon of Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury, b. at Sudbury, Suffolk, England, of middle-class parents, date of birth unknown; d. at London, 14 June, 1381. After taking a degree in law at Paris, he proceeded to Rome, became chaj)lain to Innocent VI, and was sent to England as nun(;io to Edward III in 1356. In 1361 Sudbury was made Bishop of London, after being chancellor of Sali-sbury. He was busy with John of Gaunt over negotiations with France in 1372-73, and while complaints were made that his cathedral in London was neglected, the bishop en- riched his native town by building and endowing a collegiate church on the site of his father's old house. Sudbury succeeded Langham as Archbishop of Canter- bury in 1375, and his friendship with John of Gaunt


and the Lancastrian party at once brought him into opposition with Courtenay, Bishop of London, and William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester. Sud- bury was an amiable but not a strong man, and John of Gaunt's support of Wyclif made the archbishop reluctant to proceed against the latter. Courte- nay's pressure forced Wyclif to be summoned before the bishops in 1377, but Wyclif, who had not yet incurred a formal charge of heresy, had Lancas- ter and the influence of the court at his back, and escaped condemnation. Archbishop Sudbury be- came lord chancellor in 1380, on the resignation of Scrope, and this acceptance of office cost him his life a year later at the great uprising of the peasants.

On 11 June, 1381, the archbishop was with Richard II and his ministers in the Tower of London, when the peasants marched on the capital. On 14 June, while Richard was holding conference with Wat Tyler at Mile End, and agreeing to the demands of the peasants, a crowd invaded the Tower crying "Where is the traitor to the kingdom? Where is the spoiler of the commons?" "Neither a traitor, nor despoiler am I, but thy archbishop", came the reply. In vain the archbishop warned the mob that heavy punishment would follow his death; the hatred of the people against all whom they judged responsible for the poll-tax left no room in their hearts for mercy. The archbishop was dragged from his chamber to Tower Hill, and there with many blows his head was struck off — to be placed on London Bridge, according to the savage custom of the time. A few days later, when the rising was over, the head was taken down, and, with the archbishop's body, removed to Canter- bury for burial. It was said that Sudbury, when Bishop of London, had discouraged pilgrimages to the shrine of St. Thomas at Canterbury; he was known to be the friend of John of Lancaster, and he had imprisoned John Ball, the peasant leader, as his predecessors had done, at Maidstone. But the fact that he was chancellor was the real cause of Sudbury's violent death. Nevertheless, there were many who loved the mild and gentle archbishop, and who counted him a martyr.

Rymkr, Fcedera; Knighton, Chronicon AnglicB.ed. Thompson; WAL.SINGHAM, IHst. Anglicana; Higden, Polychronicon; all in Rolls Series. FroissaRT, Stubbs' Constitutional History.

Joseph Clayton.

Simon of Tournai, professor in the University of Paris at the beginning of the thirteenth century, dates of birth and death unknown. He was teaching before 1184, as he signed a document at the same time as Gerard de Pucelle, who died in that year Bi.shop of Coventry. The chroniclers of the period, however they differ on other points, are unanimous in i)roclaiming Simon's brilliancy in philosophy, which subject he taught for ten years. Later he lectured on theology with equal success. In his lectures he utilized the many works, including Aris- totle's philosophical writings, which were being made known by the labours of the Arab translators. Simon's teachings aroused suspicion as early as the end of the twelfth century. His enemies were, probably, the opponents of the new philosophy; the accounts given by Thomas de Cantimpr^, Mat- thew Paris, and Giraldus Cambrensis before them, though differing considerably as -"o details, agree at least in saying that Simon was struck dumb as a punishment for his blasphemy or his heretical asser- tions regarding the truths of the Christian faith. It would be difficult now to determine whether in pri- vate conversation he made statements that are not contained in his works; the latter, however, of which but few have been printed, are orthodox. They consist chiefly of a "Summa theologica" or "Senten- tiae", various "Quastiones", "Sermons", and the "Expositio in symbolum s. Athanasii" printed in the