TRENT
36
TRENT
its territory became subject to the Romans. As
early as 381 there appeared at the Council of Aquileia
Abundantius, Bishop of Trent. While Arianism and
the barbarian invasions elsewhere smothered the
seed of the Gospel, it grew in Trent under the care and
protection of St.Vigilius. Bishop Valerian of Aquileia
had consecrated the youthful Vigilius, while the great
Ambrose of Milan had instructed him as to his duties
in lengthy, fatherly epistles. VigiUus came to his
end prematurely ; he was stoned to death when barely
forty years of age.
In the sixth century during the Three Chapters controversy, the Provinces of Milan and Aquileia continued in schism even after Popes Vigilius and Pelagius I had recognized the decrees of the Council of Constantinople; through the Patriarch of Aquileia the bishops of Trent also persisted in the schism. Placed between Germany and Italy, Trent was ex- posed to the influences of both. Ecclesiastically it remained subject to Aquileia until 1751, but in political affairs it could not with- stand the power of the Salic and Saxon kings and emperors. Under the first Fran- conian king, Bishop Ulrich II became an independent prince of the empire, with the powers and piiv- ileges of a duke. In consideration of im- perial favour the bishops of Trent sided with Henry 1 \ and Frederick I dur- ing the great strut;;!! between the Chun h and the Empire, liui in such a skilful man- ner as to avoid a
rupture with the pope. Bishop Adelbert is even revered as a saint, although he sided with the antipope Victor IV, who had been chosen by the emperor; in those times of confusion it was often difficult to find the right path. He died a martyr in defence of the rights of his see (1177). Under In- nocent III, Friedrich von Wanga raised Trent to the height of its power and influence. He was a great temporal and ecclesiastical ruler. He used every means to kindle and strengthen the religious spirit, and began the building of the splendid Romanesque cathedral. He died at Acre in 1218 during the Fourth Crusade.
The untimely death of Meinhard III, son of Mar- garet of Tyrol, brou^lit Trent under the rule of Aus- tria in 1363. In 13(i',t H.u(lijli)h IV concluded a treaty with Bishop Albreclit II of Urtenburg, by virtue of which Rudolph became the real sovereign of the dio- cese. The bishop promised in his own name and in that of his successors to acknowledge the duke and his heirs as lords, and to render assistance to them against their enemies. Thereafter Trent ceased to be an in- dependent principality, and became a part of the Tyrol. Ortenburg's successor was George I of Liech- tenstein, who endeavoured to regain ita independence for the see. His efforts involved him in several wars, terminated only by his death in 1419. More than once during these wars he was taken prisoner, while the duke was excommunicated anil the see interdicted.
The much discussed story of the death of St. Simon of Trent belongs to the reign of Prince-Bishop Jo- hannes IV llinderbacli. On Holy Thursday of the year 147.5, the little child, then about 20 months old, son of a gardener, was missed by its parents. On the
evening of Easter Sunday the body was found in a
ditch. Several Jews, who were accused of the mur-
der, were cruelly tortured.
The sixteenth century was a time of trouble and worry for the Church in the Tyrol. In the towns the Lutherans, in the villages and among the peasants the Anabaptists, multiplied. After manj' ineffectual efforts, the sovereigii, bishops, and several monastic orders combined their authority, and a new order set in, which reached its climax in the Council of Trent. At the time of the council Cardinal Christoph von Madrutz was prince-bishop. He was succeeded by three members of his house, with the last of whom the house of Madrutz died out. The decrees of the coun- cil were executed but slowly. In 1593 Cardinal Lud- wig von Madrutz founded the seminary, which later was conducted by the Somaschi. The Jesuits came to Trent in 1622.
Peter Vigil, Count of Thun, governed the see dur- ing the Josephite re- forms, with which he was in sympathy. He abolished some of the monasteries in his territorj', inter- fered with the consti- tutions of the various orders, and closed some churches. When the Patriarchate of Aquileia ceased to exist in 1751, Trent bpcame exempt. Dur- iim the administra- imn of his successor, l.iuinanuel Maria < nunt of Thun, it ' I iscd to be an inde- peuilent ecclesiastical principality (1803). The Bavarian Gov- ernment insisted on the following: (1) priests were to be ordained only after an examina- tion at the university; (2) the bishops were to order their clergy to obey all orders of the Government in connexion with the ecclesiastical police; (3) when fill- ing benefices a list of three names was to be presented by the bishop to the Government or by the Govern- ment to the bishop; (4) recourse to Rome or combina- tion with other bishops was forbidden. Bishop Em- manuel replied that he would remain true to hi^ oath to support and defend the privileges of the Church, and that he would rather suffer all the consequences which might arise from his refusal than act against his conscience. He was expelled in 1807 and crossed the frontier into Salzburg at Reichenhall. He could only return after the Tyrolese had freed themselves of the Bavarian yoke. After the Peace of Vienna negotiations were begim relative to the circumscrip- tion of the dioceses of the Tyrol, and were concluded in 1825. Trent was made a suffragan of Salzburg, and the bishops, instead of being chosen by the chapter, were ajipointed by the emperor. The 115th Bishop of Trent was Johann Nepomuk Tschiderer. He died on 12 JSIarch, ISGO, and his canonization is already under way. The diocese numbers 602,000 Catholics, 1072 priests, 817 male religious, and 1527 nuns.
vols, .
Fontes rerum Aw^tnm ir deutsche Anteil dt^ h Die Heiligen und ^, istorice-critiche dt I! PiNcius, De vids / 1546); KuTze Qet,chuhu (Bozeu, 1852).
1852) ; Atz. Dtr
1S79). Austria &ancta:
110) RoNELU, Notisie
\ols, Trent. 1761);
m lib XII (Mantua,
•M I dtr BiichH/e iwn TrienI
C. WOLFSORUBER.
