WILLIRAM
646
WILMINGTON
about jurisdiction in the convent at Gundersheim. d. at Roermond, Holland, 9 May, 1899. He entered
The convent was originally situated at Brunshausen
in the Diocese of Hildesheim, but was transferred to
Gundersheim, within the limits of Mainz. Both
bishops claimed jurisdiction. After much correspond-
ence and several .synods Pope Silvester declared
in favour of Hildesheim. When this sentence was
the Society of Jesus at Brieg in the canton of Valais,
Switzerland, 1834, was expelled from the country
with the other Jesuits in 1847, and ordained priest at
Ay in Southern France, 1848. Shortly after, he
taught philosophy at Issenheim in Alsace, then exege-
sis at Louvain, theology at Cologne, philosophy at
about to be pubUshed at a synod of Pohlde (22 June, Bonn and Aacten and theology at Maria-Laach. In
1001), WiUigis, who was there, left in great excitement 1860 Cardinal Geis.sel requested Wilmers's services
in spite of the remonstrances of the delegate, who as theologian at the provincial council of Cologne,
then placed the sentence of suspension on the arch- Wilmers also attended the Vatican Council in 1S70
bishop. Formal opposition to Rome was not in- as theologian of Bishop Meurin, Vicar Apostolic of
tended, but if Willigis committed
any fault in the matter he pub-
licly rectified all by a declaration
at Gundersheim on 5 Jan., 1007,
when he resigned all claims to
the Bishop of Hildesheim (Ka-
thoHk, loc. cit., p. 145). In his
diocese he laboured by building
bridges, constructing roads, and
fostering art. In Mainz he built
a cathedral and consecrated it on
29 Aug., 1009, in honour of St.
Martin, but on the same day it
was destroyed by fire; he greatly
helped the restoration of the old
Church of St. Victor and built
that of St. Stephen. He al.'Jo
built a church at Brunnen, in
Nassau. He showed great solici-
tude for the religious, and sub-
stantially aided the mona.steries
of Bleidenstadt, St. Disibod, and
Jechaburg in Thuringia. .\fter
death he was buried in the
Church of St. Stephen.
Mann. Lhes of Ike Popes, IV (St. Louis, 1910). 372, 391, 399.
I'^R.\NCIS MeRSHM.\N.
Williram (Waltram, Wil- tram), Scriptural scholar, b. in Franconia (near Worms), Ger- many; d. in 108.5 at Ebersberg, Bavaria. He was a pupil of the celebrated Lanfranc, and, ac- cording to Tritheim, studied for some time in the University of Paris. Relinquishing the post of scholastic of the cathedral chapter of Bamberg, he retired to a monastery in Fulda. Soon, Henry III summoned him to the famous Benedictine abbey at Ebersberg, which he ruled with great success for thirty-seven years till his death. He is known principally as the author of a translation and paraphra.se of the Canticle of Can- ticles. In the preface he laments the fact that in Germany grammar and dialectics are held in greater favour than the study of Holy Writ, and expresses his
Chasuble or St. Wiluqis (X Century)
Preserved in St. Stephen's Church, Mainz
Bombay. After a brief residence
at Bonn and Mtinster he went to
Ordrupshoj, near Copenhagen,
where he wrote a refutation of
the attacks of the Protestant
preacher Martensen on the Cath-
olic Church. It was translated
into Danish by the prefect Apos-
tolic Hermann Griider, and pub-
hshed under the latter's name
with the title: "Det protestan-
iske og katholiske Trosprincip"
(Copenhagen, 1S75). In 1876
Wilmers was called by Cardinal
Archbishop Pie to the theological
faculty of Poitiers. In 1880 he
lectured on theology to the
French Jesuits at St. Hclier; .
afterwards he taught theology on
the Island of Jersey. Thence-
forth he devoted himself entirely
to wTiting, living first at Ditton-
Hall, England, and then at E.\-
aeten in Holland. Besides the
above treatise Wilmers wrote:
"Lehrbuch der Religion" (1855-
57); "Geschichte der Religion"
(18.56), translated into several
languages; "Lehrbuch der Re-
ligion fur hohere Lehranstalted"
(1869); "Handbuch der Re-
hgion" (1871). These treatises
were frequently republished. His
last works were "De reUgione
revelata" and "De Christ i ec-
cle.sia" (1897); he nearly fin-
ished the third volume of the
series "De fide divina", which
was published in 1902.
Tholen, Menologium oder Lebensbilder au3 der Gesch. der deutschen Ordensprovinz (Roermond, 1891), printed for privatd circulation.
N. SCHEU).
Wilmington, Diocese of (Wilmingtoniensis), erected 'i March, 1868. It includes what is known as the Delmarvia Peninsula, the State of Delaware, nine counties of Maryland, and two counties of Virginia
high appreciation of Lanfranc for having devoted him- east of Chesapeake Bay. The first Catholic mi.ssion
self to a deeper study of the Bible and drawn many
German scholars to France. The jiages of the work
are divided into three columns: The first contains a
Latin paraphrase in Leonine hexameters; the second,
the text of the Vulgate; and the third, a German ex-
position in prose. From beginning to end, Williram
applies his subject allegorically to Christ and the
Church. The numerous still extant manuscripts bear
witness to the favour with which the work was re-
ceived. Hoffmann published two of them in his
edition of Williram (Breslau, 1837).
Seemiilleh, Die Handsckri/len u. Quellen von Williranu dnUseher Paraphrase des hohen Liedes (Strasburg, 1877); Wai/- TER, Die deutsche HiheliiberseUung des Mittelaltcra (Brunswick, 1892); GoeciiLER, Dictionnaire th^ohaique.
CuAni.KS F. Arnold. Wilmers, Wit.helm, professor of philosophy and theology, b. at Boke in Westphalia, 30 January, 1817;
in this territory was founded at Bohemia Manor,
Cecil Co., Maryland, in 1704 by the Jesuits, who were
the only priests on the peninsula until 1808, when
Rev. Patrick Kenny came to reside at Coffee Run,
Delaware (see Del.\ware). The first church in the
city of Wilmington wtis St. Peter's (1808), now the
cathedral. The first bishop was Rt. Rev. Thomas A.
Becker (q. v.), before his election a priest at Rich-
mond, Virginia. He found in the new diocese only
eight priests and fourteen churches, most of these
scarcely more than sheds. St. Peter's Orphanage
and St. Peter's School were in charge of the Sisters of
Charity, two more schools had recently been closed,
and the sisters withdrawn to Philadelphia. The
Catholic population of the whole diocese did not
exceed .5000. By constant .and untiring effort in the
face of extreme poverty, scarcity of vocations, and
