HIGDEN
346
HIGH
sharp outlines a real Hierotheus who lived in his own
time (the end of the fifth century), and with whom he
was on intimate terms. As a matter of fact, no trace
of any Hierotheus resembling the portrait drawn by
Dionysius can be found outside the writings of Diony-
sius. For want of extraneous sources, therefore, we
must turn to tliree important passages in the work
" De divinis nominibus", wherein Dionysius speaks of
Hierotheus as his teacher and guide, with expressions
of deepest veneration, adding that after St. Paul
it is to him he is most indebted. One passage in the
"De div. nom." (iii, 2-3), taken in connexion with ii,
9-10, and iv, 15-17, gives the following descriptive
details. Hierotheus is a gifted teacher for people of
mature and high intelligence; he possesses a sublime
knowledge of Di\'ine things, the result, not merely of
his natural keenness and zealous study, but, for the
most part, of mystical insight and contemplation.
Hence his method of teaching is full of profound
meaning, terse, and concise. His hearers hardly dare
to meet with tlieir gaze the beams of this intellectual
sun. The WTitingsof Hierotheus are almost as author-
itative as the inspired books of the Bible. Two of his
works bear the title (quite foreign to the Apostolic
Era) "Outlines of Theo\ogy" (Oeo'KoyiKal cToix^uiaeis)
and " Hymns of Love" {ipunKol vfifoi). An excerpt
of twenty-seven lines from tlie former work, given in
Migne, P. G., Ill, 648, describes the saving and guiding
power of the Logos (ecixTis ' Itjo-oO), in strong sjTnpathy
with the doctrines of Clement of Alexandria and
Origen concerning the Logos. As though to " crown"
his own disquisitions on love (fpw), Dionysius ap-
pends three brief quotations from the second work of
Hierotheus. They treat of the definition of love and
of the gradations of the powers of love (epuTa) and
their reduction to the one supreme principle of love.
Neo-Platonic ideas, taken for instance from Proclus
(ed. Cousin, 1S64; cf. " Instit. theol.", passim; "lAl-
cib.", p. 325; "Theol. Plat.", p. 132) and others, ap-
pear throughout and merge with other thoughts
developed by Dionysius liimself . There is, therefore,
a strong presumption that the aforesaid two works did
not exist at all, and that their alleged author, Hiero-
theus, is identical with Dionysius.
A remarkable episode from the life of Hierotheus, which is related in "De div. nom.", iii, 2, shows us Hierotheus, with the Apostles Peter and James and " many blessed brethren," gathered around the sacred body of the Mother of God, on which occasion he, kindled with supernatural inspiration, delivered a discourse whose ecstatic glow filled all with wonder. Dionysius also pretends to have been present at this "viewing of the God-bearing body" {Q^a OeoS6xov fftiimros), which is descriljed on the authority of the apocryphal accounts, " De transitu (dormitione) B. V. Mariie". There is not the slightest tangilile proof as to whether the author of the Dionysian writings borrowed at least a few characteristics from some member of his circle of friends, nor to what extent he did so; it is not worth while going into the manifold imfounded hypotheses as that, for instance, respecting Stephen Bar-Sudaili. (See Dionysius the Pseudo- Areop.vgite.)
S. Dionysii AreopaffittB opera in P. G., Ill; Hipi.er in K'lV- chenlex., s. v.; Stokes iii Did. Christ. Biog., b. v.: Stici.m.vyr, Daa Aujkommcn der Ps.-Dionysiscften Schriften (Feltlkirch, 1895): Koch, Ps.-Dumysius Areop. in seinen Bcziehungen zum NeuplaUmi»mu» und Mysterienweten (Mainz, 1890).
Jos. Stiglmayr.
Higden (Hydon, Htgden, Hikeden), Ranulf, Benedictine, chronicler; d. 1364. He was a west- country man, and was [)rofessed a monk at the Abbey of St. Werburg, Chester, in 1299. Beyond this noth- ing Ls recorded of his personal life and he is known only by his great work, the " Polychronicon", a universal history down to his own times. As it was the most complete history available during the fourteenth cen-
tury, it enjoyed great popularity during that and the
following age; though even the contemporary por-
tion, in which Higden wrote the history of his own
times down to 1342, is of no remarkable value. It
was translated into English by John of Trevisa in
1387, and this translation was printed by Ca.xton in
1482, and by Wynkyn de Worde in 1495. A later
translation, made early in the fifteenth century, has
been published in the Rolls Series, in nine volumes.
The introductions by the editors contain all available
information and describe in detail most of the extant
manuscripts, of which more than one hundred are
known to exist. It was long believed that Higden, in
compiling the " Polychronicon", had u.'ied an earlier
work, the " Polycratica Tempora" of one Roger of
Chester, ending in the year 1314, though with a sup-
plement down to 1339, but the editors of the "Poly-
chronicon" have almost conclusively proved that
"Roger of Chester" was in reality Ranulf Higden
himself, who was commonly quoted sunply as "Ce.s-
trensis". The error of a scribe in substituting Roger
for Ranulf easily gave rise to the mistake. The fol-
lowing are works written by or attributed to Higden,
still remaining in manuscript: "Speculum Cura-
torum", written in 1340 (Balliol); "Ars Componendi
Sermones" (Bodleian); " Ptedagogicon " (Sion Col-
lege); "Distinctiones Theologica-" (Lambeth); "Ab-
breviationes Chronicorum", attributed to John
Rochefort. Other treatises are assigned to Higden
by Bale, some, like the " Expositio super Job", "In
Cantiea Canticorum", "Sermones per annum",
"Determinationes super Compendio", and "In lit-
teram calendarii", without much probability; others
are merely extracts from the "Polychronicon".
Pchfchrunicun Ranulphi liifiilcn monachi Cestrensis, with the EriKii^h translations of John of Trevisa and of an unknown writer of the fifteenth century in Rolls Series (Lon<lon. 1865- 80), vols. l-II, ed. Babington, III-IX, ed. Li-mbv; Hardy. Descriptive Catalogue {London, 1862-71); Gairdner, Early Chroniclers of England (London. 1879): Kingsfohd in Diet. Nat. Biog., s. V. For a fuller bibliography see Chevalier, Repertoire des sources historigues du moyen age (Paris, 1905).
Edwin Burton.
Higgins, Joseph. See Ballarat, Diocese of.
High Altar (Alt.\^re summi'm or iiA.ifs) is so called from the fact that it is the chief altar in a church, and also because it is raised on an elevated plane in the sanctuary, where it may be seen simul- taneously by all the faithful in the body of the church. It sjTnbolizes Christ, and it serves at the same time as the banquet table on which He offers Himself through the hands of the priest to the Eternal Father; for Christ is present in our churches not only in a spiritual manner but really, truly, and substantially as the victim of a sacrifice. A sacrifice necessarily supposes a priest and an altar, and the Acts of the Apostles (ii, 42) plainly indicate that the faithful are to participate in the praj'ers of the sacrifice ami to partake of the victim. Naturally the altar and priest were separated from the faithful, who, as St. Athanasius (Qiurst. ad Antioch., 37) and ("lenient of Alexandria (Strom., vii, 7) inform us, were instructed by the Apostles to pray, according to the traditions of the Mosaic Law, facing the East. Hence in the early days of the Church the altar was usually placed in a chapel at the head of the edifice, the back of which, whatever may have been the character of the building, looked directly towards the East, in such a way tliat it could be seen from any part by the faithful. When it was impossible to erect a church in such a manner the altar was located opposite the chief doorway.
In olden times there as but one altar in a church. The Christian Fathers speak of one altar only, and St. Ignatius (Ep. ad Philadelph., 5) refers to this practice when he says: "Oie altar, as there is one bishop" (Uiium altare omni Ecdesiir et unus Episcopus). This altar was erected in the middle of the sanctuary be-
