Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 8.djvu/856

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LANCELOTTI


774


LANCIANO


favour towards the sultan's brother Zizim, who was then the pope's prisoner. This rehe has never since left Rome, where it is preserved under the dome of St. Peter's. Benedict XIV (De Beat, et Canon., IV, ii, 31) states that he obtained from Paris an exact draw- ing of the point of the lance, and that in comparing it with the larger relic in St. Peter's he was satisfied that the two had originally formed one blade. M. Mely published for the first time in 1904, an accurate design of the Roman rehc of the lance head, and the fact that it has lost its point is as conspicuous as in other, often quite fantastic, delineations of the Vatican lance. At the time of the sending of the lance to Innocent VIII, great doubts as to its authenticity were felt at Rome, as Burchard's "Diary" (I, 473-486, ed. Thu- asne) plainly shows, on account of the rival lances known to be preserved at Nuremberg, Paris, etc., and on account of the supposed discovery of the Holy Lance at Antioch by the revelation of St. Andrew, in 1098, during the First Crusade. Raynaldi, the Bol- landists, and many other authorities believed that the lance found in 1098 afterwards fell into the hands of the Turks and was that sent by Bajazet to Pope Inno- cent, but from M. de Mely's investigations it seems probable that it is identical with the relic now jealously preserved at Etschmiadzin in Armenia, "rhis was never in any proper sense a lance, but rather the head of a standard, and it may conceivably (before its dis- covery under very questionable circumstances by the crusader Peter Bartholomew) have been venerated as the weapon with which certain Jews at Beirut struck a figure of Christ on the Cross; an outrage which was believed to have been followed by a miraculous dis- charge of blood.

Another lance claiming to be that which produced the wound in Christ's side is now preserved among the imperial insignia at Vienna and is known as the lance of St. Maurice. This weapon was used as early as 1273 in the coronation ceremony of the Em- peror of the West, and from an earlier date as an em- blem of investiture. It came to Nuremberg in 1424, and it is also probably the lance, known as that of the Emperor Constantine, which enshrined a nail or some portion of a nail of the Crucifixion. The story told by William of Malmesliury of the giving of the Holy Lance to King Athelstan of England by Hugh Capet seems to be due to a misconception. One other re- maining lance reputed to be that concerned in the Pas- sion of Christ is preserved at Cracow, but, though it is alleged to have been there for eight centuries, it is im- possible to trace its earlier history.

The one work of authority which thoroughly discusses all the available evidence is that of M. F. de Mely published at Paris in 1904 as the third volume of the Exuvim Sacrce Consinnlino- politanee of the Comte de Riant. It contains authentic draw- ings never before published and a valuable selection of piices iusHficatives. Besides this all-important work, the reader may be referred to Rohault de Fleury, Mcmoire surles Instruments de la Passion (Paris, 1870). 272-75; Beurlier. s. v. Lance in Dict.de la Bible: ScRRODiu Kirchenla.,'Vll, 1419-22; M.wtin, Reliques de la Passion.

Herbert Thurston.

Lancelotti, Giovanni Paolo, canonist, b. at Perugia in 1522; d. there, 23 September, 1590. He graduated doctor of law in 1546, and taught that science shortly afterwards (1547 or 1548) in the uni- versity of his native town. Except for two short so- journs at Rome, he passed the remainder of his life in Perugia, in the study of law and belles-lettres. He owes his world-wide reputation to his "Institutiones Juris Canonici", the text of which is reproduced in most editions of the "{!orpus Juris Canonici". Fol- lowing the example of Emperor Justinian, who had entrusted to t lirec profcssoi-s t he task of tlrawing up an elementary work on Ronuin law entitled the " Institu- tiones", intended for use in the schools, Lancelotti conceived the plan of a like work on canon law. Paul IV charged hira officially with the execution of his


plan, and for this purpose he went to Rome in 1557. To his great regret, neither Paul IV who died in 1559, nor his successor Pius IV, gave authentic and official approbation to his work, published by Lancelotti at Perugia in 1563 as an entirely private venture. The " Institutiones " are divided into four books, and treat successively of persons, things (especially marriage), judgments, and crimes. This division was inspired by the principle of Roman law: " Omne jus quo utimur vel ad personas attinet, vel ad res, vel ad actiones". (All our law treats of persons, or things, or judicial procedure.) It is a small and very simple didactic work, and may be considered a clear, convenient r6- sum^ of canon law. Its divisions have been followed on broad lines by all authors of elementary treatises on canon law, and they have also borrowed its title " In- stitutiones ". Lancelotti, however, erred when he ap- plied to canon law the imsuitable divisions of Roman law. Having been published before the promulgation of the Council of Trent, this work had not the advan- tage of following its decrees; subsequent editors have remedied this defect by notes and commentaries. The best-known editions are those of Doujat (Paris, 1684; Venice, 1739), and Thomasius (Halle, 1715-17). Lancelotti's other writings are: " Institutionum juris canonici commentarium " (Perugia, 1560; Lyons, 1579), in which he gives the history of his aforesaid work; " De comparatione juris pontificii et csesarei et utriusque interpretandi ratione" (Lyons, 1574); "Regularum ex universo pontificio jure libri tres" (Perugia, 1587); "Qusestio an in cautione de non of- fendendo prae.stita comprehendantur banniti nostri temporis" (Lyons, 1587) .

Vermiglioli, Biografia degli Scrittori Perugini, II (Perugia, 1829), 40 sqq.; ScHULTE, Die Geschichte dcr Quellen und Litera- tuT dcs canonischen Rechts (Stuttgart, 1875-80), III, 451 sqq.; ScHERER in Kirchenlex, s. v.

A. Van Hove.

Lanciano and Ortona, Archdiocese of (Lanci- ANENSis ET Ortonensis). — Lanciano is a small city in the province of Chieti, in the Abruzzi, Central Italy, between the Pescara and the Trigni, with a majestic view of Mount Maiella. It was the ancient Anxia, a city of the Frentani. Its beautiful cathedral, S. Maria del Ponte, so called because built on bridgework along a precipice, is the work of Michitelli (1619) and has some beautiful paintings by Pozzulaniello (Gia- cinto Diana). Another beautiful church is S. Maria Maggiore with its Norman portal. Until 1515 Lanci- ano was subject to the Bishop of Chieti. In 1562 Pius IV, to end a dispute with that bishop, made it an arch- diocese without suffragans. The first bishop was An- gelo Maccafani, who was succeeded by Cardinal Egidio Canisio (15.32); the first archbishop was the Domini- can Leonardo Marini (1560). In 1818 the See of Or- tona was united to that of Lanciano by Pius VII. Ortona is a very ancient city in the province of Chieti, on the Adriatic Sea, and has a small port from which it carries on commerce with Dalmatia and the Adriatic coast of Italy. Charles I, King of Sicily, assigned the revenues of this port to the Vatican Basilica. It was here that Gregory XII, fleeing from Cividale, landed on Neapolitan territory (1409), and went thence to Gaeta. Ortona was an episcopal see even in the time of Gregory the Great, who mentions the Bishop Ca- lumniosus and his predecessor Blandinus. Another bisli.ip was .loannes, who in 916 was the papal legate at the Council of Altheim. There is no record of a Bishop of Ortona after the tenth century. Pius V in 1570 re-established the see, to which in 15()9 that of Campli was united. When, in 1818, Ortona was joined to Lanciano, Campli was assigned to Teramo. The archdiocese has 20 parishes, with 61,000 faithful, 2 religious hou.ses of men, and 6 of women. Cappelletti, Le Chiese d'ltalia, XXI.

U. Benigni.