the presidency of Pope Clement V. The transference of the Curia from Rome to Avignon (1309) had brought the papacy under the influence of the French crown; and this position Philip the Fair of France now endeavoured to utilize by demanding from the pope the dissolution of the powerful and wealthy order of the Temple, together with the introduction of a trial for heresy against the late Pope Boniface VIII. To evade the second claim, Clement gave way on the first. Legal trials and acts of violence against the Templars had begun as early as the year 1307 (see Templars); and the principal object of the council was to secure a definite decision on the question of their continuance or abolition. In the committee appointed for preliminary consultation, one section was for the immediate condemnation of the order, and declined to allow it any opportunity of defence, on the ground that it was now superfluous and simply a source of strife. The majority of the members, however, regarded the case as non-proven, and demanded that the order should be heard on its own behalf; while at the same time they held that its dissolution was unjustifiable. Under pressure from the king, who was himself present in Vienne, the pope determined that, as the order gave occasion for scandal but could not be condemned as heretical by a judicial sentence (de jure), it should be abolished per modum provisionis seu ordinationis apostolicae; in other words, by an administrative ruling based on considerations of the general welfare. To this procedure the council agreed, and on the 22nd of March the order of the Temple was suppressed by the bull Vox clamantis; while further decisions as to the treatment of the Order and its possessions followed later.
In addition to this the discussions announced in the opening speech, regarding measures for the reformation of the Church and the protection of her liberties, took place; and a part of the Constitutions found in the Clementinum, published in 1317 by John XXII., were probably enacted by the council. Still it is impossible to say with certainty what decrees were actually passed at Vienne. Additional decisions were necessitated by the violent disputes which raged within the Franciscan order as to the observance of the rules of St Francis of Assisi, and by the multitude of subordinate questions arising from this. Resolutions were also adopted on the Beguines and their mode of life (see Beguines), the control of the hospitals, the institution of instructors in Hebrew, Arabic and Chaldaic at the universities, and on numerous details of ecclesiastical discipline and law.
See Mansi, Collectio Conciliorum, vol. xxv.; Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, vol. vi. pp. 532-54.
VIERGE, DANIEL (1851–1904), Spanish painter and draughtsmen, was born in Madrid 1851. He went to Paris in 1867 to seek his fortune, fired by the vivid energy of his national temperament. He became attached to the Monde illustré in 1870, just before the Franco-Prussian War broke out, and, like other artists in the paper, came under the powerful influence of Edmond Morin, the first newspaper draughtsman in France who sought to impart to drawings for journals the character of a work of art. Vierge's early drawings, therefore, partake greatly of Morin’s style; such are, “The Shooting in the Rue de la Paix,” “The Place d’Armes at Versailles,” “The Loan,” “The Great School-Fête of Lyons,” “Anniversary of the Fight of Aydes” and “Souvenir of Coulmiers.” Vierge lost no time in proving the extraordinary vigour and picturesqueness of his art. Apart from his contribution of his own original work, he was required by his paper to redraw upon the wood, for the engraver, the sketches sent in by artist-correspondents, such as Luc Ollivier Merson in Rome and Samuel Urrabieta (Vierge’s brother) in Spain. From 1871 to 1878 his individuality became more and more pronounced, and he produced, among his best-known drawings, “Christmas in Spain,” “The Republican Meeting in Trafalgar Square,” “Attack on a Train in Andulusia,” “Feast of St Rosalia in Palermo,” “In the Jardin d’Acclimatation,” “The Burning of the Library of the Escurial, 1872,” “Grasshoppers in Algiers,” “Brigandage in Sicily,” “Night Fête in Constantinople,” “Episode of the Civil War in Spain,” “Marriage of the King of Spain” and “The Bull Fight.” About this time he illustrated with remarkable dash and skill Victor Hugo’s Année terrible (Michel Lévy, 1874, and Hugues, 1879), “1813” (Hugues, 1877) and Les Misérables (1882). His masterpiece of illustration in Michelet’s History of France (1876), consisting of 26 volumes containing 1000 drawings. In 1879 he was drawing for La Vie moderne, and then proceeded to illustrate Pablo de Segovia. While engaged upon this work he was attacked by paralysis in the right arm, but with characteristic energy and courage he set himself to acquire the necessary skill in drawing with the left, and proceeded with the illustrations to the book. In 1891 he illustrated L’Espagnole, by Begerat, and in 1895 Le Cabaret des trois vertus. In 1898 he held, at the Pelletan Gallery in Paris, an exhibition of his drawings for Chateaubriand’s Le Dernier Abencérage (“The Last of the Abencerrages”), and in the following year a comprehensive exhibition of his work (including the illustrations to Don Quixote) at the Art Nouveau Gallery, also in Paris. In 1898 Vierge contributed to L’Image, a magazine devoted to the encouragement of engraving upon wood; and two years later, at the International Exhibition at Paris, he was awarded a grand prix. In 1902 he exhibited at the New Salon a scene from the Franco-Prussian War. He died at Boulogne-sur-Seine in May 1904.
See Roger Marx, L’Image (1898); Béraldi, La Gravure au 19e siècle.
VIERSEN, a town of Germany, in the Prussian Rhine province, 11 m. by rail S.W. from Crefeld, and at the junction of lines to München-Gladbach, Venlo, &c. Pop. (1905) 27,577. It has an evangelical and four Roman Catholic churches, among the latter the handsome parish church dating from the 15th century, and various educational establishments. Viersen is one of the chief seats in the lower Rhine country for the manufacture of velvets, silks (especially umbrella covers) and plush.
VIERZON, a town of central France, in the department of Cher, 20 m. N.W. of Bourges by rail. The Cher and the Yèvre unite at the foot of the hill on which lie Vierzon-Ville (pop. (1906) town, 11,812) and Vierzon-Village (pop. town, 2026; commune, 9710); Vierzon-Bourgneuf (pop. town, 1482) is on the left bank of the Cher. The town has a port on the canal of Berry and is an important junction on the Orléans railway; there are several large manufactories for the production of agricultural machines, also foundries, porcelain, brick and tile works and glass works. A technical school of mechanics and a branch of the Bank of France are among the institutions of the town.
VIETA (or Viète), FRANÇOIS, Seigneur de la Bigotière (1540-1603), more generally known as Franciscus Vieta, French mathematician, was born in 1540 at Fontenay-le-Comte, in Poitou. According to F. Ritter,[1] Vieta was brought up as a Catholic, and died in the same creed; but there can be no doubt that he belonged to the Huguenots for several years. On the completion of his studies in law at Poitiers Vieta began his career as an advocate in his native town. This he left about 1567, and somewhat later we find him at Rennes as a councillor of the parlement of Brittany. The religious troubles drove him thence, and Rohan, the well-known chief of the Huguenots, took him under his special protection. He recommended him in 1550 as a “maître des requêtes” (master of requests); and Henry of Navarre, at the instance of Rohan, addressed two letters to Henry III. of France on the 3rd of March and the 26th of April 1585, to obtain Vieta's restoration to his former office, but without result. After the accession of Henry of Navarre to the throne of France, Vieta filled in 1589 the position of councillor of the parlement at Tours. He afterwards became a royal privy councillor, and remained so till his death, which took place suddenly at Paris in February 1603, but in what manner we do not know; Anderson, the editor of his scientific writings, speaks only of a “praeceps et immaturum autoris fatum.”
- ↑ Bolletino Boncompagni (Rome, 1868), vol. i. p. 227, n. 1.
