DONATUS: There were two ecclesiastics of this name, contemporaries, and both concerned in the disputes which rent the African church in their day. The one was Donatus of Casæ Nigræ in Numidia; the other Donatus the Great. It is to be regretted that we know scarcely anything of the life of either. The schism in which Donatus Magnus was implicated has absorbed all other circumstances respecting him; while Donatus of Casæ Nigræ had only to do with the dispute in its germ. The cause of the Donatist schism, to which Donatus Magnus has given his name, may be traced up to the adverse relations of the two parties, headed by Mensurius, bishop of Carthage, a prudent man, who was unfriendly to the confessors and the enthusiastic Numidian bishops. On the death of Mensurius, Cæcilian, his archdeacon, was appointed to fill the vacant see. But a party was greatly opposed to him, to which belonged Donatus of Casæ Nigræ, and Lucilla, an opulent lady. Alleging that he allowed himself to be ordained by a traditor, an assembly of seventy Numidian bishops excommunicated Cæcilian, and chose Majorinus in his stead. The Emperor Constantine having declared himself against the party of Majorinus, the latter requested that he would inquire into the nature of the controversy. Accordingly he directed the bishop of Rome and five Gallic bishops to do so. Cæcilian was to appear before them, with ten bishops to defend him, and ten to bring charges. At the head of Cæcilian's accusers was Donatus of Casæ Nigræ; but his charges were declared to be unsupported. The council of Aries in 314 also declared against the party of Majorinus. Delegates of the two parties afterwards appeared before the emperor at Milan in 316, and he again decided for Cæcilian. From this time forward the party of Majorinus were treated as transgressors of the laws, deprived of their churches, and persecuted. After the death of Majorinus in 315, Donatus the Great, his successor, stood at the head of the party. In 321 Constantine granted the Donatists full liberty to act according to their convictions. But they would not return to the bosom of the catholic church. When Constans resorted to forcible measures he exasperated them the more. The most furious persecution began in the year 347, when the principle that church and state should be kept distinct was enunciated by Donatus. Under Julian they enjoyed favour; but their state was worse under succeeding emperors. Augustin tried to heal the division, but in vain. In 411, at Carthage, two hundred and eighty-six catholic and two hundred and seventy-nine Donatist bishops met. The disputation continued three days, Augustin and Aurelius being leaders on the one side; Primian and Petilian on the other. The imperial commissioner declared for the former. In 414 the Donatists lost all civil rights; and in 415 they were forbidden, under pain of death, to hold religious meetings. They continued, however, down till the seventh century; when the whole African church was annihilated by the Saracens. Donatus the Great seems to have been a man of energetic character, who possessed a fiery eloquence fitted to lead a fanatical party. He does not appear to have had much discretion or moderation, else he might have led his followers back into the catholic church. Such rigorous discipline as he inculcated was ill-suited to the minds of the less enlightened. The obstinate zeal of the Donatists was worthy of a better cause; yet it was narrow, intolerant, and fanatical.—S. D.
DONATUS, Ælius, a distinguished grammarian. The dates of his birth and death are uncertain, but he was living at Rome in the middle of the fourth century. St. Jerome was his pupil. His Latin grammar—"De octo partibus orationis"—was everywhere used to such an extent, that Donat became the name of the science of grammar as Euclid of mathematics. It even went further than this, for among Bishop Pecock's works we find one entitled "The Donat on the Christian Religion," and there is a French proverb, "Les diables etoient encore á leur Donat" (the devils were as yet in their grammar). In the Vision of Piers Plowman, and in Chaucer, we have the word Donat in the sense of grammar—
" I drave among drapers my Donat to learne."
Editions of the grammar were printed from wooden blocks before the invention of movable types. Scholia on Terence and Virgil, attributed to Donatus, are preserved, but their authenticity is disputed.—J. A., D.
DONDI (in Latin Dondus or De Dondis), Jacopo, was born at Padua of a patrician family in 1298, and died in 1359. He was skilled in natural philosophy, mathematics, and medicine, but is chiefly famous for the construction of a remarkable clock which was placed in the tower of the palace at Padua in 1344. Dondi wrote "Promptuarium Medicinæ," &c., and another book entitled "De modo conficiendi salis ex aquis calidis Aponensibus et de fluxu et refluxu maris."—R. M., A.
DONDI, Dall' Orologio, Giovanni, son of the preceding, was born in 1318, and died in 1389. Tiraboschi thinks that Giovanni assisted his father in making the celebrated Padua clock. He was the maker of a still more remarkable one which was put up in the library of Galeazzo Visconti at Pavia. From this he and his descendants derived the addition to their surname of Dall' Orologio. Giovanni, who was also a mathematician and physician, wrote an essay on mineral waters, another on the flux and reflux of the sea, and a description of his father's clock. He had the honour to be numbered among the correspondents of the great Petrarch.—R. M., A.
DONEAU or DONELLUS, Hugues, a French jurist of eminence, born at Chalons-sur-Saone in 1527, was professor of law at Bourges when, at the time of the massacre of St. Bartholomew, his Huguenot opinions forced him to fly from his native country. He died in 1591 at Altorf, where he was professor of law. His specialty was his knowledge of the Roman law, his commentaries on which, first published in 1596, have been frequently reprinted. The latest edition is that of Florence, in twelve volumes, 1841-47. The writings of Doneau display high literary ability, as well as knowledge of law.—F. E.
DONGELBERGE, Henri Charles de, a genealogist of some distinction, was born at Brussels, August 18th, 1593, where he died, 3rd April, 1660. He was the illegitimate son of Duke John of Brabant, from whom he received the best education. Studying law, he became in 1625 mayor of his native town, and occupied this post, as well as that of "public treasurer," for several years. In 1657 he was made baron by letters patent from King Philip IV. He wrote several treatises on genealogy; but the work by which he is best known is a Latin poem of about 1600 verses, in celebration of a victory gained in 1288, by a duke of Brabant over a duke of Limburg. It is entitled "Prælium Wæringanum," Brussels, 1641, and has been repeatedly translated into German, Dutch, and Flemish.—F. M.
DONI, Adone, the most renowned painter of Assisi, is supposed to have studied under Perugino, as he executed his most important works in Perugio, whilst Pietro was teaching there. These works are—"The Last Judgment, "in the church of St. Francis, and a large fresco in the town-hall. Having returned home, he displayed great activity in adorning churches and convents of that neighbourhood, showing excellency of colour, and freedom from the stiffness of his master, both remarkable. He also left several studies of portraits, stamped with the most extraordinary truthfulness. Flourished about 1560.—R. M.
DONI, Antonio Francesco, was born at Florence about 1513; and died at Venice in 1574. Doni, who was for a while a monk, afterwards became a secular priest. He is described as of unsettled and wandering disposition and habits. He never resided long in any place, but from 1547 Venice was his headquarters. His support was derived chiefly from payments received for occasional religious services, and from the more uncertain fruits of his literary works. These works, like their author, were of the most bizarre and capricious character—serious and burlesque oddly mixed together—didactic prose, interspersed with verse not of a very instructive character. He was a member of the society of Pellegrini, of which some account is given in our memoir of Dolce. He also belonged to the Academy of Piacenza, called the Ortolani, or gardeners. In this academy the members were all called, not by their baptismal names, but by some fanciful appellation taken from some object of vegetable life. There was the leek, the melon, the radish, the carrot, the cucumber. Doni himself was the semenza, or seed. In the Pellegrini his name was Bizzaro. Italian critics complain of the buffoonery of his manner; this is to be over-fastidious. Of his numerous publications, the most interesting is the "Lezioni di Academici Fiorentini sopra Dante."—J. A., D.
DONI, Giovanni Battista, a writer on music, was born at Florence in 1593, where he died in 1647. His parentage was noble, and he was designed for the profession of the bar; preparatory to which, he was educated successively at Bologna, Rome, Burgos, and Pisa. He relinquished his original intention,
