Books Fatal to Their AuthorsDitchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson)
History
Books Fatal to Their Authors
Ditchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson)
Authors; Prohibited books
In the sixteenth century there lived in Hungary one Francis David, a man
learned in the arts and languages, but his inconstancy and fickleness of
mind led him into diverse errors, and brought about his destruction.
He left the Church, and first embraced Calvinism; then he fled into
the camp of the Semi-Judaising party, publishing a book _De Christo
non invocando_, which was answered by Faustus Socinus, the founder of
Socinianism. The Prince of Transylvania, Christopher Bathori, condemned
David as an impious innovator and preacher of strange doctrines, and
cast him into prison, where he died in 1579. There is extant a letter of
David to the Churches of Poland concerning the millennium of Christ.
Our next author was a victim to the same inconstancy of mind which
proved so fatal to Francis David, but sordid reasons and the love of
gain without doubt influenced his conduct and produced his fickleness of
faith. Antonio de Dominis, Archbishop of Spalatro, was a shining light
of the Roman Church at the end of the sixteenth century. He was born
in 1566, and educated by the Jesuits. He was learned in history and in
science, and was the first to discover the cause of the rainbow, his
explanation being adopted and perfected by Descartes. The Jesuits
obtained for him the Professorship of Mathematics at Padua, and of
Logic and Rhetoric at Brescia. After his ordination he became a popular
preacher and was consecrated Bishop of Segni, and afterwards Archbishop
of Spalatro in Dalmatia. He took a leading part in the controversy
between the Republic of Venice and the Pope, and after the
reconciliation between the two parties was obliged by the Pope to pay an
annual pension of five hundred crowns out of the revenues of his see to
the Bishop of Segni. This highly incensed the avaricious prelate, who
immediately began to look out for himself a more lucrative piece of
preferment. He applied to Sir Dudley Carleton, the English Ambassador at
Venice, to know whether he would be received into the Church of England,
as the abuses and corruptions of the Church of Rome prevented him from
remaining any longer in her communion.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account