Faritius
Encyclopedia
Faricius (died 1117) was an Italian Benedictine Abbot of Abingdon and physician.
, Tuscany
, a Benedictine
monk who became known as a skilful physician and man of letters. He was in England in 1078, when he witnessed the translation of the relics of St. Aldhelm, and was cellarer of Malmesbury Abbey
when, in 1100, he was elected abbot of Abingdon. He owed his election to a vision, reported to the king Henry I; Faricius was either already, or was soon afterwards, the king's physician.
He was consecrated on 1 November by Robert Bloet
, bishop of Lincoln. The restoration of the conventual buildings was his first care, and he also rebuilt a large part of the church, probably the whole of the eastern end, the transepts, and the central tower, placing his new building to the south of St. Æthelwold's church He enriched the abbey by obtaining grants of land and gifts, caused books of divinity and medicine to be copied for the library, was liberal to the monks, and raised their number from twenty-eight to eighty. The payments he received for his work as a physician enabled him to do all this.
When, after the see of Canterbury had remained vacant for five years, Henry held a council at Windsor
on 26 April 1114 in order to fix on a successor to Anselm
, he was anxious to procure the election of Faricius. The suffragan bishops, however, opposed the scheme, for they were afraid that Faricius as an Italian and a strict churchman would involve the church in fresh disputes. This feeling was not expressed openly, but the Bishops of Lincoln and Salisbury alleged that it would be unseemly that a physician who attended women should be made archbishop. The king gave up the point, and Ralph d'Escures
was elected.
in his ‘Life’ of the saint. His work is identified as the anonymous ‘Life’ in the contemporary Cotton MS. Faustina, B. iv., which is printed in the Bollandists' Acta Sanctorum
May vi. 84, and by John Allen Giles in his edition of Aldhelm's works. He is also said to have written letters and a work proving that infants dying without baptism cannot be saved.
Life
Faricius was born in ArezzoArezzo
Arezzo is a city and comune in Central Italy, capital of the province of the same name, located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about 80 km southeast of Florence, at an elevation of 296 m above sea level. In 2011 the population was about 100,000....
, Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
, a Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monk who became known as a skilful physician and man of letters. He was in England in 1078, when he witnessed the translation of the relics of St. Aldhelm, and was cellarer of Malmesbury Abbey
Malmesbury Abbey
Malmesbury Abbey, at Malmesbury in Wiltshire, England, was founded as a Benedictine monastery around 676 by the scholar-poet Aldhelm, a nephew of King Ine of Wessex. In 941 AD, King Athelstan was buried in the Abbey. By the 11th century it contained the second largest library in Europe and was...
when, in 1100, he was elected abbot of Abingdon. He owed his election to a vision, reported to the king Henry I; Faricius was either already, or was soon afterwards, the king's physician.
He was consecrated on 1 November by Robert Bloet
Robert Bloet
Robert Bloet was a medieval English bishop and a Chancellor of England. Born into a noble Norman family, he became a royal clerk under King William I of England. Under William I's son and successor King William II, Bloet was first named chancellor then appointed to the see of Lincoln...
, bishop of Lincoln. The restoration of the conventual buildings was his first care, and he also rebuilt a large part of the church, probably the whole of the eastern end, the transepts, and the central tower, placing his new building to the south of St. Æthelwold's church He enriched the abbey by obtaining grants of land and gifts, caused books of divinity and medicine to be copied for the library, was liberal to the monks, and raised their number from twenty-eight to eighty. The payments he received for his work as a physician enabled him to do all this.
When, after the see of Canterbury had remained vacant for five years, Henry held a council at Windsor
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
on 26 April 1114 in order to fix on a successor to Anselm
Anselm
Anselm may refer to any of several historical figures, or their works:*Saint Anselm, Duke of Friuli, 8th-century Abbot of Nonantula*Anselm of Farfa , abbot*Anselm II *Anselm of Liège , chronicler...
, he was anxious to procure the election of Faricius. The suffragan bishops, however, opposed the scheme, for they were afraid that Faricius as an Italian and a strict churchman would involve the church in fresh disputes. This feeling was not expressed openly, but the Bishops of Lincoln and Salisbury alleged that it would be unseemly that a physician who attended women should be made archbishop. The king gave up the point, and Ralph d'Escures
Ralph d'Escures
Ralph , also known as Ralph d'Escures from the family estate Escures, near Sées in Normandy, was a medieval Abbot of Séez, Bishop of Rochester and then Archbishop of Canterbury. He studied at the school at the Abbey of Bec. In 1079 he entered the abbey of St Martin at Séez, and became abbot there...
was elected.
Works
He wrote a ‘Life of St. Aldhelm,’ which is criticised by William of MalmesburyWilliam of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. C. Warren Hollister so ranks him among the most talented generation of writers of history since Bede, "a gifted historical scholar and an omnivorous reader, impressively well versed in the literature of classical,...
in his ‘Life’ of the saint. His work is identified as the anonymous ‘Life’ in the contemporary Cotton MS. Faustina, B. iv., which is printed in the Bollandists' Acta Sanctorum
Acta Sanctorum
Acta Sanctorum is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. It begins with two January volumes, published in 1643, and ended with the Propylaeum to...
May vi. 84, and by John Allen Giles in his edition of Aldhelm's works. He is also said to have written letters and a work proving that infants dying without baptism cannot be saved.