Peter Lombard, Archbishop of Armagh
Encyclopedia
Peter Lombard was a Roman Catholic
archbishop of Armagh during the Counter Reformation.
, among the latter being the famous Franciscan
, Luke Wadding
. After receiving his early education at Waterford, young Lombard was sent to Westminster School
, whence, after some years, he went to Oxford
. At Westminster School one of his professors was the historian William Camden
, and pupil and master seem to have got on well together.
Camden's learning was great and Lombard was studious and clever and earned the praises of his master for his gentleness and docility. Camden also takes credit for having made his pupil a good Anglican
. But the change, if it occurred at all, did not last, and Lombard, after leaving Oxford, went to Louvain
, passed through his philosophic
and theological
classes with great distinction, graduated as Doctor of Divinity
, and was ordained
priest
. Appointed professor of theology at Leuven University
he soon attracted notice by the extent of his learning.
In 1594 he was made provost
of the cathedral
at Cambrai
. When he went to Rome, a few years later, Clement VIII thought so highly of his learning and piety
that he appointed him, in 1601, Archbishop
of Armagh
. He also appointed him his domestic prelate
, and thus secured him an income, which in the condition of Ireland at the time, there was no hope of getting from Armagh. Henceforth till his death Lombard lived at Rome.
He was for a time president of the Congregatio de Auxiliis
charged with the duty of pronouncing on Molina's work and settling the controversy on predestination
and grace which followed its publication. Lombard was active and zealous in providing for the wants of the exiled Earl of Tyrone
and Earl of Tyrconnel
, and was among those who publicly welcomed them to Rome.
He was not however able to go to Ireland, for the penal laws were in force, and to set foot in Ireland would be to invite the fate of Conor O'Devanny and others. James I of England
personally disliked him, and publicly attacked him in the English Parliament. Armagh was thus left without a Roman Catholic archbishop for nearly a quarter of a century.
There was however an administrator, David Rothe
. He had for a time acted at Borne as Lombard's secretary and the primate appointed him Vicar-General of Armagh. Nor did Rothe cease to act in this capacity even after 1618, when he was made Bishop of Ossory
.
Roman Catholics in the North complained of being left so long without an archbishop. In any case they disliked being ruled by a Munsterman, still more being ruled by one unwilling to face the dangers of his position. At Rome Lombard wrote De Regno Hiberniae sanctorum insula commentarius. This work gave such offence to Charles I of England
that he gave special directions to his Irish viceroy, Strafford, to have it suppressed.
In 1622 Peter Lombard was asked by Pope Gregory XV to be a part of a Pontifical Commission into the affairs of Fr. Roberto De Nobili S.J. and his missionary activities incorporating local customary traditions in India. The Commission included Cardinal Bellarmine and other notable theologians of the 17th century. Lombard as President of the Commission was pivotal in the exoneration of De Nobili and subsequently the Church took a whole new view to incultration of Christianity and it's missions to the unchurched.
Lombard also wrote a little work on the administration of the Sacrament of Penance, and in 1604 a yet unedited work, addressed to James I, in favour of religious liberty for the Irish.
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
archbishop of Armagh during the Counter Reformation.
Early life
Lombard belonged to a respectable and wealthy family. More than one of his relatives filled the position of mayor of Waterford, and others gained eminence in literatureLiterature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, among the latter being the famous Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
, Luke Wadding
Luke Wadding
Luke Wadding was an Irish Franciscan friar and historian.-Life:Wadding was born in 16 October 1588 at Waterford to Walter Wadding of Waterford, a wealthy merchant, and his wife, Anastasia Lombard . Educated at the school of Mrs...
. After receiving his early education at Waterford, young Lombard was sent to Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
, whence, after some years, he went to Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
. At Westminster School one of his professors was the historian William Camden
William Camden
William Camden was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and officer of arms. He wrote the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England.- Early years :Camden was born in London...
, and pupil and master seem to have got on well together.
Camden's learning was great and Lombard was studious and clever and earned the praises of his master for his gentleness and docility. Camden also takes credit for having made his pupil a good Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
. But the change, if it occurred at all, did not last, and Lombard, after leaving Oxford, went to Louvain
Leuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
, passed through his philosophic
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and theological
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
classes with great distinction, graduated as Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....
, and was ordained
Holy Orders
The term Holy Orders is used by many Christian churches to refer to ordination or to those individuals ordained for a special role or ministry....
priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
. Appointed professor of theology at Leuven University
Catholic University of Leuven
The Catholic University of Leuven, or of Louvain, was the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium. The university was founded in 1425 as the University of Leuven by John IV, Duke of Brabant and approved by a Papal bull by Pope Martin V.During France's occupation of Belgium in the...
he soon attracted notice by the extent of his learning.
Archbishop of Armagh
Provost (religion)
A provost is a senior official in a number of Christian churches.-Historical Development:The word praepositus was originally applied to any ecclesiastical ruler or dignitary...
of the cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
at Cambrai
Cambrai
Cambrai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Cambrai is the seat of an archdiocese whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages. The territory of the Bishopric of Cambrai, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, included...
. When he went to Rome, a few years later, Clement VIII thought so highly of his learning and piety
Piety
In spiritual terminology, piety is a virtue that can mean religious devotion, spirituality, or a combination of both. A common element in most conceptions of piety is humility.- Etymology :...
that he appointed him, in 1601, Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
of Armagh
Armagh
Armagh is a large settlement in Northern Ireland, and the county town of County Armagh. It is a site of historical importance for both Celtic paganism and Christianity and is the seat, for both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland, of the Archbishop of Armagh...
. He also appointed him his domestic prelate
Prelate
A prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, which means "carry before", "be set above or over" or "prefer"; hence, a prelate is one set over others.-Related...
, and thus secured him an income, which in the condition of Ireland at the time, there was no hope of getting from Armagh. Henceforth till his death Lombard lived at Rome.
He was for a time president of the Congregatio de Auxiliis
Congregatio de Auxiliis
The Congregatio de Auxiliis was a commission established by Pope Clement VIII to settle a theological controversy regarding divine grace that arose between the Dominicans and the Jesuits towards the close of the sixteenth century...
charged with the duty of pronouncing on Molina's work and settling the controversy on predestination
Predestination
Predestination, in theology is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God. John Calvin interpreted biblical predestination to mean that God willed eternal damnation for some people and salvation for others...
and grace which followed its publication. Lombard was active and zealous in providing for the wants of the exiled Earl of Tyrone
Earl of Tyrone
The Earl of Tyrone is a title created three times in the Peerage of Ireland.It was first created as part of the Tudor attempt to establish a uniform social structure in Ireland by converting the Gaelic kings and chiefs into hereditary nobles of the Kingdom of Ireland...
and Earl of Tyrconnel
Earl of Tyrconnel
The title Earl of Tyrconnell has been created four times in the Peerage of Ireland.It was first created in 1603, for Rory O'Donnell, formerly King of Tír Chonaill , along with the subsidiary title Baron Donegal...
, and was among those who publicly welcomed them to Rome.
He was not however able to go to Ireland, for the penal laws were in force, and to set foot in Ireland would be to invite the fate of Conor O'Devanny and others. James I of England
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
personally disliked him, and publicly attacked him in the English Parliament. Armagh was thus left without a Roman Catholic archbishop for nearly a quarter of a century.
There was however an administrator, David Rothe
David Rothe
David Rothe was a Roman Catholic Bishop of Ossory, central Ireland.-Life:He was born at Kilkenny, of a distinguished family. Having studied at the Irish College, Douai, and at the University of Salamanca, where he graduated doctor in civil and canon law, he was ordained in 1600, and proceeded to...
. He had for a time acted at Borne as Lombard's secretary and the primate appointed him Vicar-General of Armagh. Nor did Rothe cease to act in this capacity even after 1618, when he was made Bishop of Ossory
Bishop of Ossory
The Bishop of Ossory is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient of Kingdom of Ossory in the Province of Leinster, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bishoprics.-History:The diocese of Ossory...
.
Roman Catholics in the North complained of being left so long without an archbishop. In any case they disliked being ruled by a Munsterman, still more being ruled by one unwilling to face the dangers of his position. At Rome Lombard wrote De Regno Hiberniae sanctorum insula commentarius. This work gave such offence to Charles I of England
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
that he gave special directions to his Irish viceroy, Strafford, to have it suppressed.
In 1622 Peter Lombard was asked by Pope Gregory XV to be a part of a Pontifical Commission into the affairs of Fr. Roberto De Nobili S.J. and his missionary activities incorporating local customary traditions in India. The Commission included Cardinal Bellarmine and other notable theologians of the 17th century. Lombard as President of the Commission was pivotal in the exoneration of De Nobili and subsequently the Church took a whole new view to incultration of Christianity and it's missions to the unchurched.
Lombard also wrote a little work on the administration of the Sacrament of Penance, and in 1604 a yet unedited work, addressed to James I, in favour of religious liberty for the Irish.
Further reading
- Stuart, Historical Memoirs of Armagh, ed. by Coleman (Dublin, 1900)
- Meehan, Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell (Dublin. 1886)
- Moran, Spicilegium Ossoriense (Dublin, 1874-84)
- Renehan, Irish Archbishops Dublin, 1861)
- Cronin, A Pearl to India, London 1959 Paragraph 16 (the Pope's Decision)