Treatise of Religion and Learning, Book 4 · Chapter 3
CHAP. III.
GRegorius M. Gregory sirnamed the Great, the first Bishop of Rome of that name, Anno Dom. 1600.Gregorius Papa primus ob doctrin…m magnus cognominatus, cujus opera Theologica varia in magno folio excusa habentur Neand. Geog. part. 1. Erat natione Romanus, ex patre Gordiane, genus à pro avis non solum nobile, sed & religiosum ducens. Librum Jobi, quomodo juxta literant intelligendus, qualiter ad Christi & Ecclesiae Sacramenta referendus, quo sensu unionique fidelium sit aptandus, per trigi…quinque libr… expositionis miranda ratione perdocuit. Beda Hist. Eccles. Gentis Angl. ab A. Whelm …dita l. 2. c. 1. Antiquidem Pontifices construendis ornandisque vel auro vel argento Ecclesiis operam debant, hic autem retus erga animarum lucra vacabat. Id. ibid. Gregorius Papa vir in divinis Scripturis eruditisimus heologorum princeps, splendor Philosophorum & rhetorum lumen, vita & conversatione integer atque sanctissimus. Irklem. de Script. Eccles. Is non sibi ipsi, sed utilitati hominum, ac honori divino consulens, quem certe ob religionem & pietatem rabus omnibus semper ante tulerat, spretis opibus, post habitis voluptatibus atque omni ambitione & patentis, gubernacula reipublicae Christianae suscipiens, ite vixit, ut usque ad tempora nostra neminem … successoribus patem habuerit, nedum superiorem vel sanctitate vitae, vel diligentia in rebus agendis, vel doctrin… & scriptis Platina de vitis Pontificum Romanorum.
He was an humble, devout, and holy Bishop, and had many pious Martyrs his Predecessors as Popes or Fathers in that See of Rome: he deserved the title of Gregory the Great for abhorring the name of Universall Bishop.
Bede cals him Apostolum nostrum our Apostle, and he gives this reason for it, quod nostram, id est, Anglorum gentem de potestate Satanae ad fidem Christi sua industria convertit, because he converted our Nation by his own industry from the power of Satan to the faith of Christ. He sent Austen the Monk and other Legates hither. See Pet. du Moulins Antibarbarian, ch. 13.
He first wrote Servus Servorum Dei, putting the Roman Bishops in remembrance thereby, both of their humblenesse, and also of their duty in the Church of Christ.
Stephanus Paschasius in his Icones hath these verses of Gregory the first, Leo the first, and Nicholas the first.
Pontifices quot Roma tulit celeberrima sanctos;
Majores nullos Nicolao, Gregorioque;
Sive Leone habuit: re sunt ut nomine primi.
Floruit circa annum 233. Gerhardi Patrologia. Episcopus suit Neocaesariensis, & a magnitudine miraculorum patratorum Thaumaturgus appellatus. Bellarm. de Script. Eccles. Quod miraculis Clareret. Originis discipulus. Eras. Epist. l. 28. Epist. 6.Gregory Thaumaturgus, Episcopus fuit Neocaesariensis.
He was called Thaumaturgus from the greatnesse of his miracles: Basil saith, he was called by the enemies of the truth another Moses. Jerom styles him Virum Apostolicorum signorum & virtutum.
When he was Bishop of Neocesarea in Pontus, he blessed God that when he came first to his charge, he found not above seventeen Christians, and when he departed from them, he left not in all his Diocesse so many unbaptized, or unbelievers.
He was present at the Synod of Antioch, celebrated against Samosatenus, Anno 266.
He wrote a Metaphrase upon Ecclesiastes.
An Exposition of Faith.
Mr Gregory of Oxford.
His two Books shew him to be a good Linguist.
Antiquissimus & fidelissimus Francorum scriptor. Chiflet. Anast. Child. Reg. c. 10.Gregorias Turonensis.
He hath put out these Works,
Hist. Francorum.
De gloria Martyrum.
De gloria Confessorum.
De vitis quorundam Patrum.
Jac. Gretzerus, Jacobus Gretzerus magnae vir doctrinae, sed saepe nimis affectui indulgens, Vossius de vitiis Serm. l. 3. c. 11. Hic Doctissimus Gretzerus praeter morem satis modeste: qui quavis occasione non sine sannis arietat in Junium, & alios, itidem candidissimi pectoris, & praeclarae doctrinae Utinam foedus iste scribendi modus, qui sic nostris temporibus in famam hominum grassatur, sublatus esset de terris, scriptoribus salvis. Vossius De vitiis Sermonis l. 2. c. 2.a Learned Jesuite, a good Grecian.
He hath commandment from Claudius de Aqua viva Generall Governour of the society of the Jesuites, to second Bellarmine in all *B. Hows. 2d Serm. to prove that Peter had no Monarchicall power over the rest of the Apost. Vide Praefat. ejus ad tom. 1. Defens. Bellarm.his attempts, and observeth in his own Writings, these two qualities, temere dicere & astute reticere.
He is unreasonably bitter against those which are both Learned and Modest.
The defender of Bellarmine, the most scurrile Writer that this or the former age hath seen. Dr Crakanth. in a Serm. on 2 Chron. 9.5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
He was chosen for the Papists Champion, in the famous Disputation holden at Regensperg, 1600; whom Possevine the Jesuite cals the very hammer of the Heretiks.
Grindall, a Learned Divine.
Johannes Groperus of Collen was offered the Cardinalship by Paul the 4th,Johannes Gropperus Germanus Dignitatem Cardinalis ultro oblatam, quam caeteri morrales plerunque ardentissimis votis ambiunt, rara hoc aevo modestia & animi magnitudine repudiavit. Thuan. Hist. Tom. 1. l. 16. but he was then old, and thinking to honour his memory much more by refusing a Dignity, desired even by great Princes, then by keeping it a few daies, he sent the Pope many thanks, together with his excuse, and refusing the Ornaments, would neither have the Name nor Title. Hist. of the Counc. of Trent, lib. 5. p. 396, 397.
This was after a sort commendable, but his forsaking the Gospel mentioned by Sleidan in his 15 Book of Commentaries, was most wicked.
Hugo Grotius. He was born at Delph in the Low-Countries, Non divinarum minus quam humanarum rerum scientissimus. Hugo Grotius Voss. Praefat. ad defens. l. de Satisfact. Christi. Quae pio & erudito opere de Christi satisfactione scripsit divinarum humanarumque literarum scientissimus. Voss. in Maimon. de Idolol. c. 6 Summus virorum Hugo Grotius, lumen illud ac columen literarum: de quo nihil tam magnificum dici aut scribi potest, quin virtus & eruditio id superarit sua. Meibomii Maecenas c. 4.in the year of our Lord 1583.
He hath written upon all the Old and New Testament. His Books De Veritate Religionis Christianae, and De Satisfactione Christi are well esteemed.
Piscator sent these verses to him when he published Martianus Capella.
Magnus es ingenio, doctrina magnus es idem,
Nomini, & magni. Magna cupido tibi est,
Non temere ergo tibi, sed cum ratione, locuta
Cognomen Grotî Belgica lingua dedit.
He was a very Learned Lawyer, but fell off much from soundness and Orthodoxy in the true Religion in his later daies.
Voetius in his 2d part of Select. Theolog. Disputat. De Conversione Judaeorum reckons him among the men dubiae aut variate Religionis.
Some Learned and Orthodox French Divines, as Rivet, Maresius, and others also have written solidly against him.
Therefore his diligent Translatour might perhaps have been better imployed, then in turning into English his Vow for the Churches Peace, a book so empty and Heterodox, and so well refuted by the Learned Rivet in his Apoligeticus pro vera Pace Ecclesiae.
Janus Gruterus, a famous Critick.Autuerpiae nascitur anno Christianae salutis 1560. J.C. Historicus Criticus utriusque linguae & omnis Antiquitatis petitus. Swertii Athenae Belgicae. Vir eruditissimus & de bonis literis optime meritus. Scalig. Animadvers. in Euseb. Casaub. not. in Aelium Lampridium illum ut eruditissimum & clarissimum virum celebrat. Vide Jos. Scalig. Epist. l. 3. Epist. 216. Patritius Gandavensis, vir multae eruditionis ac Poeta suavis: varios versus scripsit, Justo Lipsio ab ingenii amaenitate ac doctrina charissimus Sanderus de Gandav-Erudit. Claris. l. 2.
He wrote Thesaurus Criticus, and Criticall Notes on Seneca's Tragedies, Statius his Poems, on Martiall, Titus Livius, Tacitus, Velleius Paterculus, and others, a great and large Volume of the Inscriptions of the ancient Romans, and divers other Works.
Simon Grynaeus, born Anno 1493.
Incomparabilis vir Simon Grynaeus,Homo Latinè Graecéque ad unguem doctus, in Philosophia & mathematicis disciplinis diligenter versatus, nullo supercilio, pudore penè immodico. Eras. Epist. l. 26. Epist. 39. in quo pietatem Christianam & virtutes omnes, & musas atque charites habuisse domicilium existimo. Bibliander de Ratione Communi omnium Linguarum.
He hath written De utilitate legendae Historiae.
A Dissertation De Cometis, and other Works.
Jo. Jac. *Jacobum Grynaeum Simonis illius magni gentilem, aliquoties. Sleidani historias publicè praelegentem audivit, ad quas ille multa singularia & citu digna, quae Sloidanum fugerant, ex familiari, quam in aulis principum Germaniae habuerat, notitia hausta addebat, & elegantissime explicabat. Thuan. De vita sua Comment. l. 4.Grynaeus.
He hath expounded severall parts of Scripture, and published two Books of select Epistles, with other Works. Epistolae selectae plenae gravissimarum rerum lectuque dignissimae. Melch. Ad. in ejus vita.
He said Erasmus did more hurt the Pope of Rome, jocando, quam Lutherus stomachando.
He answered thus to Chytraeus, Si non amplius in his terris te visurus sum: ibi tamen conveniemus, ubi Luthero cum Zuinglio optimè jam convenit. Melch. Ad. in ejus Vita.
Rudolphus aHic annus ultimus fuit Ludovico Lavatero & Rodolpho Gualtero ambobus …igurinis & illius Ecclesiae Pastoribus, & ille quidem Henrici Bullingeri gener multis editis scriptis etiam extra religionis controversias claruit; hic Josiae Simleri socer, Homiliastes inter suos celeberimus. Thuan. Hist. Tom 4to l. 85.Gualtherus, a Poet and Divine. He was born at Zurick the chief City of the Helvetians, Anno 1518.
His son also of the same name was a Learned Divine.
There are extant his verses in imagines Doctorum nostri seculi virorum.
Rodolph. Gualterus the sonne hath written Homilies upon the lesser Prophets, and other Learned Works.
Baptista bEjus opera Alphonius secundus Ferrari Dux usus est in scribendis Epistolis, in quo munere rantum valuit, ut etiam de eo elegantissimum librum, qui Secretarius inscribitur, edidit. Nulla fuit in Iralia Paulo illustrior Academia, quae non summa ambitione ab eo expetierit, ut nomen suum ad ipsius Academiacotum numerum adscriberet. Jani Nicii Erythraei Pinacotheca. Vide plura ibid.Guarinus.
Stephanus Guichardus, Estienne Guichard a Learned French Linguist.
He hath written a French book entitled L' Harmonie Etymologique des Langues, an Etymologicall Harmony of Languages, in which he compares at least twelve Languages with the Hebrew, and excellently shews their originall and signification out of the Hebrew Language.
Franciscus cAcris judicii vir, uti, & usus in publicis rebus administrandis. Possev Biblioth. Sel. tomo 2d• l. 16. c. 41. Prudens peritusque scriptor, & qui tales, lectores suos facit, liber est & verax, ab affectibus immunis, si tamen ab odio, quod retegere mihi non semel videtur in Ducem Urbinatem. Sententias bonas utilesque inserit, sed parum astrictas. Vitia. duo propria hujus aevi non effugit, quod & justo longior est, & quod minutissima quaeque narret, parum ex lege aut dignitate Historiae. Sed nec orationes ejus satis vegetae mihi, aut castigatae, languent saepe, aut solute vagantur. Denique uno verbo, inter nostros, summus est Historicus: inter veteres, mediocris. Lips. not. ad 1. lib. Polit. Vide Thuan. Hist. tom. 4. l. 96.Guicciardinus.
He seems to be inferiour to none of the Ancients, for he excels in faith, diligence, prudence, and other vertues, and in the relation of things done, in discovering of Counsels, in noting the manners of men, in describing of persons, and in recounting Orations, he hath many things which are wanting in others who have written the History of those times.
Stephanus Paschasius in his Icones hath these verses of him,
A Tito nullus, si quis mihi credat, in orbe
Clarior hoc uno floruit Historiâ.
Melchior Guilandinus.Qui plura voler, consulat Guilandinum de Papyro, qui amplo commentario Plinium illustravit. Museum Wormianum, l. 4. c. 12. Vide Thuan. Hist. tom. 4. l. 96.
Vir fuit sine dubio literatissimus, qui instar Gorgiae de qualibet re proposita, copiosè, atque disertè poterat disputare. Castellanus de vitis Medicorum.
Johannes dQui de Medicina veteri & nova tum cognoscenda, tum facienda, volumina duo varia & erudita scripsit, …ubi Theophrastaea medicina accuratissime excutitur & examinatur. Neand. Geog. parte 1a.Guinterius Andernacus, a Learned Physitian.
His Works are mentioned by Castellanus De vitis Medicorum.
Gyldas eAntiquissimus inter eos qui side digni sunt, Britranicarum rerum scriptor. Antiq. Eccles. Britan. Gildas Cambrius, poeta Britannus, eo tempore natus erat, quo maximè per universum mundum eloquentia Romana floruit. Coaetaneus erat Martiali, Flacco, Silio, Statio, Stellae, Juvenali, & id genus aliis: sed nec ipsis inferior judicatus. Vide Lil. Gyrald. in Poet. Histor. dial. 5. Balaeus de Script. Britan. Cent. 1.. He wrote the Annals of the British Nation.
Lylius Gregorius Gyraldus.
Petrus Crinitus and he have both written of the Poets, but he farre better.Vir solide dectus & in scribendo accuratus. Casaub. Not. ad Diog. Laert. l. 8. Utriusque linguae & omnis politioris literaturae & antiquitatis, quam vatiis scriptis illustravit, longe peritissimus. Thuan. Hist. Tom. 1. l. 11. Vir omnis eruditae antiquitatis ac literatae doctrinae callentissimus, qui plerasque manuscriptas Bibliothecae Graecas in Italia excussit, è quorum lectione conscripsit libros illos suos eruditos, & varios de diis gentium; opus admirandum, historiam veterum & recentiorum Poetarum, & …aetera plurima exquisita singula. Neand. Geog.
Longe hoc (viz. Crinito) doctior & diligentior. Voss. De Histor. Lat. lib. 3. part. 4. c. 1.
Cujus extat Historia dialogis decum perscripta de Poetis antiquis; opus sicut magni ingenii, & judicii, sic ingentis doctrinae, atque industriae: ita ut exspectandum non sit, ne quis deinceps hanc denuo provinciam suscipiat. Vossius De Poetis Latinis, cap. 7.