FERRAR, ROBERT: Bishop of St. David's; b. near Halifax (14 m. w.s.w. of Leeds), Yorkshire, before 1509; burned at Carmarthen, Wales, Mar. 30, 1555. He probably studied at Cambridge, afterward at Oxford (B.D., 1533), where he became a canon regular of the order of St. Augustine and a member of the priory of St. Mary's. He read Luther's works, became a Reformer, and in 1528 was compelled to recant. Later he aided Henry VIII. in suppressing the monasteries, and in 1540, a pension of eighty pounds a year was bestowed upon him, a large amount for those times. During the reign of Edward VI. he enjoyed the patronage of the Duke of Somerset, who employed him in carrying on the Reformation. He was elevated to the see of St. David's in 1548; but on his arrival in his diocese in 1549 he found serious difficulties awaiting him. Technical flaws were found in his commission, false charges were trumped up against him. Somerset, now in the Tower, could do nothing for him, and in 1551 Ferrar was thrown into prison and kept there till the accession of Queen Mary. He was deprived of his bishopric in Mar., 1554, condemned as a heretic a year later, and was burned at Carmarthen on Mar. 30, 1505. To a bystander who commiserated him he remarked, "If you see me once to stir while I suffer the pains of burning, then give no credit to those doctrines for which I die." He made good his assertion, for he did not move till a blow on the head felled him in the midst of the flames.

303

Bibliography: John Fox, Acts and Monuments, ed. J.

Townsend, v. 428, vi. 146, 222, 553, 664, 705, vii. 1-28, 8 vols., London, 1837-41; A. b wood, Athenie Oxonienwa, ed. P. Bliss, ii. 759-761, 4 vols., ib. 1813-20; G. Burnet, Hist. of the Reformation, ed. N. Pocock, ii. 127, iii. 350. 362, v. 197-205, Oxford, 1865; DNB, xviii. 380-382 (contains good list of sources).

FERRARA-FLORENCE, COUNCIL OF: An assembly which met at Ferrara early in 1438 to consider proposals for union between the Greek and Latin Churches. The great danger threatening the Greek empire at the hands of the Turks led the emperor, John Pabeologus, to disregard the aversion generally felt in the East for Rome and to make proposals for a union of the two branches of Christendom to both the pope, Eugenius IV., and the Council of Basel, which was in session at the time. The pope was unwilling that the council-with which his relations were anything but amicable(see Basel, Council of; Eugenius IV.) should share in the glory of a possible successful outcome of negotiations, and thought his purposes would be better served if its sessions were transferred to an Italian city. Toward the end of 1437 he directed it to meet at Ferrara on Jan. 8, 1438. A complete rupture between pope and council resulted, the majority of the latter remaining at Basel, where they deposed the pope. A minority, however, who were favorable to the pope met at Ferrara. Early in Mar., 1438, the Greeks, about 700 persons, arrived at Ferrara as guests of the pope; the emperor arrived on the fourth of the month, the patriarch of Constantinople on the seventh. Prominent among the Greeks were Besaarion, archbishop of Nicaea, afterward cardinal of the Church of Rome (see Bessarion, Johannes), a friend of union, and Markos Eugenikos (q.v.), metropolitan of Ephesus, whose one thought was to defend the peculiarities of the Greek peoples against the imperious papacy; it was mainly due to his influence that the dogmatic discussions on the doctrinal differences, especially on the procession of the Holy Spirit, held in 1438 were without result. Financial difficulties obliged the pope to transfer the council to Florence. Here the first session was held Feb. 26, 1439, and the metropolitan Isidore of Kief was especially conspicuous as friend of the Union. After much discussion it was agreed that the terms used by the Church Fathers -the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, and from the Father through the Son-are in the main identical (see Filioque Controversy). By this the Greeks had actually acknowledged the authority of the ilioque; but in no case would they adopt it in their symbol; they declared, however, their willingness to unite with the Latins retaining their own rites. In the beginning of June, 1439 the discussions of the ilioque could be considered as closed; those on purgatory, the use of leavened or unleavened bread in the Eucharist, the sacrifice of the mass, etc., were relatively unimportant. But the whole union-scheme threatened to become again doubtful when the question concerning the "papacy" came up for discussion. A formula was invented, however, which each party could interpret according to its own view (see below). In the midst of these negotiations the patriarch of Constantinople died, June 10, 1439, and a ter-

mination of the discussions seemed more than ever desirable. On July 5 an agreement was arrived at, but Markos Eugenikos refused to sign it; another opponent to the union, the bishop of Stauropolis had already fled from Florence. It is noteworthy that the decree was signed by 115 Latins and by only thirty-three Greeks. The union-document was prepared in Latin and Greek by Ambrose Traversari, and corrections were afterward made here and there in the Greek by Bessarion. Both the Greek and Latin text may be considered authentic. On July 6, 1439, the solemn consummation of the union was celebrated in the cathedral at Florence. Cardinal Cesarini read the decree in Latin, Bessarion in Greek; after its general adoption Pope Eugenius celebrated public mass.

As concerns the contents of the decree, the main doctrinal difference was adjusted on paper, as already stated; the Greeks acknowledged the correctness of the ftlioque, without adopting it in their symbol. The other points-on the Eucharist, purgatory, etc.-were non-essential. The Greeks retained their whole ritual and marriage of the priests. Regarding the pope, a formula was adopted which the Greeks could and did interpret as acknowledging his primacy " in the way which is determined in the acts of ecumenical councils and in the sacred canons." The patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jeru salem could thus imagine they had preserved their privileges. The Latins, however, interpreted the last clause as a confirmation of their claims and read, the pope has the primacy in the church, " as is determined in the acts of ecumenical councils and in the sacred canons " (the original copy of the decree with other copies is at Florence in the Laurentian library). On Aug. 26, 1439 the em peror left for Constantinople by way of Venice. A real union had not been accomplished, the Greeks would not "Latinize," the fall of Constantinople was not prevented, and in 1472 a synod in Constan tinople solemnly and openly renounced the union of Florence.

Paul Tschackert.

Bibliography: Sources: The original protocols are lost, but the preliminary negotiations are brought together by E. Cecconi. Studi atorici sul concilio di Firenze, Florence, 1869; the Acts of the Council, compiled by O. Giustinisni, are in Mansi, Concilia, vol. xxxi and Labbe, Concilia, xiii. 825 sqq. (from the Latin standpoint); the Ada Grcera, by Dorotheus of Mitylene, are in Harduin, Concilia, vol. ix., and in Mansi, vol. xxxi (from the Greek standpoint); the "Great History" of the Greek Sylvester Syropulus, giving the views of a divergent Greek party, was published by R. Creyghton, London, 1660; the union decree appeared, ed. Milanesi, in Archivio atorico ltaliano. new ser., vi (1857), 219. The modern Latin point of view appears in Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, vii. 659 sqq.; the Greek, by Gorski, in Hist. of the Council of Florence, ed. Neale, London, 1861. Consult further: A. Pichler, Geschichte der kirchlichen Trennunp zwischen dem Orient and den Occident, Munich, 1864; T. Fromman, Kritische Beiträge zur Geschichte der Florentiner Kirchen einipungen, Halle, 1872; idem, in Jahrbücher for deutsche Theologie, xxii. 4 (1877), 659 sqq.; J. Driiseke, in Z;VT, xxxvii (1894), 31 sqq.; Pastor, Popes, i. 315 sqq.; Creighton, Papacy, ii. 333-341, 382-384.