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:''For others with this name, see Caesarius.'' Saint Caesarius of Arles ((ラテン語:Caesarius Arelatensis); 468/470 27 August 542 AD), sometimes called "of Chalon" (''Cabillonensis'' or ''Cabellinensis'') from his birthplace Chalon-sur-Saône, was the foremost ecclesiastic of his generation in Merovingian Gaul. Caesarius is considered to be of the last generation of church leaders of Gaul that worked to promote large-scale ascetic elements into the Western Christian tradition.〔William E. Klingshirn, Caesarius of Arles: The Making of a Christian Community in Late Antique Gaul. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994.〕 William E. Klingshirn’s study of Caesarius depicts that Caesarius had the reputation of a "popular preacher of great fervour and enduring influence.〔Conrad Leyser, "Authority and Asceticism from Augustine to Gregory the Great"〕" In all the Christian West, only Gregory the Great and Gregory of Tours overshadow him. Among Caesarius's greatest influences were Augustine of Hippo, Pomerius, and Cassian. == Life == Caesarius was born at Chalon-sur-Saône to Roman Burgundian parents. His sister, Caesaria, to whom he addressed his "Regula ad Virgines" (''Rule for Virgins''), also presided over the convent he had founded. At the time of his birth, Germanic kings governed Burgundy. Unlike his parents, Caesarius was born with a very strong and intense feeling for religion which alienated him from his family for the majority of his adolescence. Caesarius left home at seventeen and studied under Bishop Sylvester for a few years. Afterwards, he found his way to Lérins (Lerinum), an island monastery, which was known to be a major dynamo for creative forces of work in the Church of Roman Gaul.〔William Daly, "Caesarius of Arles a precursor of medieval Christendom," Traditio: Studies in Ancient and Medieval History, Thought, and Religion 26 (1970): 6〕 After training as a monk at Lérins he devoted himself to reading and applying the scripture in hopes of improving the quality and organization of Christian life and serving the poor. He rapidly became master of all the learning and discipline the monastery communicated and was appointed cellarer. However, he proved unpopular at Lérins when, as cellarer of the monastery, he withheld food from monks because he felt they were insufficiently austere. As a result, the abbot Porcarius removed Caesarius from his post, whereupon he began starving himself; the abbot intervened and sent Caesarius to Arles ostensibly for medical care. After living at Lérins for over a decade and his health steadily decreasing from monastic over-exertion, Caesarius sought out a different clerical Christian community in Arles. The Christian community he joined fostered him back to health and he was soon popularly elected as their bishop. By middle age, he had “become and was to remain the leading ecclesiastical statesman and spiritual force of his age”.〔Daly,''Caesarius of Arles'', 5〕 His concern for the poor and sick was famous throughout and beyond Gaul as he regularly provided ransom for prisoners and aided the sick and the poor. Upon arriving in the city, the ''Vita Caesarii'' claims that Caesarius discovered, completely to his surprise, that the bishop of Arles - Aeonius - was a kinsman from Chalon (''concivis pariter et propinquus'' - "at once a fellow citizen and a relative"). Aeonius later ordained his young relative deacon and then presbyter. For three years he presided over a monastery in Arles; but of this building no vestige is now left. At the death of Aeonius the clergy, citizens, and persons in authority proceeded, as Aeonius himself had suggested, to elect Caesarius to the vacant seat, although Klingshirn suggests that there may have been considerable local hostility, that Caesarius' election may have been heavily disputed and that another cleric, Iohannes, who appears in the episcopal ''fasti'' of Arles may have been elected bishop. Caesarius was consecrated in 502, being probably about 33 years of age. In the fulfilment of his new duties he was courageous and unworldly, but yet exhibited great power of kindly adaptation. He took great pains to induce the laity to join in the sacred offices, and encouraged inquiry into points not made clear in his sermons. He also ordered the people to study Holy Scripture at home, and treat the word of God with the same reverence as the sacraments. He was specially zealous in redeeming captives, even selling church ornaments for this purpose. As bishop, Caesarius lived in a political world whose main theme was competition for Southern Gallic control among the Visigothic, Ostrogothic and Frankish kingdoms which led him to the constant ransoming of victims during these wars. The aftermath of war in 507/508 between the Burgundians and Franks and Visigothic and Ostrogothic kingdoms was devastating to its citizens. Peasants had no food supply and were in danger of enslavement, exile and death. Although Caesarius saved and ransomed many countryside citizens, his actions in redeeming captives was quite controversial. Although he ransomed many peasants of his country, he also ransomed numerous barbarians and enemies of the city. He defended himself by stating that barbarians were human beings and therefore had the potential to enter the City of God.〔William Klingshirn, Caesarius of Arles: The Making of A Christian Community in Late Antique Gaul (New York: University of Cambridge Press, 1994), 116〕 A notary named Licinianus denounced Caesarius to Alaric II as one who desired to subjugate the ''civitas'' of Arles to Burgundian rule. Caesarius was exiled to Bordeaux, but on the discovery of his innocence, was speedily allowed to return. He interceded for the life of his calumniator. Later, when Arles was besieged by Theodoric around the year 512, he was again accused of treachery and imprisoned. An interview with the Ostrogothic king at Ravenna the next year speedily dispelled these troubles, and the remainder of his episcopate was passed in peace. Some rivalry appears to have existed in the sixth century between the sees of Arles and Vienne, but was adjusted by Pope Leo, whose adjustment was confirmed by Pope Symmachus. Caesarius was in favour at Rome. A book he wrote against the semi-Pelagians, entitled ''de Gratiâ et Libero Arbitrio'', was sanctioned by Pope Felix IV; and the canons passed at Orange were approved by Pope Boniface II. The learned antiquary Louis Thomassin believed him to have been the first Western bishop who received a pall from the pope. François Guizot in ''Civilisation en France'' cites part of one of Caesarius' sermons as that of a representative man of his age; while August Neander eulogizes his "unwearied, active, and pious zeal, ready for every sacrifice in the spirit of love," and his moderation on the controversy concerning semi-Pelagianism. However, throughout all this turmoil, unlike Boethius, another Christian philosopher of the 6th century, he was never charged with being a covert supporter of a revived Roman Empire. The old Roman political order seemed to have little significance to Caesarius who instead directed his attitude to reflecting and accepting Christian pragmatism. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Caesarius of Arles」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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