BOEHRINGER, bu-ring'er, GEORG FRIEDRICH: Swiss Protestant (Tübingen school); b. at Maulbronn, Württemberg, Dec. 28, 1812; d. at Basel, blind and crippled, Sept. 16, 1879. He studied at Tübingen, took part in the insurrectionary movements in 1833, and was in consequence compelled to flee to Switzerland; became pastor at Glattfelden, Canton Zurich, 1842; resigned, 1853; removed to Zurich, and then to Basel. He wrote, from the sources and in a scholarly manner, a series of biographies which constituted a church
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BOËTHIUS, bō-î'thi-us, ANICIUS MANLIUS SEVERINUS: Statesman and philosopher; b. at Rome, of wealthy and influential family, c. 480; executed at Pavia 525. He received as good an education as the time could give, and acquired a close acquaintance with Greek philosophy. In 510 he was consul, and for several years occupied a prominent position in the Roman world, equally revered by the people and esteemed by the Ostrogothic king, Theodoric, the ruler of Italy (489-526). After the decree of the Emperor Justin I (518-527) against the Arians, Theodoric became suspicious of all Romans and Catholics; he imprisoned Boëthius at Pavia on a charge of desiring to restore the old Roman freedom, and finally put him to death. By his translations and commentaries (including the entire six books of the Organon of Aristotle and the Isagoge of Porphyry) and by his independent works (Introductio ad categoricos syllogismos, De syllogismo categorico, De syllogismo hypothetico, De divisione, De definitione, De musica, De arithmetica, etc.), Boëthius became the connecting link between the logical and metaphysical Science of antiquity and the scientific attempts of the Middle Ages. His influence on medieval thought was still greater through his De consolatione philosophiœ (written while in prison at Pavia) and the theological writings attributed to him. Whether Boëthius was a Christian has been doubted; and it is certain that the Consolotio makes no mention of Christ, and all the comfort it contains it owes to the optimism of the Neoplatonic school and to the stoicism of Seneca. Nevertheless, for a long time the book was read with the greatest reverence by all Christendom, and its author was regarded as a martyr for the true faith. Having advanced from a mere logician to a moralist, he next came to be regarded as a theologian; but it is not probable that he wrote any of the theological works attributed to him. The tradition is very old, however; he is mentioned by Alcuin as the author of De sancta trinitate, and by Hincmar of Reims as author of a treatise, Utrum pater et filius et spiritus sanctus de divinitate substantialiter prœdicentur.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: The complete works of Boëthius first appeared at Venice, 1492; again at Basel, 1546 and 1570; they are reproduced in MPL lxiii-lxiv. The Consolatio philosophiœ was first printed at Nuremberg, 1473; a good edition is by Peiper, Leipsic, 1871; there have been many English translations, beginning with King Alfred's Anglo-Saxon version, and including one by Chaucer and one ascribed to Queen Elizabeth; a late translation is by H. R. James, London, 1897. The translations from Aristotle were published by C. Meiser, 2 vols., Leipsic, 1877-80; the De arithmetica, De musica, and De geometrica by G. Friedlein, ib. 1867. The theological writings appeared at Louvain in 1633 and are in Peiper's edition of the Consolatio (ut sup.). Consult: F. Nitzsch, Das System des Boethius Berlin 1860; Jourdain, De l'origine des traditions sur le christianisme de Boèce, Paris, 1861; A. Hildebrand, Boethius und seine Stellung zum Christenthum, Regensburg, 1885; H. F. Stewart, Boethius: an Essay, Edinburgh, 1891 (valuable; an analysis of the Consolation and other theological tracts, discusses the question of Boëthius's Christianity, gives literature at head of each chapter); E. K. Rand, Joh. Scottus. I. Der Kommentar des Johannes Scottus, II. Des Remigius von Auxerre zu den opuscula sacra des Boethius, Munich, 1906.
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