priest in 1779. As curate in Everswinkel, he did such good work in teaching religion that the vicargeneral, Freiherr von Fürstenberg (q. v.), offered him the position of director of the normal school, which he was about to found in Münster. Thenceforth he was Fürstenberg's right hand in the reorganization and reformation of the schools. In 1783 he settled in Münster, where his first duty was to conduct a course of practical and theoretical study for schoolteachers during the autumn vacation. This institution was known as the Normalschule. The village schools at that time were very poor; in Prussia a number of discharged non-commissioned officers made a pretence of teaching, while in Westphalia, mere day labourers wielded the "stick". Of "method" there was little, except scolding and beating; Overberg had had personal experience of that in his own childhood. Not even reading-much less writing and arithmetic-was taught to all. Overberg, therefore, stood before a gigantic problem. He solved it, as Fürstenberg says, "earnestly and yet mildly, without ambition, without egotism, without any deception or deceit, untiring and with a persistency that feared no obstacles." His aim was to educate and instruct teachers and to improve their wretched material circumstances. All the teachers were to take part in the course at public expense. The course closed with an examination, and those who passed it obtained an increase in salary. As Overberg considered it best to separate the sexes in his schools, he instructed a number of women teachers who eagerly accepted the work. He really created the profession of female lay-teacher. At first, Overberg himself instructed the teachers, giving five lessons daily between 21 August to November, and teaching method as well as the various school subjects. Later he employed an assistant teacher. Soon his normal school was attended by young people who wished to become teachers. This normal school, therefore, became what is now known in Germany as a Seminary, and had more than 100 pupils (at first 20-30). Besides teaching in this school he gave instruction in the catechism for twenty-seven years in the Ursuline convent without remuneration. Every Sunday he recapitulated all that he had lectured upon during the week in a public lecture which was attended by people of all classes, especially by students of theology. In this work he showed not only his inborn faculty of teaching, but also his childlike faith and simplicity.

In 1789, Princess Gallitzin chose him as her confessor. He influenced her entire activity, and met in her company the most important men of the times. By his tactful kindness he brought about the conversion of Count Friedrich Leopold von Stolberg. Overberg was the chief author of the Münster school ordinance, formulated on 2 Sept., 1801. He remained director of the normal school even when he became regent of the ecclesiastical seminary in 1809, before which he had been for some time synodal examiner and member of the Landschulkommission. In 1816 he was made a consistorial and school counsellor, in 1823, honorary rector of the cathedral, and in 1826, shortly before his death, Oberconsistorialrat. Overberg was quite familiar with the pedagogical theories and achievements of his time, and utilized many of them. He was especially well acquainted with Rochow, Felbiger (q. v.), and Francke. But his own system is, on the whole, unique; for everywhere he allows for the demands of life. He lays emphasis upon the importance of habit, the power of example, and the telling of stories. As the main support of all education and discipline he considers religion. Ideal thoughts and practical everyday considerations are well combined in his work. His basic idea is to lead man toward his eternal goal, but he lays emphasis upon the necessity of caring for the temporary conditions of life, of cultivating prudence, and doing away

with stupidity and superstition. His instruction is catechetic, and he mentions as its advantages the training of reason, the formation of clear impressions and ideas, and practice in the expression of one's own opinions: children should be trained to think by questioning them, and should be guided in their method of thinking in such a way that they will find out for themselves the things which we want to teach them". Overberg's writings contain much that is interesting to teachers even to-day. The most important of them are: 'Anweisung zum zweckmässigen Schulunterricht" (1793); newly edited by Gansen (5th ed., 1908); "Biblische Geschichte" (1799), which has appeared in over thirty editions and is still used as a house book; "Christkatholisches Religionsbuch" (1804); "Katechismus der christlichen Lehre" (1804), used in the Diocese of Münster until 1887 and in Osnabrück until 1900; and "Sechs Bücher vom Priesterstande" (posthumous, 1858).

REINERMANN, Bernh. O. in seinem Leben u. Wirken (Münster, 1829); KRABBE, Leben O. (Münster, 1831; 3rd ed., 1864); REUSCH in Allg. deutsche Biogr., XXV (Leipzig, 1887), 14-17; KNECHT in Kirchenlex. s. v.; ZÖCKLER in Realencykl. für prot. Theol., s. v. Overberg u. der Gallitzinsche Kreis.

KLEMENS LÖFFLER.

Oviedo, DIOCESE OF (OVETENSIS), comprises the civil province of the same name (the ancient Kingdom of Asturias), besides certain rural deaneries in the provinces of Lugo, León, Zamora, and Santander. Its capital, the city of Oviedo, has a population of 42,716. The ancient capital of the Asturias country was Astorga (Asturica); Oviedo was founded by King Fruela I (756–68). In 760 Abbot Fromistanus and his nephew Maximus built a monastery there and dedicated a church to St. Vincent the Martyr; Fruela had houses built and the basilica of S. Salvador. His son, Alfonso II, the Chaste, made Oviedo his capital and restored the Church of S. Salvador. The same king founded the See of Oviedo, in 805, combining with it the ancient See of Britonia. A number of bishops, expelled from their sees by the Saracens, were gathered at Oviedo, where they held two councils. It was there proposed to make Oviedo a metropolitan sec, and such it was from 869 until the ancient archdioceses of the Peninsula were restored, when the pope declared Oviedo exempt (1105); the Concordat of 1851 made it suffragan to Santiago.

The Cathedral of S. Salvador was restored in the twelfth century by Archbishop Pelayo, the chronicler. Bishop Fernando Alfonso (1296-1301) undertook another restoration of the chapter-house, and his successor, Fernando Alvarez (1302-1321), began the cloister. At the end of the thirteenth century Gutierre de Toledo began the new Gothic basilica, the principal chapel bearing his arms, though it was completed by his successor Guillén. Diego Ramirez de Guzmán (1421-41) built the two chapels of the south transept (now replaced by the sacristy), the old entrance to the church, and the gallery of the cloister adjoining the chapter-house. Alonzo de Palenzuela (1470-85) completed the other part of the transept. Juan Arias (1487-97) left his cognizance, the fleur-de-lys and four scallops, on the nave. Juan Daza (1497-1503) erected the grille of the choir; Valerano (1508-12) added the stained-glass windows. Diego de Muros, founder of the great college at Salamanca known as the Oviedo, had the crestings of the porch wrought by Pedro de Bunyeres and Juan de Cerecedo, while Giralte and Valmaseda completed the carving of the precious retable in the time of Francisco de Mendoza (1525-28). Cristóbal de Rojas (1546-56) affixed his coat-of-arms to the completed tower, with its octagonal pyramid, one of the marvels of Gothic architecture. The chief feature of the cathedral is the "Camara Santa", with its venerable relics. Bishop Pelayo relates that a coffer made by the disciples of the Apostles, and containing the most precious relics of the Holy City, was

taken from Jerusalem to Africa, and after several translations was finally deposited at Oviedo by Alfonso II. In the sixteenth century, Bishop Cristóbal de Sandoval y Rojas wished to open it, but could not, being overcome with religious fear. Many other relics are to be seen.

The most famous sanctuary of the diocese is at Covadonga (Cova longa), dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, by whose help the Spaniards, in 718, overcame the Arabs commanded by Alkaman. The old building was consumed by fire 17 October, 1777. The Canons Regular of St. Augustine, who had charge of it, had been driven by lack of revenues to live scattered about in various parishes, when Philip IV compelled them to return to community life, increasing their endowment, and building houses for them beside the monastery. Urban VII made an order that the abbot should be a dignitary of the cathedral of Oviedo. Charles III wished to rebuild the chapel sumptuously, but never went beyond beginning the work. In recent times it has been completely restored by Bishop Sanz y Fores. Also noteworthy are the two monasteries of S. Vicente and S. Pelayo at Oviedo. West of the city is the Gothic convent of S. Francisco, now used as a hospital. The church of the convent of S. Domingo is of the so-called Modern Gothic style; that of Sta Clara has a lofty tower; S. Isidro, formerly a Jesuit church, has a splendid façade in ashlar stone. In the environs of Oviedo and on the slope of Monte Naranco are the famous churches of Sta María and S. Miguel, two art treasures of the ninth century and worthy of endless study. The conciliar seminary of Oviedo was founded in 1851 by Bishop Ignacio Diaz Caneja; it consists of a great seminary in Oviedo, and a little seminary at Valdedios de Villaviciosa, an old Cistercian monastery. Besides the Provincial Institute of Secondary Education of Oviedo, there is another, founded by Jovellanos, at Gijon.

Other bishops worthy of mention are: Bishop Serrano, venerated as a saint: Rodrigo, counsellor to Ferdinand II of León; the Tuscan Fredolo, the pope's envoy to Alfonso the Wise; Rodrigo Sanchez, who executed important commissions for popes and kings of Spain; Fernando de Valdés, founder of the University of Oviedo, afterwards Archbishop of Seville and inquisitor general; Jerónimo de Velasco, one of the fathers of the Council of Trent, and founder of the Hospital of Santiago at Oviedo; Alonso Antonio de San Martín, said to have been a natural son of Philip IV. The University of Oviedo celebrated its tercentenary in September, 1908. Its building is severe and simple, in Doric order of the seventeenth century; the library is very extensive, and there is a good museum of natural history and meteorological observatory. This university is now considered the least important in Spain, having but one faculty, that of civil law. Of recent years it has been falling under the influence of the Spanish Krausists. This sect, founded by Sanz del Rio, imported from Germany the Pantheistic doctrines of Kraus, and seeks to extend its activities by conferences and courses outside of the university, even in the Latin American republics. Among the distinguished men of the diocese may be mentioned: the Alvarez of Asturias, who were famous in the Middle Ages; Ruy Pérez de Avilés, celebrated in connexion with the conquest of Seville; Gutierre Bernaldode Quirós, the hero of Aljubarrota; Pedro Méndez, the conqueror of Florida; in modern times, the Jansenist Jovellanos, the Regalist Campomanes, the Liberal Argüelles Florez Estrada, Pidal, Posada Herrera; Cardinals Cienfuegos Sierra, Cienfuegos Jovellanos, Inguanzo, and many notable prelates.

RISCO, continuator of FLOREZ, España Sagrada (Madrid, 1789), XXXVII-XXXIX; CUADRADO, España, sus monumentos y rates: Asturias y León (Barcelona, 1885); Guia eclesiástica de España para 1888 (Madrid): Diccionario geográfico y estadístico de Madoz, XII (Madrid, 1849); DE LA FUENTE, Historia eclesiástica de España (Barcelona, 1855). RAMÓN RUIZ AMADO.

Owen, NICHOLAS, a Jesuit lay-brother, martyred in 1606. There is no record of his parentage, birthplace, date of birth, or entrance into religion. Probably a carpenter or builder by trade, he entered the Society of Jesus before 1580, and had previously been the trusty servant of the missionary fathers. More (1586-1661) associates him with the first English lay-brothers. He was imprisoned on the death of Bl. Edmund Campion for openly declaring that martyr's innocence, but afterwards served Fathers Henry Garnett and John Gerard for eighteen years, was captured again with the latter, escaped from the Tower, and is said to have contrived the escape of Father Gerard. He was finally arrested at Hindlip Hall, Worcestershire, while impersonating Father Garnett. "It is incredible", writes Cecil, "how great was the joy caused by his arrest... knowing the great skill of Owen in constructing hiding places, and the innumerable quantity of dark holes which he had schemed for hiding priests all through England." Not only the Secretary of State but Waade, the Keeper of the Tower, appreciated the importance of the disclosures which Owen might be forced to make. After being committed to the Marshalsea and thence removed to the Tower, he was submitted to most terrible "examinations" on the Topcliffe rack, with both arms held fast in iron rings and body hanging, and later on with heavy weights attached to his feet, and at last died under torture. It was given out that he had committed suicide, a calumny refuted by Father Gerard in his narrative. As to the day of his death, a letter of Father Garnett's shows that he was still alive on 3 March; the "Menology" of the province puts his martyrdom as late as 12 Nov. He was of singularly innocent life and wonderful prudence, and his skill in devising hiding-places saved the lives of many of the missionary fathers.

FOLEY, Records of English Jesuits (London, 1875-82), IV, 245; VII, 561; MORE, Hist. Prov. Anglicana (St. Omers, 1660), 322; NASH, Mansions of England (London, 1906); TAUNTON, Hist. of Jesuits in England (London, 1901); Bibl. Dict. Eng., Cath. s. v.; POLLARD in Dict. Nat. Biog. (London, 1909), s. v.

S. ANSELM PARKER.

Oxenford, JOHN, dramatist, critic, translator, and song-writer, b. in London, 12 Aug., 1812; d. there 21 Feb., 1877. Mostly self-educated, for a time he was under the tuition of a brilliant and erratic scholar, S. T. Friend. His master recognizing his faculty for philosophy and his versatility wished to divert him from the dramatic career towards which he seemed inclined. In 1837 he was articled to a solicitor and is said to have spent some time in the London office of a relative and to have written on commerce and finance. He early read the literature of Germany, Italy, France, and Spain, and was always "a devourer of books". From the German he translated, amongst other things, Fischer's "Francis Bacon" (London, 1857); Goethe's Autobiography" (London, 1888); Eckermann's Conversations with Goethe" (London, 1904), the two last translations having almost become English classics and finding a place in Bohn's well-known series. From the French he translated Molière's "Tartuffe"; from the Italian Boyardo's "Orlando Innamorato" (in part), and from the Spanish a play of Calderon. But Oxenford's chief interest lay in the drama. Between 1835, when his first play was written, and his death he was producing dramatic work. Sixty-eight plays, at least, are attributed to him. Several have been translated into German, French, and Dutch. He also wrote librettos for operas etc. For the last twenty years of his life he was, in addition, dramatic critic to the "Times". He frequently contributed to newspapers and magazines, among others the "Athenæum". In April, 1853, he wrote for the "Westminster Review" an essay on Schopenhauer's philosophy which is said to have founded the fame of that philosopher both in England and abroad. In late life Oxenford's health weakened. He died of

heart failure in 1877. Eighteen months earlier he had been received into the Church.

An appreciative sketch of his life appeared in the "Times" of 23 Feb., 1877. The writer extols his originality and scholarship: "As an appreciator of others, and as a quick discoverer of anything new likely to exercise a future influence on thought he had few equals". The value of Oxenford's criticism, however, is somewhat lowered by a too great leniency, proceeding from his natural kindliness. In private life he was much beloved. His conversational powers were remarkable; and he possessed an "unsurpassed sweetness of character and self-forgetting nobleness and childlikeness".

Athenæum. II (London, 1877), 258; Annual Register, II (Lon

don, 1877); Catholic Standard and Weekly Register (7 April, 1877). K. M. WARREN.

Oxenham, HENRY NUTCOMBE, English controversialist and poet, b. at Harrow, 15 Nov., 1829; d. at Kensington, 23 March, 1888; was the son of the Rev. William Oxenham, second master of Harrow. He was educated at Harrow School and Balliol College, Oxford, taking his degree in 1850. After receiving Anglican orders, he became curate first at Worminghall, in Buckinghamshire, then at St. Bartholomew's, Cripplegate. While at the latter place, he was received into the Church by Monsignor (afterwards Cardinal) Manning. For a time he contemplated becoming a priest, for which purpose he entered St. Edmund's College, Old Hall, but after receiving minor orders, he left: it is said that his reason was that he believed in the validity of Anglican orders, and considered himself already a priest. He continued to dress as an ecclesiastic and in this anomalous position he spent the remainder of his life. His ambition was to work for the reunion of the Anglican with the Catholic Church, with which end in view, he published a sympathetic article, in answer to Pusey's "Eirenicon", in the shape of a letter to his friend and fellow-convert, Father Lockhart. After the Vatican Council his position became still more anomalous, for his unwillingness to accept the doctrine of Papal Infallibility was known. Though influenced by the action of Dr. Döllinger, with whom he was on intimate terms, he never outwardly severed his connexion with the Catholic Church, and before his death received all the sacraments at the hands of

Father Lockhart.

His published works include: "The Sentence of Kaires and Poems" (3rd ed., London, 1871); Translation of Döllinger's "First Age of Christianity" (London, 1866, 2 vols: two subsequent editions) and "Lectures on Reunion" (London, 1872); "Catholic Eschatology" (1876; new edition, enlarged, 1878); "Memoir of Lieut. Rudolph de Lisle, R. N." (London, 1886); numerous pamphlets and articles, especially in "The Saturday Review", over the initials X. Y. Ž. RIGG in Dict. of Nat. Biog.; GILLOW, Bibl. Dict. of Eng. Cath.; obituary notices in The Saturday Review, The Athenæum, The Manchester Guardian, etc. BERNARD WARD.

Oxford, one of the most ancient cities in England, grew up under the shadow of a convent, said to have been founded by St. Frideswide as early as the eighth century. Its authentic history begins in 912, when it was occupied by Edward the Elder, King of the West Saxons. It was strongly fortified against the Danes, and again after the Norman Conquest, and the massive keep of the castle, the tower of St. Michael's Church (at the north gate), and a large portion of the city walls still remain to attest the importance of the city in the eleventh century. West of the town rose the splendid castle, and, in the meadows beneath, the no less splendid Augustinian Abbey of Oseney: in the fields to the north the last of the Norman kings built the stately palace of Beaumont; the great church of St. Frideswide was erected by the canons-regular who succeeded the nuns of St. Frideswide; and many fine

churches were built by the piety of the Norman earls. Oxford received a charter from King Henry II, granting its citizens the same privileges and exemptions as those enjoyed by the capital of the kingdom; and various important religious houses were founded in or near the city. A grandson of King John established Rewley Abbey (of which a single arch now remains) for the Cistercian Order; and friars of various orders (Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, Augustinians, and Trinitarians), all had houses at Oxford of varying importance. Parliaments were often held in the city during the thirteenth century, but this period also saw the beginning of the long struggle between the town and the growing university which ended in the subjugation of the former, and the extinction for centuries of the civic importance of Oxford. The accession of thousands of students of course brought it material prosperity, but it was never, apart from the univercentury, when it became the headquarters of the Roysity, again prominent in history until the seventeenth alist party, and again the meeting-place of Parliasympathies long before the university, and feeling bement. The city of Oxford showed its Hanoverian tween them ran high in consequence. The area and population of the city remained almost stationary until about 1830, but since then it has grown rapidly. The population is now (1910) about 50,000; the municipal life of the city is vigorous and flourishing, and its relations with the university are more intimate and cordial than they have ever been during their long his

tory.

Oxford is the cathedral city of the Anglican Diocese of Oxford, erected by Henry VIII. Formerly included in the vast Diocese of Lincoln, it is now part of the Catholic church of St. Aloysius (served by the Jesuits) Catholic Diocese of Birmingham. The handsome was opened in 1875; the Catholic population numbers about 1200, besides about 100 resident members of the university; and there are convents of the following orders St. Ursula's, Daughters of the Cross, Sisters of Nazareth, Sisters of the M. Holy Sacrament, and Sisters of the Holy Child. The Franciscan Capuchin fathers have a church and college in the suburb of Cowley, as well as a small house of studies in Oxford; and the Benedictines and Jesuits have halls, with private chapels, within the university.

PARKER, Early History of Oxford (Oxford, 1885); WOOD, Survey of the Antiquities of the City of Oxford (1889-99); GREEN AND ROBERTSON, Studies in Oxford History (Oxf., 1901); TURNER, Records of City of Oxford (Oxf., 1880); and the publications of the OXFORD HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Oxford, various dates).

D. O. HUNTER-BLAIR.

-The most extraordinary myths have at various Oxford, UNIVERSITY OF.-I. ORIGIN AND HISTORY. times prevailed as to the fabulous antiquity of Oxford as a seat of learning. It is sufficient to mention that the fifteenth century chronicler Rous assigns its origin to the time when "Samuel the servant of God was judge in Judæa"; while a writer of Edward III's reign asserts that the university was founded by "certain philosophers when the warlike Trojans, under the leadership of Brutus, triumphantly seized on the Islands of Albion". A much more long-lived fictionone, indeed, which, first heard of in the middle of the fourteenth century, persisted down to the nineteenth -was that King Alfred, well-known as a patron of education, was the real founder of Oxford University. The truth is that it is quite impossible to assign even an approximate date to the development of the schools which in Saxon times were grouped round the monastic foundation of St. Frideswide (on the site of what is now Christ Church) into the corporate institution later known as Oxford University. Well-known scholars were, we know, lecturing in Oxford on theology and canon law before the middle of the twelfth century, but these were probably private teachers attached to St. Frideswide's monastery. It is not un