the opponent of ecclesiastical corruptions in the fourth century, was born about the year A.D. 306, at Casères, in Spain, a village on the northern side of the Pyrenees. The father of Vigilantius kept the Mansio or station at Calagorris, where travellers were supplied with post-horses and guides to conduct them through the passes; and this brought the young mountaineer under the notice of Sulpicius Severus the historian, who took him into his service, and employed him in the management of his estates and in the sale of the wines which they produced. For his good conduct in this situation he was taken into the confidence of his patron, and lived with him more in the character of a friend than a dependant. There are some beautiful letters still extant, which passed between Sulpicius Severus and Paulinus of Nola, in which Vigilantius is mentioned in the warmest terms of affection; and no doubt he was indebted to his familiar acquaintance with these two eminent persons for his first serious impressions. Sulpicius devoted the whole of his immense property to the exercise of almsgiving and hospitality. Vigilantius observed the melancholy effects produced in the noble mind of his protector by his extra vigilant conduct, and learnt to avoid the lessons which degraded "the Christian Sallust," as Sulpicius was called, to the level of a credulous narrator of false miracles. Vigilantius continued to pass his time in the society of Sulpicius in Aquitaine, or of Paulinus in Campania, until the year 394 or 395 A.D., and with them he had the best opportunities of cultivating sacred learning, and of discussing theological questions. But succeeding to considerable property on the death of his father about that time, he resolved to take a journey to the East for his mental improvement, and carried a letter of introduction from Paulinus to Jerome, who was then dwelling as a recluse in Palestine. This introduction, which took place after he was in priest's orders, was a turning-point in his life. Jerome, who began by speaking of Vigilantius as "the holy presbyter" and "Christian brother," soon changed his opinion, and heaped every epithet upon him that was most expressive of contempt and resentment. He panned upon his name, and called him "Dormitantius," and inveighed against him as an ignorant pretender to learning. "Taratar," "madman," "monster," "possessed of a devil," "heretic," "Samaritan," "worse than a Jew;" these were some of Jerome's terms of reproach applied to Vigilantius; but we search in
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1 Bergler, Hist. des Grands Chemins de l'Empire, liv. iv. c. ix. pp. 638, 646, 651. 2 Valissette, Hist. Gen. du Languedoc, i. 152; Tillenmont, Mémoires, xii. 193. 3 See especially Epist. Paulini ad Sulp. Sex. No. 1; Paulini Op. edit. Antv. 1622. 4 See the miracles of Martin and of the hermits of Egypt, described by Sulpicius in his Liber de Vita Martini, and Dialogi de Virtutibus Monachorum Orientalium. 5 Heir. Op. iv. pars ii. p. 568. 6 Ibid. p. 277. 7 Ibid. pp. 281, 282. 8 Vigilantius was not named among the heretics enumerated by Epiphanius, Augustin, Theodoret, or Isidorus. Vain for any fair grounds of accusation in justification of such language, which has been condemned by some of the best writers of the Roman Church. No charges of heterodoxy on the great doctrines of atonement and justification, no imputation of doubtful faith on the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, are advanced against him. The sum and substance of Jerome's indictment amounts to this, that Vigilantius denied the sanctity of relics; that he refused to worship and burn lights at the tombs of the martyrs, and to invoke saints; that he disapproved of vows of celibacy, of pilgrimages, and of nocturnal watchings in cemeteries; that he doubted the presence of departed spirits at the places where their bodies were buried; that he questioned the tales of miracles said to have been wrought at the sepulchres of the martyrs; and that he protested against the imputed efficacy of prayers, either for or to the dead. Unfortunately we have nothing left but Jerome's account of the controversy; and Vigilantius only speaks for himself in the pages of his adversaries, in some of which he is represented precisely in the same light, and almost in the same words, as the early Christians were by their pagan calumniators.
After making some stay in Palestine and Egypt, Vigilantius returned to Gaul in 396; and on his way he visited a Christian community in the Cottian Alps, the ancestors, as we have reason to believe, of the Valdenses, among whom he found persons entertaining the same opinions as his own.
During the eight years that followed, he officiated as priest in the diocese of Toulouse, not far from the Pyrenees; but he does not seem to have been confined to the duties of his parish; for we read of his making excursions into different parts of Gaul to collect books, to copy MSS., and to put himself into communication with bishops and clergy whose sentiments were similar to his own. The influence of the Pyrenean presbyter was exercised in another way; he employed much of his time and his fortune in the transcription and circulation of copies of the Scriptures. The zeal of Vigilantius in his endeavour to check the progress of innovation was unremitting till the time of his death, which took place, it is supposed, at the beginning of the fifth century.
**VIGNOLA. (See Barocchio.)**
**VIGO,** a town of Spain, Galicia, in the province and 50 miles S. of Pontevedra, on a hill sloping down to the shore of a wide bay. It is enclosed by a wall and trench, and further defended by two castles on the heights behind. The streets are narrow, steep, and crooked. The town has a Doric parish church, town-hall, custom-house, theatre, college, various schools, hospital, and lazaretto. Vigo has a good harbour, an active fishery, and an extensive export trade in wine, corn, and bacon. Pop. 4167.
**VILLAFRANCA,** a town of Austrian Italy, in the delegation and 9 miles S.W. of Verona, on the Tartaro. It has an ancient and strong castle, and important manufactures of silk. Villafranca is remarkable for the personal interview which took place here between the emperors of France and Austria, 11th July 1859, and the peace in consequence concluded, by which Lombardy was given to Sardinia. Pop. 7000.
**VILLAJOYOSA,** a seaport of Spain, on the Mediterranean, in the province, and 20 miles N.E. of Alicante. It has a town-hall, custom-house, two churches, one of which is a substantial building in the Tuscan style, a large prison, and several schools. Manufactures of soap, cordage, woollen and linen cloth, are carried on here; and many of the inhabitants are employed as sailors and fishermen. There are some ship-building docks; but the anchorage is not good. Pop. 8087.
**VILLALON,** a town of Spain, in the province and 32 miles N.W. of Valladolid. It has many handsome and well-built houses, three parish churches, several schools, an hospital, and barracks; linseed oil, chocolate, leather, woollen and linen cloth are manufactured, and a highly esteemed kind of cheese is made here. Pop. 4674.
**VILLA-REAL,** a town of Spain, in the province and 5 miles S.S.W. of Castellon de la Plana, on the Majares, 4 miles above its mouth in the Mediterranean. It formerly had fortifications, but these have all been destroyed except a citadel which still remains. The streets are wide and regular, and there are some good squares. Villa-Real has a large town-hall, several churches, an hospital, convent, and three schools. Woollen cloth, flour, oil, and brandy are the principal articles made here. Pop. 8207.
**VILLARS,** Louis Hector, Duke of, one of the most illustrious of the French generals, was a son of the Marquis of Villars, and was born at Moulins in 1653. Having finished his early education at the college of Juilly, he became one of the pages de la grande écurie, and afterwards entered the army as a volunteer. He served with great distinction in Germany and the Low Countries under Turenne, Condé and the Duke of Luxemburg, and obtained the command of a regiment of horse when he was only twenty-one years of age. After the peace of Nimeguen in 1678, he was for many years chiefly employed in diplomatic services, especially at the courts of Vienna and Munich, and he showed himself not less skilful as a diplomatist than as a soldier. On the breaking out of the war of the Spanish succession in 1701, Villars was recalled from Vienna, where he then was, and attached to the army in Italy. In 1702 he was intrusted with the chief command of an army in Germany to succour the Elector of Bavaria. On the 14th of October he defeated at Friedlingen Prince Louis of Baden, who commanded the Austrian forces, and for this service he received the baton of marshal of France. In 1703 he, by a bold and sudden march, captured Kehl, and afterwards succeeded in effecting a junction with the troops of the elector. An attack was afterwards made by the united forces on the Austrians under General Sternum near Hochstädt, in which the latter were completely routed. Disgusted, however, with the pusillanimity of the elector, Villars requested to be recalled from his command, to which the king reluctantly gave his consent. He was next intrusted with the difficult office of reducing to submission the reformers of the Cevennes known under the name of Camisards, in which he proceeded less by violence than by moderate and conciliatory measures. In 1705, the French arms having suffered many reverses in Germany, Villars was again sent there with the chief command. He established himself in so strong a position at Fronsberg, that Marlborough, at the head of a large army, was afraid to attack him. He then took Treves and Sarrebourg, passed into Alsatia, and forced the lines of Weissenburg. The following year he took Lauterburg and Hagenaus; but these successes were neutralized by the defeat of Ramilies in Flanders, occasioned by Villeroi. In 1707 he forced the lines of Stolhofen, occupied Stuttgart, and passed into Franconia and Swabia. In 1708 he was sent to the army in Dauphiné, with which he penetrated into Piedmont. In 1709 he was sent into Flanders to oppose the progress of Marlborough and the Prince Eugene; and on the 11th September of that year was fought the great battle of Malplaquet, in which the French were defeated, Villars having been severely wounded in the beginning of the action. In the two following years little was done; but in 1712 he defeated the Austrians at Denain, forced Eugene to raise the siege of Laudrecy, and took several fortresses.
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1 See the confession of Jerome, that these nightly assemblies were productive of intemperance and prodigality. 2 See Epist. 37, and Adversus Vigilianum. Hier. Op. iv. pars ii. pp. 281–288. 3 Hier. Op. iv. para ii. p. 279. Epist. ad Rip. 37. 4 Hier. ad Vigil. iv. 2, 282; and Epist. ad Vigil 36. 5 Hier. Epist. ad Vigil. 38. In 1713 he penetrated into Germany, and took Landau and Freiburg. In 1714 the peace of Rastadt was concluded; and on the death of Louis XIV. in 1715, Villars was made a minister of state and a member of the regency. From that time till 1732, when war with Austria again broke out, Villars was chiefly occupied with political affairs. In 1733 he was sent into Italy with the title of maréchal-général, which had never been conferred on any one before him except Turenne. He was then in his eighty-first year, but he still evinced all the ardour, activity, and contempt of danger which had characterised his youth. He died at Turin on the 17th of June 1734.