Adam drew from the written sources in the rich library, of the church at Bremen, and from oral
traditions.^1523 He went to the Danish King Sven Estrithson, who "preserved the whole history of
the barbarians in his memory as in a book." He is impartial and reliable, but neglects the chronology,
. He may almost be called the Herodotus of the North except for his want of simplicity. He was
familiar with Virgil, Horace, Lucian, and formed his style chiefly after Sallust; hence his artificial
brevity and sententiousness.^1524 He ranks with the first historians of the middle ages.^1525
§ 182. St. Peter Damiani.
I. Beati Petri Damiani (S. R. E. cardinalis Episcopi Ostiensis Ordinis S. Benedicti) Opera omnia
in quatuor tomos distributa, studio et labora Domni Constantini Cajetani (of Montecassino),
first publ. Rom. 1606–’13; in Paris, 1663; in Venice, 1783. Reprinted with Vitae and
Prolegomena in Migne’s "Patrol. Lat.," Tom. CXLIV. and CXLV. (1853). Tom. I. 1060 cols.;
Tom. II. 1224 cols.
II. Three biographies of Damiani, one by his pupil, Joannes monachus, who, however, only describes
his monastic character. See Migne, I. 47–204. Acta Sanctorum (Bolland.), for February 23,
Tom. III. 406–427. Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Bened., Saec. VI. Also the Annales Ordinis S.
Benedicti, ed. Mabillon, Tom. IV., lib. LVIII.-LXII. (which extend from a.d. 1039–1066, and
notice the public acts of Damiani in chronological order).
III. Jac. Laderchi: Vita S. Petri Damiani S. R. E. Cardinalis. Rom. 1702. 3 Tom. Albr. Vogel: Peter
Damiani. Jena, 1856. Comp. his art. in Herzog2 III. 466 sqq. F. Neukirch: Das Leben des Peter
Dam. Göttingen, 1876. Jos. Kleinermanns (R.C.): Petrus Damiani in s. Leben und Wirken, nach
den Quellen dargestellt. Steyl, 1882. Comp. also Ceillier, XIII. 296–324. Neander, III. 382, 397
and passim; Gfrörer Gregor. VII, Bd. I.; Höfler: Die deutschen Paepste; Will: Die Anfänge der
Restauration der Kirche im elfte Jahrh.; Giesebrecht: Gesch. der deutschen Kaizerzeit, vol. II.;
Hefele: Conciliengesch., vol. IV.
I. Life. Peter Damianus or Damiani (1007–1072),^1526 a friend of Hildebrand and zealous promoter
of the moral reform of the clergy, was a native of Ravenna, had a very hard youth, but with the
help of his brother Damianus (whose name he adopted),^1527 he was enabled to study at Ravenna,
Faenza and Parma. He acquired honor and fortune as a teacher of the liberal arts in his native city.
In his thirtieth year he suddenly left the world and became a hermit at Fonte Avellano near Gubbio
(^1523) Lappenberg gives a full account of all his sources.
(^1524) Wattenbach (p. 254):Sein Vorbild ist besonders Sallust, der in den Schulen vorzugeweise gelesen wurde und darum
auch eine übergrossen Einfluss auf den Stil der Zeit übte" He adds (p. 255): "Jede gewissenhafte Forschung geht auf Adam
zurück und seine Autorität stand von Anfang an mit Recht in hohem Ansehen."
(^1525) Lappenberg (in Mon. Gem. VII. 267): "Paucissimi sane sunt inter medii aevi historicos, qui rerum traditarum gravitate,
perspicuitate, iudicii ingenuitate, fontium scriptorum cognitione, sermonium ore traditorum accurata perceptione ita emineant,
ut Adamus, magister scolarum Bremensis."
(^1526) There are several distinguished persons of that name, (a) Damianus, brother of Cosmas; they were physicians in Sicily
who took no fees, and died as "silverless" martyrs of the Diocletian persecution (303), and became the patrons of physicians
and druggists throughout the middle ages. The Greeks distinguish three pairs of these brothers. (b) Damianus, patriarch of
Alexandria, d. 601, who leaned to Sabellianism and Monophysitism. (c) D., bishop of Pavia, who drew up a confession of faith
against the Monothelites, A.D. 679.
(^1527) As Eusebius called himself Pamphili after his friend and patron Pamphilus,