BEZA (DE BESZE),

See also:

• THEODORE
• THEODORE (602-690)
• THEODORE (Fedor) GRIGORIEVICH ORLOV, COUNT (1741–1796)
• THEODORE (Rus. Fedor, or Feodor)

THEODORE (1519—1605)  , French theologian, son of bailli Pierre de Besze, was born at Vezelai,Burgundy, on the 24th of June 1519 . Of good descent, his parents were known for generous piety . He owed his education to an uncle, Nicolas de Besze, counsellor of the Paris parlement, who placed him (1529) under Melchior-Wolmar at Orleans, and later at Bourges . Wolmar, who had taught Greek to Calvin, grounded Beza in Scripture from a Protestant standpoint; after his return to Germany (1534) Beza studied law at Orleans (May 1535 to August 1539), beginning practice in Paris (1539) as law licentiate . To this period belong his exercises in Latin verse, in the loose taste of the day, foolishly published by him as Juvenilia in 1548 . Though not in orders, he held two benefices . A severe illness wrought a change; he married his mistress, Claude Desnoz, and joined the church of Calvin at Geneva (October 1548) . In November 1549 he was appointed Greek professor at Lausanne, where he acted as Calvin's adjutant in various publications, including his defence of the burning of Servetus, De Haereticis a civili magistratu puniendis (1554)• In 1558 he became professor in the Geneva academy, where his career was brilliant . His conspicuous ability was shown in the abortive Colloquy of Poissy (1561) . On Calvin's death (1564) lie became his biographer and administrative successor . As a historian, Beza, by his chronological inexactitude, has been the source of serious mistakes; as an administrator, he softened the rigour of Calvin . His editions and Latin versions of the New Testament had a marked influence on the English versions of Geneva (1557 and 156o) and London (1611) .

The famous codex D. was presented by him (1581) tb

Cambridge University, with a characteristically dubious account of the history of the manuscript . His works are very numerous, but of little moment, except those already mentioned . He resigned his offices in 1600, and died on the 13th of October 1605 . He had taken a second wife (1588), Catherine del Piano, a widow, but left no issue . He was not the author of the Histoire ecclesiastique (158o), sometimes ascribed to him; nor, probably, of the vulgar skit published under the name of Benedict Panavantius (1J51) . See Laingaeus, De Vita et Moribus (1585, calumnious) ; Antoine la Faye, De Vita et Obitu (1606, eulogistic) ; Schlosser, Leben (18o6); Baum, Th . Reza, portrait (1843–1851); He pe, Leben (1861) . (A .