CENTURIATORI DI MAGDEBURGO. - This name is derived from the title of the work *Ecclesiastische historia secundum singulas centurias per aliquot studiosos et pios viros in urbe Magdeburgica*. Indeed, it is the first general history of the Church compiled by Protestants, divided into periods of one hundred years or "Centuries," written, at least in large part, in the city of Magdeburg, and to which collaborated scholars such as Flacio Ilirico (v.), director and guiding spirit of the entire work, Giovanni Wigand, Matteo Judex, Basilio Faber, Andrea Corvino, Tommaso Holthuter, etc. These "more than men" were deeply anti-Catholic; suffice it to say that one of them, Judex, exhorted political authorities to use the sword "to uproot the papists, fierce assassins, executioners of souls." Flacio conceived the plan for this work as early as 1553, and the labor was diligently organized, collecting much material and entrusting it to five directors, each with several collaborators; everything, however, was under the high direction of Flacio, who spared no means, whether lawful or unlawful.
Each Century contains 16 parts: 1) General overview. 2) Diffusion of the Church. 3) Persecutions or peace of the Church. 4) Doctrine of the Church. 5) Heresies. 6) Worship and ceremonies. 7) Government. 8) Schisms and internal strife. 9) Councils. 10) Illustrious men. 11) Heretics and sect leaders. 12) Martyrs. 13) Miracles. 14) Political condition of the Jews. 15) Non-Christian religions. 16) Political changes. The expenses for the work were contributed by the kings of Sweden and Denmark, the dukes of Saxony, the princes of Anhalt, the cities of Augsburg, Nuremberg, etc.
The first three Centuries were printed in Basel in 1559; the others, up to the 13th, in the same city between 1560 and 1574, and in the latter year the 13th was printed, which Flacio had not been able to complete as he died the following year. Giovanni Wigand wrote Centuries 14, 15, and 16, but they remained unpublished in the library of Wolfenbüttel. There were indeed authors, such as I. I. Hauke and I. I. Sember, who attempted to continue the work or produce another edition, but with little success due to the disrepute into which it had fallen. This disrepute was partly due to criticisms from eminent Catholic authors, such as St. Peter Canisius, Cardinal Baronio with his *Annales ecclesiastici*, and the Bollandists with their monumental work; partly to the very nature of the Centuries themselves. While some admire the grand design the authors intended to develop or the ostensibly scientific method of collecting and compiling documents of all kinds, others condemn the great and fatal defects. Among these must be placed the purpose of the Centuries, which was to serve "as a kind of cornucopia from which were to emerge evident proofs of all the deceptions, crimes, frauds, and impostures of the Church." Serious and impartial criticism rejects such a one-sided history. Only less erudite or more fanatical Protestants still find in this work a vast arsenal of accusations, now outdated, against the Catholic Church, and repeat them as if they had never been refuted. One is painfully struck, for example, to read that St. Boniface was the apostle of falsehood, that St. Gregory VII was the most abominable monster on earth, that Alexander III restored the cult of Baal, etc. Added to this is the polemical tone of the entire work, which is of extreme anti-papal virulence; facts and documents are grouped with partisan spirit; histories, legends, and fables are heaped together indiscriminately; the lack of calm, equanimity, and balance necessary in a serious historical work is evident to all. It is therefore not surprising that serious and erudite Protestant writers have now discarded this work.