KRAUS, FRANZ-XAVER. - Priest, archaeologist, historian, man of letters, b. in Trier on 18 Sept. 1840, d. at San Remo on 12 Dec. 1901. He is the greatest Catholic archaeologist and historian that Germany had in the past century: he is called the German De Rossi.
Ordained a priest in 1864, the following year he obtained the degree of doctor at the University of Freiburg in Brisgau. He also exercised the pastoral ministry at Phalzel near Trier; then, in 1870, he moved to Rome, where he contributed notably to the development of the German Archaeological Institute, entering into relations with the best-known students of historical and archaeological studies, especially with G. B. De Rossi. In 1872 he went as professor of the History of art at the University of Strasbourg, and in 1878 to that of Freiburg in Br., holding the chair of ecclesiastical history. K. also occupied himself with Italian literature and with politics, with a tendency toward French Catholic liberalism. The writings of K. are very numerous and varied, of which the principal works are recalled: Die christliche Kunst in ihren frühesten Anfängen, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der neusten Resultate der Katahomben (Leipzig 1872); Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte (Trier 1872-73); Roma sotterranea, Die römischen Katahomben (Freiburg 1873); Kunst und Altertum in Elsass-Lothringen (Strasbourg 1877-92); Real-Encyklopädie der christlichen Altertümer (Freiburg in Br. 1882-86); Die christlichen Inschriften der Rheinlande, I: von den Anfängen des Christentums bis zur Mitte des 8. Jahrhunderts and II: bis zur Mitte des 13. Jahrhunderts (Freiburg in Br. 1892-94); he also published a study on Dante, his life and his work, and one on Luca Signorelli's illustrations for Dante's Divina Commedia; moreover two volumes of essays in which he also dealt with F. Petrarch and A. Rosmini; his letters on ecclesiastical politics are noteworthy.
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Carlo Carletti