MAASSEN, FRIEDRICH. - Jurist and canonist, born at Wismar on 24 Sept. 1829, died at Wilten (Innsbruck) on 9 Apr. 1900. Born of non-Catholic parents, he converted to Catholicism in 1851.
After beginning his career as a lawyer, he became professor of Roman and canon law at Innsbruck in 1858, moving in 1860 to Graz and finally in 1871 to Vienna, where in 1883 he was elected rector of the University. For his high reputation as a jurist he was a member of the Supreme Court of—
MASTRICHT - MABUSJE JAN
(1st. Sansaini)
MASTRICHT - Staurotheca of M. Rear side with Greek inscription in iambic metre (10th or 11th cent.) - Basilica of St Peter, Treasury.
STAUROTHECA OF M. - A reliquary containing five fragments of the Holy Cross preserved in the cathedral of M. since the 13th century. The cross-shaped reliquary, in the form of a patriarchal cross, i.e. with a double traverse, was donated by Philip II of Swabia to the church of M. and there preserved until the French Revolution.
On the front are fixed five medallions representing Our Lord Jesus Christ, the praying Virgin, the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, and St Demetrius. On the reverse, on the gold plate, is an inscription in Greek in iambic metre from the time of Emperor Romanos II (959-63) or Romanos III (Argyros, 1028-32); it was published as early as the 15th century. The staurotheca was donated to Gregory XVI, who in 1837 placed it among the notable relics of the Vatican Basilica, enclosing it in a silver reliquary.