Francis Nugent was an Irish priest of the Franciscan Capuchin Order. He was the founder of the Irish and the Rhenish Provinces of the Order.

Life

Fr Lavalin Nugent (he took the name Francis on entering the Capuchins) was born in Walshestown near Mullingar, Co. Westmeath. He was the son of Edward Nugent, of the Dysert family, and Margaret O'Connor, the daughter of the 'Great O'Connor Offaly'. At an early age he was sent to France to receive an education which the Penal Laws denied him at home.

Before the age of twenty he obtained the degree of doctor at the Universities of Paris and Louvain; and he occupied chairs in these two centres of learning, prior to his entrance into religion. He acquired a knowledge of Greek and Hebrew, and could speak a number of European languages fluently.

In 1589 he joined the Capuchin Flandro-Belgian Province, taking the name of Francis. In due course he was professed and ordained priest. Towards the close of 1594, or the beginning of 1595 he was sent to France where the French Capuchin provinces were being formed and established communities at Metz

Metz

Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...

 and Charleville. Meanwhile he continued to deliver lectures in philosophy and theology at Paris. In 1596 he went as custos-general of France to the general chapter at Rome, and was appointed commissary general of the Capuchins at Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

. Three years later, being again in Rome he took part in a public disputation in theology at which Pope Clement VIII

Pope Clement VIII

Pope Clement VIII , born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was Pope from 30 January 1592 to 3 March 1605.-Cardinal:...

 presided. Father Francis maintained his thesis with skill and eloquence, and was awarded the palm of victory.

At the general chapter of 1599 he was relieved of the provincialate and returned to Belgium, where he remained about eleven years. In 1610, at the request of John Zwickhard, Archbishop of Mainz, seven friars of this province were sent to establish the order in the Rhine country, and Father Francis was appointed their commissary general. He founded a convent at Paderborn

Paderborn

Paderborn is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader, which originates in more than 200 springs near Paderborn Cathedral, where St. Liborius is buried.-History:...

 in 1612, and two years later communities were settled at Essen

Essen

- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...

, Münster

Münster

Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...

, and Aachen

Aachen

Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...

. He also established the Confraternity of the Passion at Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

; amongst its first protectors were two friends, Mgr Antonio Albergatti, the nuncio at Cologne

Apostolic Nuncio to Cologne

The Apostolic Nunciature to Cologne was an ecclesiastical office of the Roman Catholic Church established in 1584. The nuncios were accredited to the Achbishop-Electorates of Cologne, Mainz and Trier...

, and Frederick of Hohenzollern, the dean of the cathedral.

In 1615 he began a monastery at Mainz, and Pope Paul V

Pope Paul V

-Theology:Paul met with Galileo Galilei in 1616 after Cardinal Bellarmine had, on his orders, warned Galileo not to hold or defend the heliocentric ideas of Copernicus. Whether there was also an order not to teach those ideas in any way has been a matter for controversy...

 nominated him vicar Apostolic and commissary general with full power to establish the Order in Ireland. Meanwhile, in 1618 the monastery of Charleville, in Upper Champagne, became a training-school for friars intended for the Irish mission, and facilities for the same purpose were offered by the Flandro-Belgian Province. A fresh band of workers was soon sent to Ireland and Father Nugent was thus enabled to found the first monastery in Dublin in 1624. The Archbishop of Dublin

Archbishop of Dublin

The Archbishop of Dublin may refer to:* Archbishop of Dublin – an article which lists of pre- and post-Reformation archbishops.* Archbishop of Dublin – the title of the senior cleric who presides over the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin....

, Dr. Fleming, in 1629 addressed to the Irish clergy a letter commending the Capuchin Fathers specially mentioning "their learning, prudence, and earnestness". Two years later Father Nugent founded a monastery at Slane

Slane

Slane is a village in County Meath, in Ireland. The village stands on a steep hillside on the left bank of the River Boyne at the intersection of the N2 and the N51 . In 2006 Slane's population was 1,099, having grown from 823 in 2002. The population of the village and the surrounding rural area...

, in the diocese of his friend, Dr. Dease, who had previously borne public testimony to the merits of the Capuchins.

Owing to failing health, he retired in 1631 to Charleville. He is generally credited with the foundation at Lille

Lille

Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...

 of a college for the free education of poor youths from Ulster and Meath for the Irish clergy. He died at Charleville on the Feast of the Ascension, 1635.

Giovanni Battista Rinuccini

Giovanni Battista Rinuccini

Giovanni Battista Rinuccini was a Roman Catholic archbishop in the mid seventeenth century. He was a noted legal scholar who became chamberlain to Pope Gregory XV, who made him the Archbishop of Fermo in Italy...

 described him as "a man of most ardent zeal and most exemplary piety", and the annalists of the order state that he refused the Archbishopric of Armagh offered him by Pope Pius V

Pope Pius V

Pope Saint Pius V , born Antonio Ghislieri , was Pope from 1566 to 1572 and is a saint of the Catholic Church. He is chiefly notable for his role in the Council of Trent, the Counter-Reformation, and the standardization of the Roman liturgy within the Latin Church...

, who styled him "the support of the Church and the light of the orthodox faith".

Works

He wrote several works, of which the principal are:

• "Tractatus De Hibernia"
• "Cursus philosophicus et theologicus"
• "De Meditatione et Conscientiæ examine"
• "Paradisus contemplantium"
• "Super regula Minorum, Expositio Copiosa".