Godfrey Henschen was a Dutch Jesuit hagiographer, one of the first Bollandists.

He was born at Venray

Venray

Venray is a municipality and a town in Limburg, Netherlands, 115 kilometers southeast of Amsterdam. Venray has about 43,000 inhabitants.- Population centres :...

, Limburg

Limburg (Netherlands)

Limburg is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is located in the southeastern part of the country and bordered by the province of Gelderland to the north, Germany to the east, Belgium to the south and part of the west, andthe Dutch province of North Brabant partly to...

, the son of Henry Henschen, a cloth merchant, and Sibylla Pauwels, he studied the humanities at the Jesuit College of Bois-le-Duc ('s Hertogenbosch) and entered the novitiate at Mechlin, 22 October 1619. He taught successively Greek, poetry, and rhetoric at Bergues

Bergues

Bergues is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It is situated to the south of Dunkirk and from the Belgian border. Locally it is referred to as "the other Bruges in Flanders"...

, Bailleul

Bailleul

- France :*Bailleul, Nord, in the Nord département*Bailleul, Orne, in the Orne département*Bailleul, Somme, in the Somme département*Bailleul-aux-Cornailles, in the Pas-de-Calais département*Bailleul-la-Vallée, in the Eure département...

, Ypres

Ypres

Ypres is a Belgian municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres and the villages of Boezinge, Brielen, Dikkebus, Elverdinge, Hollebeke, Sint-Jan, Vlamertinge, Voormezele, Zillebeke, and Zuidschote...

, and Ghent

Ghent

Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...

. He was ordained priest on 16 April 1634, sent to the professed house

Professed house

In the Society of Jesus, a professed house was a residence where - in a spirit of radical poverty - no member had a stable income. The Jesuit priests who lived there, all of whom have professed the fourth vow, undertake their spiritual and pastoral ministry completely for free. With no revenues,...

 at Antwerp the following year, and admitted to the profession of the four vows on 12 May 1636.

From the time of his arrival in the city he was associated as collaborator with Father Bollandus, who was then preparing the first volumes of the Acta Sanctorum

Acta Sanctorum

Acta Sanctorum is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. It begins with two January volumes, published in 1643, and ended with the Propylaeum to...

. It was Henschen who, by his commentary on the Acts of St. Amand, suggested to Bolandus the course to follow, and gave to the work undertaken by his master its definitive form.

Henschen journeyed in company with Daniel Papebroch

Daniel Papebroch

Daniel Papebroch was a Belgian Jesuit hagiographer, one of the Bollandists. He was a leading revisionist figure, bringing historical criticism to bear on traditions of saints of the Catholic Church...

, to Italy, France, and Germany (22 July 1660-21 December 1662). He was the first librarian of the museum Bollandianum at Antwerp.

Henschen died at Antwerp aged 80 in 1681.

Works

He collaborated on the volumes for January, February, March, and April, and on the first six volumes for May, that is on seventeen volumes of the Acta Sanctorum. Several of his posthumous commentaries appeared in the succeeding volumes. A list of some other works from his pen will be found in Augustin de Backer

Augustin de Backer

Augustin de Backer was a Belgian Jesuit and renowned bibliographer.-Early years and Formation:...

's Bibliothèque des escrivains de la Compagnie de Jésus.