Louis Duchesne
Encyclopedia
Louis Marie Olivier Duchesne (13 September 1843 – 21 April 1922) was a French
priest, philologist
, teacher and a critical historian
of Christianity and Roman Catholic liturgy and institutions.
Descended from a family of Breton
sailors, he was born in 1843 in Saint-Servan
, Roulais place, now part of Saint-Malo
on the Breton coast, and was orphaned at a young age, in 1849, after the death of his father Jacques Duchesne
. Marc Tanguy, a relative, was one of the survivors of 74-gun ship Redoutable
at the Battle of Trafalgar
in 1805. Louis' brother Jean-Baptiste Duchesne settled in Oregon, and arrived at Oregon City
in 1849.
He was ordained to the priesthood in 1867. Louis Duchesne taught for many years in Saint-Brieuc
, then went to study in Paris, where he influenced the reformist Alfred Firmin Loisy, a founder of the failed movement to bring Catholicism into sympathy with science, the modern social sciences and philosophy, called "Catholic modernism" which eventually precipitated the crisis in the Church under Pope Pius X
in the years around 1907. In 1876 he became a member of the École française in Rome
; he eventually became its director. He was an amateur archaeologist
and organized expeditions from Rome to Mount Athos
, to Syria
, and Asia Minor
, from which he gained an interest in the early history of the Roman Catholic Church
.
In 1887 he published the results of his thesis, followed by the first complete critical edition of the Liber Pontificalis
. (Theodor Mommsen
was also working on a critical study, but it was never finished). At a difficult time for critical historians applying modern methods to Church history, drawing together archaeology and topography to supplement literature and setting ecclesiastical events with contexts of social history, Abbé Duchesne was in constant correspondence with like-minded historians among the Bollandist
s, with their long history of critical editions of hagiographies
.
He also wrote Les Sources du martyrologe hyéronimien, Origines du culte chrétien (translated as Christian Worship: Its Origin and Evolution and often reprinted), Fastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule, and Les Premiers temps de l'État pontifical. These works were universally praised, and he was appointed a commander of the Legion of Honor. However, his Histoire ancienne de l'Église, 1906‑11 (translated as Early History of the Christian Church) was considered too modernist
by the Church during the "Modernist crisis" and was placed on the Index of Forbidden Books in 1912.
In 1888 he became a member of the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres
, and in 1910 he was elected to the Académie française
. He died in 1922 in Rome
and is buried in the cemetery of Saint-Servan
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
priest, philologist
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
, teacher and a critical historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
of Christianity and Roman Catholic liturgy and institutions.
Descended from a family of Breton
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
sailors, he was born in 1843 in Saint-Servan
Saint-Servan
Saint-Servan is a town of western France, in Brittany, situated 2 miles from the ferry port of St Malo. It is renowned for its lovely shops and restaurants....
, Roulais place, now part of Saint-Malo
Saint-Malo
Saint-Malo is a walled port city in Brittany in northwestern France on the English Channel. It is a sub-prefecture of the Ille-et-Vilaine.-Demographics:The population can increase to up to 200,000 in the summer tourist season...
on the Breton coast, and was orphaned at a young age, in 1849, after the death of his father Jacques Duchesne
Jacques Duchesne
Jacques Charles René Achille Duchesne was a French general of the 19th century. He was born at Sens on March 3, 1837. He entered Saint-Cyr in 1855, and became a Lieutenant in 1861.-Career:...
. Marc Tanguy, a relative, was one of the survivors of 74-gun ship Redoutable
Redoutable
At least eleven vessels of the French Navy have borne the name Redoutable . Among them:* Le Redoutable, a project for a ship of the line * Le Redoutable , privateer...
at the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
in 1805. Louis' brother Jean-Baptiste Duchesne settled in Oregon, and arrived at Oregon City
Oregon City, Oregon
Oregon City was the first city in the United States west of the Rocky Mountains to be incorporated. It is the county seat of Clackamas County, Oregon...
in 1849.
He was ordained to the priesthood in 1867. Louis Duchesne taught for many years in Saint-Brieuc
Saint-Brieuc
Saint-Brieuc is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France.-History:Saint-Brieuc is named after a Welsh monk Brioc, who evangelized the region in the 6th century and established an oratory there...
, then went to study in Paris, where he influenced the reformist Alfred Firmin Loisy, a founder of the failed movement to bring Catholicism into sympathy with science, the modern social sciences and philosophy, called "Catholic modernism" which eventually precipitated the crisis in the Church under Pope Pius X
Pope Pius X
Pope Saint Pius X , born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was the 257th Pope of the Catholic Church, serving from 1903 to 1914. He was the first pope since Pope Pius V to be canonized. Pius X rejected modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, promoting traditional devotional practices and orthodox...
in the years around 1907. In 1876 he became a member of the École française in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
; he eventually became its director. He was an amateur archaeologist
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
and organized expeditions from Rome to Mount Athos
Mount Athos
Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
, to Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, and Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
, from which he gained an interest in the early history of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
.
In 1887 he published the results of his thesis, followed by the first complete critical edition of the Liber Pontificalis
Liber Pontificalis
The Liber Pontificalis is a book of biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the Liber Pontificalis stopped with Pope Adrian II or Pope Stephen V , but it was later supplemented in a different style until Pope Eugene IV and then Pope Pius II...
. (Theodor Mommsen
Theodor Mommsen
Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician, archaeologist, and writer generally regarded as the greatest classicist of the 19th century. His work regarding Roman history is still of fundamental importance for contemporary research...
was also working on a critical study, but it was never finished). At a difficult time for critical historians applying modern methods to Church history, drawing together archaeology and topography to supplement literature and setting ecclesiastical events with contexts of social history, Abbé Duchesne was in constant correspondence with like-minded historians among the Bollandist
Bollandist
The Bollandists are an association of scholars, philologists, and historians who since the early seventeenth century have studied hagiography and the cult of the saints in Christianity. Their most important publication has been the Acta Sanctorum...
s, with their long history of critical editions of hagiographies
Hagiography
Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...
.
He also wrote Les Sources du martyrologe hyéronimien, Origines du culte chrétien (translated as Christian Worship: Its Origin and Evolution and often reprinted), Fastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule, and Les Premiers temps de l'État pontifical. These works were universally praised, and he was appointed a commander of the Legion of Honor. However, his Histoire ancienne de l'Église, 1906‑11 (translated as Early History of the Christian Church) was considered too modernist
Modernism (Roman Catholicism)
Modernism refers to theological opinions expressed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but with influence reaching into the 21st century, which are characterized by a break with the past. Catholic modernists form an amorphous group. The term "modernist" appears in Pope Pius X's 1907...
by the Church during the "Modernist crisis" and was placed on the Index of Forbidden Books in 1912.
In 1888 he became a member of the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres is a French learned society devoted to the humanities, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France.-History:...
, and in 1910 he was elected to the Académie française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
. He died in 1922 in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and is buried in the cemetery of Saint-Servan
Saint-Servan
Saint-Servan is a town of western France, in Brittany, situated 2 miles from the ferry port of St Malo. It is renowned for its lovely shops and restaurants....
.
Works
- Mémoire sur une mission au mont Athos (Paris: E. Thorin, 1876)
- Les Nouveaux textes de Saint Clément de Rome, 1877
- De codicibus MSS Graecis Pii II in bibliotheca Alexandrino-Vaticana, Paris 1880
- Origines du culte chrétien: etude sur la liturgie latine avant Charlemagne (1889). Next printing 1919 and 1931 (5th ed.) also in New York : Macmillan Company. - commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of Louis Duchesne.
External links
- Table of "Personalities and interpreters of the modernist movement" in the Roman Catholic Church