Mark Duncan
Encyclopedia
Mark Duncan was a British regent of the University of Saumur.
of Maxpoffle, Roxburghshire
, by Janet, daughter of Patrick Oliphant of Sowdoun in the same county, is supposed to have been born about 1570, and to have been educated partly in Scotland and partly on the continent.
He certainly took the degree of M.D., but at what university is not known.
From Duplessis-Mornay
, he was appointed governor of Saumur by Henry IV
in 1589; he received the post of professor of philosophy in the University of Saumur, of which he subsequently became regent.
He is said to have been versed in mathematics and theology, as well as in philosophy, and to have acquired such a reputation for medical skill that James I
offered him the post of physician in ordinary at the English court, and even forwarded to him the necessary patent; but to have declined the royal invitation out of regard to his wife (a French lady), who was reluctant to leave her native land.
nuns of Loudun
.
The phenomena had been attributed to the sorcery of Urbain Grandier
, curé and canon of Loudun, who had been burned at the stake
in consequence.
Duncan explained them, at much risk to himself, as the result of melancholy.
He is said to have been shielded from the vengeance of the clergy only by the influence of the wife of the Maréchal Urbain de Maillé-Brézé
, then governor of Saumur.
This work elicited an answer in the shape of a Traité de la Mélancholie by the Sieur de la Menardière, and that in its turn an Apologie pour Mr. Duncan, Docteur en Médecine, dans laquelle les plus rares effects de la Mélancholie et de l'imagination sont expliquez contre les reflexions du Sieur de la Mre par le Sieur de la F. M.. La Flèche (no date).
Duncan also wrote a treatise entitled Aglossostomographie on a boy who continued to speak after he had lost his tongue, pronouncing only the letter "r" with difficulty.
The faulty Greek of the title, which should have been Aglossostomatographie, was very severely criticised in prose and verse by a rival physician of Saumur, named Benoit.
Duncan lived at Saumur until his death, which took place in 1640, to the regret, it is said, of protestants and catholics alike.
He had three sons, who took the names respectively of Cérisantis, Saint Helène, and Montfort.
He returned to France as the Swedish ambassador resident in 1645.
Shortly afterwards he left the Swedish service, renounced his protestantism, and went to Rome, where in 1647 he met Henry II, Duke of Guise
, then meditating his attempt to wrest the kingdom of Sicily from Spain, whom he accompanied to Naples in the capacity of secretary.
He is said also to have been secretly employed by the French king to furnish intelligence of the duke's designs and movements.
He died of a wound received in an engagement with the Spaniards in February 1648.
The authenticity of the Mémoires du Duc de Guise, published in 1668, was impugned by the brother of Cérisantis, Saint Helène, mainly on the ground of the somewhat disparaging tone in which Cérisantis is referred to in them.
The genuineness of the work is, however, now beyond dispute, and it must be observed that the duke, while imputing to Cérisantis excessive vainglory, gives him credit for skill and intrepidity in the field. Cérisantis was esteemed one of the most elegant Latinists of his age, and published several poems, of which Carmen Gratulatorium in nuptias Car. R. Ang. cum Henrietta Maria filia Henrici IV R. F. is the most celebrated.
Life
He was the son of Thomas DuncanThomas Duncan
Thomas Duncan, RA was a Scottish portrait and historical painter born in Kinclaven, Perthshire.Educated at the Perth Academy, he began studying law, but abandoned it for art...
of Maxpoffle, Roxburghshire
Roxburghshire
Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh is a registration county of Scotland. It borders Dumfries to the west, Selkirk to the north-west, and Berwick to the north. To the south-east it borders Cumbria and Northumberland in England.It was named after the Royal Burgh of Roxburgh...
, by Janet, daughter of Patrick Oliphant of Sowdoun in the same county, is supposed to have been born about 1570, and to have been educated partly in Scotland and partly on the continent.
He certainly took the degree of M.D., but at what university is not known.
From Duplessis-Mornay
Philippe de Mornay
Philippe de Mornay , seigneur du Plessis Marly, usually known as Du-Plessis-Mornay or Mornay Du Plessis, was a French Protestant writer and member of the Monarchomaques .- Biography :...
, he was appointed governor of Saumur by Henry IV
Henry IV of France
Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....
in 1589; he received the post of professor of philosophy in the University of Saumur, of which he subsequently became regent.
He is said to have been versed in mathematics and theology, as well as in philosophy, and to have acquired such a reputation for medical skill that James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
offered him the post of physician in ordinary at the English court, and even forwarded to him the necessary patent; but to have declined the royal invitation out of regard to his wife (a French lady), who was reluctant to leave her native land.
Works
He published in 1612 Institutiones Logicæ, to which Burgersdijck, in the preface to his own Institutiones Logicæ (second edition 1634), acknowledged himself much indebted, and which indeed seems to have served as a model to the latter work; also (anon.) in 1634, Discours de la Possession des Religieuses Ursulines de Loudun, an investigation of the supposed cases of demoniacal possession among the UrsulineUrsulines
The Ursulines are a Roman Catholic religious order for women founded at Brescia, Italy, by Saint Angela de Merici in November 1535, primarily for the education of girls and the care of the sick and needy. Their patron saint is Saint Ursula.-History:St Angela de Merici spent 17 years leading a...
nuns of Loudun
Loudun
Loudun is a commune in the Vienne department in the Poitou-Charentes region in western France.It is located south of the town of Chinon and 25 km to the east of the town Thouars...
.
The phenomena had been attributed to the sorcery of Urbain Grandier
Urbain Grandier
Urbain Grandier was a French Catholic priest who was burned at the stake after being convicted of witchcraft, following the events of the so-called "Loudun Possessions." The circumstances of Father Grandier's trial and execution have attracted the attention of writers Alexandre Dumas, père and...
, curé and canon of Loudun, who had been burned at the stake
Burned at the Stake
Burned at the Stake is a 1981 film directed by Bert I. Gordon. It stars Susan Swift and Albert Salmi.-Cast:*Susan Swift as Loreen Graham / Ann Putnam*Albert Salmi as Captaiin Billingham*Guy Stockwell as Dr. Grossinger*Tisha Sterling as Karen Graham...
in consequence.
Duncan explained them, at much risk to himself, as the result of melancholy.
He is said to have been shielded from the vengeance of the clergy only by the influence of the wife of the Maréchal Urbain de Maillé-Brézé
Urbain de Maillé-Brézé
Urbain de Maillé-Brézé , was a Marshal of France during the Thirty Years' War and Franco-Spanish War .- Biography :...
, then governor of Saumur.
This work elicited an answer in the shape of a Traité de la Mélancholie by the Sieur de la Menardière, and that in its turn an Apologie pour Mr. Duncan, Docteur en Médecine, dans laquelle les plus rares effects de la Mélancholie et de l'imagination sont expliquez contre les reflexions du Sieur de la Mre par le Sieur de la F. M.. La Flèche (no date).
Duncan also wrote a treatise entitled Aglossostomographie on a boy who continued to speak after he had lost his tongue, pronouncing only the letter "r" with difficulty.
The faulty Greek of the title, which should have been Aglossostomatographie, was very severely criticised in prose and verse by a rival physician of Saumur, named Benoit.
Duncan lived at Saumur until his death, which took place in 1640, to the regret, it is said, of protestants and catholics alike.
He had three sons, who took the names respectively of Cérisantis, Saint Helène, and Montfort.
Family
His eldest son, Mark Duncan de Cérisantis (died 1648), was for a time tutor to the Marquis de Faure, and was employed by Richelieu in certain negotiations at Constantinople in 1641; but in consequence of a quarrel with M. de Caudale was compelled to leave France, and entered the Swedish service.He returned to France as the Swedish ambassador resident in 1645.
Shortly afterwards he left the Swedish service, renounced his protestantism, and went to Rome, where in 1647 he met Henry II, Duke of Guise
Henry II, Duke of Guise
Henry II de Lorraine, 5th Duke of Guise was the second son of Charles, Duke of Guise and Henriette Catherine de Joyeuse.-Life:...
, then meditating his attempt to wrest the kingdom of Sicily from Spain, whom he accompanied to Naples in the capacity of secretary.
He is said also to have been secretly employed by the French king to furnish intelligence of the duke's designs and movements.
He died of a wound received in an engagement with the Spaniards in February 1648.
The authenticity of the Mémoires du Duc de Guise, published in 1668, was impugned by the brother of Cérisantis, Saint Helène, mainly on the ground of the somewhat disparaging tone in which Cérisantis is referred to in them.
The genuineness of the work is, however, now beyond dispute, and it must be observed that the duke, while imputing to Cérisantis excessive vainglory, gives him credit for skill and intrepidity in the field. Cérisantis was esteemed one of the most elegant Latinists of his age, and published several poems, of which Carmen Gratulatorium in nuptias Car. R. Ang. cum Henrietta Maria filia Henrici IV R. F. is the most celebrated.