Adrianus Cancellier (1580–1623) was the 39th abbot of Dunes in the

County of Flanders The County of Flanders was a historic territory in the Low Countries. From 862 onwards, the counts of Flanders were among the original twelve peers of the Kingdom of France. For centuries, their estates around the cities of Ghent, Bruges and Yp ...

. Cancellier was born in Dunkirk in 1580 and entered the Abbey of Dunes in 1597. He went on to serve as bursar, and on 30 July 1610 was elected abbot in succession to the late Andreas du Chesne. The monastery had been badly damaged in the Dutch Revolt, and Cancellier attempted a renovation of the remaining buildings, financing it by selling off parts of the medieval ruins as building materials. He also encouraged young monks to study theology. By the time of his death, the monastic community had grown to 49 in number. He was instrumental in convincing the magistrates of his native Dunkirk to establish a Jesuit college in the town. He died on 16 April 1623, and was succeeded as abbot by

Bernard Campmans Bernard Campmans (died 1642), a native of Douai, was the 40th Abbot of Dunes from 1623 to 1642. He reclaimed the rights of the defunct Ter Doest Abbey for the mother house, and was responsible for the community's re-establishment in Bruges after ...

. In 1627 his remains were transferred to Bruges, where the community had relocated. His biography, by

Charles de Visch Carolus or Karel de Visch (1596–1666) was a Cistercian bibliographer, and prior of Ten Duinen Abbey. Life De Visch was born in the village of Bulskamp, near Veurne (County of Flanders) on 15 August 1596, to Joris de Visch and Maria van den He ...

, was published in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population. The area of the whole city a ...

in 1655 and reprinted in Brussels in 1660.Charles de Visch, ''Vita Reverendi in Christo Patris ac Domini, D. Adriani Cancellier, monasterii Dunensis, Ordinis Cisterciensis, quondam Abbatis'' (Brussels, Philip Vleugaert, 1655)
Available on Google Books

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cancellier, Adrianus 1580 births 1623 deaths Abbots of Dunes People from Dunkirk Clergy of the Spanish Netherlands