Alfred Cauchie (1860—1922) was a professor of history at the

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (french: Université de Louvain, link=no; nl, Universiteit Leuven, link=no) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of ...

Life

Cauchie was born in Haulchin, Hainaut, on 26 October 1860, and was educated at the minor seminary of Bonne-Espérance in

Estinnes Estinnes (; pcd, L' Estene) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 Estinnes had a total population of 7,413. The total area is 72.73 km2 which gives a population density of 102 inhabitan ...

. In 1882 he entered the major seminary, receiving priestly ordination from

Isidore-Joseph du Rousseaux Isidore-Joseph du Rousseaux (1826–1897) was a bishop of Tournai in Belgium.A. Simon, "Rousseaux (Isidore-Joseph du)", ''Biographie Nationale de Belgique''vol. 30(Brussels, 1958), 752. Life Rousseaux was born in Halle on 19 January 1826. He was ...

, bishop of Tournai, on 25 October 1885. After ordination he was sent to the Catholic University of Leuven to pursue studies in History, graduating licentiate in 1888. His bishop then sent him to Rome in 1888-1889, where he worked in the

Vatican Secret Archives , seal = Seal of the Vatican Secret Archives.svg , seal_width = 200 , seal_caption = Former seal of the Vatican Apostolic Archive , logo = , formed = , jurisdiction = , headquarters = Cortile del Belvedere, Vatican City , coordinates ...

, which had been opened to researchers by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

in 1879. He took a particular interest in documents relating to Belgian history.Jacques Lavalleye, "Cauchie, Alfred", '' Biographie Nationale de Belgique''
vol. 38
(Brussels, 1973), 67—78. In 1890 Cauchie submitted a doctoral thesis on ''La querelle des investitures dans les diocèses de Liège et de Cambrai'' (the

investiture controversy The Investiture Controversy, also called Investiture Contest (German: ''Investiturstreit''; ), was a conflict between the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops (investiture) and abbots of monast ...

in the dioceses of

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

and

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department and in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, regio ...

), which was printed in two volumes by

Peeters Peeters is a Dutch-language patronymic surname, equivalent to Peters. It is the most common surname in Belgium (33,275 people), and is particularly common in the province of Antwerp, but also in Flemish Brabant and Belgian Limburg. Notable people wi ...

. Charles Moeller then took him on as his teaching assistant for the seminars in

historical method Historical method is the collection of techniques and guidelines that historians use to research and write histories of the past. Secondary sources, primary sources and material evidence such as that derived from archaeology may all be drawn o ...

at the Faculty of Arts, and in 1892 Désiré-Joseph Mercier invited him to teach a course on

heuristic A heuristic (; ), or heuristic technique, is any approach to problem solving or self-discovery that employs a practical method that is not guaranteed to be optimal, perfect, or rational, but is nevertheless sufficient for reaching an immediate, ...

s and

historical criticism Historical criticism, also known as the historical-critical method or higher criticism, is a branch of criticism that investigates the origins of ancient texts in order to understand "the world behind the text". While often discussed in terms of ...

at the recently founded Institute of Philosophy. The following year he was appointed to lecture on medieval institutions in the Faculty of Arts, and in 1895 he replaced the deceased Canon Bernard Jungmann, teaching Church History in the Faculties of Theology and Canon Law. In 1900 he founded the '' Revue d'Histoire Ecclésiastique'', a leading journal in the field of ecclesiastical history. In 1892 he published a report to the Ministry of Education calling for systematic searches of Italian archives for documents relating to Belgian history."Mission aux Archives vaticanes. Rapport à Monsieur le Ministre de l'Intérieur et de l'Instruction publique", ''Compte rendu des séances de la Commission royale d'Histoire'', 5th series, vol. 2 (1892), pp. 185-192, 313-403. This was the first step towards the founding of the Belgian Historical Institute in Rome a decade later. To Cauchie's chagrin, the first director to be appointed was

Ursmer Berlière Ursmer Berlière, born Alfred Berlière (1861–1932) was a monk of Maredsous Abbey and a monastic historian whose bibliography ran to 360 publications.Philibert Schmitz, "Berlière, Alfred", ''Biographie Nationale de Belgique''vol. 30(Brussels, 1 ...

rather than himself. It was only in 1919 that Cauchie fulfilled his ambition of being appointed director, the same year that he was elected to the

Académie royale de Belgique The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB) is a non-governmental association which promotes and organises science and the arts in Belgium by coordinating the national and international activities of its constituent academies su ...

. He took up the post the following year, and died in Rome on 10 February 1922.

Works

Due to a heavy load of teaching and administration, Cauchie published relatively little beyond short articles about archival finds and teaching methods. His work was also impeded by the destruction of Leuven University Library in the German invasion of 1914 (during which he was himself briefly a displaced person). Together with René Maere he edited ''Recueil des instructions générales aux nonces de Flandre (1596-1635)'' (Brussels, 1904); he also contributed entries to the '' Biographie Nationale de Belgique'' on

Poppo of Stavelot Saint Poppo (Deinze, 977 – Marchiennes, 25 January 1048) was a knight of noble descent who turned to a monastic life after experiencing a spiritual conversion. He became one of the best known abbots of Stavelot and was one of the first recorded ...

(in volume 18),

Richard of Saint-Vanne Richard of Verdun (970–1046) was the abbot of the influential northeastern French Monastery of St. Vanne from 1004 to 1046.Geary, Patrick "Furta Sacra: Thefts of Relics in The Central Middle Ages." Princeton University Press,1990, p. 65 Life Ric ...

(vol. 19) and

Rupert of Deutz Rupert of Deutz ( la, Rupertus Tuitiensis; c. 1075/1080 – c. 1129) was an influential Benedictine theologian, exegete and writer on liturgical and musical topics. Life Rupert was most likely born in or around Liège in the years 1075-108 ...

(vol. 20). Other works include: *''La Grande Procession de Tournai'' (Leuven, 1892). *''Godefroid Kurth (1847-1916), le patriote, le chrétien, l'historien'' (Brussels, 1922)

Biographies

Leon van der Essen Leon van der Essen (1883–1963) was a Belgian historian, professor at the Catholic University of Leuven. In 1946 he testified about the German occupation of Belgium at the Nuremberg trials, the only Belgian witness called. Life Van der Essen wa ...

, "Alfred Cauchie (1860- 1022). L'initiateur, le savant, l'homme", '' Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique'', 18 (1922), pp. 213–239. *

, "Notice sur la vie et les travaux du chanoine Alfred Cauchie", ''Annuaire de l'Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique'', 91 (1925), pp. 109–251 * Leon van der Essen, "Alfred Cauchie", ''La Commission royale d'Histoire (1834-1934). Livre jubilaire composé à l'occasion du centième anniversaire de sa fondation par les Membres de la Commission'' (Brussels, 1934), pp. 257–264.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cauchie, Alfred Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni Academic staff of the Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) 1866 births 1922 deaths Belgian historians of religion