Christian Peter "Alphons" Maria Joseph Bellesheim (16 December 1839 Monschau, Germany - 5 February 1912

Aachen, Germany Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

) was a church historian. He also reviewed and collected books.

Family

Alphons was the son of Heinrich "Wilhelm" Ludwig Joseph Bellesheim (26 December 1801 Essen, Germany - 1867 Aachen, Germany) and Maria Anna "Margaretha" Dumesnil (15 March 1797 Aachen, Germany - 1866 Aachen, Germany). His parents were married on 27 June 1838 in Monschau, Germany. Alphons' paternal grandparents were Carl Anton Bellesheim and Maria Josepha Helena Hennekes. His maternal grandparents were Carl Dumesnil and Christina Windhagen. Alphons had one known brother, Hugo Franz Julius Bellesheim. Hugo was born on 3 February 1841 in Monschau and married to Hulda Caecilia Kelsch on 4 October 1866 in Aachen. A Hugo Bellesheim, aged 27 years, arrived at the Port of New York on 30 August 1867 having departed from Hamburg, Germany on the ship ''Germanic''. It is unknown, but assumed that the two are the same. Further research is being done into the family of Alphons Bellesheim. Please see the external link below for contact to the researcher.

Life

The son of the pharmacist s Wilhelm Bellesheim (1801-1867) studied

Roman Catholic theology Catholic theology is the understanding of Catholic doctrine or teachings, and results from the studies of theologians. It is based on Biblical canon, canonical Catholic Bible, scripture, and sacred tradition, as interpreted authoritatively by ...

at the universities of Bonn and Tübingen and attended thereafter the

theological college A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

. After his ordination of priest s in the year 1862 he was assumed as chaplain at the

Santa Maria dell'Anima , native_name= , image=Santa Maria del Anima I.jpg , caption=Façade of the church. , mapframe=yes , mapframe-caption=Click on the map for a fullscreen view , mapframe-zoom=12 , mapframe-marker=religious-christian , coordinates= , location=Via di ...

, where he was active 1862 and where he obtained his doctorate in the last month of his time in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. After his return to Germany he became vicar at the

Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (german: Kölner Dom, officially ', English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese of ...

and also secretary of the general vicariate. As a result of the

Kulturkampf (, 'culture struggle') was the conflict that took place from 1872 to 1878 between the Catholic Church led by Pope Pius IX and the government of Prussia led by Otto von Bismarck. The main issues were clerical control of education and ecclesiastic ...

in the 1870th he had to quit his tasks. Subsequently, in the following more than 25 years he was active in the scientific-theological research and published a lot of publications, including 10 books, 4 brochures, 148 essays and 77 inscriptions in dictionaries. One of his focus areas was the

history of Christianity The history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion, Christian countries, and the Christians with their various denominations, from the 1st century to the present. Christianity originated with the ministry of Jesus, a Jewish teach ...

of the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

. Finally in 1902 Bellesheim was appointed as provost at the

Aachen Cathedral Aachen Cathedral (german: Aachener Dom) is a Roman Catholic church in Aachen, Germany and the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Aachen. One of the oldest cathedrals in Europe, it was constructed by order of Emperor Charlemagne, who was buri ...

and he practised this ministry until his death in 1912 and was in the meantime honoured with the title as a

Protonotary apostolic In the Roman Catholic Church, protonotary apostolic (PA; Latin: ''protonotarius apostolicus'') is the title for a member of the highest non-episcopal college of prelates in the Roman Curia or, outside Rome, an honorary prelate on whom the pop ...

Publications and books (option)

* '' Giuseppe Cardinal Mezzofanti : Ein Lebensbild aus der Kirchengeschichte des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts'', Woerl, Würzburg 1879 * ''Die Elementarschulen im katholischen England'', Foesser, Frankfurt a. M. 1882 * ''History of the Catholic Church of Scotland: From the Introduction of Christianity to the Present Day.'' Clarke Press. February 2008. * ''Geschichte der Katholischen Kirche in Schottland von der Einführung des Christenthums bis auf die Gegenwart'', Vol. 1−2, Kirchheim, Mainz 1883 * '' Wilhelm Cardinal Allen und die englischen Seminare auf dem Festlande'', Mainz 1885 * ''Geschichte der Katholischen Kirche in Irland von der Einführung des Christenthums bis auf die Gegenwart'', Vol. 1−3, Kirchheim, Mainz 1890/91 * ''

Henry Edward Manning Henry Edward Manning (15 July 1808 – 14 January 1892) was an English prelate of the Catholic church, and the second Archbishop of Westminster from 1865 until his death in 1892. He was ordained in the Church of England as a young man, but con ...

; Cardinal-Erzbischof von Westminster (1808–1892)'', Kirchheim, Mainz 1892 * '' Charles Cardinal Lavigerie, Erzbischof von Karthago und Primas von Afrika (1825–1892)'', In: ''Der Katholik, Zeitschrift für katholische Wissenschaft und kirchliches Leben'', 27. Jg., Mag. 3, P. 248–266 und Mag. 4, P. 356–377,Charles Cardinal Lavigerie, Erzbischof von Karthago und Primas von Afrika (1825–1892), part 2
/ref> Kirchheim, Mainz 1897

References

* Hermann-Josef Reudenbach: ''Stiftspropst Alfons Bellesheim (1839–1912) und das Buch: ein Beitrag zur Kirchengeschichte und zur Geschichte der Buchkultur''. Libelli Rhenani: ''Schriften der Erzbischöflichen Diözesan- und Dombibliothek zur rheinischen Kirchen- und Landesgeschichte sowie zur Buch- und Bibliotheksgeschichte'', 14. Erzbischöfliche Diözesan- und Dombibliothek, Cologne 2006 * August Brecher: ''Ein Leben im Dienst der Wissenschaft und des Aachener Münsters. Stiftpropst Dr. Alfons Bellesheim 1839–1912'', in: ''Zeitschrift des Aachener Geschichtsvereins'' 96, 1989, S. 209–372 * Ingeborg Schild/Elisabeth Janssen: ''Der Aachener Ostfriedhof'', publisher Mayersche Buchhandlung, Aachen 1991, . S. 386–388. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bellesheim, Alphons 1839 births 1912 deaths People from Monschau 19th-century German Roman Catholic priests