Antoine de Mouchy (Antonius Monchiacenus Demochares) (1494 – 8 May 1574) was a French theologian and

canonist Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

, at Paris. A traditional explanation of the French term ''mouchard'', meaning police spy or informer, is that it derived from his use of intelligence-gathering networks, when working as an inquisitor. This folk-etymology was adopted by

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...

, following François-Eudes de Mézeray. It has been plausibly contested, on the grounds that the word is found used in the fifteenth century.

Life

De Mouchy was born at

Ressons-sur-Matz Ressons-sur-Matz () is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. See also *Communes of the Oise department *The works of Maxime Real del Sarte This article is a list of public sculptures designed by Maxime Real del Sarte. War Memo ...

, near

Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; pcd, Bieuvais) is a city and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris. The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most populous ...

, in

Picardy Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. Hi ...

. In 1539 he was appointed rector of the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

. He was also professor at the Sorbonne and canon Penitentiarius of

Noyon Noyon (; pcd, Noéyon; la, Noviomagus Veromanduorum, Noviomagus of the Veromandui, then ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, department, northern France. Geography Noyon lies on the river Oise (river), Oise, a ...

. He was one of a group of Sorbonne doctors who in the 1550s began detailed scholarship on lists of bishops, to support the

apostolic succession Apostolic succession is the method whereby the ministry of the Christian Church is held to be derived from the apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been associated with a claim that the succession is through a series of bish ...

. As '' inquisitor fidei'' he exerted his influence against the

Calvinists Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

, and was a judge at the heresy trial of

Anne du Bourg Anne du Bourg (1521, Riom – 23 December 1559, Paris) was a French magistrate, nephew of the chancellor Antoine du Bourg, and a Protestant martyr. Early life Educated at the university of Orléans, he became a professor and had Étienne de la ...

. In a 1560 book he accused Calvinists of sexual libertinism, practiced after the end of religious services. In 1562 he accompanied

Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine Charles de Lorraine (c. 1525 – 26 December 1574), Duke of Chevreuse, was a French Cardinal, a member of the powerful House of Guise. He was known at first as the Cardinal of Guise, and then as the second Cardinal of Lorraine, after the death o ...

to the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trento, Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italian Peninsula, Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation ...

, and in 1564 was present at the

Synod of Reims Reims, located in the north-east of modern France, hosted several councils or synods in the Roman Catholic Church. These councils did not universally represent the church and are not counted among the official ecumenical councils. Early synodal cou ...

Works

Mouchy wrote a work in defence of the Mass (Paris, 1562). His scholarly edition of the ''

Corpus juris canonici The ''Corpus Juris Canonici'' ( lit. 'Body of Canon Law') is a collection of significant sources of the canon law of the Catholic Church that was applicable to the Latin Church. It was replaced by the 1917 Code of Canon Law which went into effe ...

'' is called "pioneering".Donald R. Kelley, ''The Rise of Legal History in the Renaissance'', History and Theory, Vol. 9, No. 2 (1970), pp. 174-194.

References

Attribution

* The entry cites: **

Scherer Scherer and Scherrer is a German language surname widespread in German speaking Europe since the Middle Ages. With the beginning of colonization it also came to North and South America. It may refer to: Scherer * Alfredo Scherer (1903–1996), B ...

in ''

Kirchenlexikon ''Wetzer and Welte's Kirchenlexikon'' is an encyclopedic work of Catholic biography, history, and theology, first compiled by Heinrich Joseph Wetzer and Benedict Welte. The first edition in 12 volumes was published from 1847 to 1860, by Verlag Her ...

'', s.v. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mouchy, Antoine de 1494 births 1574 deaths Academic staff of the University of Paris Rectors of the University of Paris 16th-century French Catholic theologians Canon law jurists Participants in the Council of Trent 16th-century French lawyers 16th-century French writers 16th-century Latin-language writers