Anthonius Triest (in Dutch sometimes ''Antoon''; in French ''Antoine'') (1576 – 28 May 1657), was the fifth bishop of Bruges and the seventh

bishop of Ghent The Diocese of Ghent (Latin: ''Dioecesis Gandavensis'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolis (religious jurisdiction), metropoli ...

Early life

Anthonius was born in the castle of Ten Walle in Beveren in 1576, son of Philip Triest, knight, lord of Auweghem, and Marie van Royen. He studied at the

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

college in Ghent and at

Leuven University KU Leuven (or Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. It conducts teaching, research, and services in computer science, engineering, natural sciences, theology, humanities, medicine, l ...

, graduating

Licentiate of Laws Bachelor of Civil Law (abbreviated BCL, or B.C.L.; la, Baccalaureus Civilis Legis) is the name of various degrees in law conferred by English-language universities. The BCL originated as a postgraduate degree in the universities of Oxford and Camb ...

. On 8 May 1596 he was appointed to a canonry in St Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent, becoming

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

in 1599.

A. C. De Schrevel Arthur Carolus De Schrevel (1850–1934) was a Belgian priest and historian, specialising in the 16th and 17th centuries, and in particular Catholic Church history during the Dutch Revolt. He was also a prolific contributor to the ''Biographie Nati ...

, "Triest (Antoine)", in '' Biographie nationale de Belgique''
vol. 25
(Brussels, 1932), 614–624. On 5 July 1610 he became dean of the chapter of

St. Donatian's Cathedral St. Donatian's Cathedral ( nl, Sint-Donaaskathedraal) was a Roman Catholic cathedral in Bruges, Belgium. Located on the Burg, one of the main squares in the city,Dunford and Lee, p.174.McDonald, p.14.McDonald, p.25. it was the largest church in Bru ...

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

, in which capacity he was delegate of the First Estate in the

States of Flanders The States of Flanders were a representative institution in the medieval and early modern County of Flanders. Initially it consisted only of the Third Estate, with representatives of the three cities of Bruges, Ghent and Ypres. Around 1350 the rura ...

Episcopal career

On 10 August 1616 Triest was named bishop of Bruges, and he was consecrated as such on 9 July 1617. From 25 November 1617 to 28 January 1618 he was absent from his diocese on a mission to reconcile the Duke of Lorraine and his brother, the Count of Vaudement. On 10 July 1620 he was named bishop of Ghent, in succession to

Jacobus Boonen Jacobus Boonen (1573–1655) was the sixth Bishop of Ghent (1617–1620) and the fourth Archbishop of Mechelen (1621–1655). Life Born at Antwerp on 11 October 1573, Boonen studied at the University of Leuven from 1587 to 1595 and began a leg ...

, who had become archbishop of Mechelen. Due to various delays he continued to act as bishop of Bruges until he could be replaced there, and was installed in his new see only on 7 April 1622. As bishop he supported charitable institutions such as the newly established

mount of piety A mount of piety is an institutional pawnbroker run as a charitable organization, charity in Europe from Renaissance times until today. Similar institutions were established in the colonies of Catholic countries; the Mexican Nacional Monte de Pie ...

(that provided interest-free credit to the poor) and an orphanage for girls, re-organised Sunday schools, encouraged the foundation of

confraternities A confraternity ( es, cofradía; pt, confraria) is generally a Christians, Christian voluntary association of laity, laypeople created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Christian Churc ...

and patronised the arts. In 1623 he acquired a new property to house the

Major Seminary of Ghent The Major Seminary in Ghent was an institution for the training of Catholic clergy for the diocese of Ghent, first founded in 1569. It has been established at three different locations in the city. Since 2006 diocesan clergy from Ghent have been tra ...

(first founded 1569). His intelligent interest in the visual arts gained him the friendship of

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh c ...

and

David Teniers the Younger David Teniers the Younger or David Teniers II (bapt. 15 December 1610 – 25 April 1690) was a Flemish Baroque painter, printmaker, draughtsman, miniaturist painter, staffage painter, copyist and art curator. He was an extremely versatile arti ...

. He commissioned his own tomb from

François Duquesnoy François Duquesnoy or Frans Duquesnoy (12 January 1597 – 18 July 1643) was a Flanders, Flemish Baroque sculptor who was active in Rome for most of his career. His idealized representations are often contrasted with the more emotional character ...

, and it was completed in 1651.

Papal interdict

Triest fell into disgrace through his refusal to publish the 1643 papal condemnation of Cornelius Jansen's ''

Augustinus Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afri ...

''. In 1651 he justified his continued resistance by issuing his episcopal order ''Noveritis'', a document which was condemned by the Holy Office. He was summoned to Rome to answer before the Pope, but on 29 August 1652 the

Council of Brabant The Council of Brabant was the highest law court in the historic Duchy of Brabant. It was presided over by the Chancellor of Brabant. One of its functions was to determine that new legislation was not contrary to the rights and liberties establis ...

issued an order under the ''

jus de non evocando ''Jus de non evocando'' is an ancient feudal right stating that no one can be kept from the competent court. It derives from a medieval principle that subjects of the Crown were entitled to ''ius de non evocando'', the right to enjoy the jurisdicti ...

'' forbidding him from pleading his case before a foreign tribunal. On 19 December 1652

Innocent X Pope Innocent X ( la, Innocentius X; it, Innocenzo X; 6 May 1574 – 7 January 1655), born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj (or Pamphili), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 September 1644 to his death in January ...

placed Triest, and his colleague Jacobus Boonen, under interdict and suspended them from their episcopal functions. In ''

Cum occasione ' is an apostolic constitution in the form of a papal bull promulgated by Pope Innocent X in 1653 which condemned five propositions said to have been found in Cornelius Jansen's '' Augustinus'' as heretical. The five errors of Jansen on Grace c ...

'' the Pope formally declared five propositions derived from ''Augustinus'' as heretical. Triest submitted and on 23 September 1653 received absolution from the papal

internuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...

, Andrea Mangelli, and was reinstated in his functions. Triest died in Ghent on 28 May 1657. By his will he left a third of his wealth to the poor of the city.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Triest, Anthonius 1576 births 1657 deaths Bishops of Bruges Bishops of Ghent 17th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Holy Roman Empire