Laurence Arthur Faunt (1554 – 28 February 1591) was an English
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
theologian and missionary to Poland.
Family background
Arthur Faunt was the third son of
William Faunt of
Foston, Leicestershire, by his second wife, Jane, daughter of George Vincent of
Peckleton
Peckleton is a small village and civil parish located in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England. The villages of Kirkby Mallory and Stapleton also form part of the parish. Thus, according to the 2001 census, the parish had ...
, and widow of Nicholas Purefoy of
Fenny Drayton
Fenny Drayton (once Drayton-in-the-Clay) is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Witherley, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England. OS Explorer Map 232: Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000): It lies nea ...
. The family was Roman Catholic.
Life
In 1568 Faunt was sent to
Merton College, Oxford
Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the ...
, and placed under the tuition of the philosopher
John Pott
John Potts (or Pott) was a physician and Colonial Governor of Virginia at the Jamestown settlement in the Virginia Colony in the early 17th century.
Biography
John Potts is said to have taken his degree of M.A., at Oxford University in 1605. H ...
, who had previously taught him in Leicestershire. Pott, also a Roman Catholic, removed Faunt from Oxford with the consent of his parents, and at the beginning of 1570 took him to
Louvain
Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic c ...
and placed him in the Jesuit college at the
Catholic University
Catholic higher education includes universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher education privately run by the Catholic Church, typically by religious institutes. Those tied to the Holy See are specifically called pontifical univ ...
. After graduating B.A. at Louvain, Faunt lived for a time in Paris, and then proceeded to
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
.
William V, Duke of Bavaria
William V (29 September 1548 – 7 February 1626), called ''the Pious'', (German: ''Wilhelm V., der Fromme, Herzog von Bayern'') was Duke of Bavaria from 1579 to 1597.
Education and early life
William V was born in Landshut, the son of Alber ...
, chose him as his scholar, and maintained him in the
university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
there, where he commenced M.A. In 1575 he went to the
English College at Rome
The Venerable English College (), commonly referred to as the English College, is a Catholic seminary in Rome, Italy, for the training of priests for England and Wales. It was founded in 1579 by William Allen on the model of the English College, ...
to study divinity.
The date at which he entered the
Society of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
is uncertain: some authorities give 1570, others 1575, the year in which he went to Rome. It was, however, at this time that he took Laurence as his
name in religion. He was appointed reader in theology at the English College in 1578; and was ordained in 1580. He attracted the attention of
Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...
, who licensed Faunt to make a
seal
Seal may refer to any of the following:
Common uses
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...
which would allow him to issue passports to his countrymen, enabling them to travel through foreign countries without fear of the
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...
or any other similar danger. Pope Gregory died in 1585: it was supposed that had he lived longer, he would have raised Faunt to the rank of
cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
.
In 1581,
King Stephen of Poland established a Jesuit college at
Posen. Pope Gregory appointed Faunt to be its first rector, and he left Rome on 10 June 1581. Alegambe states that he was professor of
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
at Posen for three years, and of moral theology and controversy for nine years. He was highly esteemed by the spiritual and temporal estates of the Polish nation. A letter sent by him to his brother Anthony, dated at
Danzig in 1589, shows that he was sent for at the same time by three different princes.
[Wood, Athenæ Oxon. ed. Bliss, i. 574]
Death
Faunt died on 28 February 1591 at
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
, capital of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...
(then part of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
).
Works
His theological works included:
*' (Posen, 1580)
*'
Theological assertions of Christ's Church on earth, what are they and who may make them"(Posen, 1584)
'(Posen: Joannem Wolrab, 1582)
'' ["Book Three: In which Calvinists, Lutherans, and the rest, who call themselves Evangelicals, are, from arguments and miracles, most clearly proved to be outside the Christian Church, & simultaneously a defense of the same assertion against false accusations contained in the writing of Anthony Sadeel"] (Posen: Joannem Wolrab, 1584)
*' (Posen, 1582)
*' (Posen, 1583)
*' (Posen, 1584)
*' (Posen, 1584)
*' (Posen, 1586)
*' ([Cracow?], 1587); reprinted in 1632, and again in the ''Opuscula'' collected by Melchior Stephanidis (Cracow, 1632)
*' (Cologne, 1589)
*' (anon.) (1592)
*' (Posen)
*'
References
;Attribution
*
*
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faunt, Arthur
1554 births
1591 deaths
16th-century English Jesuits
People from Blaby District
English religious writers
16th-century English writers
16th-century male writers
Alumni of Merton College, Oxford