Dom Dom or DOM may refer to:
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* Dom (given name), including fictional characters
* Dom (surname)
* Dom La Nena (born 1989), stage name of Brazilian-born cellist, singer and songwriter Dominique Pinto
* Dom people, an et ...
Bernard de Montfaucon,
O.S.B.
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, found ...
(; 13 January 1655 – 21 December 1741) was a
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
Benedictine monk of the
Congregation of Saint Maur. He was an astute scholar who founded the discipline of
palaeography
Palaeography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, UK) or paleography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") ...
, as well as being an editor of works of the
Fathers of the Church
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical pe ...
. He is regarded as one of the founders of the modern discipline of
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
.
Early life
![Codex Colbertinus 700](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Codex_Colbertinus_700.jpg)
Montfaucon was born on 13 January 1655 in the Castle of
Soulatgé
Soulatgé (; oc, Solatge) is a commune in the Aude department in southern France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Aude department
The following is a list of the 433 communes of the Aude department of France.
The communes cooperate ...
, a small village in the southern town of
Corbières, then in the ancient Province of
Languedoc
The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France.
Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...
, now in the modern
Department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
of
Aude
Aude (; ) is a Departments of France, department in Southern France, located in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region and named after the river Aude (river), Aude. The departmental council also calls it "Ca ...
. Other sources claimed his birth date is in 16 January, the most accepted date. After one year he was moved to the Castle of
Roquetaillade, residence of his family. When he was seven, he was sent to
Limoux, to the college run by the
Fathers of Christian Doctrine.
Career
Montfaucon served in the French army as a volunteer and participated in the
Franco-Dutch War
The Franco-Dutch War, also known as the Dutch War (french: Guerre de Hollande; nl, Hollandse Oorlog), was fought between France and the Dutch Republic, supported by its allies the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark-Nor ...
of 1673. He was a captain of grenadiers and made two campaigns under the command of
Marshall Turenne
Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne (11 September 161127 July 1675), commonly known as Turenne , was a French general and one of only six Marshals to have been promoted Marshal General of France. The most illustrious member of the ...
, participated in the
Battle of Herbsthausen
The Battle of Herbsthausen, also known as the Battle of Mergentheim, took place near Bad Mergentheim, in the modern German state of Baden-Württemberg. Fought on 5 May 1645, during the Thirty Years War, it featured a French army led by Turenne, ...
and fell ill in
Saverne in
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
. Because of his infectious illness he made a vow to
Our Lady of Marceille to give one hundred ''
livres'' to her
sanctuary
A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...
in
Limoux and to become a monk, if he was able to return to his country as a result of her intervention.
After the death of Montfaucon's father at the
Château de Roquetaillade, in 1675 he entered the
novitiate
The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...
of the
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
monastery of Bream in
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
. There he learned several ancient languages: Greek, Hebrew, Chaldean,
Syriac, and
Coptic
Coptic may refer to:
Afro-Asia
* Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya
* Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century
* Coptic alphabet ...
.
In 1687 Montfaucon was called to the
Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
The conce ...
and he started to work on an edition of the works of the Greek Church Fathers.
In 1705 Montfaucon examined and described the manuscripts of the
Fonds Coislin Fonds Coislin (french: Le fonds Coislin) is a collection (or fonds) of Greek manuscripts acquired by Pierre Séguier, but named after Henri-Charles de Coislin, its second owner. It is now held in the National Library of France, as one of three fonds ...
, in ''Bibliotheca Coisliniana'' (Paris, 1705). In 1708 in ''Palaeographia Graeca'' Montfaucon became the first to use the term "palaeography". The work illustrates the entire history of Greek writing. It contains Montfaucon's discussions of variations in Greek letter forms, the use of abbreviations in Greek manuscripts, and the process of deciphering archaic writing. It was Montfaucon's special interest. In this work he often cited Greek manuscripts in texts of
Athanasius of Alexandria
Athanasius I of Alexandria, ; cop, ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲡⲓⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲓⲕⲟⲥ or Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲁ̅; (c. 296–298 – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, ...
,
Origen
Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, ...
, and
John Chrysostom
John Chrysostom (; gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος; 14 September 407) was an important Early Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his homilies, preaching and public speaking, his denunciat ...
. The book dealt so comprehensively with the handwriting and other characteristics of Greek manuscripts that it remained the leading authority on the subject for almost two centuries.
Montfaucon published 15 volumes of ''L'antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures'' between 1719 and 1724. An English translation of this work was published in 1721–25 under the title ''Antiquity Explained and Represented in Diagrams''. The work contained
copperplate folio engravings of classical antiquities. It included a depiction of the "Barberini Vase", more commonly known as the "
Portland Vase". This book is published in English under the title ''Antiquities''. The materials used in this work were taken from the manuscripts deposited in French libraries. It contains many illustrative facsimiles, though they are engraved in a rather coarse way.
In 1719, Montfaucon was nominated by
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (Philippe Charles; 2 August 1674 – 2 December 1723), was a French prince, soldier, and statesman who served as Regent of the Kingdom of France from 1715 to 1723. He is referred to in French as ''le Régent''. ...
, to the
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. In 1719, following the death of the
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
priest, Michel Le Tellier (1643–1719),
confessor to the late
King Louis XIV
Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...
, Montfaucon became confessor to the young
King Louis XV.
Montfaucon died on 21 December 1741 at the
Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
The conce ...
, where he was buried.
Legacy
In a letter of 24 June 1786,
Josiah Wedgwood explains that he had seen Montfaucon's engravings of the
Portland Vase.
Montfaucon was the original editor of the homilies ''
Adversus Judaeos
''Adversus Judaeos'' ( grc, Κατὰ Ἰουδαίων ''Kata Ioudaiōn'', "against the Jews") are a series of fourth century homilies by Saint John Chrysostom directed to members of the church of Antioch of his time, who continued to observe Je ...
'' by saint
John Chrysostom
John Chrysostom (; gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος; 14 September 407) was an important Early Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his homilies, preaching and public speaking, his denunciat ...
along with many other works of the Fathers of the Church.
Montfaucon laid the foundation for the study of Greek manuscripts.
Scrivener
A scrivener (or scribe) was a person who could read and write or who wrote letters to court and legal documents. Scriveners were people who made their living by writing or copying written material. This usually indicated secretarial and admini ...
stated that his work still maintains a high authority, even "after more recent discoveries", especially of papyri in Egypt. Modern scholars agree that he effectively created a new discipline,
palaeography
Palaeography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, UK) or paleography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") ...
, and brought it to an advanced state of sophistication.
Montfaucon was largely responsible for bringing the
Bayeux Tapestry to public attention. In 1724, the scholar Antoine Lancelot discovered drawings of a section of the tapestry (about 30 feet of the Tapestry's 231 feet) among papers of Nicolas-Joseph Foucault, a
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
administrator. (These drawings of the tapestry's images "classicized" the somewhat crude Anglo-Norman originals by adding shadows and dimensionality to the figures.) Lancelot, unsure of what medium the drawings depicted, suggested that they might be a tomb relief, stained glass, a fresco, or even a tapestry. When Lancelot presented Foucault's drawings in 1724 to the
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in Paris, they attracted the attention of Montfaucon, who subsequently tracked down the textile in the drawings with help from his Benedictine colleagues in
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
. This is often regarded as the modern "discovery" of the Bayeux Tapestry, which had been displayed annually in
Bayeux Cathedral
Bayeux Cathedral, also known as Cathedral of Our Lady of Bayeux ( French: ''Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Bayeux''), is a Roman Catholic church located in the town of Bayeux in Normandy, France. A national monument, it is the seat of the Bishop of B ...
, perhaps for centuries, without attracting outside attention. Montfaucon published the Foucault drawings in the first volume his ''Les Monumens de la Monarchie Françoise''. In anticipation of volume 2 of ''Les Monumens'', Montfaucon engaged the artist Antoine Benoit, and sent him to Bayeux to copy the Tapestry in its entirety and in a manner more faithful to its style.
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...
art history professor Elizabeth Carson Pastan criticizes Montfaucon for his "Norman Triumphalist" point of view in dealing with the story of the Tapestry, despite the fact that he asserted that one should trust "the best historians of Normandy". She does state, however, that modern scholars are indebted to him for his process of examining many accounts of the
Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...
in interpreting the Tapestry, and his highlighting of the Tapestry's ambiguity and enigma
[Elizabeth Carson Pastan. "Montfaucon as Reader of the Bayeux Tapestry" in Janet T. Marquardt and Alyce A. Jordan (eds.) ''Medieval Art and Architecture after the Middle Ages'' (2009) pp. 102–103] (such as why
Harold Godwinson went to Normandy in 1064 and the identity of the elusive Aelfgyva).
Works
* ''Analecta graeca, sive varia opuscula graeca inedita'' (Paris, 1688)
* ''S. Athanasii opera omnia'' (Paris, 1698)
''Diarium italicum''(Paris, 1702)
* ''Bibliotheca Coisliniana'' (Paris, 1705)
* ''Collectio nova patrum graecorum'' (2 vols., 1706)
''Palaeographia Graeca, sive, De ortu et progressu literarum graecarum''(Paris, 1708)
* ''Bibliotheca Coisliniana olim Segueriana'', Paris: Ludovicus Guerin & Carolus Robustel, (Paris, 1715)
''L'antiquité expliquée et representée en figures/Antiquitas explanatione et schematibus illustrata''(Bilingual edition, vols. 1-15, Paris, 1719-1724)
''Les monumens de la monarchie françoise''(for Henrik IV, vols. 1-5, Paris, 1729–1733)
''Sancti patris nostri Ioannis Chrisostomi opera omnia''(Paris, 1718—1738)
* ''Bibliotheca bibliothecarum manuscriptorum nova'' (vols. 1-2, Paris, 1739)
See also
*
Lectionary 295
Lectionary 295 (Gregory-Aland), designated by siglum ℓ ''295'' (in the Gregory-Aland numbering) is a Greek manuscript of the New Testament, on parchment. Palaeographically it has been assigned to the 9th or 10th century. – manuscript presented by
Anselmo Banduri to Montfaucon
References
External links
*
*
*
arachne.uni-koeln.de/Montfaucon's "Antiquite", complete & commented, as high-resolution scans
*
Les Monumens De La Monarchie Françoiseat the University of Heidelberg website
L' antiquité expliquée et représentée en figuresat the University of Heidelberg website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montfaucon, Bernard de
1655 births
1741 deaths
People from Aude
French Benedictines
Benedictine scholars
18th-century French Roman Catholic priests
17th-century French Roman Catholic priests
17th-century French writers
17th-century French male writers
18th-century French writers
18th-century French male writers
Patristic scholars
French palaeographers
French antiquarians
18th-century French Catholic theologians
Christian Hebraists
Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
Burials at Saint-Germain-des-Prés (abbey)