Charles-François Toustain (13 October 1700 – 1 July 1754) was a French historian and a member 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') , found ...

Congregation of Saint Maur The Congregation of St. Maur, often known as the Maurists, were a congregation of French Benedictines, established in 1621, and known for their high level of scholarship. The congregation and its members were named after Saint Maurus (died 565), ...

. He is remembered for his scholarly work carried out withwith his fellow-Maurist, Dom René-Prosper Tassin.

Life

Charles-François Toustain was born into a family of note at Repas in the diocese of Séez on 13 October 1700. On 20 July 1718, he took the vows of the Benedictine order at the abbey of

Jumièges Jumièges () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France. Geography A forestry and farming village situated in a meander of the river Seine, some west of Rouen, at the junction of the D 65 and ...

. After finishing the philosophical and theological course at the

Abbey of Fécamp 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 conc ...

, he was sent to the at

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the region of Normandy and the department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population o ...

, to learn Hebrew and Greek. At the same time he studied Italian, English, German, and Dutch, in order to be able to understand the writers in these languages. He was not ordained priest until 1729, and then only at the express command of his superior. He always said Mass with much trepidation and only after long preparation. In 1730 he entered the

Abbey of St-Ouen Saint-Ouen Abbey, (french: Abbaye Saint-Ouen de Rouen) is a large Gothic Catholic church and former Benedictine monastic church in Rouen. It is named for Audoin (french: Ouen, ), 7th-century bishop of Rouen in modern Normandy, France. The church' ...

at Rouen, and went later to the Abbey of St-Germain-des-Pres and the , both in Paris. His theological opinions inclined to Jansenism. Toustain died while taking his milk-cure at the abbey of Saint-Denis on 1 July 1754. He had worn out his body by fasting and

ascetic Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...

practices.

Scholarship

upTitle page of Volume 4 of Tassin and Toustain's ''Nouveau traité de diplomatique'' (1759) As a scholar Toustain became highly respected. He worked for twenty years with his fellow-Maurist, Dom René-Prosper Tassin, on an edition of the works of the Byzantine Greek monk

Theodore the Studite Theodore the Studite ( grc-x-medieval, Θεόδωρος ό Στουδίτης; 759–826), also known as Theodorus Studita and Saint Theodore of Stoudios/Studium, was a Byzantine Greek monk and abbot of the Stoudios Monastery in Constantinople. H ...

. It was never printed, as a publisher could not be found. Another joint project of the two was the ''Nouveau traité de diplomatique'' (6 vols, 1750–1765) in which they addressed more fully and thoroughly the subjects taken up in Jean Mabillon's great work ''De re diplomatica''. Toustain and Tassin's work provided the basis for the modern discipline of diplomatics. The final four volumes were edited by Tassin alone following Toustain's death. Of general interest among Toustain's personal writings are: ''La vérité persécutée par l'erreur'' (2 vols, 1733), a collection of the writings of the Fathers on the persecutions of the first eight centuries; and "L'authorité de miracles dans l'Église" (no date), in which he expounds the opinion of

St. Augustine 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 ...

. Tassin testifies that he was zealous in his duties, modest, and sincerely religious.

Attribution

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toustain 1700 births 1754 deaths 18th-century French historians French Benedictines Fécamp Abbey French male non-fiction writers