Dominique Magnan (1731–1796), a learned French abbot of the Trinità dei Monti convent, of the

Order of Minims The Minims, officially known as the Order of Minims (; abbreviated OM), and known in German-speaking countries as the Paulaner Order, are a Roman Catholic religious order of friars founded by Francis of Paola in fifteenth-century Italy. The order ...

, in Rome, who was deeply involved in the intellectual life of his community during the second half of the 18th century.

Biography

Dominique Magnan was born at

Reillanne Reillanne (; oc, Ralhana) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. It is due north of Toulon and west of Nice. History The earliest record of a city on this site is the Roman town of Alaunia in 909. That c ...

, in

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

, on May 29, 1731. He studied at the

University of Avignon Avignon University ( French: ''Avignon Université''; formerly known as ''Université d’Avignon et des Pays de Vaucluse'') is a public university located in Avignon, France. Avignon University is situated on two campuses: the Hannah Arendt Cam ...

, then joined the Order of Minims of La Ciotat at age 20, where he began his career as a collector of ancient coins and medals. Appointed professor of theology in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, he continued his work. He got in touch with the most famous antiquaries of the time, both in Italy and Germany, and speedily acquired an extensive reputation. According to the nineteenth-century biographers, he was invited by

Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to: * Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407) * Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450 * Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547 * Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...

to attend the Imperial Medal Cabinet. But results of recent research provide no evidence that it does. Neither in the archives of the

Hofburg The Hofburg is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty. Located in the centre of Vienna, it was built in the 13th century and expanded several times afterwards. It also served as the imperial winter residence, as Schönbrunn ...

nor in published studies on Vienna Collections. We don't known why he ended up in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

instead of

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

but he lived for nearly thirty years in the old convent of Trinity. True to a well-established tradition in the Minims, the

Trinità dei Monti The church of the Santissima Trinità dei Monti, often called merely the Trinità dei Monti ( French: ''La Trinité-des-Monts''), is a Roman Catholic late Renaissance titular church in Rome, central Italy. It is best known for its position above ...

knew how to develop assets to participate in the

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

debate. In the first place, a library. But they also did astronomy, botany, numismatics and published a lot. And Dominique Magnan was mainly the leader of this small group of religious. He had found here a good environment to undertake his scientific work. His first books received critical acclaim. But his most significant works were on numismatics, though heavily criticized by specialists of the time in that universal and complete coverage of the subject could maintain confusion between authentic coins and the fake ones. Having become treasurer of the convent, he had had to be accountable during the Apostolic Visit in 1794, which was fatal to him.

Cardinal de Bernis 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 ...

directed that an inventory of his goods should be taken. About sixty in-folios in geography, numismatics, archeology were found, but also books of biblical scholarship, dictionaries and the Encyclopédie. Asked to leave the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

in three days, he fled to

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

where he died in extreme misery in 1796.

Sources

References

1731 births 1796 deaths People from Provence French expatriates in Italy Italian abbots Minims (religious order) French numismatists French geographers 18th-century French cartographers French archaeologists French antiquarians 18th-century French historians 18th-century French male writers 18th-century French Catholic theologians {{France-RC-clergy-stub