Edmond Richer (; 15 September 1559 – 29 November 1631) was a French

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

known for several works advocating the Gallican theory, that the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

's power was limited by authority of

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

s, and by temporal governments. He was born in

Chaource Chaource () is a commune in the Aube department in north-central France. A cheese is named after this town. See Chaource cheese. In the Chaource parish church there is a sculpture by The Maitre de Chaource. Population See also * Communes ...

Life

After schooling at the College of Cardinal Lemoine, Richer went on to study at the

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon ...

. There he served as

doctor of theology Doctor of Theology ( la, Doctor Theologiae, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equiva ...

and

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

(syndic) of the Theological Faculty. After the condemnation by the

Parlement of Paris The Parliament of Paris (french: Parlement de Paris) was the oldest ''parlement'' in the Kingdom of France, formed in the 14th century. It was fixed in Paris by Philip IV of France in 1302. The Parliament of Paris would hold sessions inside the ...

Cardinal Bellarmine Robert Bellarmine, SJ ( it, Roberto Francesco Romolo Bellarmino; 4 October 1542 – 17 September 1621) was an Italian Jesuit and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was canonized a saint in 1930 and named Doctor of the Church, one of only ...

's treatise on the

Temporal power of the Pope The temporal power of the Holy See designates the political and secular influence of the Holy See, the leading of a state by the pope of the Catholic Church, as distinguished from its spiritual and pastoral activity. Origins Pope Gregory ...

(1610), Richer developed, in his ''Libellus de Ecclesiastica et Politica Potestate'' (in French as ''De la puissance ecclésiastique et politique'', Paris, 1611) the theory that the government of the Church should be aristocratical, not monarchical.

Maria de' Medici Marie de' Medici (french: link=no, Marie de Médicis, it, link=no, Maria de' Medici; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV of France of the House of Bourbon, and Regent of the Kingd ...

, then regent in France, opposed Richer; and, when he had been censured by an assembly of bishops held at

Sens Sens () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yonne Departments of France, department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France, 120 km from Paris. Sens is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture and the second city of the d ...

, presided over by

Cardinal du Perron Jacques Davy Duperron (15 November 1556 – 6 December 1618) was a French politician and Roman Catholic cardinal. Family and Education Jacques Davy du Perron was born in Saint-Lô in Normandy, into the Davy family, of the Norman minor nobility, ...

, she had him deposed, and a new syndic elected (1612). Imprisoned, he retracted in 1629 his views, under pressure from

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

Works

His ''La première histoire en date de Jeanne d'Arc: histoire de la Pucelle d'Orléans'' (1625–1630) was not published until it appeared in two volumes in 1911. In 1606 he edited

Jean Gerson Jean Charlier de Gerson (13 December 1363 – 12 July 1429) was a French scholar, educator, reformer, and poet, Chancellor of the University of Paris, a guiding light of the conciliar movement and one of the most prominent theologians at the Co ...

's works for publication, and with them other anti-papal writings.J. H. Burns,

Mark Goldie Mark Goldie is an English historian and Professor of Intellectual History at Churchill College, Cambridge. He has written on the English political theorist John Locke and is a member of the Early Modern History and Political Thought and Intellec ...

, ''The Cambridge History of Political Thought 1450-1700'' (1994), p. 691. In his ''Historia Conciliorum Generalium'' as with other works, Richer elaborated upon and defended Gallicanism, a theory that described the limits of papal power, and provided one of the early constructs of what later evolved as the concept of "

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...

". Richer's explanation and defense of the theory and practice of Gallicanism was an expression of French resistance to the power and reach of the Pope during that period.

References

* ''The Encyclopedia of Protestantism'', Volume 1, Part 8 December 2003, pp. 1611–1613. * ''Encyclopedia of Christian Theology'', Volume 1, p. 604.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richer, Edmond 17th-century French Catholic theologians 1631 deaths 1559 births