Godfrey Henschen
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Godfrey Henschen (also ''Henskens'' or ''Godefridus Henschenius'' in
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
), 21 June 1601 – 11 September 1681, was a
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...
hagiographer A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...
, one of the first
Bollandists The Bollandist Society ( la, Societas Bollandistarum french: Société des Bollandistes) are an association of scholars, philologists, and historians (originally all Jesuits, but now including non-Jesuits) who since the early seventeenth century h ...
, from the
Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the Ha ...
.


Life

Henschen was born at
Venray Venray or Venraij (; li, Venroj) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg, the Netherlands. The municipality of Venray consists of 14 towns over an area of , with 43,494 inhabitants as o ...
,
Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...
, in the
Low countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
.De Smedt, Charles. "The Bollandists." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 2 May 2020
He was the son of Henry Henschen, a cloth merchant, and Sibylla Pauwels. He studied the humanities at the
Jesuit college The Jesuits (Society of Jesus) in the Catholic Church have founded and managed a number of educational institutions, including the notable secondary schools, colleges and universities listed here. Some of these universities are in the United Stat ...
of Bois-le-Duc (today the town of
's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...
) and 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
Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...
at
Mechlin Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...
on 22 October 1619. He taught successively Greek, poetry and rhetoric at
Bergues Bergues (; nl, Sint-Winoksbergen; vls, Bergn) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is situated to the south of Dunkirk and from the Belgian border. Locally it is referred to as "the other Bruges in Flanders". Bergues ...
, Bailleul,
Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...
, and
Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...
. He was
ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...
a
priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
on 16 April 1634, sent to the
professed house In the Society of Jesus, a professed house was a residence where - in a spirit of radical poverty - no member had a stable income. The Jesuit priests who lived there, all of whom have made the profession of the four vows, undertake their spiritual ...
at
Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
the following year, and admitted to the profession of the four Jesuit
vows A vow ( Lat. ''votum'', vow, promise; see vote) is a promise or oath. A vow is used as a promise, a promise solemn rather than casual. Marriage vows Marriage vows are binding promises each partner in a couple makes to the other during a weddi ...
on 12 May 1636.


Career

Henschen had been a pupil of
Jean Bolland Jean Bolland ( la, Johannes Bollandus) (13 August 1596 – 12 September 1665) was a Jesuit priest, theologian, and prominent Flemish hagiography, hagiographer. Bolland's main achievement is the compilation of the first five volumes of the ...
. From the time of his arrival in the city he was associated as a collaborator with Bolland, who was then preparing the first volumes of the ''
Acta Sanctorum ''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. The project w ...
''. Bolland had asked for an assistant, a request supported by the abbot of
Liessies Abbey Liessies Abbey was a Rule of St. Benedict, Benedictine monastery in the village of Liessies, near Avesnes-sur-Helpe, in the Archdiocese of Cambrai and the ''département'' of Nord (département), Nord, France. First foundation It was founded in ...
, Antoine de Wynghe. In 1635 Henschen was assigned to start work on the February saints, while Bolland gave himself to the preparing the material for January. It was Henschen who, by his commentary on the ''Acts of St. Amand'', suggested to Bolland the course to follow, and gave to the work undertaken by his mentor its definitive form. Henschen compared the different manuscripts regarding a particular saint, resolved obscure passages, and placed the saint in the context of his/her times and contemporaries.Palmieri O.S.A., Aurelio. "The Bollandists", ''The Catholic Historical Review'', vol. III, no.3, October 1923, Catholic University of America Press, 1924, p. 344
/ref> After fourteen years of work, the two volumes for January were printed in Antwerp in 1643 and greeted with enthusiasm by scholars.Delahaye, Hippolyte S.J., ''The Work of the Bollandists'', Princeton University Press 1922
/ref> Work on the January volume was done in two garrets where Bolland kept his papers and books. As climbing the steep steps began to prove difficult, he asked for and obtained the use of a vacant room on the second floor, which later became the Bollandist Museum. The three volumes for February were released in 1658,
/ref> and was equally well received.


Trip to Rome

In July 1660, at Bolland's direction, Henschen and
Daniel van Papenbroek Daniel Papebroch, S.J., (17 March 1628 – 28 June 1714) was a Flemish Jesuit hagiographer, one of the Bollandists. He was a leading revisionist figure, bringing historical criticism to bear on traditions of saints of the Catholic Church. Life ...
journeyed to Rome by way of Germany and the Tyrol, collecting ancient documents for their studies along the way. They stayed in Rome for nine months and returned by way of France"The Kalendars of the Church", ''The Christian Remembrancer'', Vol. XL ( July–December ), J. & C. Mozley, London, 1865 They received a warm welcome and much assistance from
Lucas Holstenius Lucas Holstenius, born Lukas Holste, sometimes called Holstein (1596 – 2 February 1661), was a German Catholic humanist, geographer, historian, and librarian. Life Born at Hamburg in 1596, he studied at the gymnasium of Hamburg, and later ...
, head of the Vatican Library, who placed at their disposal all the hagiographical manuscripts in the Roman libraries. The five or six copyists placed at their disposal were kept constantly busy during their time in Rome in transcribing manuscripts according to their directions, and this occupation was continued by them a long time after the Bollandists departure. Holstenius died during their stay at Rome, and his successor, Peter Allatius, who had his own pretensions of publishing, proved less amicable. After a stay of about nine months they returned by way of Paris, where they spent over three months transcribing and collating, besides enlisting the services of several copyists. They also came back with new subscriptions to the ''
Acta Sanctorum ''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. The project w ...
''. After Bolland's death in 1665, he and Papenbroek began to lead the project. They were joined in 1670 by John Ravesteyn, who after five years left to take up parish work.


Later life

Henschen was the first librarian of the ''Museum Bollandianum'' at Antwerp. In March 1668, he and Papenbroek set out on a second journey, but Henschen fell in Luxembourg. After that Papenbroek took over much of scientific aspects of the work. Henschen continued to work on the ''Acta Sanctorum'' up to the time of his death. In total Henschen collaborated on the volumes for January, February, March, and April, and on the first six volumes for May, that is on seventeen volumes of the ''
Acta Sanctorum ''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. The project w ...
''. Several of his posthumous commentaries appeared in the succeeding volumes. He died at Antwerp, aged 80, in 1681.


References


Sources

*
Daniel van Papenbroek Daniel Papebroch, S.J., (17 March 1628 – 28 June 1714) was a Flemish Jesuit hagiographer, one of the Bollandists. He was a leading revisionist figure, bringing historical criticism to bear on traditions of saints of the Catholic Church. Life ...
, ''De vitâ, operibus, et virtutibus God. Henschenii'' in ''
Acta Sanctorum ''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. The project w ...
'', VII, May *Joannes Joseph Habets, ''Godfried Henschenius medestichter der Acta Sanctorum'' (Maastricht, 1868). * Delehaye, Hippolyte. ''The work of the Bollandists through three centuries (1615–1915)'', Brussels, Society of Bollandists, 1959 ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Henschen, Godfrey 1601 births 1681 deaths People from Venray Writers of the Spanish Netherlands Jesuits of the Spanish Netherlands Christian hagiographers Jesuit historiography