Hieronymus van Busleyden (Dutch: Jeroen van Busleyden; French: Jérôme de Busleyden) (c.1470 – 27 August 1517) was a patron of learning and a
humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humani ...
from the
Habsburg Netherlands
Habsburg Netherlands was the Renaissance period fiefs in the Low Countries held by the Holy Roman Empire's House of Habsburg. The rule began in 1482, when the last House of Valois-Burgundy, Valois-Burgundy ruler of the Netherlands, Mary of Burgu ...
. His name is usually partially
Latinized in English, and can also appear as Hieronymus Busleyden or fully Latinized as Hieronymus Buslidius.
[His forename in Latin, Hieronymus, is also spelled as Hiëronymus, Hieronimus or Hiëronimus, and his forename in Dutch, Jeroen, has a variant as Jeroom. Capitalization of 'van' occurs, and/or a spelling as Busleiden and in German as Bauschleiden or in ]Luxembourgish
Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; Luxembourgish: ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide.
As a standard form of th ...
Bauschelt (''Jérôme vu Bauschelt''), since an ancestor had come from that place known in English by the French name Boulaide
Boulaide (; lb, Bauschelt ; german: Bauschleiden) is a Communes of Luxembourg, commune and small town in north-western Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Wiltz (canton), Wiltz, which is part of the district of Diekirch (district), Diekirch. ...
; his birthplace Arlon is in (the today Belgian province of) Luxembourg. English commentators of Thomas More's ''Utopia'' also nam
'Jerome Busleyden'
an
'Jerome de Busleyden'
Life
Busleyden was born in
Arlon
Arlon (; lb, Arel ; nl, Aarlen ; german: Arel ; wa, Årlon; la, Orolaunum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in and capital of the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. With a population of just over 28,000, it is t ...
as a son of Jeanne Elisabeth de Mussey,
[Sources name Jeanne Elisabeth, or one of these forenames, or Isabelle, and also de Mussey or de Musset.] of
Marville, and Gilles, of an old Luxembourgish family from
Bauschleyden, who lived in Arlon (about 30 km south of Bauschleyden) and could afford a more than decent education for their sons.
[Other sons, next to the two mentioned in the text: Gilles (Jr.), the eldest, and Valerius, the youngest. Not indicating a lesser education for their three daughters, Catherine, Margaret(he) and Jacoba.] One of Hieronymus's older brothers, François
[ Frans van Busleyden ''aka'' François de Busleyden ''aka'' Franz von Busleyden (article on the French-language Wikipedia)] (1455–1502), filled several political and ecclesiastical functions, including
Archbishop
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
of (the
Imperial City
In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...
of)
Besançon
Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerl ...
, under
Philip the Handsome
Philip the Handsome, es, Felipe, french: Philippe, nl, Filips (22 July 1478 – 25 September 1506), also called the Fair, was ruler of the Burgundian Netherlands and titular ruler, titular Duke of Burgundy from 1482 to 1506, as well as the fir ...
, in the transition period from
Burgundian to Habsburg Netherlands.
From around 1485, Hieronymus studied in
Leuven
Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...
(under the early humanist Leo Outers), then in
Orléans
Orléans (;["Orleans"](_blank)
(US) and [Padua
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...]
where he met
Cuthbert Tunstall
Cuthbert Tunstall (otherwise spelt Tunstal or Tonstall; 1474 – 18 November 1559) was an English Scholastic, church leader, diplomat, administrator and royal adviser. He served as Prince-Bishop of Durham during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edwa ...
, who would later write to
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
about his friend. In 1503 or 1504, Busleyden became a
councillor
A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries.
Canada
Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
and
master of requests at the
Great Council of the Netherlands at
Mechelen
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 ...
. In his diplomatic function, he visited Pope
Julius II
Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or the ...
in Rome and in 1508 welcomed the Holy Roman Emperor,
Maxilimilian of Austria, at Mechelen.
During
Archduchess Margaret of Austria
Archduchess Margaret of Austria (german: Margarete; french: Marguerite; nl, Margaretha; es, Margarita; 10 January 1480 – 1 December 1530) was Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands from 1507 to 1515 and again from 1519 to 1530. She was the firs ...
's regency
[Margaret was the ]regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
of the Low Countries as guardian of Philip's son Charles, who was being raised at her palace. After a few years of the latter's reign as the first king of Spain (during which Hieronymus Van Busleyden died), he – just having been elected Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (Crown of Castile, Castil ...
– appointed her as governess of the still undivided Netherlands. he led a life of patron and humanist in Mechelen at the , which city palace he had built in a very early
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
style
[The palace of Margaret of Austria (now housing the lower Court of Justice, as its Appeal Court is in ]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 provincial capital) is often referred to as one of the earliest Renaissance buildings north of the Alps; only 350 metres apart, Busleyden had his residence built in about the same years; it is now a City museum and the tower holds a 49 bells carillion
Carillion plc was a British multinational construction and facilities management services company headquartered in Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom, prior to its liquidation in January 2018.
Carillion was created in July 1999, following a ...
A source
states that Hieronymus inherited the building from his brother Frans in 1502 but as the construction started between 1505 and 1507, only the grounds might have been inherited with the considerable fortune that indeed allowed building the house. At the time tutoring Margaret's nephew Charles,
Adriaan Boeyens visited the house, well before he became pope. Busleyden was a friend of
Ferry Carondelet
Ferry Carondelet (also Ferricus Carondelet) (1473 – 27 June 1528) was a Habsburg diplomat, advisor to Margaret of Austria and abbot at Montbenoît. He was the younger brother of Jean Carondelet.
Biography
Ferry Carondelet was born in ...
and friend and correspondent of
Thomas More
Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...
and
Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...
. While More and Tunstall were in the Low Countries in 1515 and again – meeting Erasmus – in 1516, they are all likely to have stayed at their friend's residence. More started to write his ''
Utopia
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...
'' there and would later describe Busleyden's house (in ''Ad Buslidianum de aedibus magnificis Mechliniae'') and his collection of ancient coins (in ''Nummis antiquis apud Hieronymum Buslidianum servatis'').
Hieronymus van Busleyden held positions in the Catholic Church:
archdeacon
An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...
of
Our Lady's in
Cambrai
Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department and in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, regio ...
(1503),
provost of
St. Peter's in
Aire-sur-la-Lys
Aire-sur-la-Lys (, literally ''Aire on the Lys''; vls, Ariën-aan-de-Leie) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.
Geography
The commune is located 16 kilometres (10 mi) southeast of Saint-Omer, at the junction ...
and
canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western ca ...
of
St. Rumbold's in Mechelen,
St. Lambert's in
Liège
Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège.
The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...
,
St. Waltrude's in
Mons
Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...
, and
St. Gudula in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
. In 1515 Margaret's nephew Charles, making his
formal entrance as Archduke into the city where he lived, was greeted by Busleyden representing the clergy, in the welcoming speech putting emphasis on the desirability (for the Netherlands) of a peaceful course of action (by the still youthful Charles). Appointed
Chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
by Charles, while travelling to Spain in preparation of Charles' ascendence to the throne, he fell ill and died in Bordeaux. His body was brought to Mechelen and buried in St. Rumbold's Cathedral.
By execution of his last will, written two days before his last voyage, the wealthy Busleyden was the founder of the Collegium Buslidianum, better known as the
Collegium Trilingue
The Collegium Trilingue, often also called Collegium trium linguarum, or, after its creator Collegium Buslidianum (French: Collège des Trois Langues, Dutch: Dry Tonghen), was founded in 1517 under the patronage of the humanist, Hieronymus van Bus ...
and at the time not yet formally a part of the
University of Leuven.
Footnotes
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Busleyden, Hieronymus
1470s births
1517 deaths
People from Arlon
Dutch Renaissance humanists
Canons (priests)