Jacobus Boonen (1573–1655) was the sixth

Bishop of Ghent The Diocese of Ghent (Latin: ''Dioecesis Gandavensis'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolis (religious jurisdiction), metropoli ...

(1617–1620) and the fourth Archbishop of Mechelen (1621–1655).

Life

Born 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,

on 11 October 1573, Boonen studied at the University of Leuven from 1587 to 1595 and began a legal career. He accompanied the Prince of Arenberg on a diplomatic mission in the republic and afterwards became the manager of his affairs. His ordination as deacon took place on 14 April 1607; then he gained a stipend as a graduate canon in Mechelen. Initially, his career stayed centred on legal matters: in 1607, he became a judge for the synod; in 1608, an official of the archdiocese; and, in 1611, member of the Great Council of Mechelen. He was not ordained a priest until 1611, at the age of 37. He was a member of the household of Archbishop

Mathias Hovius Mathias Hovius (1542–1620), born Matthijs Van Hove, was the third Archbishop of Mechelen from 1596 to 1620. As Archbishop, Hovius presided over implementing the Catholic Reformation in the Spanish Netherlands. Early career Hovius was born in M ...

, an ecclesiastical councillor in the Great Council of Mechelen (1611), and also served as dean of the chapter of

St. Rumbold's Cathedral St. Rumbold's Cathedral ( nl, Sint-Romboutskathedraal, french: Cathédrale Saint-Rombaut) is the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels, Roman Catholic metropolitan archiepiscopal cathedral in Mechelen, Belgium, dedicated to Rumbold of ...

(1612). In 1616 he was named

bishop of Ghent The Diocese of Ghent (Latin: ''Dioecesis Gandavensis'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolis (religious jurisdiction), metropoli ...

(invested January 1617) and in 1620 Archbishop of Mechelen (invested 1621). As archbishop he was

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...

the first lord spiritual in the

States of Brabant The States of Brabant were the representation of the three estates (nobility, clergy and commons) to the court of the Duke of Brabant. The three estates were also called the States. Supported by the economic strength of the cities Antwerp, Bruss ...

, and accordingly the first member by precedence of the

Estates General of 1632 The Estates General of 1632 was a parliamentary assembly of representatives of the constituent provinces of the Habsburg Netherlands. It was the last such assembly. Crisis It had been over thirty years since a gathering of the Estates General had ...

Louis Prosper Gachard Louis Prosper Gachard (12 March 1800 – 24 December 1885), Belgian man of letters, was born in Paris. He entered the administration of the national archives in 1826, and was appointed director-general in 1831, a post which he held for fifty-fi ...

, ''Actes des États Généraux de 1632'' (Brussels, 1853), p. 63. He was a friend of Cornelius Jansen, and sabotaged the promulgation of the papal bull ''Cum occasione'' (31 May 1653) which condemned five propositions extracted from Jansen's writings. He was accordingly disciplined by Pope Innocent X, but later obtained absolution and was reinstated. He died at Brussels on 30 June 1655.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boonen, Jacobus 1573 births 1655 deaths 17th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Holy Roman Empire Flemish priests Roman Catholic archbishops of Mechelen-Brussels Clergy from Antwerp Old University of Leuven alumni Bishops of Ghent Lawyers of the Habsburg Netherlands 17th-century jurists