Jean Chapeauville (January 5, 1551 – May 11, 1617) was a theologian, historian and

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop' ...

in the

Prince-Bishopric of Liège The Prince-Bishopric of Liège or Principality of Liège was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was situated for the most part in present-day Belgium. It was an Imperial Estate, so the bishop of Liège, as its prince, ...

Life

Born in Liège, capital of the

, Chapeauville made his philosophical studies at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

and University of Louvain, and at the latter received the degree of Licentiate of Theology. He then entered the priesthood, and in 1578 was appointed one of the synodal examiners for the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Liège The Diocese of Liège ( la, Dioecesis Leodiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. The diocese was erected in the 4th Century and presently covers the same territory as Belgium's Liège Pro ...

, and in 1579 parish priest of St. Michael's in Liège. He performed the functions of the latter office for about ten years. Having been a canon of the collegiate church of St. Peter's in Liège since 1582, Chapeauville was elevated in 1599 to the dignity of a provost of the same church. In 1587, Pope Sixtus V appointed him the first penitentiary canon of

Saint Lambert's Cathedral, Liège St. Lambert's Cathedral, Liège (or in full, the Cathedral of Our Lady and St. Lambert; french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Lambert) was the cathedral of Liège, Belgium, until 1794, when its destruction began. This enormous Gothic cat ...

. On 12 June 1600, he was promoted to archdeacon of

Famenne Famenne (; wa, Fåmene, ) is a natural region in Wallonia (southern Belgium). Together with The Fagne or la Fagne, west of the river Meuse, it is part of the Fagne-Famenne natural region. The two regions are often grouped together because they ...

. Meanwhile, in 1582, Chapeauville had been nominated Inquisitor of the Faith, and in 1598,

Ernest of Bavaria Ernest of Bavaria (german: Ernst von Bayern) (17 December 1554 – 17 February 1612) was Prince-elector-archbishop of the Archbishopric of Cologne from 1583 to 1612 as successor of the expelled Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg. He was also bishop ...

, Prince-Bishop of Liège, appointed him

, in which office he was retained, despite his protests, by Bishop Ernest's successor, Ferdinand of Bavaria. Chapeauville taught theology with great success in several monasteries of the Diocese of Liège and published works on theological subjects. He endeavoured to enforce in the diocese the reforms decided upon by the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described a ...

, particularly the establishment of the Diocesan Seminary of Liège and the concursus for the nomination of parish priests. Chapeauville died in 1617, in the city of his birth.

Works

He published a collection of the chief works on the history of the bishops of Liège, and wrote an account of the episcopate of Liège, commencing with Érard de La Marck (1506) and ending with the year 1613. His principal works are: *"Tractatus de necessitate et modo administrandi sacramenta tempore pestis" (Liège, 1586); *"Petit traite des vices et des vertus" (Liège, 1594); *"Abbrege de la somme des péchez M. J. Benedicti" (Liège, 1595); *"De casibus reservatis tractatus" (Liège, 1596); *"Catechismi Romani elucidatio scholastica" (Liège, 1600); * "Historia admirandarum curationum quae divinitus ope deprecationeque divi Perpetui Leodiensis episcopi contigerunt. Adjecta est vita B. Perpetui" (Liège, 1601; Fr. tr., 1601); *"Summa catechismi Romani" (Liège, 1605); *"Epistola ad catechistas de taedio quod catechistis obrepere solet" (Liège, 1605); *"Catechista, sive brevis tractatus de necessitate et modo administrandi doctrinam christianam" (Liège, 1608); *"Qui gesta pontificum tungrensium, trajectensium et leodiensium scripserunt auctores praecipui" (3 vols., Liège, 1612, 1613, 1616).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapeauville, Jean 1551 births 1617 deaths 16th-century historians from the Holy Roman Empire Prince-Bishopric of Liège clergy University of Cologne alumni Clergy from Liège