Jan Druys, Latinized Drusius (1568-1634) was a

Norbertine The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...

canon regular Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by a ...

from 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 ...

who became the 30th Abbot of

Park Abbey Park Abbey ( nl, Abdij van Park; also Parc Abbey) is a Premonstratensian abbey in Belgium, at Heverlee just south of Leuven, in Flemish Brabant. The '' Annales Parchenses'' were written here in the 12th century. History The abbey was founded in ...

Heverlee Heverlee () is a town in Belgium. It is a borough of the city of Leuven. Heverlee is bordered by Herent, Bertem, Oud Heverlee and several other municipalities that are part of Leuven (including Leuven proper and Kessel-Lo). The town is the locati ...

just outside

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 ...

Life

Druys was born at Kumtich, near

Tienen Tienen (; french: Tirlemont ) is a city and municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises Tienen itself and the towns of Bost, Goetsenhoven, Hakendover, Kumtich, Oorbeek, Oplinter, Sint-Marg ...

, in 1568. Edouard Van Even, "Druys, Jean", ''

Biographie Nationale de Belgique The ''Biographie nationale de Belgique'' ( French; "National Biography of Belgium") is a biographical dictionary of Belgium. It was published by the Royal Academy of Belgium in 44 volumes between 1866 and 1986. A continuation series, entitled the ' ...

''
vol. 6
(Brussels, 1878), 183-186. He studied successively at

Sint-Truiden Sint-Truiden (; french: link=no, Saint-Trond ; li, Sintruin ) is a city and municipality located in the province of Limburg, Flemish Region, Belgium, and has over 41,500 inhabitants, which makes it one of the largest cities in Limburg. The muni ...

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 ...

Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namu ...

and

. He entered the Norbertine Abbey of Park in 1587. Ordained priest, he was sent to the Norbertine College at the University of Leuven and obtained his licentiate in 1595. Recalled to the abbey, he was made sub-prior and professor of theology to the young religious at the abbey, and chaplain to Abbot Ambrose Loots at the monastery's Refugium in Brussels, which was in frequent use during the troubled times at the end of the sixteenth century. At the death of Abbot Loots in 1601, Druys was elected as his successor. Four years later he was appointed vicar-general to the Abbot-General of

Prémontré Abbey Prémontré Abbey was the mother house of the Premonstratensian Order and was located at Prémontré about twelve miles west of Laon, ''département'' of Aisne, France. History It was founded by Saint Norbert of Xanten in 1120 on waste land that ...

. He sat 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 ...

on behalf of the

First Estate The estates of the realm, or three estates, were the broad orders of social hierarchy used in Christendom (Christian Europe) from the Middle Ages to early modern Europe. Different systems for dividing society members into estates developed and ...

from 1604. The University of Leuven having suffered much from the religious and political disturbances of the time, Druys was in 1607 appointed, together with Stephanus van Craesbeke, a lay member of the

Council of Brabant The Council of Brabant was the highest law court in the historic Duchy of Brabant. It was presided over by the Chancellor of Brabant. One of its functions was to determine that new legislation was not contrary to the rights and liberties establis ...

, as visitor to the university, with full power to reform abuses. The reforms that they recommended were approved in Brussels on 18 April 1607 and confirmed by

Pope Paul V Pope Paul V ( la, Paulus V; it, Paolo V) (17 September 1550 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death in January 1621. In 1611, he honored ...

on 22 October the same year. Druys was also made visitor to the

University of Douai The University of Douai (french: Université de Douai) ( nl, Universiteit van Dowaai) is a former university in Douai, France. With a medieval heritage of scholarly activities in Douai, the university was established in 1559 and lectures started ...

(1616) and to the Celestine monastery at

. In addition he restored and enlarged his own abbey, which had suffered much from the vandalism of the soldiers, and provided better educational advantages for his religious. At the general chapter held at Prémontré in 1628, Abbot Druys was commissioned to revise the statutes of the order and conform them to the prescriptions of the

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

, a revision which was approved at the general chapter of 1630. Druys prefixed a preface, "Praefatio ad omnes candidissimi et canonici ordinis religiosos", which Foppens characterizes as ''longam, piam, eruditam''. He had a tree of the saints of the order made by the skilful engraver C. Mallery. He also published a small work entitled ''Exhortatio ad candidi ordinis religiosos''. Abbot Druys was deputed by the general chapter of 1630 to bring back several abbeys of Spain into union and observance, but was unsuccessful. While on this mission he conferred with

Philip IV of Spain Philip IV ( es, Felipe, pt, Filipe; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered f ...

on the sad state of affairs in

Brabant Brabant is a traditional geographical region (or regions) in the Low Countries of Europe. It may refer to: Place names in Europe * London-Brabant Massif, a geological structure stretching from England to northern Germany Belgium * Province of Bra ...

. A ring presented to him by this monarch is preserved at Park, as is also a letter from

Henrietta Maria Henrietta Maria (french: link=no, Henriette Marie; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until Charles was executed on 30 January 1649. She wa ...

, Queen of England. Druys was the second lord spiritual in the delegation of the States of Brabant to the Estates General of 1632, the first being

Jacobus Boonen Jacobus Boonen (1573–1655) was the sixth Bishop of Ghent (1617–1620) and the fourth Archbishop of Mechelen (1621–1655). Life Born at Antwerp on 11 October 1573, Boonen studied at the University of Leuven from 1587 to 1595 and began a leg ...

Archbishop of Mechelen 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 archdioc ...

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 died on 25 March 1634.

References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Druys, Jan Year of birth unknown 1635 deaths 17th-century Christian clergy Abbots of the Spanish Netherlands Flemish priests Premonstratensians Members of the States of Brabant People from Tienen Old University of Leuven alumni 1568 births