Ursmer Berlière, born Alfred Berlière (1861–1932) was a monk of

Maredsous Abbey Maredsous Abbey is a Benedictine monastery at Maredsous, in the municipality of Anhée, Wallonia, Belgium. It is a founding member of the Annunciation Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation. The abbey was founded as a priory on 15 No ...

and a monastic historian whose bibliography ran to 360 publications.

Philibert Schmitz Philibert may refer to the following people: Forename * Saint Philibert, also known as Philibert of Jumièges (c. 608 – 685), French saint and abbot * Philibert de Naillac (died 1421), Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller * Philibert I, Duke ...

, "Berlière, Alfred", ''

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. 30
(Brussels, 1958), 151-157.

Life

Berlière was born in

Gosselies Gosselies ( wa, Gochliye) is a town of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Charleroi, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Located in the north of Charleroi, it was a city and a municipality of its own before the merger of the ...

on 3 September 1861 and was educated at the Jesuit college in

Charleroi Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593.

and the minor seminary in Vellereille-les-Brayeux. He was clothed as a monk of Maredsous Abbey in 1881 and solemnly professed in 1882. From 1883 to 1885 he studied Theology and German at

Seckau Abbey Seckau Abbey (german: Abbey of Our Lady) is a Benedictine Order, Benedictine monastery and Co-Cathedral in Seckau in Styria, Austria. History Middle Ages Seckau Abbey was endowed in 1140 by Canons Regular, Augustinian canons. An already existin ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. He was ordained priest 18 September 1886. He taught in the abbey school for a number of years, and published his historical research in the ''

Revue Bénédictine The ''Revue Bénédictine'' is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal published since 1884 from Maredsous Abbey by the Order of Saint Benedict and Belgian publishing house Brepols. The journal covers church history and church writing (in English ...

''. In 1890 he launched the ''Monasticon belge'', a

prosopography Prosopography is an investigation of the common characteristics of a group of people, whose individual biographies may be largely untraceable. Research subjects are analysed by means of a collective study of their lives, in multiple career-line an ...

of pre-1801 Belgian monasticism that would eventually run to 23 volumes, with publication completed in 1993. From 1902 to 1906, and again from 1922 to 1930, he was director of the

Belgian Historical Institute in Rome The Belgian Historical Institute in Rome ( nl, Belgisch Historisch Instituut te Rome, french: Institut historique belge de Rome, it, Istituto storico belga di Roma), founded 1902, is a scholarly research institute focused on the study of Roman, and ...

, and from 1912 to 1914 chief curator of the

Royal Library of Belgium The Royal Library of Belgium (french: Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, abbreviated ''KBR'' and sometimes nicknamed in French or in Dutch) is the national library of Belgium. The library has a history t ...

in Brussels. In 1931 a

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

was published in his honour under the title ''Hommage à dom Berlière''. He died in Maredsous on 27 August 1932.

Publications

*''Le moine Baudouin d'Aulne'' (Leuven, 1889) *''La chronique de Jean de Sivry, prieur de Bonne-Espérance'' (n.p., 1891) *''L'ancien prieuré bénédictin de Frasnes-lez-Gosselies'' (Brussels, 1891) *''Philippe de Harvengt, abbé de Bonne-Espérance'' (Bruges, 1892) *''Documents inédits pour servir à l'histoire ecclésiastique de la Belgique'' (Maredsous, 1894) *''Mélanges d'histoire bénédictine'' (4 vols., Maredsous, 1897–1901) *''Les manuscrits de l'ancienne abbaye de Sainte-Vanne de Verdun (1745)'' (Besançon, 1897) *''La prévoté de Renissart à Arquennes'' (Mons, 1898) *''Mélanges d'histoire bénédictine. Deuxième série'' (Maredsous, 1899) *''Inventaire des obituaires belges (collégiales et maisons religieuses)'' (Brussels, 1899) *''Les origines de Cîteaux et l'ordre bénédictin au XIIe siècle'' (Louvain, 1901) *''Aux archives vaticanes'' (Bruges, 1903) *''Inventaire analytique des Libri obligationum et solutionum des Archives vaticanes, au point de vue des anciens diocèses de Cambrai, Liège, Thérouanne et Tournai'' (Rome, 1904) *''Un ami de Pétrarque : Louis Sanctus de Beeringen'' (Rome, 1905) *''Les évêques auxiliaires de Cambrai et de Tournai'' (Bruges, 1905) *''Les abbés de Lobbes au XIVe siècle'' (Mons, 1906) *''Inventaire analytique des Diversa Cameralia des archives vaticanes (1389-1500) au point de vue des anciens diocèses de Cambrai, Liége, Thérouanne et Tournai'' (Rome, 1906) * ''Suppliques de Clément VI, 1342-1352'' (Rome, 1906) *''Le prieuré de Sart-les-Moines en 1352'' (Mons, 1907) *''Jean Bernier de Fayt abbé de Saint-Bavon de Gand 1350-1395 d'après des documents vaticans'' (Bruges, 1907) *''Mabillon et la Belgique'' (Ligugé, 1908) *''Oraison funèbre du révérendissime père Dom Placide Wolter, archiabbé de Beuron, premier abbé de Maredsous, prononcée en l'église abbatiale de Maredsous, le 13 octobre 1908'' (Bruges, 1908) *''Epaves d'archives pontificales au XIVe siècle'' (Bruges, 1908) *''La commende aux Pays-Bas'' (Liége, 1908) *''Frédéric de Laroche, évêque d'Acre et archevêque de Tyr: envoi de reliques à l'abbaye de Florennes, 1153-1161'' (Arlon, 1908) *''Suppliques d'Innocent VI, 1352-1362'' (Rome, 1911) *''L'ordre monastique des origines au XIIe siècle'' (Maredsous, 1912) **''L'ordine monastico dalle origini al secolo XII'', translated by Maria Zappalà (Bari, 1928) *''Un bibliophile du IXe siècle: Loup de Ferrières'' (Mons, 1912) *''Lettres des moines d'Afflighem aux Benedictins de Saint-Maur, 1642-1672'' (Antwerp, 1913) *''Les évêques auxiliaires de Liège'' (Bruges, 1919) *''Les fraternités monastiques et leur rôle juridique'' (Brussels, 1920) *''Les terres et seigneuries de Maredsous et de Maharenne'' (Maredsous, 1920) *''Recherches historiques sur la ville de Gosselies'' (3 vols., Maredsous, 1922–1932). *''La dévotion au Sacré-Coeur dans l'Ordre de S. Benoit'' (Paris, 1923) *''Philippe de Harvengt: abbé de Bonne-Espérance c. 1157-1183'' (Charleroi, 1923) *''Les monastères doubles aux XIIe et XIIIe siècles'' (Brussels, 1923) *''Inventaire des Instrumenta miscellanea des Archives vaticanes : au point de vue de nos anciens diocèses'' (Liège, 1924) *''Le recrutement dans les monastères bénédictins aux XIIIe et XIVe siècles'' (Brussels, 1924) *''L'ascèse bénédictine des origines à la fin du XIIe siècle: essai historique'' (Maredsous, 1927) *''Les élections abbatiales au Moyen Age'' (Brussels, 1927) *''Thierry de Homborch OSB, Abbé de Bursfeld (†1485)'' (Maredsous, 1929) *''Les collectories pontificales dans les anciens diocèses de Cambrai, Thérouanne et Tournai au XIVe siècle'' (Rome, 1929) *''Coup d'oeil historique sur l'Ordre bénédictin en Belgique dans le passé et dans le présent'' (Maredsous, 1930) *''L'auteur de "Sancta Sophia", Dom Augustin Baker OSB (†1641)'' (Maredsous, 1929) *''La familia dans les monastères bénédictins du Moyen Age'' (Brussels, 1931)

Literature

*Bernard Joassart, "Ursmer Berlière et les Bollandistes Albert Poncelet et Hippolyte Delehaye", ''

Analecta Bollandiana 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 ...

'' 131/1 (2013), pp. 134–153.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berlière, Ursmer 1861 births 1932 deaths Writers from Charleroi Belgian Benedictines Historians of monasticism Belgian historians of religion