Arnold Wion - Lignum Vitae - 1595 - p000

Arnold Wyon, also known as Arnold de Wion, was a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

born in

Douai Douai (, , ,; pcd, Doï; nl, Dowaai; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord département in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe some from Lille and from Arras, Dou ...

(at the time in the

Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the H ...

) 15 May 1554, and died near Mantua, Italy around 1610.

Life

Wyon was the son of Amé Wion, a tax attorney of Douai and studied in his hometown, before joining the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

Abbey Saint-Pierre of Oudenburg near

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population. The area of the whole city a ...

. In the

religious wars A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

that took place in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, he was forced to take refuge in the Abbey at Marchiennes in 1578. On March 14, 1579, he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

in the Cathedral of Arras and moved to the

Polirone Abbey The Abbey of San Benedetto in Polirone is a large complex of Benedictine order monastic buildings, including a church and cloisters, located in town of San Benedetto Po, Province of Mantua, Region of Lombardy, Italy. The complex, now belonging to ...

, near Mantua (modern town of

San Benedetto Po San Benedetto Po ( Lower Mantovano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Mantua in the Italian region Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan and about southeast of Mantua. It is best known as the location of the Polirone Abbe ...

List of works

* ''Lignum Vitae'', a large book on the

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

of the order of

St. Benedict Benedict of Nursia ( la, Benedictus Nursiae; it, Benedetto da Norcia; 2 March AD 480 – 21 March AD 548) was an Christianity in Italy, Italian Christian monk, writer, and theologian who is venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Ortho ...

, which he began it in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

and completed it in

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...

. In 1592, a general chapter authorized him to dedicate it to King Philippe II. * He is alleged to have rediscovered the ''Prophetia S. Malachiae, Archiepiscopi, Summis Pontificibus'', the alleged prophecies of the Bishop Malachy of Armagh, who died at the

Abbey of Clairvaux Clairvaux Abbey (, ; la, Clara Vallis) was a Cistercian monastery in Ville-sous-la-Ferté, from Bar-sur-Aube. The original building, founded in 1115 by St. Bernard, is now in ruins; the present structure dates from 1708. Clairvaux Abbey was ...

. * ''Vita S. Gerardi'', e Veneta familia of Sagredo, martyris and Hungarorum apostoli notationibus illustrata, Venice, 1597 (it is a life of Bishop

Gerard of Csanád Gerard or Gerard Sagredo ( hu, Gellért; it, Gerardo di Sagredo; la, Gerardus; 23 April 977/1000 – 29 August 1046) was the first bishop of Csanád in the Kingdom of Hungary from around 1030 to his death. Most information about his life was ...

). * ''Chronologia Septuaginta Interpretum,'' cum Vulgatæ editionis Bibliorum Latinae Chronographia conciliata; adjunctum is Chronicon ab orbe condito usque ad haec tempora (not printed; attempt to bridge the differences between the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

and the

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

, then universal Chronicle). * The complete works of Bartolomeo Sacchi ("Platinum"), which was not published.

Controversy

Wyon is best known for reportedly discovering the ''

Prophecy of the Popes The Prophecy of the Popes ( la, Prophetia Sancti Malachiae Archiepiscopi, de Summis Pontificibus, "Prophecy of Saint-Archbishop Malachy, concerning the Supreme Pontiffs") is a series of 112 short, cryptic phrases in Latin which purport to predict ...

'' or ''Prophecy of

Saint Malachy Malachy (}; Modern ga, Maelmhaedhoc Ó Morgair; ) (1094 – 2 November 1148) is an Irish saint who was Archbishop of Armagh, to whom were attributed several miracles and an alleged vision of 112 popes later attributed to the apocryphal ...

''.Lorenzi, Rossella. "Resigning Pope Brings Doomsday Prophecy", ''Discovery News'', 13 February 2013
/ref>
/ref> Critics cite a lack of accuracy for

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

s after Wyon "discovered" the document, and the similarity between the 75th

and Cardinal Simoncelli, a friend of Wyon's, who was seeking

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

in the then upcoming papal conclave.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyon, Arnold French Benedictines 16th-century French historians People from Douai 1554 births Roman Catholic monks