Guillaume-André-René Baston (29 November 1741, at

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

– 26 September 1825, at Saint-Laurent) was a French theologian.

Life

He studied theology at St. Sulpice in Paris and finished his studies at

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

. He was then appointed professor of theology at Rouen. During the French Revolution he wrote against the

Civil Constitution of the Clergy The Civil Constitution of the Clergy () was a law passed on 12 July 1790 during the French Revolution, that sought the Caesaropapism, complete control over the Catholic Church in France by the National Constituent Assembly (France), French gove ...

. Having refused to take the oath, he was obliged to go into exile (1792), first to London, then to Holland, and finally to

Coesfeld Coesfeld (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Koosfeld'') is the capital of the Coesfeld (district), district of Coesfeld in the Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. History Coesfeld received its city rights in 1197, but was first ...

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

. In 1803 he returned to Rouen, where he was appointed vicar-general and dean of the chapter by Archbishop Cambacérès. As a Gallican, he won the favor of Napoleon, who appointed him Bishop of Séez (1813), and the chapter of the cathedral accepted him as capitular vicar.

Pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII (; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823) was head of the Catholic Church from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. He ruled the Papal States from June 1800 to 17 May 1809 and again ...

failing to approve of this nomination, the cathedral chapter revoked the nomination (1814), and Baston went into retirement at Saint-Laurent near

Pont-Audemer Pont-Audemer () is a commune in the Eure department in the Normandy region in northern France.Civil Constitution of the Clergy The Civil Constitution of the Clergy () was a law passed on 12 July 1790 during the French Revolution, that sought the Caesaropapism, complete control over the Catholic Church in France by the National Constituent Assembly (France), French gove ...

. His book (1791) was published about the same time. During his exile in Kösfeld he began his , edited later by the (3 vols., Paris, 1897–99). In his last years, he wrote: * (Rouen, 1821) * (Paris, 1823) * (Paris, 1824).

References

* *Mémoires de l'Abbé Baston, ed. Loth and Verger (Paris, 1897) *

Hugo von Hurter The von Hurter family belonged to the Swiss nobility; in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries three of them were known for their conversions to Roman Catholicism, their ecclesiastical careers in Austria and their theological writings. Friedric ...

, Nomenclator (Innsbruck, 1895), III *Bellamy in Dict. de théol. cath., s. v. {{DEFAULTSORT:Baston, Guillaume-Andre-Rene 1741 births 1825 deaths Writers from Rouen 18th-century French Catholic theologians Bishops of Séez