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The Congregation of St. Maur, often known as the Maurists, were a
congregation Congregation may refer to: Religion *Church (congregation), a religious organization that meets in a particular location *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administrative body of the Catholic Church *Religious congregation, a type of religious instit ...
of French
Benedictines The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly Christian mysticism, contemplative Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), order of the Catholic Church for men and f ...
, established in 1621, and known for their high level of scholarship. The congregation and its members were named after
Saint Maurus Maurus, OSB (; ) (512–584) was an Catholic Church in Italy, Italian Catholic monk best known as the first disciple of Benedict of Nursia. He is mentioned in Gregory the Great's biography of the latter as the first oblate (religion), oblate ...
(died 565), a disciple of
Saint Benedict Benedict of Nursia (; ; 2 March 480 – 21 March 547), often known as Saint Benedict, was a Great Church, Christian monk. He is famed in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Lutheran Churches, the Anglican Communion, and Old ...
credited with introducing the
Benedictine rule The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' () is a book of precepts written in Latin by St. Benedict of Nursia (c. AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Rule is summed up in the motto of th ...
and life into
Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...
. The congregation was suppressed and its superior-general executed during the French Revolution.


History

At the end of the 16th century the Benedictine monasteries of
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
had fallen into a state of disorganization and laxity. In the Abbey of St. Vanne near
Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...
a reform was initiated by Dom Didier de la Cour, which spread to other houses in
Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...
, and in 1604 the reformed Congregation of St. Vanne was established, the most distinguished members of which were Ceillier and Calmet. A number of French houses joined the new congregation; but as Lorraine was still independent of the French crown, it was considered desirable to form on the same lines a separate congregation for France. At the suggestion of Laurent Bénard in 1621 thus was established the famous French Congregation of St. Maur. Most of the Benedictine monasteries of France, except those belonging to
Cluny Cluny () is a commune in the eastern French department of Saône-et-Loire, in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It is northwest of Mâcon. The town grew up around the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny, founded by Duke William I of Aquitaine in ...
, gradually joined the new congregation, which eventually embraced nearly two hundred houses. The chief house was
Saint-Germain-des-Prés Saint-Germain-des-Prés () is one of the four administrative quarters of the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France, located around the church of the former Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Its official borders are the River Seine on the nor ...
, Paris, the residence of the superior-general and center of the literary activity of the congregation. The primary idea of the movement was not the undertaking of literary and historical work, but the return to a strict monastic régime and the faithful carrying out of Benedictine life; and throughout the most glorious period of Maurist history the literary work was not allowed to interfere with the due performance of the choral office and the other duties of the monastic life. Towards the end of the 18th century a tendency crept in, in some quarters, to relax the monastic observances in favor of study; but the constitutions of 1770 show that a strict monastic régime was maintained until the end. The course of Maurist history and work was checkered by the ecclesiastical controversies that distracted the French Church during the 17th and 18th centuries. Some of the members identified themselves with the
Jansenist Jansenism was a 17th- and 18th-century theological movement within Roman Catholicism, primarily active in France, which arose as an attempt to reconcile the theological concepts of free will and divine grace in response to certain development ...
cause; but the bulk, including nearly all the greatest names, pursued a middle path, opposing the lax moral theology condemned in 1679 by
Pope Innocent XI Pope Innocent XI (; ; 16 May 1611 – 12 August 1689), born Benedetto Odescalchi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 September 1676 until his death on 12 August 1689. Political and religious tensions with ...
, and adhering to those strong views on grace and
predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby Go ...
associated with the Augustinian and
Thomist Thomism is the philosophical and theological school which arose as a legacy of the work and thought of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), the Dominican philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In philosophy, Thomas's disputed questions ...
schools of
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
theology; and like all the theological faculties and schools on French soil, they were bound to teach the four Gallican articles. Towards the end of the 18th century a rationalistic and freethinking spirit seems to have invaded some of the houses. The congregation (along with all Catholic religious orders) was suppressed in 1790 during the French Revolution, and the monks were scattered. The last
superior general A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of an 'order' of religious persons (nuns, priests, friars, etc) or, in other words, of a 'religious institute' in the Catholic Church, and in some other Christian denominations. The super ...
of the order ( Ambroise Chevreux) and forty monks died on the scaffold in Paris in 1792, during the
September Massacres The September Massacres were a series of killings and summary executions of prisoners in Paris that occurred in 1792 from 2 September to 6 September during the French Revolution. Between 1,176 and 1,614 people were killed by ''sans-culottes'' ...
.


Works

Their historical and critical school produced a number of works of scholarship which still are of permanent value. The foundations of this school were laid by Dom Tarisse, the first superior-general, who in 1632 issued instructions to the superiors of the monasteries to train the young monks in the habits of research and of organized work. The pioneers in production were Ménard and
Luc d'Achery Luc d'Achery (1609 – 29 April 1685) was a learned France, French Benedictine of the Congregation of St. Maur, a specialist in the study and publication of medieval manuscripts. Life D'Achery was born at Saint-Quentin, Aisne, Saint Quentin in ...
. The full Maurist bibliography contains the names of some 220 writers and more than 700 works. The lesser works in large measure cover the same fields as those in the list, but the number of works of purely religious character, of piety, devotion and edification, is very striking. What was produced was only a portion of what was contemplated and prepared for. Some of their most important contributions are: * a revision of ''
Gallia Christiana The ''Gallia Christiana'', a type of work of which there have been several editions, is a documentary catalogue or list, with brief historical notices, of all the Catholic dioceses and abbeys of France from the earliest times, also of their occupa ...
'', * ''L'art de vérifier les dates'', * l
Histoire littéraire de la France ''Histoire littéraire de la France'' is an enormous history of French literature initiated in 1733 by Dom Rivet and the Benedictines of St. Maur. It was abandoned in 1763 after the publication of volume XII. In 1814, members of the Académie d ...
''. The French Revolution cut short many undertakings, the collected materials for which fill hundreds of manuscript volumes in the Bibliothèque nationale de Paris and other libraries of France. There are at Paris 31 volumes of Berthereau's materials for the ''Historians of the Crusades'', not one in
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
and
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
, but in the oriental tongues; from them have been taken in great measure the '' Recueil des historiens des croisade'' whereof 15 folio volumes have been published by the
Académie des Inscriptions An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
. There exist also the preparations for an edition of Rufinus and one of
Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...
, and for the continuation of the Papal Letters and of the ''Concilia Galliae''. Dom Cafflaux and Dom Villevielle left 236 volumes of materials for a ''Trésor généalogique''. There are ''Benedictine Antiquities'' (37 vols.) ( Claude Estiennot de la Serre), a '' Monasticon Gallicanum'' and a ''Monasticon Benedictinum'' (54 vols.) Of the ''Histories of the Provinces of France'' barely half a dozen were printed, but all were in hand, and the collections for the others fill 800 volumes of manuscripts. The materials for a geography of Gaul and France in 50 volumes perished in a fire during the Revolution. The output was prodigious, coming from a single society. The qualities that have made Maurist work proverbial for learning are its critical tact and its thoroughness.


Prominent Maurists

* Dom Jacques Alexandre (1653–1734) *
Luc d'Achery Luc d'Achery (1609 – 29 April 1685) was a learned France, French Benedictine of the Congregation of St. Maur, a specialist in the study and publication of medieval manuscripts. Life D'Achery was born at Saint-Quentin, Aisne, Saint Quentin in ...
(1609–1685) *
Dom Bédos de Celles François-Lamathe Dom Bédos de Celles de Salelles (24 January 1709 – 25 November 1779) was a Benedictine monk best known for being a master pipe organ builder. Life and work He was born in Caux, Hérault, near Béziers, France. He was elec ...
(1709–1779) * Ambroise Chevreux (1728–1792) *
Charles Clémencet Charles Clémencet (17035 August 1778) was a French Benedictine historian. He was born in Painblanc, in present-day Côte-d'Or, and was one of the authors who helped complete the great chronological work (the usual short form of a long title). H ...
(1703–1778) * Pierre Coustant (1654–1721) *
Maurus Dantine Maurus Dantine (1688–1746) was a Belgian Benedictine of the Congregation of Saint-Maur and chronologist. Biography He was born at Gonrieux near Namur on 1 April 1688. Like many of the members of his congregation he was one of the so-called Ap ...
(1688–1746) * Léger Marie Deschamps (1716–1774) * Ursin Durand (1682–1771) * Michel Félibien (1665–1719) * Jacques Du Frische (1640–1693) * Robert Guérard (1641–1715) * Guy Alexis Lobineau (1666–1727) *
Jean Mabillon Dom Jean Mabillon , (; 23 November 1632 – 27 December 1707) was a French Benedictine monk and scholar of the Congregation of Saint Maur. He is considered the founder of the disciplines of palaeography and diplomatics. Early life Mabillon w ...
(1632–1707) * Edmond Martène (1654–1739) *
Nicolas-Hugues Ménard Nicolas-Hugues Ménard (Hugo Menardus) (1585 in Paris – 21 January 1644) was a French Benedictine scholar. His father was private secretary to Catherine de' Medici, his mother was a native of Blois Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital c ...
(1585–1644) *
Bernard de Montfaucon Dom Bernard de Montfaucon, O.S.B. (; 13 January 1655 – 21 December 1741) was a French Benedictine monk of the Congregation of Saint Maur. He was an astute scholar who founded the discipline of palaeography, as well as being an editor of w ...
(1655–1741) *
Antoine-Joseph Pernety Antoine-Joseph Pernety, known as Dom Pernety (23 February 1716 – 16 October 1796), was a French writer. At various times he was a Benedictine and librarian of Frederic the Great of Prussia. Together with the Polish Count Tadeusz Grabianka, al ...
(1716–1796) *
Thierry Ruinart Dom (title), Dom Thierry Ruinart (also Theodore, Theodoricus) (1657–1709) was a French Benedictine monk and scholar. He was a Maurist, and a disciple of Jean Mabillon. Of his many works, the one now cited is his ''Acta sincera'', a martyrology, ...
(1657–1709) * Claude Estiennot de la Serre (1639–1699) *
René-Prosper Tassin Title page of Volume 4 of Tassin and Toustain's ''Nouveau traité de diplomatique'' (1759) René-Prosper Tassin (17 November 1697 – 10 September 1777) was a French historian, belonging to the Benedictine Congregation of Saint-Maur. Tassin ...
(1697–1777) *
Charles-François Toustain Charles-François Toustain (13 October 1700 – 1 July 1754) was a French historian and a member of the Benedictine Congregation of Saint Maur. He is remembered for his scholarly work carried out with his fellow Maurist, René-Prosper Tassin. L ...
(1700–1754) * Joseph Vaissète (1685–1756)


Notes


References


Citations


Sources

The chief source of information on the Maurists and their work is Dom Tassin's ''Histoire littéraire de la Congrégation de Saint-Maur'' (1770); it has been reduced to a bare bibliography and completed by de Lama, ''Bibliothèque des écrivains de la congrégation de Saint-Maur'' (Münich and Paris, 1882). The two works of de Broglie, ''Mabillon'' (2 vols., 1888) and ''Montfaucon'' (2 vols., 1891), give a picture of the life of the great Maurists of the earlier generation. Sketches of the lives of a few of the chief Maurists will be found in McCarthy's ''Principal Writers of the Congregation of S. M.'' (1868). Useful information about their literary undertakings will be found in Léopold Delisle's ''Le Cabinet des manuscrits de la Bibliothèque impériale''; Fond's ''Saint-Germain-des-Prés''. General information will be found in the standard authorities: Helyot, ''Histoire des ordres religieux'' (1718), vi. c. 37; Heimbucher, ''Orden und Kongregationen'' (1907) i. 36; ''Wetzer und Welte, Kirchenlexicon'' (ed. 2) and Herzog-Hauck's ''Realencyklopädie'' (ed. 3), the latter an appreciation by the
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
historian Otto Zückler. {{Authority control Benedictine congregations 1621 establishments in France