Pierre François le Courayer (17 November 1681 – 17 October 1776) was a French

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

theological Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of an ...

writer, for many years an expatriate in England.

Life

Pierre François le Courayer was born 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 ...

. While

canon regular The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religiou ...

and

librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

of the abbey of St Genevieve at

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, he conducted a correspondence with

Archbishop 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 archdi ...

William Wake William Wake (26 January 165724 January 1737) was a minister in the Church of England and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1716 to his death. Life Wake was born in Blandford Forum Blandford Forum ( ) is a market town in Dorset, England, o ...

on the subject of episcopal succession in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, which supplied him with material for his work, ''Dissertation sur la validité des ordinations des Anglais et sur la succession des évéques de l'Eglise anglicane, avec les preuves justificatives des faits avancés'' (''Dissertation on the validity of the Englishmen's ordinations and on the episcopal succession in the Anglican Church, with the justificatory proofs of the facts advanced''), published anonymously in 1723 with a fake publication location of Brussels. That work was an attempt to prove that there has been no break in the line of ordination from the apostles to the clergy of the Church of England. The following year he wrote to the ''Journal des savants'' to put his name to the work, though his opinions exposed him to attacks from several theologians, a prosecution and 32 of his propositions being labelled heresies. He was rebuked by Louis Antoine de Noailles, archbishop of Paris then excommunicated by Jean XI Polinier, abbot of Sainte-Geneviève. He still did not recant his opinions but they had gained him supporters in Great Britain and with the help of

Francis Atterbury Francis Atterbury (6 March 1663 – 22 February 1732) was an English man of letters, politician and bishop. A High Church Tory and Jacobite, he gained patronage under Queen Anne, but was mistrusted by the Hanoverian Whig ministries, and ban ...

, then in exile in

, he took refuge in England and was presented with a doctor's degree by the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. In 1732 he accepted that it was impossible to reconcile with his opponents in France and instead settled permanently in London as well as being granted a

canonry Canon () is a Christian title usually used to refer to a member of certain bodies in subject to an canon law, ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, in one of the houses within the p ...

in Oxford. In 1736 he published a French translation of Paolo Sarpi's ''History of the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent (), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the "most ...

'', and dedicated it to Queen Caroline, from whom he received a pension of £200 a year. Besides this he translated Johann Sleidan's ''History of the Reformation'', and wrote several theological works. In his will, dated two years before his death, he declared himself still a member of the Roman Catholic Church, although dissenting from many of its opinions. He died in

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, and was buried in the

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s of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Courayer, Pierre Francois le 1681 births 1776 deaths Writers from Rouen French librarians Historians of Christianity category:Reformation historians category:17th-century French Catholic theologians 17th-century French translators category:18th-century French Catholic theologians 18th-century French translators