Dominique Magnan (1731–1796), a learned French abbot of the Trinità dei Monti convent, of the

Order of Minims The Order of Minims (; abbreviated OM), known in German-speaking countries as the Paulaner Order (), are a religious order of friars in the Catholic Church, founded by Francis of Paola in fifteenth-century Italy. The order soon spread to France, ...

, in Rome, who was deeply involved in the intellectual life of his community during the second half of the 18th century.

Biography

Dominique Magnan was born at

Reillanne Reillanne (; ) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. It is due north of Toulon and west of Nice. History The earliest record of a city on this site is the Roman town of Alaunia in 909. That city was a ...

, in

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

, on May 29, 1731. He studied at the

University of Avignon A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, then joined the Order of Minims of

La Ciotat La Ciotat (; ; in Mistralian spelling ''La Ciéutat''; 'the City') is a Communes of France, commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southern France. It ...

at age 20, where he began his career as a collector of ancient coins and medals. Appointed professor of theology in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, he continued his work. He got in touch with the most famous antiquaries of the time, both in Italy and Germany, and speedily acquired an extensive reputation. According to the nineteenth-century biographers, he was invited by Francis I to attend the Imperial Medal Cabinet. But results of recent research provide no evidence that it does. Neither in the archives of the

Hofburg The Hofburg () is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty in Austria. Located in the Innere Stadt, center of Vienna, it was built in the 13th century by Ottokar II of Bohemia and expanded several times afterwards. It also ser ...

nor in published studies on Vienna Collections. We don't known why he ended up in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

instead of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

but he lived for nearly thirty years in the old convent of Trinity. True to a well-established tradition in the Minims, the

Trinità dei Monti The Church of Santissima Trinità dei Monti, often called simply Trinità dei Monti (French: ''La Trinité-des-Monts''), is a Roman Catholic late Renaissance titular church, part of a monastery complex in Rome. It is best known for its positio ...

knew how to develop assets to participate in the

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

debate. In the first place, a library. But they also did astronomy, botany, numismatics and published a lot. And Dominique Magnan was mainly the leader of this small group of religious. He had found here a good environment to undertake his scientific work. His first books received critical acclaim. But his most significant works were on numismatics, though heavily criticized by specialists of the time in that universal and complete coverage of the subject could maintain confusion between authentic coins and the fake ones. Having become treasurer of the convent, he had had to be accountable during the Apostolic Visit in 1794, which was fatal to him.

Cardinal de Bernis Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

directed that an inventory of his goods should be taken. About sixty in-folios in geography, numismatics, archeology were found, but also books of biblical scholarship, dictionaries and the

Encyclopédie , better known as ''Encyclopédie'' (), was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It had many writers, known as the Encyclopédistes. It was edited by Denis ...

. Asked to leave the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

in three days, he fled to

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

where he died in extreme misery in 1796.

Sources

References

1731 births 1796 deaths People from Provence French expatriates in Italy Italian abbots Minims (religious order) French numismatists French geographers 18th-century French cartographers French archaeologists French antiquarians 18th-century French historians 18th-century French male writers 18th-century French Catholic theologians {{France-RC-clergy-stub