Louis Marie Olivier Duchesne (; 13 September 1843 – 21 April 1922) was a French priest,
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined ...
, teacher and a critical
historian of Christianity and Roman Catholic liturgy and institutions.
Life
Descended from a family of
Breton sailors, he was born on 13 September 1843 in
Saint-Servan
Saint-Servan (often abbreviated as St. Servan; br, Sant-Servan) is a town of western France, in Brittany, situated 2 miles from the ferry port of Saint-Malo. It is renowned for its shops and restaurants.
History
In June 1758, during the Seven Y ...
,
[“Louis Duchesne.” ''The Catholic Historical Review'', vol. 8, no. 2, 1922, pp. 214–216. JSTOR]
/ref> Place Roulais, now part of Saint-Malo
Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast.
The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the All ...
on the Breton coast, and was orphaned in 1849, after the death of his father Jacques Duchesne. Louis' brother, Jean-Baptiste Duchesne, settled in Oregon City
)
, image_skyline = McLoughlin House.jpg
, imagesize =
, image_caption = The McLoughlin House, est. 1845
, image_flag =
, image_seal = Oregon City seal.png
, image_map ...
, Oregon in 1849.
Louis Duchesne was ordained to the priesthood in 1867.[ He taught in ]Saint-Brieuc
Saint-Brieuc (, Breton language, Breton: ''Sant-Brieg'' , Gallo language, Gallo: ''Saent-Berioec'') is a city in the Côtes-d'Armor Departments of France, department in Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in northwestern France.
History
...
, then in 1868, went to study at the École pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. From 1873 to 1876, he was a student at the ''École française'' in Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
. He was an amateur archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...
and organized expeditions from Rome to Mount Athos
Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the peni ...
, to Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, and Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
,["Louis Dechesne", Academie Francaise]
/ref> from which he gained an interest in the early history of the Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
.
In 1877, he obtained the chair of ecclesiastical history of the Catholic Institute, but left the theological faculty in 1883. He then taught at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, where he influenced Alfred Firmin Loisy, a founder of the movement of Modernism
Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...
, which was formally condemned under Pope Pius X
Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of ...
. In 1895, he was appointed director of the ''École française''.[
In 1887, he published the results of his thesis, followed by the first complete critical edition of the '']Liber Pontificalis
The ''Liber Pontificalis'' (Latin for 'pontifical book' or ''Book of the Popes'') is a book of biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the ''Liber Pontificalis'' stopped with Pope Adrian II (86 ...
''.[ At a difficult time for critical historians applying modern methods to Church history, drawing together archaeology and topography to supplement literature and setting ecclesiastical events with contexts of social history, Abbé Duchesne was in constant correspondence with like-minded historians among the Bollandists, with their long history of critical editions of hagiographies. He gained fame as a demythologizing critical historian of the popular, pious lives of saints produced by Second Empire publishers.
In 1888, he became a member of the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, and in 1910, he was elected to the ]Académie française
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...
. Abbe Duchesne was made an apostolic prothonotary in 1900.
As editor of the ''Bulletin critique du littérature, d'histoire et de théologie'', Duchesne kept up with current intellectual developments.[Mayeur, Jean-Marie. "Monseigneur Duchesne et l'Université", ''Monseigneur Duchesne et son temps: acts du colloque organisé par L'École Française de Rome'', 23-25 Mai 1973]
He also wrote ''Les Sources du martyrologe hyéronimien'', ''Origines du culte chrétien'' (translated as ''Christian Worship: Its Origin and Evolution'' and often reprinted),[ ''Fastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule'', and ''Les Premiers temps de l'État pontifical''. These works were universally praised, and he was appointed a commander of the ]Legion of Honor
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
. However, his ''Histoire ancienne de l'Église'', 1906‑11 (translated as ''Early History of the Christian Church'') was considered too modernist by the Church during the "Modernist crisis" and was placed on the Index of Forbidden Books in 1912.[
The London ''Tablet'' said,]By his rigid application of scientific methods of research and judgment, by his caustic tongue and pen, Mgr. Duchesne was regarded by some as a scoffer and a vandal among pious traditions. But by those who knew him, he was regarded as a master of the sciences which are auxiliary to ecclesiastical history.
He died in 1922, in Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, and is buried in the cemetery of Saint-Servan
Saint-Servan (often abbreviated as St. Servan; br, Sant-Servan) is a town of western France, in Brittany, situated 2 miles from the ferry port of Saint-Malo. It is renowned for its shops and restaurants.
History
In June 1758, during the Seven Y ...
.
Works
''Mémoire sur une mission au mont Athos''
(Paris: E. Thorin, 1876)
* ''Les Nouveaux textes de Saint Clément de Rome'', 1877
* ''De codicibus MSS Graecis Pii II in bibliotheca Alexandrino-Vaticana'', Paris 1880
''Origines du culte chrétien: etude sur la liturgie latine avant Charlemagne''
(1889)
* . Next printing 1919 and 1931 (5th ed.) also in New York : Macmillan Company.
*
* second edition (in French)
*
Vol. III
* second edition (in French)
* second edition (in French)
* - commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of Louis Duchesne.
Gallery
Louis Duchesne en civil, à gauche, en Turquie..jpg, Duchesne, left, in Turquey.
Louis Duchesne ( croix au dessus) en civil à Cornetto.jpg, Duchesne (below the cross) at Tarquinia, April 1885
Louis Duchesne, directeur de l'Ecole Française de Rome, avec des disciples..jpg, Duchesne, as Director of the École française de Rome, with his students
Louis Canet, Jean Marx et Louis Duchesne (1843-1922) à Rome..jpg, , Jean Marx and Duchesne, in Rome
Louis Duchesne à l'avant-plan au cours d'un pique-nique avec Louis Canet, au fond avec chapeau et lunettes, Napoleone Primoli, à gauche..jpg, Duchesne, in front, with Louis Canet, in the hat
Louis Duchesne (1843-1922), à gauche, à la maison d'Auguste Mariette au Caire (Bulaq)..jpg, Duchesne, left, in Auguste Mariette
François Auguste Ferdinand Mariette (11 February 182118 January 1881) was a French scholar, archaeologist and Egyptologist, and the founder of the Egyptian Department of Antiquities, the forerunner of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
Early ...
's house, in Cairo
Louis Duchesne (1843-1922) au Caire, 1912. Il est alors directeur de l'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale du Caire..jpg, Duchesne, as Director of the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale du Caire, in 1912
Louis Duchesne 1911.jpg, Duchesne in 1911.
Notes
References
*
*
*Joassart, B., editor ' 2002. 22 letters between Duchesne and the Bollandists*Waché, Brigitte (1975). ''Monseigneur Duchesne et son temps'' Rome: École française de Rome.
*Waché, Brigitte (1992). ''Monseigneur Louis Duchesne (1843–1922)'' Rome: École française de Rome.
External links
Table of "Personalities and interpreters of the modernist movement"
in the Roman Catholic Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duchesne, Louis
1843 births
1922 deaths
Writers from Saint-Malo
French philologists
19th-century French historians
20th-century French historians
Historians of the Catholic Church
Liturgists
French medievalists
Members of the Académie Française
Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
19th-century French Roman Catholic priests
Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur
20th-century French Roman Catholic priests
École pratique des hautes études alumni
École pratique des hautes études faculty
Modernism in the Catholic Church
Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy
Clergy from Saint-Malo