Ambrosius Capello (1597–1676) was the seventh

bishop of Antwerp The Diocese of Antwerp () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. The diocese was restored in 1961. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Mechelen- ...

(1654–1676).

Life

Capello was born in Antwerp on 22 June 1597, the son of an Italian military contractor, Jean-François Capello, and a Netherlandish lady, Marie de Boxhorn. He entered the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

in 1612 and studied

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

in the universities of

Douai Douai ( , , ; ; ; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord département in northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe (rive ...

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

and

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

. He obtained the degree of Doctor of Theology in Leuven in 1627. He held a number of positions of responsibility in his order –

prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...

of several houses,

definitor {{Catholic Church hierarchy sidebar, Administrative and pastoral titles In the Catholic Church, a definitor (Latin for 'one who defines') is a title with different specific uses. There are secular definitors, who have a limited amount of oversight ...

for the Belgian province, deputy of the province to the

general chapter A chapter ( or ') is one of several bodies of clergy in Catholic, Old Catholic, Anglican, and Nordic Lutheran churches or their gatherings. Name The name derives from the habit of convening monks or canons for the reading of a chapter o ...

– and in 1642 he was named vice-prefect of the

Dutch Mission The Holland Mission or Dutch Mission ( or ') was the common name of a Catholic Church missionary district in the Low Countries from 1592 to 1853, during and after the Protestant Reformation in the Netherlands. History Pre-reformation diocese a ...

. In 1652 he was named bishop of Antwerp, but the appointment was not confirmed until 1654. On 13 September 1654, he was consecrated bishop by his predecessor,

Gaspard Nemius Gaspard du Bois, Latinized Nemius (1587–1667) was the sixth bishop of Antwerp and the ninth archbishop of Cambrai. Life Nemius was born in 's-Hertogenbosch on 23 April 1587. He studied at the University of Douai, graduating Doctor of Sacred The ...

, who had been transferred to the

archdiocese of Cambrai The Archdiocese of Cambrai (; French: ''Archidiocèse de Cambrai'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France, comprising the arrondissements of Avesnes-sur-Helpe, Cambrai, Douai, and Valenci ...

. As bishop, he founded a number of scholarships and a retirement home for aged priests. Wilhelmus Foppens's Dutch translation of the

Roman Catechism The Roman Catechism or Catechism of the Council of Trent is a compendium of Catholic doctrine commissioned during the Counter-Reformation by the Council of Trent, to expound doctrine and to improve the theological understanding of the clergy. I ...

(printed by for Joachim van Metelen, Antwerp, 1668; reprinted 1687, 1701) was dedicated to him. Artus Quellinus II - Praalgraf van bisschop Marius Ambrosius Capello

Artus Quellinus II - Praalgraf van bisschop Marius Ambrosius Capello

Capello died in Antwerp on 4 October 1676, leaving all his worldly goods to the poor.Leo Braeken, ''De dekenij Herentals, 1603–1669'' (Leuven, 1982), p. 71. His ornate

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

tomb in Antwerp Cathedral, designed by

Artus Quellinus II Artus Quellinus II or Artus Quellinus the Younger (alternative first name: Arnold; variation on family name: Quellijn, Quellyn, Quellien, Quellin, Quellinius) (between 10 and 20 November 1625 – 22 November 1700) was a Southern Netherlands, F ...

, was the only one to survive the French Revolution.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capello, Ambrosius 1597 births 1676 deaths 17th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Holy Roman Empire Belgian Dominicans Dominican bishops Bishops of Antwerp University of Douai alumni University of Salamanca alumni