Carolus or Karel de Visch (15 August 159611 April 1666) was a

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

bibliographer Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliograph ...

, and

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 ...

Ten Duinen Abbey Ten Duinen Abbey or the Abbey of the Dunes () was a Cistercian monastery at Koksijde in what is now Belgium. It was one of the richest and most influential religious institutions in the medieval County of Flanders. It later relocated from Koksijde ...

Life

De Visch was born in the village of Bulskamp, near

Veurne Veurne (; , ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Belgium, Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Veurne proper and the settlements of , , ...

(

County of Flanders The County of Flanders was one of the most powerful political entities in the medieval Low Countries, located on the North Sea coast of modern-day Belgium and north-eastern France. Unlike the neighbouring states of Duchy of Brabant, Brabant and ...

) on 15 August 1596, to Joris de Visch and Maria van den Hecke. The family belonged to the minor gentry. After studies at the Latin school in Veurne, he studied philosophy at the

University of Douai The University of Douai (; ) was a historic university in Douai, France. With a medieval tradition of scholarly activity in the city, the university was established in 1559, and lectures began in 1562. It ceased operations from 1795 to 1808. In ...

.Noël Geirnaert, "Visch, Carolus", ''Nationaal biografisch woordenboek'', vol. 6 (Brussels, 1974), 986-994. In 1618 Visch became a novice of Ten Duinen Abbey, making his monastic vows on 10 February 1619. From 1620 Visch compiled a new necrology of the abbey, his first historical work, and became familiar with the Spanish Cistercian historian Crisóstomo Henríquez, then residing in the

Low Countries The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...

. From 1621 Visch returned to Douai to study theology under

Francis Sylvius Francis Sylvius (1581, in Braine-le-Comte, Hainault, now in Belgium – 22 February 1649, at Douai) was a Flemish Roman Catholic theologian. Life After completing his course of humanities at Mons, he studied philosophy at the Catholic Univ ...

and George Colveneere, graduating

Bachelor of Sacred Theology The Bachelor of Sacred Theology (abbreviated STB) is the first of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the second being the Licentiate in Sacred Theology and the third being the Doctorate in Sacred Theology) which are conferred by a number o ...

in 1625. Abbot

Bernard Campmans Bernard Campmans (died 1642), a native of Douai, was the 40th Abbot of Dunes from 1623 to 1642. He reclaimed the rights of the defunct Ter Doest Abbey for the mother house, and was responsible for the community's re-establishment in Bruges after ...

appointed him librarian to the abbey, and in 1628 Visch completed a catalogue of the library's manuscripts. In 1644 he produced a revised and updated catalogue. In 1629 he was sent to Germany, spending time in the abbeys of Altenberg, Eberbach and

Altenkamp Kamp Abbey (Kloster Kamp), also known as Altenkamp Abbey or Alt(en)feld Abbey (and in English formerly Camp Abbey) was the first Cistercian monastery founded in Germany, German territory, in the present town of Kamp-Lintfort in North Rhine-Westp ...

. From 1630 to 1631 he taught theology at Eberbach, until interrupted by Swedish advances in the

Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine, or disease, whil ...

. In 1632, after his return to the Low Countries, he was appointed confessor to the nuns of Groeninge Abbey in

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of We ...

. His disagreements with Abbess Catharina Doens about the implementation of the Tridentine reforms of monastic life led to his forced removal from the abbey in 1636. In 1637 he was appointed confessor to Hemelsdaele Abbey, where he remained until 1649, when the new abbot of Ten Duinen, Bernard Bottyn, appointed him prior. At Bottyn's death in 1653, Visch was in the running to succeed him, but in the event the new abbot was to be

Gerard de Baere Gerard de Baere, a native of Laarne, was the 43rd abbot of Ten Duinen Abbey in Bruges from 1653 to 1666. Life De Baere was professed as a monk in 1631. He was ordained subdeacon on 10 April 1632, deacon on 21 May 1633, and priest on 24 September ...

. As a historian and bibliographer of his community and his order, Visch corresponded with Sanderus,

Bollandus Jean Bolland, SJ () (13 August 1596 – 12 September 1665) was a Flemish Jesuits, Jesuit priest, theologian, and prominent hagiography, hagiographer. Bolland's main achievement is the compilation of the first five volumes of the ''Lives of ...

, Henschenius,

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 ...

, and

Ferdinando Ughelli Ferdinando Ughelli (; 21 March 1595 – 19 May 1670) was an Italian Cistercian monk and church historian. He is best known for his monumental ''Italia sacra'', a massive nine-volume treatise detailing the history of all Italian dioceses from the ...

. Visch retired as prior in 1661, but retained the dignity of prior

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

. He died in Bruges on 11 April 1666.

Works

*''Bibliotheca Scriptorum Sacri Ordinis Cisterciensis'' (Douai, 1649; second edition Cologne, Joannes Busaeus, 1656) – a bibliography of Cistercian authors (Cologne editio
available on Google Books
*''Alani magni de Insulis, Doctoris Universalis, Opera Moralia, Paraenetica et Polemica'' (Antwerp,

Willem Lesteens Guiliam or Willem Lesteens (1590–1661), Latinized Gulielmus Lesteenius, was a printer and publisher in the city of Antwerp, in the Spanish Netherlands. Life Lesteens was born in Antwerp on 19 April 1590, the son of Gaspard Lesteens and Cather ...

and Engelbert Gymnicus, 1654) – an edition of works by

Alan of Lille Alain de Lille (Alan of Lille; Latin: ''Alanus ab Insulis''; 11281202/1203) was a French theologian and poet. He was born in Lille some time before 1128. His exact date of death remains unclear as well, with most research pointing toward it bein ...

available on Internet Archive
*''Vita Reverendi in Christo Patris ac Domini, D. Adriani Cancellier, monasterii Dunensis, Ordinis Cisterciensis, quondam Abbatis'' (Bruges,

Nicolaes Breyghel Nicolaes Breyghel (died 1669), Latinized Nicolaus Breyghelius, was a leading printer and bookseller in 17th-century Bruges in the Habsburg Netherlands. He was the first publisher of a weekly newspaper in the city. Career Breyghel, originally from ...

, 1655) – a biography of

Adrianus Cancellier Adrianus Cancellier (1580–1623) was the 39th abbot of Dunes in the County of Flanders. Cancellier was born in Dunkirk in 1580 and entered the Abbey of Dunes in 1597. He went on to serve as bursar, and on 30 July 1610 was elected abbot in succes ...

, Abbot of Ten Duinen 1610–1623
Brussels, 1660 edition
available on

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

) *''Compendium chronologicum exordii et progressus Abbatiae clarissimae Beatae Mariae de Dunis'' (Brussels, Philip Vleugaert, 1660) – a chronological compendium of the Abbots of Ten Duinen
available on Google Books

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Visch, Karel de 1596 births 1666 deaths Flemish historians Flemish Christian monks