Karel Maes, Latinized Carolus Masius (1559–1612) was

bishop of Ypres The former Roman Catholic Diocese of Ypres, in present-day Belgium, existed from 1559 to 1801. Its seat was Saint Martin's Cathedral in Ypres. In 1969 it was reconstituted as a titular see. History The diocese was originally part of the Diocese ...

and later

bishop of Ghent The Diocese of Ghent (Latin: ''Dioecesis Gandavensis'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolis (religious jurisdiction), metropol ...

in the

Habsburg Netherlands Habsburg Netherlands were the parts of the Low Countries that were ruled by sovereigns of the Holy Roman Empire's House of Habsburg. This rule began in 1482 and ended for the Northern Netherlands in 1581 and for the Southern Netherlands in 1797. ...

.Frans De Potter, ''Het bisdom en de bisschoppen van Gent''
Vyt, 1865, pp. 10-11

Life

Maes was born in Brussels in 1559, the son of

Jacobus Maes Jacobus Maes or Jacob Maes (1505–1569) was a lawyer and public official in the Habsburg Netherlands, serving as the pensionary of the city of Antwerp and a member of the Privy Council of the Habsburg Netherlands.Council of Brabant The Council of Brabant was the highest law court in the historic Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant, a Imperial State, state of the Holy Roman Empire, was established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant of 1085–1183, a ...

, and Aleyde de Tassis. He received

holy orders In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...

and on 10 May 1590 was appointed

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

Antwerp Cathedral The Cathedral of Our Lady () is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Antwerp, Belgium. Today's seat of the Diocese of Antwerp started in 1352 and, although the first stage of construction was ended in 1521, has never been 'completed'. It was construct ...

. He went on to become

grand almoner An almoner () is a chaplain or church officer who originally was in charge of distributing money to the deserving poor. The title ''almoner'' has to some extent fallen out of use in English, but its equivalents in other languages are often used f ...

to the Archdukes

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert Computers, Inc., a computer manufacturer in the 1980s * Albert Czech Republic, a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street mar ...

and

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpo ...

. Charles Piot, "Maes (Charles)", ''

Biographie Nationale de Belgique The ''Biographie nationale de Belgique'' (; ) is a biographical dictionary of Belgium. It was published by the Royal Academy of Belgium in 44 volumes between 1866 and 1986. A continuation series, entitled the ''Nouvelle Biographie Nationale'' (, ...

''
vol. 13
(Brussels, 1895), 130-131. He was consecrated bishop of Ypres on 24 June 1607, in succession to Petrus Simons. This was the beginning of a period of peace (due to the ceasefire preceding the

Twelve Years' Truce The Twelve Years' Truce was a ceasefire during the Eighty Years' War between Habsburg Spain, Spain and the Dutch Republic, agreed in Antwerp on 9 April 1609 and ended on 9 April 1621. While European powers like Kingdom of France, France began tre ...

of 1609–1621) and of rebuilding after the devastations of the

Dutch Revolt The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (; 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Reformation, centralisation, exc ...

. After Pieter Damant's death he was transferred to the diocese of Ghent, taking possession of the see on 5 November 1610. In 1611 he co-consecrated

Johannes Malderus Johannes Malderus (1563–1633) was the fifth bishop of Antwerp and the founder of Malderus College at the University of Leuven. Ch. Piot, "Malderus (Jean)", ''Biographie Nationale de Belgique''vol. 13(Brussels, 1895), 223-226. Life Malderus ...

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- ...

. His notable exertions to restore order to his diocese undermined his health, and he died in Ghent on 21 May 1612.

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

Antoine De Smet delivered his eulogy. His main legatee was Marguerite Maes, but he also left a number of relics to his cathedral. He was buried in the cathedral

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

. His monument was damaged in 1666, and a new one designed by Rombaut Pauwels was erected in the

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

Rombaut Pauwels - Mausoleum of bishop Carolus Maes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maes, Karel 1559 births 1612 deaths Clergy from Brussels Roman Catholic bishops of Ypres Bishops of Ghent Clergy from the Spanish Netherlands