Edmond Henri Joseph Reusens (25 April 1831 in Wijnegem,

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

– 25 December 1903 in

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 ...

) was a Belgian archeologist and historian.

Biography

Sent to the University of Leuven immediately after his ordination to the priesthood (1854), he soon became head librarian of the university (1859–1896). He collaborated with his rector, Pierre François Xavier de Ram, in his works on the religious history of Belgium, and in 1864 they founded the review , which Reusens continued to direct until his death. With the same teacher, he became interested in the history of the University of Leuven, to which he devoted almost exclusively the last years of his life. Through his historical studies he acquired a knowledge of

palaeography Palaeography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, UK) or paleography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, US) (ultimately from , , 'old', and , , 'to write') is the study and academic disciplin ...

and

diplomatics Diplomatics (in American English, and in most anglophone countries), or diplomatic (in British English), is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents, especially historical documents. It focuses on the conventions, pr ...

and became professor of a course in these branches (1881–1903) which was the first of its kind in Belgium. In 1900 he was appointed member of the Royal Commission of History (

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

). After teaching theology for two years he had charge of a new course in Christian archaeology from 1864-1900. In this department he soon acquired great distinction, as is evidenced by the success of his manual, his appointment (1884) to the Royal Commission of Monuments (Brussels), his participation in the exposition of ancient art, and his role in the renovation of religious art in Belgium.

Works

His principal works are: * (Leuven, 1871-5) * (Leuven, 1899) * (Leuven, 1881–1903).

Sources

*. Cites: ** (1905) pp. xv-xxiii; **, bibliography and supplement, I, II, III (Leuven, 1900, 1902, 1904, 1906)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reusens, E 1831 births 1903 deaths 19th-century Belgian historians 19th-century Belgian male writers Belgian archaeologists Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968) alumni People from Wijnegem