Ghisbertus Masius (c. 1545 – 1614) was the fourth

bishop of 's-Hertogenbosch The Diocese of 's-Hertogenbosch () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in the Netherlands. The modern diocese was created in 1853. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Utrecht. It is currently led b ...

, 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. ...

, and sat in the Estates General of 1600 as a representative of the First Estate.

Life

Masius was born in

Den Bommel Den Bommel is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Goeree-Overflakkee, and lies about 14 km south of Spijkenisse. History The village was first mentioned in 1473 as Bommele, and refers to a ...

around 1545 and studied at the University of Leuven, graduating

Licentiate of Sacred Theology Licentiate in Sacred Theology (; abbreviated LTh or STL) is the second of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the first being the Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology and the third being the Doctorate in Sacred Theology) which are conferred ...

. He was appointed to a

canonry Canon () is a Christian title usually used to refer to a member of certain bodies in subject to an canon law, ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, in one of the houses within the p ...

of St. John's Cathedral,

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

, in 1579. On 1 November 1593, he was appointed bishop, and was consecrated in Brussels on 7 March 1594, taking possession of his see on 25 March. Ch. Piot, "Masius (Gilbert)", ''

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), 931-933. During the

Siege of 's-Hertogenbosch The siege of 's-Hertogenbosch also known as the siege of Bois-Le-DucMarkham pp. 435-38 was an action in 1629, during the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo–Spanish War in which a Dutch and English army captured the city of 's-Hertogenbosch.Knigh ...

in 1601, he was active in his support of the city's defenders. Masius commissioned a catechism, the ''Catechismus voor de Catholijke jonckheijt des bisdoms van 's Hertoghenbosche'', based on the Mechelen Catechism drafted by

Lodewijk Makeblijde Lodewijk Makeblijde (1565–1630) was a Flemish Jesuit and a Renaissance poet and hymn writer. Life Makeblijde was born to a patrician family in Poperinge, County of Flanders, on 24 March 1565.S. S. Hoogerhuis"Makeblijde, Lodewijk" ''De Nederland ...

. In February 1612, he ordered that this be the basis of all religious instruction in the parishes and schools of his diocese.Joseph A. Coppens, ''Nieuwe beschrijving van het bisdom van 's Hertogenbosch'', vol. 1 ('s-Hertogenbosch, 1840), pp. 238-240. On 9 and 10 October 1612, Masius presided at the second diocesan synod of 's-Hertogenbosch, the statutes of which were printed at Cologne in 1613. Masius died on 2 July 1614 and was buried in his cathedral. He had been a friend and correspondent of

Francis de Sales Francis de Sales, Congregation of the Oratory, C.O., Order of Minims, O.M. (; ; 21 August 156728 December 1622) was a Savoyard state, Savoyard Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Geneva and is a saint of the Catholic Church. He became n ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masius, Ghisbertus 1614 deaths Belgian Roman Catholic bishops 17th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Holy Roman Empire Old University of Leuven alumni Year of birth uncertain