Hermann Busenbaum (or Busembaum) (19 September 160031 January 1668) was a
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
theologian. He attained fame as a master of
casuistry
Casuistry ( ) is a process of reasoning that seeks to resolve moral problems by extracting or extending abstract rules from a particular case, and reapplying those rules to new instances. This method occurs in applied ethics and jurisprudence. ...
.
Biography
He was born at
Nottuln in
Westphalia
Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants.
The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...
(
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
). He entered the Jesuit order in 1619, and taught scholastic and moral theology in
Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
. He became rector of the Jesuit college at
Hildesheim
Hildesheim (; or ; ) is a city in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim (district), Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of t ...
and then at
Münster
Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...
, where he died on 31 January 1668, being at the time father-confessor to Bishop
Christoph von Galen.
''Medulla''
His book ''Medulla theologiae moralis, facili ac perspicua methodo resolvens casus conscientiae'' (1645) grew out of his lectures to students at Cologne. The manual obtained a wide popularity and passed through over two hundred editions before 1776.
[ Although less bold in its declarations than some other Jesuit books, such as, for example, the ''Defensio Fidei'' (1613) of Francisco Suarez, it was the most complete and systematized in its exposition, and served as a type for succeeding treatises of the sort.][
The theology of ''Medulla'' was generally well received within the ]Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. The book was published in all the major European centers of Catholicism and was widely used in seminaries as a manual on practical moral theology for 200 years. It received positive commentary from theologians including St. Alphonsus de Liguori, a Doctor of the Church
Doctor of the Church (Latin: ''doctor'' "teacher"), also referred to as Doctor of the Universal Church (Latin: ''Doctor Ecclesiae Universalis''), is a title given by the Catholic Church to saints recognized as having made a significant contribut ...
.France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
(1729). In these editions, the sections on murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...
and especially on regicide
Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...
were much amplified, and in connection with Damiens' attempt on the life of Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...
the book was severely handled by the parlement of Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. At Toulouse
Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
in 1757, though the offending sections were repudiated by the heads of the Jesuit colleges, the ''Medulla'' was publicly burned, and the episode undoubtedly led the way to the duc de Choiseul's attack on the Jesuits.
Other writings
Busenbaum also wrote a book on the ascetic life, ''Lilium inter spinas''.[
]
Notes
External links
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Hermann Busembaum in the Historical Archives of the Pontifical Gregorian University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Busenbaum, Hermann
17th-century German Catholic theologians
17th-century German Jesuits
1600 births
1668 deaths
German male non-fiction writers
Jesuit theologians
Roman Catholic moral theologians
German Roman Catholic theologians
17th-century German male writers