Jean Dauvin or D'Auvin (1578–1651) was the sixth

bishop of Namur The Diocese of Namur () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels. The diocese is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province in the metrop ...

(1615–1629). As bishop he faced the tasks of carrying through the reforms of the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent (), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the "most ...

in his diocese in the wake of the destruction caused by 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 ...

Life

Dauvin was born in Namur in 1559, the son of Jean d'Auvin and Marie de Monbeek. He studied civil and canon law, graduating Licentiate of Laws, and was appointed a canon graduate in

St Aubin's Cathedral St. Aubin's Cathedral () is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic cathedral in Namur, Belgium, and the country's only cathedral in Baroque architecture, academic Late Baroque style. It was the only church built in the Low Countries as a cathedral afte ...

. In 1597, he became

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

and

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

of the diocese. He was named bishop on 15 October 1614, in succession to François Buisseret who had been elected

archbishop of Cambrai This is a List of bishops and archbishops of Cambrai, that is, of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cambrai. Bishops For the first bishops of Arras and Cambrai, who resided at the former place, see Roman Catholic Diocese of Arras. On the death ...

, and was consecrated on 22 November 1615. The church of Boneffe Abbey, destroyed by rebel forces during the Revolt, was rebuilt and reconsecrated under his aegis. In 1619 he had offices printed for the saints of his diocese in line with the

Roman Breviary The Roman Breviary (Ecclesiastical Latin, Latin: ''Breviarium Romanum'') is a breviary of the Roman Rite in the Catholic Church. A liturgical book, it contains public or canonical Catholic prayer, prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notat ...

, either authoring the propers himself or authorizing them from the Jesuit Gilles du Monin (who went on to write ''Sacrarium perantiqui comitatus Namurcensis'' and dedicate it to Dauvin).Ch. Wilmet, "Fragment d'une histoire ecclésiastique de Namur: Épiscopat des évêques Dauvin et Des Bois", ''Annales de la Société archéologique de Namur''
vol. 8 (1863-1864)
383-424. In 1620, he reformed the chapter of the cathedral in line with the decrees of the

, and in 1625 he held a diocesan synod to push through Tridentine reform in the rural deaneries of his diocese. Dauvin died on 15 September 1629 and was buried in his cathedral.

References

1559 births 1629 deaths Bishops of Namur {{Belgium-RC-bishop-stub

Life

See also

References