Nicolas-Hugues Ménard (Hugo Menardus) (1585 in
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 ...
– 21 January 1644) was a French
Benedictine
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
scholar.
His father was private secretary to
Catherine de' Medici
Catherine de' Medici (, ; , ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Italian Republic of Florence, Florentine noblewoman of the Medici family and Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to Henry II of France, King Henry II. Sh ...
, his mother was a native of
Blois
Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher Departments of France, department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours.
With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the mos ...
. After a liberal education Ménard entered the
Order of St. Benedict, 3 February 1607, at St. Denis, and made his religious profession 10 September 1612.
In the next year, he joined the reform movement of St. Vannes in Verdun which some years later developed into the
Congregation of St. Maur; and he became one of its main helps. After some time he was called to Paris, where he soon became a favourite preacher and frequently occupied the principal pulpits. For sixteen years he taught rhetoric at the College of Cluny. By word and deed he sought to induce his fellow religious to unite an exemplary life with love for study especially of Church history and
patrology.
On account of failing health he was placed by his superiors in the
abbey of St. Germain des Prés, where he lived in great seclusion. In his small circle of intimate friends the Jesuit
Sirmond stood foremost.
Works
*''Martyrologium Sanctorum ordinis St. Benedicti'', to which he added several biographies and explanatory notes which greatly enhance the value of the work (Paris, 1629)
*''Concordia regularum, auctore St. Benedicto Anianae abbate'', from a manuscript found in the Abbey of
Fleury, which is supplemented by a life of
St. Benedict of Aniane (Paris, 1638)
*''St. Gregorii I Papae Liber Sacramentorum'', from a manuscript Missal of St. Eligius (Paris, 1642). This also appears in the edition of the works of St. Gregory of the year 1705. The commentary on the book is highly praised by
Muratori (Dissert. de rebus liturgicis, ch. 6), who states that
Tomasi and
Mabillon would have preferred the text of
Pamelius but the Maurists, when publishing the notes of Ménard had also to use his text
*''De unico Dionysio Areopagita Athenarum et Parisiorum episcopo'', a defence of the identity of the Areopagite and first Bishop of Paris, written (at first anonymously) against
Jean Launoy, in defence of Millet (Paris, 1643)
*''S. Barnabae Apostoli (ut fertur) Epistola Catholica, ab antiquis olim ecclesiae patribus sub ejusdem nomine laudata et usurpata'' (Paris, 1640). The Greek text had been found by
Sirmond at Rome, and Ménard discovered a Latin translation at the
Abbey of Corbie.
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menard, Nicolas Hugues
French scholars
French Benedictines
1585 births
1644 deaths