Paul Colomiès or Columesius (1638–1692) was a French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

librarian and scholar. He is best known for his work ''Gallia Orientalis'', a biographical dictionary of French

Christian Hebraist A Christian Hebraist is a scholar of Hebrew texts who approaches the works from a Christian perspective. The main area of study is the Hebrew text of the Bible (known as the Old Testament to Christians and as the Tanakh to Jews), but Christians ha ...

Life

He was born at

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...

Aunis Aunis () is a historical Provinces of France, province of France, situated in the north-west of the department of Charente-Maritime. Its historic capital is La Rochelle, which took over from Châtelaillon-Plage, Castrum Allionis (Châtelaillon) t ...

on 2 December 1638. His father, Jean, was a doctor of repute; his grandfather, a minister of the reformed religion, was descended from a family of

Béarn Béarn (; ; or ''Biarn''; or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in Southwestern France. Along with the three Northern Basque Country, ...

, settled in La Rochelle. He was sent at the age of sixteen to the

Academy of Saumur The Academy of Saumur () was a Huguenot university at Saumur in western France. It existed from 1593, when it was founded by Philippe de Mornay, until shortly after 1685, when Louis XIV decided on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, ending t ...

for courses in philosophy and history.

Louis Cappel Louis Cappel (15 October 1585 – 18 June 1658) was a French Protestant churchman and scholar. A Huguenot, he was born at St Elier, near Sedan. He studied theology at the Academy of Sedan and the Academy of Saumur, and Arabic at the Universit ...

taught him Hebrew. He went to Paris in 1664, and became acquainted with

Isaac Vossius Isaak Vossius, sometimes anglicised Isaac Voss (1618 in Leiden – 21 February 1689 in Windsor, Berkshire) was a Dutch philologist scholar and manuscript collector. Life He was the son of the humanist Gerhard Johann Vossius. Isaak formed w ...

, who took him to Holland. Here he lived twelve months and brought out ''Gallia Orientalis'' (1665), his first work, dealing with the lives and writings of Frenchmen who had distinguished themselves in Hebrew and oriental studies. It covered 152 scholars, concentrating on those with competence in Hebrew, and included both Catholics and Protestant. The work was dedicated to

Samuel Bochart Samuel Bochart (30 May 1599 – 16 May 1667) was a French Protestant biblical scholar, a student of Thomas Erpenius and the teacher of Pierre Daniel Huet. His two-volume (Caen 1646) exerted a profound influence on seventeenth-century Biblical e ...

.http://people.mcgill.ca/files/nicholas.dew/Dew-sample.pdf, p. 32 The original project included Belgian, German, English, and other sections; ''Italia et Hispania Orientalis'' was a posthumous publication. He returned to La Rochelle, where he remained until 1681, and wrote several books. He then came to England, visited Vossius, who had been a resident since 1670, and had become canon of Windsor, and he obtained the post of reader in the French Anglican church established by Peter Allix. Vossius introduced him to

William Sancroft William Sancroft (30 January 161724 November 1693) was the 79th Archbishop of Canterbury, and was one of the Seven Bishops imprisoned in 1688 for seditious libel against King James II, over his opposition to the king's Declaration of Indulgen ...

, who collated him (after the revocation of the

Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was an edict signed in April 1598 by Henry IV of France, King Henry IV and granted the minority Calvinism, Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was predominantl ...

in 1685), to the rectory of Eynesford in Kent on 18 November 1687, having previously made him a librarian (perhaps assistant to Henry Wharton, recruited by Sancroft at the same period) at

Lambeth Palace Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament of the United King ...

. He retired on the deprivation of Sancroft in 1690, and Wharton still retained the office. He was naturalised in 1688. While in England he published works which were heavily criticized by

Pierre Jurieu Pierre Jurieu (24 December 1637 – 11 January 1713) was a French Protestant leader. Life He was born at Mer, in Orléanais, where his father was a Protestant pastor. He studied at the Academy of Saumur and the Academy of Sedan under his grand ...

and others. He was on the point of going to Germany to become librarian to

Christian Albert, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Christian Albert (, Gottorp – , Gottorp) was a duke of Holstein-Gottorp and bishop of Lübeck. Biography Christian Albert was a son of Frederick III, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, and his wife Princess Marie Elisabeth of Saxony. He became d ...

when illness overtook him. He died in London 4 January 1692, aged 54, and was buried in the churchyard of

St. Martin's-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. Dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, there has been a church on the site since at least the medieval pe ...

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Colomies, Paul 1638 births 1692 deaths People from Aunis French librarians French male writers Huguenots