Antonius Sanderus ( Antwerp, 15 September 1586 –

Affligem Affligem (; anciently written Afflighem) is a municipality located some west-north-west of Brussels in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant, not far from the city of Aalst and the important railway junction of Denderleeuw. Affligem is situ ...

, 10 January 1664) was a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium ...

Catholic cleric and historian.

Biography

Sanderus was born "Antoon Sanders", but like all writers and scholars of his time he Latinized his name. Having become master of philosophy at the

University of Douai The University of Douai (french: Université de Douai) ( nl, Universiteit van Dowaai) is a former university in Douai, France. With a medieval heritage of scholarly activities in Douai, the university was established in 1559 and lectures started ...

in 1609, he studied theology for some years under

Johannes Malderus Johannes Malderus (1563–1633) was the fifth bishop of Antwerp and the founder of Malderus College at the University of Leuven. Ch. Piot, "Malderus (Jean)", ''Biographie Nationale de Belgique''vol. 13(Brussels, 1895), 223-226. Life Malderus ...

(Jan van Malderen) at the University of Leuven, and

Willem Hessels van Est Willem Hessels van Est, Latinized as Estius (1542 – 20 September 1613), was a Dutch people, Dutch Roman Catholicism, Catholic Bible commentary, commentator on the Pauline epistles. Biography He was born at Gorinchem, Gorcum, County of Holland ...

(Estius) at Douai, and was ordained

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest i ...

. For some years he was engaged in parochial duties, and combated the

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

movement in Flanders with great zeal and success. In 1625, he became secretary and

almoner An almoner (} ' (alms), via the popular Latin '. History Christians have historically been encouraged to donate one-tenth of their income as a tithe to their church and additional offerings as needed for the poor. The first deacons, mentioned ...

of Cardinal

Alfonso de la Cueva Alfonso de la Cueva-Benavides y Mendoza-Carrillo, marqués de Bedmar (first name also spelled ''Alonso'', often used was the title ''Bedmar'') (25 July 157410 August 1655) was a Spanish diplomat, bishop and Roman Catholic cardinal. He was born ...

, later becoming

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

and

scholaster A scholaster, from the Latin ''scholasticus'' (schoolmaster), or magister scholarum, was the head of an ecclesiastical school, typically a cathedral school, monastic school, or the school of a collegiate church, in medieval and early-modern Europ ...

St Martin's Cathedral, Ypres St Martin's Church ( nl, Sint-Maartenskerk), also called St Martin's Cathedral ( nl, Sint-Maartenskathedraal), is a church and former cathedral in the Belgian city of Ypres. It was a cathedral and the seat of the former diocese of Ypres from 1561 t ...

. Publication of the first volume of his sumptuously illustrated ''

Flandria illustrata ''Flandria Illustrata'' is a historiographical and topographical work from 1641 by the Flemish canon Antonius Sanderus. It contains historical descriptions of the main towns and villages of the former County of Flanders, in addition to the lives ...

'' (1641) nearly bankrupted him, and he was rescued from ruination by an award of 1,000 florins through the

Lille Chamber of Accounts The Lille Chamber of Accounts (french: Chambre des comptes de Lille) was founded by Philip the Bold on 15 February 1386 to audit the accounts of his functionaries in the county of Flanders. As Burgundian rule expanded in the Low Countries, similar c ...

. Further such subventions in support of his work followed in 1645, 1651, 1655 and 1662.Finot, ''Inventaire sommaire'', vol. 6, pp. 178, 205, 231, 273. In 1654, he was appointed

penitentiary A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality ...

. After three years, however, he resigned this office to devote himself entirely to scientific, and especially to historical studies. He soon found himself compelled to claim the hospitality of the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

Abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

of Afflighem, since he had reduced himself to absolute poverty by the publication of numerous works.

Writings

He combined high intellectual gifts with great zeal, and left behind forty-two printed, and almost as many unprinted, works. The most important are the following: * ''De scriptoribus Flandriae libri III'' (Antwerp, 1624) * ''De Gandavensibus eruditionis fama claris'' (Antwerp 1624) * ''De Brugensibus eruditionis fama claris libri II'' (Antwerp, 1624) * ''Hagiologium Flandriae sive de sanctis eius provinciae liber unus'' (Antwerp, 1625; 2nd ed., Lille, 1639). A general edition of these four works appeared under the title: ''Flandria illustrata'' (2 volumes, Cologne, 1641–44; The Hague, 1726). Of his other works may be mentioned: * ''Elogia cardinalium sanctitate, doctrina et armis illustrium'' (Louvain, 1625) * ''Gandavium sive rerum Gandavensium libri VI'' (Brussels, 1627) * ''Bibliotheca belgica manuscripta'' (2 parts, Lille, 1641–3) * ''Chorographia sacra Brabantiae sive celebrium in ea provincia ecclesiarum et coenobiorum descriptio, imaginibus aeneis illustrata'' (Brussels, 1659; The Hague, 1726); this is his chief work.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sander, Anton 1586 births 1664 deaths 17th-century Latin-language writers Flemish priests Flemish historians Clergy from Antwerp Old University of Leuven alumni University of Douai alumni Writers from Antwerp