was born at Louvain, and, in 1576, embraced the monastic life, in
was born at Louvain, and, in 1576, embraced the monastic
life, in the monastery of St. Benedict, of which he was
abbé for nineteen years. He then removed to the abbey
of Echternach, but was taken prisoner by the Dutch in
1596, and was not released without paying a very large
sum. He died at Echternach, June 19, 1607. He published, 1. “In regulam D. Benedicti, dialogi viginti sex
catalogus et series abbatum Externacensium
” (of Echternach) Cologne, Historia Luxemburgensis,
seu Commentarius quo ducum Luxemburgensium ortus,
progressus ac res gestæ accurate describuntur,
” Cologne,
Respublica Luxemburgica,
” one of Bleau’s little
“Republics,
”
, an eminent canonist, was born at Louvain in 1646, “and after taking his degree of doctor
, an eminent canonist,
was born at Louvain in 1646, “and after taking his degree
of doctor of laws in 1675, filled a chair in the college of
pope Adrian VI. with great success. Being fond of retirement and study, he is only known to the world by his
writings. Having lost his sight in the sixty-fifth year of
his age, by a cataract, which was removed two years afterwards, he neither lost any thing of his vivacity nor his application. His sentiments on the Formulary, and on the
frull Unigenitus, and the kind of approbation which he
gave to the consecration of Steenoven, archbishop of
Utrecht, brought on him much unmerited persecution,
chiefly from the envy of individuals. What they made
him suffer, however, forced him to retire to Maestricht,
and then to Amersfort, where he died, Oct. 2, 1728, at the
age of eighty-three. Van Espen is doubtless one of the
most learned canonists of his times. His principal work,
still consulted, is his
” Jus ecclesiasticum universum,“in
which the most important points of ecclesiastical discipline
are circumstantially discussed with profound knowledge of.
the subject. At Paris, under the imprint of Louvain, was
published, in 1753, a collection of all the works of Van
Espen, in 4 vols. folio. This edition, which is enriched
with the observations of Gibert on the
” Jus ecclesiasticum," and the notes of father Barre, a canoiv-regular of
St. Genevieve, contains every particular of importance in
ethics, the canon, and even the civil law, and since that
time a supplementary volume was published by Gabriel de
Bellegarde.
, the third son of the preceding, was born at Louvain, whence he got the name of Grudius, that city
, the third son of the
preceding, was born at Louvain, whence he got the name
of Grudius, that city having, according to some authors,
been the residence of the ancient Grudius’s. His own
merit and the reputation of his father soon raised him to
preferment. He was treasurer of the states of Brabant,
knight and secretary of the golden fleece, counsellor to
the emperor Charles V. and Philip II. king of Spain. Like
his father, he had talents for business, and was equally
upright and disinterested, making no other use of his influence than to patronize the deserving, especially men of
learning. He was much connected with the eminent scholars of his time, with some of whom he appears to have
studied at Bologna, in 1533, and these, as well as other
learned contemporaries, are mentioned in his poems. Mr.
Roscoe notices him as a foreign associate of the Neapolitan
academy, but mistakes in stating him to be the father, instead of the brother of Joannes Secundus. He died at
Venice, where he happened to be on some affairs concerning the republic, in 1571. His only works are Latin
poems, many of which are elegant, although Nicerou seems
disposed to undervalue them. They are, 1. “Epigrammata arcuum triumphalium, Valentianis Carolo V. in ejus
adventu exhibitorum,
” Louvain, Apotheosis
jjn obitum Maximiliani ab Egmonda, comitis Burani,
” ibid
1549. 3. “Negotia, sen poematum piorum libri duo,
”
Antwerp,