Johannes Wiggers
| Professor Johannes Wiggers S.T.D. |
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| File:Portret van Johannes Wiggers, RP-P-1905-169.jpg
Portrait engraved by Cornelis Galle the Younger
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| Born | December 27, 1571 Diest, Duchy of Brabant, Habsburg Netherlands |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Leuven, Duchy of Brabant, Habsburg Netherlands |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Leuven University |
| Thesis year | 1607 |
| Academic work | |
| Era | Tridentine Catholicism |
| Discipline | Theology |
| Sub discipline | Thomistic scholasticism |
| Institutions | Diocesan Seminary of Liège; Liège College, Leuven |
Johannes Wiggers (1571–1639) was a theologian from the Duchy of Brabant in the Habsburg Netherlands.
Biography
Johannes was born in Diest on 27 December 1571, the sixth of eight children of Aert Wiggers and Elisabeth Typpoel.[1] He became a subdeacon in 1595, and was ordained deacon and priest in 1596. In 1600 he graduated Master of Arts from the University of Leuven, going on to study theology at Pope's College, while teaching philosophy at Lily College. From 1604 to 1609 he was a professor at the Diocesan Seminary of Liège, meanwhile graduating Bachelor of Divinity in 1605 and Doctor of Sacred Theology in 1607.[1]
Returning to Leuven in 1609, Wiggers was president of Arras College (1609-1611) and Liège College (1611–1639).[1] On 13 October 1611 he became Regius Professor of Scholastic Theology, and as such a canon of St Peter's Church in Leuven. He also served various terms as rector of the university and dean of the Faculty of Theology. In academic politics and theological disputes he was an ally of Cornelius Jansen.[1]
In 1628 Wiggers founded the Convent of Bethlehem within the Great Beguinage in Leuven, for six relatives who wished to become beguines.[1]
He wrote a posthumously printed course (1641) that was used continuously at the University of Leuven. His positions were fairly close to orthodox Thomism. Among his pupils was the young Johan Caterus, later a theologian in the Netherlands and author of the first Objections to Descartes' Metaphysical Meditations.[2]
His readers also included Fénelon, who relied on his authority in discussions on the infallibility of the Church.[3]
He died in Leuven on 29 March 1639, his bequests establishing two scholarships at Lily College.[1]
Publications
- Commentaria in primam secundae Divi Thomae Aquinatis (Leuven, Johannes Oliverius and Cornelius Coenesteyn, 1630; reprinted 1634, 1652, 1689, 1701)
- Commentaria de vitutuibus theologicis, fide, spe, charitate (Leuven, Johannes Oliverius and Cornelius Coenesteyn, 1630; reprinted 1645, 1656, 1689)
- In tertiam partem D. Thomae Aquinatis commentaria (Leuven, Joannes Oliverius and Cornelis Coenesteyn, 1631; reprinted 1643, 1654, 1657, 1704)
A number of other works were published posthumously by the efforts of his nephew, Cornelius Wiggers.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Lucien Ceyssens, "Wiggers, Johannes", Nationaal Biografisch Woordenboek, vol. 9 (Brussels, 1981), 829-832.
- ↑ Armogathe, Jean-Robert (1995). "Caterus' Objections to God." In: Roger Ariew & Marjorie Grene, eds., Descartes and his Contemporaries: Meditations, Objections and Replies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 34–43.
- ↑ Hillenaar, Henk (1994). "Fénelon, Louvain et l'augustinisme." In: Mathijs Lamberigts, L'augustinisme à l'ancienne Faculté de Théologie de Louvain. Leuven: Leuven University Press, pp. 309–311.
References
- Agostini, Igor (2008). L'infinità di Dio. Il dibattito da Suárez a Caterus (1597-1641). Rome: Editori Riuniti.
- Elly, Marcus-Leus (1995). Johannes Wiggers Diestensis (1571-1639). Diest: Vrienden van het Stedelijk Museum.
- Guelluy, Robert (1941). "L'évolution des méthodes théologiques à Louvain d'Érasme à Jansénius", Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique, Vol. XXXVII, pp. 31–144.
