Jean de Wachtendonck
| Joannes Wachtendonck | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Namur | |
| File:JoannesDeWachtendonckRP-P-1906-753.jpg | |
| Province | Cambrai |
| Diocese | Namur |
| Predecessor | Engelbert Des Bois |
| Successor | Ignatius Augustinus de Grobbendonck |
| Other posts | Archbishop of Mechelen (briefly in 1668) |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 13 December 1654 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1592 Mechelen |
| Died | 25 June 1668 Brussels |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Alma mater | Leuven University |
Jean de Wachtendonck, Latinized Joannes (1592–1668) was the eighth bishop of Namur, in the County of Namur (now in Belgium).
Life
Wachtendonck was born in Mechelen. He studied at Leuven University and graduated Licentiate of Theology in 1616. He became a canon of St Rumbold's Cathedral, an ecclesiastical councillor of the Great Council of Mechelen, vicar general and ecclesiastical councillor of the Brussels Council of State.
In February 1634 he delivered a formal eulogy of Isabella Clara Eugenia (died December 1633) in the cathedral, published as Oratio funebris Isabellae Clarae Eugeniae Hispaniarum infantis.
In 1651 he was named bishop of Namur, but his installation was delayed until 1654 due to suspicions of Jansenism. In Namur he founded a diocesan seminary and held a diocesan synod for the reform of the clergy. He reported favourably to Pope Alexander VII on the cause for the beatification of the Martyrs of Gorcum.
In April 1668 he succeeded Andreas Creusen as archbishop of Mechelen, but died in Brussels on the way to his new see.[1]
Works
His eulogy of the Infanta Isabella was published as:
- Oratio funebris Isabellae Clarae Eugeniae Hispaniarum infantis (Brussels: Jean Pepermans, 1634)
He was also the author of a life of St Rumbold:
- Vita, passio, et miracula S. Rumoldi archiepiscopi Dublinensis, Apostoli Mechliniensis & martyris (Mechelen: Henry Jaye, 1638)
- Het leven 't lyden ende mirakelen vanden H. Rombout, translated by Franchoys vanden Bossche (Mechelen: Henry Jaye, 1639)
References
- ↑ "Wachtendonck (Jean de)", Biographie Nationale de Belgique, vol. 27 (Brussels, 1938), 4–6.
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Bishop of Namur 1654–1668 |
Succeeded by Ignatius Augustinus de Grobbendonck |
| Preceded by | Archbishop of Mechelen 1668 |
Succeeded by Alphonse de Berghes |
