Jacques-Paul Migne

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jacques-Paul Migne in an engraving by E. Tailland

Jacques-Paul Migne , called Abbé Migne (born October 25, 1800 in Saint-Flour , Département Cantal , † October 25, 1875 in Paris ), was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely distributed theological works, encyclopedias and texts of the Church Fathers published ( Patrologia Latina / Patrologia Graeca ).

Life

Jacques-Paul Migne studied theology in Orléans , was ordained in 1824 and entrusted with the parish of Puiseaux in the diocese of Orléans, where his uncompromising ultra-Catholic royalism did not come into contact with the new government under Louis Philippe . In 1833, after a falling out over a pamphlet he had published , he went to Paris , where he published the magazine L'Univers religieux for the first time on November 3rd , which he wanted to keep independent of political influences. He quickly acquired 1,800 subscribers. He was the editor of the magazine that would later become the ultramontane organ L'Univers of its associate editor Louis Veuillot (1813-1883).

Migne was now convinced of the power of the press and the value of widespread unprocessed information. In 1836 he founded his large publishing house in the Paris suburb of Petit-Montrouge . Here he published many religious works in quick succession for use in the lower clergy , the low price of which ensured wide distribution. The best known of these are: Scripturae sacrae cursus completus ("Complete Course in the Scriptures"), which collected a wide repertoire of commentaries on the books of the Bible, and Theologiae cursus , each in 28 volumes, 1840-1845; Démonstrations Évangéliques (5 volumes, 1843–1853); Collection des auteurs sacrés (100 volumes, 1846–1848); Encyclopédie théologique (171 volumes, 1844–1846).

The three major series that established its reputation were: Patrologiae cursus completus , the Latin series in 221 volumes (1844–1845); the Greek series, initially published in Latin (85 volumes, 1856–1857), then with Greek texts in Latin translation (165 volumes, 1857–1858). Although they were consistently criticized by scholars, the hastily published, cheaply printed, and widespread texts, including a complete edition of Hildegard von Bingen's works , could only be replaced slowly by more critical editions over a century and a half. Even today, those parts of the Patrologia for which no newer editions exist are unique and therefore valuable, while they have become extremely fragile due to the cheap paper on which they were printed - it is a far more complete collection of patristic literature, than has ever been relocated since. The index is useful for that reason alone to find the places you are looking for in the patristic writings. The Patrologia Latina has also been available in electronic form since 1993, see also the article Patrologia Latina .

Migne bypassed the book trade through direct sales. His Imprimerie Catholique became one of the largest privately owned printing houses in France, but it burned down on the night of February 12th to 13th, 1868; the insurance contracts he took out only compensated him to a small extent.

Shortly afterwards, the Archbishop of Paris forbade him to continue the business and suspended him from his priestly functions. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 resulted in further losses. Finally, Pope Pius IX issued. a decree prohibiting the use of Mass grants in return for the books - Migne and his publications were named in the decree.

Migne died in 1875 without regaining his previous prosperity and his Imprimerie Catholique passed into the hands of the Garnier brothers in 1876.

The Patrologia Latina and the Patrologia Graeca , together with the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, are among the great contributions of the 19th century to patrology and medieval research . Within the Catholic Church , Mignes Editions put many original texts into the hands of the clergy for the first time.

literature

  • Ralph Howard Bloch: God's Plagiarist. Being an Account of the Fabulous Industry and Irregular Commerce of the Abbé Migne . Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill. 1994, ISBN 0-226-05970-7 .
  • Umberto Eco : My Migne and the other . In: Ders .: The art of loving books . Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-446-23293-8 , pp. 93-96. Introduction to the following editions of RH Blochs God's plagiarist :
    • French edition: Le plagiaire de Dieu. La fabuleuse industrie de l'Abbé Migne . DuSeuil, Paris 1996, ISBN 2-02-021881-X .
    • Italian edition: Il Plagiario di Dio . Sylvestre Bonnard, Milan 2002, ISBN 88-86842-52-X .

Web links

Digital copies of the Patrologia Latina and Patrologia Graeca

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jacques-Paul Migne (Ed.): S. Hildegardis Abbatissiae Opera omnia. Paris 1882 (= Patrologiae cursus completus: Series latina , 197). Migne: Patrologiae Cursus Completus 197 completely on the portal: Documenta Omnia Catholica .
personal data
SURNAME Migne, Jacques-Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French priest, creator of the Patrologia Graeca and Latina
DATE OF BIRTH October 25, 1800
PLACE OF BIRTH Saint-Flour
DATE OF DEATH October 25, 1875
Place of death Paris