Jean-Jacques Séguier de La Verrière

Jean-Jacques Séguier de La Verrière (* around 1606 in Paris , † November 8, 1689 in La Verrière ) was a French bishop.

Life

Jacques Séguier came from a branch of the Séguier family, which belonged to the highest Parisian nobility, and was a relative of the Chancellor Pierre Séguier . He was born in Paris around 1606 as the son of the water and forest officer Jacques Séguier and his wife Marguerite Tardieu, the daughter of a royal secretary. The father was appointed to the State Council in 1636, probably through the influence of the Chancellor.

Séguier completed his studies in Paris, was in January 1637 Magister Artium, in June 1637 Bachelor of Theology and in 1644 as the ninth-best of his class licentiate. Probably during these years he was director of the Paris College Fortet . On July 4, 1644, he received his doctorate in theology from the Paris faculty. A canon in Chartres since the beginning of 1635 , he then changed to the same function at the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral , where he also took over the function of théologal (theology teacher).

Bishop of Lombez

He was not the first choice for the bishopric of the diocese of Lombez in Gascony , which had been vacant since 1657 ; he received it only after two previously nominated candidates had died prior to occupation. Consecrated as bishop on August 6, 1662 by Bishop Dominique de Ligni von Meaux in the chapel of the Sorbonne , he nevertheless proved to be worthy during his eight-year term, Armand Jean even says " saintement ", chief shepherd . He was one of the seven prelates appointed by Pope Alexander VII to investigate the bishops of Beauvais ( Nicolas Choart de Buzenval ), Angers ( Henri Arnauld ), Alet ( Nicolas Pavillon ) and Pamiers ( François de Caulet ) , who were accused of Jansenism had lead.

Bishop of Nîmes

Transferred with a royal patent of January 5, 1671 to the bishopric of Nîmes (then written as Nismes), which had become vacant due to the death of Denis Cohon in 1670, but only preconceived on August 24, 1671, he swore the oath of allegiance in September and took the diocese in December in possession. He also led this diocese with devotion, carried out visitations and reforms and on October 23, 1673 laid the foundation stone for the Jesuit Church. In 1679 he played a key role in founding the General Hospital, and he also founded a boys' college and a pawn shop ( Mont-de-Piété ), both of which did not last beyond his tenure. On September 29, 1685 he moved into the newly built Episcopal Palace after the Bishops of Nîmes had lived in the monastery of Saint-Baudile for almost a century. In 1686 he brought the sisters of the royal schools ( Sœurs des Écoles Royales ) to Nîmes.

resignation

Séguier resigned in 1687. The reasons given for this step are his rejection of the four Gallican articles of 1682 in the so-called Regalienstreit between Louis XIV and the Pope or difficulties in solving the Huguenot problem in the diocese after King Louis issued the Edict of Nantes in October 1685 had canceled. His old age of 80 probably also played a role. As compensation, he received the Abbeys Notre-Dame de Lyre (OSB) in the Diocese of Évreux and Notre-Dame de Livry (OSA) near Paris and several pensions for family members.

Esprit Fléchier (1692-1710) was immediately appointed as his successor, but for the time being he did not receive papal confirmation due to the legal dispute. Séguier therefore put him pro forma as his vicar general before he left Nîmes on September 4, 1687. He first went to Paris, where he took part in the general assembly of the French clergy the following year, then to his family's estate, La Verrière, where he died on November 8, 1689. He was buried in the family chapel in the parish church of Le Mesnil-Saint-Denis . The Académie de Nîmes , founded in 1682 , whose recognition by Louis XIV he had mediated, honored his services in a public meeting in 1690.

literature

• Fisquet, H [onoré Jean Pierre]: La France pontificale (Gallia Christiana): histoire chronologique et biographique des Archevêques & Évêques de tous les Diocèses de France, depuis l'établissement du Christianisme jusqu'à nos jours, divisée en 18 provinces ecclésiastiques. Paris: Repos, 1864–1871
• Jean, Armand: Les Évêques et les archevêques de France depuis 1682 jusqu'à 1801. Paris [et al.]: Picard [et al.], 1891
• Joseph Bergin : Crown, Church, and Episcopate Under Louis XIV. Yale University Press, 2004

Web links

• Entry on Jean-Jacques Séguier de La Verrière on catholic-hierarchy.org
• Short biography on the website of the municipality of Le Mesnil-Saint-Denis