Le concile provincial des dio ceses de Normandie tenu à Roüen

XX BX837.F8 C6 1582

The Provincial Council of the Dioceses of Normandy held in Roüen was published in Paris in 1582 by Pierre L’Huillier.1 It contains the words of the Cardinal Charles de Bourbon (1523-1590), and was collected, prepared, and translated into French by Jedanensis Claude de Sainctes (1525-1591). The book documented the discussions that took place in Rouen during the Provincial Council of 1581.2,3 The discussions centered around the implementation of the reforms created at the Council of Trent (1545-1563) in response to the Protestant Reformation.4 Written amid the French Wars of Religion,5 the book also contained a section at the end with popular arguments against the decrees of the Council of Trent and how to respond to them. The book was a Catholic effort to set the Diocese of Normandy as an ideal example for other diocese to follow.

Charles of Bourbon

Charles of Bourbon was the Archbishop of Rouen at the time of this book’s publication, and would go on to be considered the rightful king of France by the Catholics in 1589.6 Claude de Sainctes, the Bishop of Evreux, dedicated a substantial amount of effort to converting Protestants, and this book and the arguments and responses at the end are meant to serve as an aid to this.7

Physical Description

This book is bound with vellum covered boards and contains 151 numbered leaves and measures 17 centimeters. The cover depicts a gold-tooled seal of a Royal from the Dutch city of Hoorn8, another indication that this book has been rebound since its first publication.

The spine has the title of the book written in gold tool.

There are multiple types of illuminated letters throughout, ranging in levels of detail.

Both of the inner covers feature a colorful marbled design. This is another indication that the book has been rebound.

Ownership

This book does not contain a large amount of provenance in the form of handwritten notes, but the stamps and seals contained in the book are extremely notable. The first mark of ownership is a stamp containing the coat of arms of Rouen along with the owner’s initials, encircled by the Latin phrase “Vita sine litteris mors est”, or “Life without letters is death”. This is the stamp of ownership indicating this book belonged to the library of Charles Lormier of Rouen (1825-1900), a founding member of the Society of Bibliophiles of Normandy. The Society was founded May 7th, 1863 and its first meeting was held in the Rouen Public Library. They met biannually to collect and review rare books and pamphlets significant to the city of Rouen.9

This image, which was printed on the title page of the book with the initial printing, is the coat of arms of Charles of Bourbon.10

Behind the coat of arms is written “Missionis Sedanensis”, referring to a mission in the French city of Sedan. This book was likely sent to a mission there to advocate for the reforms of the Council due to the large number of Protestants taking asylum in the city during the French wars of religion.11

Sources

  1. Catholic Church in France. 1582. Le concile provincial des dioceses de Normandie tenu à Rouen, l’an M.D. LXXXI.: par Monseigneur l’Illustrissime & Reuerendissime Cardinal de Bourbon, Archeuesque dudict lieu, corrigé & confirmé par nostre sainct Pere le Pape Gregoire xiii, les status des seminaires establis par la Normandie, les difficultez proposees de la part dudict Concile à nostre sainct Pere le Pape & les responses sur icelles. À Paris: Chez P. l’Huillier.
  2. Benedict, Philip. Rouen during the Wars of Religion. Vol. 13. Cambridge University Press, 2004.
  3. Sutherland, N.M.; Henry IV of France and The Politics of Religion. London: Intellect Books 2004.
  4. Schroeder, Rev Fr HJ. The canons and decrees of the Council of Trent. Tan Books, 1955.
  5. Holt, Mack P. The French wars of religion, 1562-1629. Vol. 36.
    Cambridge University Press, 2005.
  6. Hayden, Michael J., J. Michael Hayden, and Malcolm R. Greenshields. Six Hundred Years of Reform: Bishops and the French Church, 1190-1789. Vol. 148. McGill-Queen’s Press-MQUP, 2005.
  7. Venard, Marc. Catholicism and Resistance to the Reformation in France, 1555-1585. na, 1999.
  8. Franklyn, Julian, and John Tanner. An encyclopaedic dictionary of heraldry. Pergamon, 1970.
  9. Bulletin of the Society of Antiquaries of Normandy, 3rd year, 1st quarter, Volume II, January, February and March 1862, Paris, Derache, Caen, Hardel, Rouen, Le Brument, p. 271-2
  10. Hayden, Michael J., J. Michael Hayden, and Malcolm R. Greenshields. Six Hundred Years of Reform: Bishops and the French Church, 1190-1789. Vol. 148. McGill-Queen’s Press-MQUP, 2005. 11. Knecht, Robert Jean. The French wars of religion 1559-1598. Routledge, 2014.
  11. Caroll, Stuart. “The Norman Power base of the house of Guise in the sixteenth-century.” In Annales de Normandie, vol. 49, no. 49. Université de Caen, 1999.
  12. Knecht, Robert Jean. The French wars of religion 1559-1598.
    Routledge, 2014.
  13. Bulletin of the Society of Antiquaries of Normandy, 3rd year, 1st
    quarter, Volume II, January, February and March 1862, Paris,
    Derache, Caen, Hardel, Rouen, Le Brument, p. 271-2
  14. Racaut, Luc. Hatred in print: Catholic propaganda and Protestant identity
    during the French wars of religion. Routledge, 2017.
  15. Revue de la Normandie, second volume, year 1863, Rouen, Imprimerie de E. Cagniard, p. 302
  16. Franklyn, Julian, and John Tanner. An encyclopaedic dictionary of heraldry. Pergamon, 1970.
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