Antoine Augustin Calmet

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Abbot General of the Congregation of St. Vanne
Orders
Ordination17 March 1696
Personal details
Born26 February 1672
Ménil-la-Horgne, Duchy of Bar, Holy Roman Empire
Died25 October 1757 (aged 85)
Senones, County of Salm-Salm, Holy Roman Empire
BuriedAbbey of Senones
ProfessionAbbot and exegete
Translator

Antoine Augustin Calmet,

Lorraine
).

Calmet was a monk as well as a learned man, and one of the most distinguished members of the

Saint-Dié
, on 25 October 1757.

Biography

Dom Augustin Calmet

Augustin Calmet was born on 26 February 1672, in

vows on 23 October 1689. He was then sent to study philosophy at St. Èvre Abbey and theology
at Munster Abbey.

He was ordained into the

Priesthood on 1 March 1696 in Arlesheim near Basel
, and said his first Mass in the Abbey of Munster on 24 April 1696.

He was commissioned to explain the holy scriptures in the Abbey of Moyenmoutier and Munster Abbey (1704), and was appointed prior to Lay-Saint-Christophe (1714–1715)[3] He became abbot of St. Leopold Nancy (1718). He went through the various monasteries of his order, devouring libraries and writing many historical compilations. In 1728, Calmet was called as priest of Senones Saint-Pierre Abbey, the capital of Principality of Salm. It is in the great abbey Vosges that he worked and lived the last part of his life, maintaining a correspondence with many scientists, and remaining there until his death on 25 October 1757.

Tributes

There are squares which bear his name in Commercy and Senones. There is also a Dom-Calmet Street in downtown Nancy since the late 19th century and a street of Metz in the Sablon district bears his name since 1934.

His monument is erected in St. Peter's Abbey Senones and includes a list of his works.

Written works

Comments on the Bible

Calmet was educated at the Benedictine

ordination, 17 March 1696, he was appointed to teach philosophy and theology at the Abbey of Moyenmoutier. Here, with the help of his brethren, he began to gather the material for his commentary of the Bible, which he completed at Munster in Alsace where he was sent in 1704 as sub-prior and professor of Biblical exegesis.[1]

The first volume appeared in

Protestants, critics were not wanting, among whom may be mentioned the Oratorian Richard Simon. It cannot be denied that in spite of its merits and great erudition it is in some respects open to criticism. Difficult passages are often passed over lightly, and too frequently different explanations of a text are set down without a hint to the reader as to which is the right or preferable one.[1]

The work inaugurated a new method of exegesis. Its author departed from the custom of giving

Bremen, 1738,1744, and 1747) and Italian.[1]

Occultism

In 1746 he wrote the first edition of his

revenants and individuals returning from the grave. This study analyzed accounts of these various topics located in the bible, mythology, cultural legends and famous accounts of historically documented cases or claims from Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. Although quite critical, Voltaire nevertheless consulted the works of Calmet, and frequently relied on his prodigious scholarship to develop his own writings, especially the Dictionnaire philosophique
where it is mentioned:

Quoi ! C'est dans notre XVIIIe siècle qu'il y a eu des vampires ! C'est après le règne des Locke, des Shaftesbury, des Trenchard, des Collins ; c'est sous le règne des d'Alembert, des Diderot, des Saint-Lambert, des Duclos qu'on a cru aux vampires, et que le RPD Augustin Calmet, prêtre, bénédictin de la congrégation de Saint-Vannes et de Saint-Hydulphe, abbé de Senones, abbaye de cent mille livres de rente, voisine de deux autres abbayes du même revenu, a imprimé et réimprimé l'Histoire des Vampires, avec l'approbation de la Sorbonne, signée Marcilli !

What! It's in our eighteenth century and there are

vampires! It is after the reign of Locke, of Shaftesbury, of Trenchard, of Collins; it is under the reign of d'Alembert, of Diderot, of Saint-Lambert, of Duclos, that we believe in vampires, and that the Rev. Father Dom Augustin Calmet, priest, Benedictine of the congregation of St. Vannes and St. Hydulphe, abbot of Senones, Abbey with rents of hundred thousand livre, neighbor of two other abbeys of the same income,[4] printed and reprinted the history of vampires, with the approval of the Sorbonne
, signed by Marcilli!

Calmet was given much praise for his work and received many letters and dissertations regarding the subject which prompted him expand his work in two-volumes and published it again in 1751 under a new title Traité sur les apparitions des esprits et sur les vampires ou les revenans de Hongrie, de Moravie, &c. (i.e. "Treatise on the Apparitions of Spirits and Vampires or Revenants of Hungary, Moravia, etc."). It included further studies of his own as well as several letters and dissertations sent to Calmet as a response to the first publication, and ambiguously considered the possibility of the existence of vampires, although not stating it explicitly.[5][6]

Other works

In the meanwhile he had prepared two other works closely connected with Biblical exegesis: (1) Histoire de l'Ancien et du Nouveau Testament et des Juifs (Paris, 1718), which went through several editions, and was translated into English (London, 1740), German (Augsburg, 1759) and Latin (ib., 1788); (2) Dictionnaire historique, critique, chronologique, géographique et littéral de la Bible (Paris, 1720, two vols. folio), a supplement (also folio) was added in 1728. An improved and enlarged edition in four folio volumes was published in 1730, which has several times been reprinted, the last time in Migne, Encyclopédie théologique, I-IV. It, too, was translated into Latin and the principal European languages. The English translation by D'Oyley and John Colson (1732), revised and with additions by Taylor (1795), went through many editions in a larger and compendious form.[1]

In his later years Calmet published some further Biblical dissertations in the

Bible de Vence (1742). Among his other published works may be mentioned: (1) Histoire universelle sacrée et profane, (Universal History, Sacred and Profane) depuis le commencement du monde jusqu'à nos jours (Strasbourg, 1735, quarto), in which he follows the ideas enunciated in Bossuet's Discours sur l'histoire universelle; (2) Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de la Lorraine (Ecclesiastical and Civil History of Lorraine) (Nancy, 1728), of great value for the history of that province; (3) Bibliothèque lorraine (A Catalogue of the Writers of Lorraine) (Nancy, 1751), containing his autobiography (pp. 209–217); (4) Commentaire littéral historique et moral sur la règle de Saint Benoît (A Literal, Moral, and Historical Commentary on the Rule of Saint Benedict) (Paris, 1734).[1]

Calmet wrote a noted history of the Duchy of Lorraine, as well as a history of the Abbey of Senones, which was still in manuscript form at the time of his death.

Bibliography

The work of Dom Augustin Calmet are eclectic and prolific. His main works are:

Original Name Translated Date Size/Other
Histoire de Lorraine, Nancy, M. DCC. LVII.[7] History of Lorraine 1757
Abrégé de l'histoire de la Lorraine, Nancy Abstract of the history of Lorraine 1734
La Bible en Latin et en français, avec un Commentaire littéral et critique Paris The Bible in Latin and French, with a literal and critical Commentary 1707–1716 23 vol. in-4
le commentaire a été reproduit à part sous le titre de 'Trésor d'antiquités sacrées et profanes' the commentary was reprinted under the title Treasury of sacred and profane antiquities 1722 et ann. 9 v. suiv.
Bibliothèque lorraine, ou histoire des hommes illustres qui ont fleuri en Lorraine Nancy lorraine library, or history of famous men who flourished in Lorraine 1751
Commentaires sur l’Ancien et le Nouveau Testament en latin puis en français A literal Commentary on all the Books of the Old and New Testaments (1707–1717) (Eng Translation published 1716) (26 volumes)
introductory prefaces published separately: Dissertations qui peuvent servir de prolégomènes à l'Écriture Sainte Dissertations that can serve as preliminaries to Scripture (Paris, 1720)
Dictionnaire historique et critique de la BibleThese two capital works have been printed several times, and received considerable increases,[8] Paris Historical and Critical Dictionary of the Bible 1722–1728 2 vol. m-fol.
Dissertation sur les grands chemins de Lorraine, Nancy Dissertation on the highways of Lorraine 1727
Dissertations sur les apparitions des anges, des démons et des esprits, et sur les revenants et vampires de Hongrie, de Bohême, de Moravie et de Silésie, Paris : de Bure l'aîné, Dissertations on the Apparitions of Angels, of Demons and of Spirits, and on Revenants or Vampires of Hungary, of Bohemia, of Moravia and of Silesia 1746 (Expanded and republished in 1751)
Histoire de l'Ancien et du Nouveau Testament History of the Old and New Testaments – –
Histoire de l'abbaye de Munster, Colmar, History of Munster Abbey (posthumous, 1882) –
Histoire de l'abbaye de Senones, Saint-Dié History of the abbey Senones Saint Die (posthumous, 1877–1881) –
Histoire ecclésiastique et civile de la Lorraine, Nancy Ecclesiastical and civil history of Lorraine (1728) 4 vol., in-fol.
Histoire généalogique de la maison du Châtelet, Nancy Family History of the House of Châtelet 1741 –
Histoire universelle sacrée et profane, Strasbourg Universal sacred and secular history (1735–1747) –
Notice de la Lorraine, Nancy[9] Notice of Lorraine 1756
Traité historique des eaux et bains de Plombières, de Luxeuil et de Bains, Nancy Historical Treaty of waters and bathroom Plombieres and of Luxeuil Baths 1748 –
Traité sur les apparitions des esprits et sur les vampires ou les revenans de Hongrie, de Moravie, &c. (Expanded from 1746 Edition)[10]
Treatise on the Apparitions of Spirits and on Vampires or Revenants of Hungary, Moravia, et al.
 1752 2 tomes

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bechtel, F. (1913). "Dom Augustin Calmet". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  2. ISBN 978-2-9529604-0-3
    .
  3. ^ "Dom Calmet bâtisseur, administrateur ses rapports avec la Principauté de Salm" (in French). Entreprise et culture en Lorraine. Archived from the original on 4 January 2009. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  4. ^ most likely the abbeys in Étival, Jura and Moyenmoutier
  5. ISBN 1-5331-4568-7
    .
  6. ^ "chouette-noire.com – Translator". Microsofttranslator.com. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  7. ^ Calmet, Augustin (1757). "dom-julien" voges.
  8. ^ "456-bible".
  9. ^ Calmet, Augustin (1 January 1840). Notice de la Lorraine. Mme. George – via Internet Archive.
  10. ^ Calmet, Augustin (1672–1757) Auteur du texte; Maffei, Scipione (1675–1755) Auteur du texte (1 January 1751). Traité sur les apparitions des esprits et sur les vampires ou les revenants de Hongrie, de Moravie, etc.. Avec une lettre de M. le marquis de Maffei sur la magie. Tome 1 / par le R. P. Dom Augustin Calmet,... – via gallica.bnf.fr.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

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