Monseigneur

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Not to be confused with Monsignor.
Look up monseigneur in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Monseigneur (plural: Messeigneurs or Monseigneurs) is an honorific in the French language, abbreviated Mgr., Msgr.[1] In English use it is a title before the name of a French prelate, a member of a royal family or other dignitary.

francophone countries, it is rendered Monseigneur, and this spelling is also commonly encountered in Canadian English
practice. In France, monsignori are not usually addressed as monseigneur, but by the more common term monsieur l'abbé, as are priests.

History

As early as the fourteenth century it was the custom to address persons high in rank or power with the title Monseigneur or Monsignore. Until the seventeenth century, French nobles demanded from their subjects and dependents the title of Monseigneur. In international intercourse two titles gradually won general recognition, Monsieur as the title of the eldest brother of the King of France (if not heir presumptive) and Monseigneur for the Dauphin, or eldest son of the French king, who was also the crown prince, or for whatever male member of the family was recognized as heir presumptive to the throne.[3]

This form of formal address is currently still in use at courts in Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, and France.

Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou, and when addressing Albert II, Sovereign
of Monaco (French style always is used in Monaco). The spouse of the prince is addressed as Madame.

Addressing

Prior to the overthrow of the French monarchy in 1792, the title Monseigneur equated to

dauphin de France but this use lapsed in the 18th century. French royalists
commonly style the current pretender Monseigneur.

In literature

In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens uses this honorific as a collective noun denoting the great nobility as a class.[6]

In Les Misérables, Victor Hugo uses this term to describe members of the clergy present in the introductory sequence of the novel.[7]

References

  1. ^ "monseigneur". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  2. ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Monseigneur" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  3. ^ Baumgarten, Paul Maria. "Monsignor." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 19 June 2019Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ISBN 2-913211-00-3
    ..
  5. ^ Harrap's Shorter French and English Dictionary
  6. ISBN 9781101200063
  7. ISBN 9780143107569
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