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Antoine Augustin Calmet | |
|---|---|
| Abbot of theAbbey of Senones | |
 1750 engraving of Dom Augustin Calmet | |
| Other posts | Professor ofExegesis, Abbey ofMoyenmoutier, andAbbot General of theCongregation of St. Vanne |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 17 March 1696 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 26 February 1672 |
| Died | 25 October 1757 (aged 85) |
| Buried | Abbey of Senones |
| Profession | Abbot and exegeteHistorian;Scholar;Theologian;Philosopher,Occultist;Translator |
Antoine Augustin CalmetO.S.B. (French:[ɑ̃twanoɡystɛ̃kalmɛ]; 26 February 1672 – 25 October 1757) was aFrenchBenedictineabbot, born inMénil-la-Horgne, then in theDuchy of Bar, part of theHoly Roman Empire (now theFrench department ofMeuse, located in the region ofLorraine).
Calmet was a monk as well as a learned man, and one of the most distinguished members of theCongregation of St. Vanne. In recognition of these qualities he was electedprior ofLay-Saint-Christophe in 1715,Abbot of St-Léopold atNancy in 1718, and ofSenones Abbey in 1729. He was twice entrusted with the office ofAbbot General of the congregation.Pope Benedict XIII wished to conferepiscopal dignity upon him, but his humility could not be brought to accept the honor.[1] Calmet died at Senones Abbey, in theVosges, nearSaint-Dié, on 25 October 1757.
Augustin Calmet was born on 26 February 1672, inMénil-la-Horgne, nearCommercy in theLorraine, to the modest family of Antoine Calmet. His father was ablacksmith. After entering the Benedictine priory at Breuil at the age of 15, he attended theUniversity of Pont-à-Mousson and studiedrhetoric under theJesuit father Ignace de L’Aubrussel (later the confessor to the Queen of Spain).[2] At the end of these studies, he joined theBenedictine order of the Congregation of Saint-Vanne and St. Hydulphe. Hisnovitiate was made to the St. Mansuy Abbey Toul where he took monasticvows on 23 October 1689. He was then sent to studyphilosophy at St. Èvre Abbey andtheology at Munster Abbey.
He was ordained into thePriesthood on 1 March 1696 inArlesheim nearBasel, and said his first Mass in the Abbey of Munster on 24 April 1696.
He was commissioned to explain theholy scriptures in the Abbey ofMoyenmoutier and Munster Abbey (1704), and was appointed prior toLay-Saint-Christophe (1714–1715)[3] He became abbot of St. LeopoldNancy (1718). He went through the various monasteries of his order, devouring libraries and writing many historical compilations. In 1728, Calmet was called aspriest of Senones Saint-Pierre Abbey, the capital ofPrincipality 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.
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.
Calmet was educated at the Benedictinepriory of Breuil in the town ofCommercy, and in 1688 joined the same Order at theAbbey of Saint-Mansuy atToul, where he was admitted toprofession on 23 October of the following year. After hisordination, 17 March 1696, he was appointed to teachphilosophy andtheology at the Abbey ofMoyenmoutier. Here, with the help of his brethren, he began to gather the material for his commentary of theBible, which he completed atMunster inAlsace where he was sent in 1704 as sub-prior and professor of Biblicalexegesis.[1]
The first volume appeared inParis in 1707 with the titleCommentaire littéral sur tous les livres de l'Ancien et du Nouveau Testaments (A literal Commentary on all the Books of the Old and New Testaments); the last of the twenty-three quarto volumes, owing to various delays, was published only in 1716. To satisfy the demand for the work a second edition in twenty-six volumesquarto was issued 1714–1720, and a third, enlarged, edition in nine volumes folio 1724–1726. ALatin translation byJ. D. Mansi was published atLucca, 1730–1738, in nine folio volumes, with new editions atAugsburg (1756, eight volumes folio) andWürzburg (1789, nineteen volumes quarto); another Latin translation by F. Vecelli appeared atVenice andFrankfurt (1730, six volumes folio). This shows how much the commentary was esteemed. But while it was received with high praise, even byProtestants, critics were not wanting, among whom may be mentioned theOratorianRichard 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 givingallegorical (mystical) andtropological (moral) interpretations besides the literal. The most valuable part of the commentary were the introductory prefaces to the several books and 114 learned dissertations on special topics. These he published separately with nineteen new ones in three volumes, under the titleDissertations qui peuvent servir de prolégomènes à l'Écriture Sainte (Paris, 1720). The collection met with such success that two editions were printed atAmsterdam in 1722, the title being changed toTrésors d'antiquités sacrées et profanes. It was translated into English (Oxford, 1726), Latin (by Mansi, Lucca, 1729), Dutch (Rotterdam, 1728), German (Bremen, 1738,1744, and 1747) and Italian.[1]
In 1746 he wrote the first edition of hisDissertations 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. It extensively studied apparitions ofangels,demons and other spirits but also included dissertations on various topics ofMagic, sorcery,witchcraft and instances ofvampires,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 fromHungary,Bohemia,Moravia andSilesia. Although quite critical,Voltaire nevertheless consulted the works of Calmet, and frequently relied on his prodigious scholarship to develop his own writings, especially theDictionnaire 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 arevampires! It is after the reign ofLocke, ofShaftesbury, ofTrenchard, ofCollins; it is under the reign ofd'Alembert, ofDiderot, ofSaint-Lambert, ofDuclos, that we believe in vampires, and that the Rev. Father Dom Augustin Calmet, priest,Benedictine of thecongregation of St. Vannes and St. Hydulphe, abbot ofSenones, Abbey withrents of hundred thousandlivre, neighbor of two other abbeys of the same income,[notes 1] printed and reprinted the history of vampires, with the approval of theSorbonne, 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 titleTraité 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 ofvampires, although not stating it explicitly.[4][5]
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 byD'Oyley andJohn 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 theBible 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 inBossuet'sDiscours 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 ofSaint Benedict) (Paris, 1734).[1]
Calmet wrote a noted history of theDuchy of Lorraine, as well as a history of the Abbey of Senones, which was still in manuscript form at the time of his death.
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.[6] | 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 critiqueParis | The Bible in Latin and French, with aliteral 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 titleTreasury 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 enLatin puis enfrançais | 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,[7] 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[8] | 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)[9] | Treatise on the Apparitions of Spirits and on Vampires or Revenants of Hungary, Moravia, et al. | 1752 | 2 tomes |
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Bechtel, F. (1913). "Dom Augustin Calmet". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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