Gabriel Bucelin | |
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| Born | 29 December 1599 (1599-12-29) Diessenhofen, Thurgau |
| Died | 9 June 1681(1681-06-09) (aged 81) |
| Other names | Gabriel Buzlin, Gabriel Bincelint, Gabriel Bucelinus |
| Occupation(s) | Benedictine polymath, Humanist, historical writer, cartographer |
Gabriel Bucelin (alsoGabriel Buzlin,Gabriel Bincelint, orGabriel Bucelinus) (29 December 1599 – 9 June 1681) was aBenedictine polymath, Humanist, historical writer and cartographer.
A scion of the distinguished line of Bucellini counts, Gabriel, at the age of thirteen, entered the Benedictine monastery at Weingarten. After a course in philosophy and theology at the JesuitUniversity of Dillingen he was ordained a priest on April 23, 1624. In the same year he was sent, as master of novices, to restore the primitive fervour and raise the standard of studies in the monastery of St. Trudpert in theBlack Forest. In 1627 he became secretary to Abbott Franz Dietrich and to the Swabian Benedictine congregation. He filled the position of master of novices at Weingarten and professor of humanities at Feldkirch (1635), from which on the approach of the Swedish army he was forced to flee to Vienna, Venice, and finallyAdmont (1646). There he was appointed prior of St. John's monastery, Feldkirch (1651), where he remained until a few months before his death, when he returned to Weingarten.
Bucelin was a universal scholar and a very prolific writer, being the author of some fifty-three works on genealogy, world history, hagiography and church history. He also drew maps and plans. A large number of his works are still in manuscript in the state library atStuttgart. Many of his works remained unpublished, perhaps because of the disruptions of war. His chief claim to contemporary fame lies in the fact that he was, if not the first, at least among the first authors to deal with the ecclesiastical history of Germany. Of his published works the most important are:
Bucelin was also the author of many works on the Benedictine Order and its most illustrious members, among themAquila imperii benedictina (Venice, 1651),Annales Benedictini (Vienna 1655, Augsburg 1656) andMenologium benedictinum (Feldkirch, 1655).
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Rudge, F.M. (1908). "Gabriel Bucelin".Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 3.
