John Mabillon: Difference between revisions

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'''John Mabillon''' (1632-1707), [[Benedictine]] monk of the Congregation of [[Saint-Maur]], born at [[Saint-Pierremont]] between Mouzon and the [[Chartreuse]] of Mont-Dieu in [[Champagne (province)|Champagne]] on November 23, 1632. He was the fifth child of Estienne Mabillon, a peasant who died in 1692, aged 104, and of his wife, Jeanne Guérin, descended, through her mother's family, from a branch of the seigneurs of Saint-Pierremont.

Jean was a precocious child, and easily surpassed his school companions in their studies, while his pleasant disposition made him a general favorite. At the age of nine he was sent to his uncle, Jean Mabillon, then parish priest at [[Neufville]], by whom he was well instructed in the "rudiments", and from whom he received a donation to enable him to continue his studies. In 1644 Jean was sent to the Collège des Bons Enfants at [[Reims]]. Here, while studying at the university, he lived, half as pupil, half as servant, in the house of Clément Boucher canon of the cathedral and commendatory Abbot of [[Tenaiues]]. This patron, in 1650, procured him admission to the [[Diocese|diocesan]] [[seminary]], where he remained for three years. In 1653, however, the scandalous conduct and death of the uncle who had befriended him made the vocation to the [[secular]] priesthood distasteful to him, and he withdrew from the seminary.