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JOHN MABILLON (1632-1707)

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 189 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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JOHN See also:MABILLON (1632-1707)  , See also:Benedictine See also:monk of the See also:Congregation of St Maur (see See also:MAURISTS), was the son of a See also:peasant near See also:Reims . In 1653 he became a monk in the See also:abbey of St Remi at Reims . In 1664 he was placed at St Germain-See also:des-Pres in See also:Paris, the See also:great See also:literary workshop of the Maurists, where he lived and worked for twenty years, at first under d'Achery, with whom he edited the nine See also:folio volumes of Ada of the Benedictine See also:Saints . In See also:Mabillon's Prefaces (reprinted separately) these lives were for the first See also:time made to illustrate the ecclesiastical and See also:civil See also:history of the See also:early See also:middle ages . Mabillon's masterpiece was the De re diplomatica (1681; and a supplement, 1704) in which were first laid down the principles for determining the authenticity and date of See also:medieval charters and See also:manuscripts . It practically created the See also:science of Latin See also:palaeography, and is still the See also:standard See also:work on the subject . In 1685–1686 Mabillon visited the See also:libraries of See also:Italy, to See also:purchase See also:MSS. and books for the See also:King's Library . On his return to Paris he was called upon to defend against de See also:Rance, the See also:abbot of La Trappe, the See also:legitimacy for monks of the See also:kind of studies to which the Maurists de-voted themselves: this called forth Mabillon's Traite des etudes monastiques and his Reflexions sur la reponse de M.l'See also:abbe de la Trappe (1691-1692), See also:works embodying the ideas and See also:programme of the Maurists for ecclesiastical studies . Mabillon produced in all some twenty folio volumes and as many of lesser See also:size, nearly all works of monumental erudition (the See also:chief are named in the See also:article MAURISTS) . A very competent See also:judge declared that, " he knew well the 7th, 8th, 9th, loth and rrth centuries, but nothing earlier or later." Mabillon never allowed his studies to interfere with his See also:life as a monk; he was noted for his See also:regular attendance at the choral recitation of the See also:office and the other duties of the monastic life, and for his deep See also:personal See also:religion, as well as for a See also:special See also:charm of See also:character . He died on the 26th of See also:December 1707, in the midst of the See also:production of the See also:colossal Benedictine See also:Annals . The chief authority for his life is the Abrege de la See also:vie de D .

J . M . (also in Latin), by his See also:

disciple and friend Ruinart (1709) . See also, for a full See also:summary of his works, Tassin, Hist. litteraire de la congr. de St Maur (1770), pp . 205-269 . Of See also:modern See also:biographies the best are those of de See also:Broglie (2 vols., 1888) and Baumer (1892)—the former to be especially recommended . A brief See also:sketch by E . C . See also:Butler may be found in the Downside See also:Review (1893) . (E . C .

End of Article: JOHN MABILLON (1632-1707)
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