- Cappel family
Cappel, a French family which produced distinguished
jurist s andtheologian s in the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1491, Guillaume Cappel, asrector of theUniversity of Paris , protested against atithe whichPope Innocent VIII claimed from that body. His nephew, Jacques Cappel (died 1541), the real founder of the family, was himself advocate-general at theparlement ofParis . In a celebrated address delivered before the court in 1537, against the emperor Charles V, he claimed for King Francis I the counties ofArtois ,Flanders , andCharolais . He left nine children, of whom three becameProtestant s. The eldest, Jacques (1529-1586), sieur duTilloy , wrote several treatises onjurisprudence . Louis (1534-1586), sieur deMoriambert , the fifth son, was a most ardent Protestant. In 1570 he presented a confession of faith to King Charles IX in the name of his co-religionists. He disputed at Sedan before the duc de Bouillon with theJesuit ,Jean Maldonat (1534-1583), and wrote in defence of Protestantism. The seventh son, Ange (1537-1623), seigneur du Luat, was secretary to King Henry IV, and enjoyed the esteem ofSully . Among those who remainedCatholic should be mentioned Guillaume, the translator ofMachiavelli . The eldest son Jacques also left two sons, famous in the history of Protestantism: Jacques (1570-1624), pastor of the church founded by himself on his fief of le Tilloy and afterwards at Sedan, where he became professor of Hebrew, distinguished as historian, philologist and exegetical scholar; and Louis (see below).On the protest of Guillaume Cappel, see
Du Bellay , "Historia Universitatis Parisiensis", vol. v. On the family, see the sketch by another Jacques Cappel, "De Capellorum gente", in the "Commentarii et notae criticae in Vetus Testamentum" of Louis Cappel, his father (Amsterdam, 1689). Consult Eugene and Emile Haag, "La France protestante", vol. iii. (new edition, 1881).
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