- Henri Spondanus
Henri Spondanus (de Sponde) (born at
Mauléon , in the French Department ofBasses-Pyrénées ,6 January 1568 ; died atToulouse ,18 May 1643 ) was a French Catholic jurist, historian and continuator ofBaronius , andBishop of Pamiers . He was a convert fromCalvinism .After studying humanities at the Calvinist college of
Orthez , he accompanied the royal ambassador to Scotland and, upon his return, took up the study ofjurisprudence . In 1589 he was jurist at theParliament of Tours .Convinced by the writings of
Bellarmine and the instructions ofDuperron , he became a Catholic, 21 September 1595. In 1600 he accompaniedCardinal de Sourdis to Rome, where he was ordained priest on 7 March, 1606;Pope Paul V then appointed him reviser of the briefs of thePœnitentiaria .In 1625 he was created Bishop of
Pamiers . He labouredfor the preservation of Catholicism and converted numerous Protestants. Owing to ill-health he resigned his diocese in 1639 and retired to Toulouse.His writings are:
*"Les cimetières sacrés" (Bordeaux, 1596)
*"Annales ecclesiastici Cæsaris Baronii in Epitomen redacti" (Paris, 1612)
*"Annales sacri a mundi creatione ad ejusdem redemptionem" (Paris, 1637), an epitome of the "Annals" ofAgostino Tornielli
*"Annalium Baronii continuatio ab a. 1197 quo is desinit ad a. 1622" (Paris, 1639).References
*
Pierre Frizon , "Vita Spondani" in later editions of the last-named work
*Raess , "Die Convertiten seit der Reformation", III (Freiburg, 1866), 285-95.External links
*CathEncy|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14235a.htm|title=Henri Spondanus
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