Charles De Smedt

Charles De Smedt (6 April 1833, Ghent, Belgium – 4 March 1911, Brussels) was a Belgian Jesuit priest and hagiographer. He was a Bollandist, and is noted for having introduced critical historical methods into Catholic hagiography, so that it became a collection of accounts of the accretion of legends, as well as the compilation of original materials.^[1]

He is best known for his contribution to hagiography but also to history and metaphysics. His contribution to the development of a critical approach to History is epitomized in his masterpiece: Principes de la critique historique.

He revived the Bollandist Society and founded it scholarly journal, the Analecta Bollandiana in 1882 with G. van Hooff and Joseph de Backer^[2].

Works

• Introductio generalis ad historiam ecclesiasticam critice tractandam (1876)
• L'Église et la science (1877), early reply to the conflict thesis
• Principes de la critique historique, Bruxelles, 1883.

Notes

1. ^ [1], in French.
2. ^ Bollandists - LoveToKnow 1911

Persondata
Name	De Smedt, Charles
Alternative names
Short description	Jesuit priest, hagiographer
Date of birth	6 April 1833
Place of birth	Ghent, Belgium
Date of death	4 March 1911
Place of death	Brussels, Belgium