Title Promoter Affiliations Abstract "Augustine and the Golden Age of Catholic Biblical Scholarship in Louvain (1550-1650)" "Wim François" "Research Unit of History of Church and Theology" "Augustine and the Golden Age of Catholic Biblical Scholarship in Louvain (1550-1650)This research program aims at examining the Louvain theologians’ accomplishments in the field of textual criticism of, and commentary on the Bible during the Golden Age of Catholic Bible exegesis (1550-1650), and particularly the way the Church father Augustine was a reference point for their work. Previous generations of scholars paid attention to the achievements of the Lovanienses with regard to biblical textual criticism, especially regarding the Latin Vulgate, others to Augustinianism within their doctrinal works, still others to University politics in general. This research program is innovative in that it examines the works of the protagonists of Leuven’s Golden Age, among whom Francis Lucas ‘of Bruges’, Cornelius Jansenius ‘of Ghent’, Andreas Masius, Thomas Stapleton, Guilielmus Estius, Cornelius a Lapide, and Cornelius Jansenius ‘of Ypres’, to mention only the most influential. Their works went through several reprints in printing houses all over Europe and are now preserved in the libraries and precious book collections everywhere in the world, not least in Louvain’s heritage libraries. Besides examining the hermeneutical principles of both the textual critical and commentary work, the main aim of the project is to study, through a careful selection of relevant Bible pericopes, how the theological issues of grace, free will and predestination were dealt with in commentaries and postils. Precisely these questions were at stake in the main theological debates in the period under consideration, not only between Catholics and Protestants, but also between the different theological currents in post-Tridentine Catholicism. Since the correct interpretation of Augustine’s theology of grace was an inextricable part of these debates, one of the most important aims of the project is also to investigate the way in which the commentators, to whatever current they belonged, appealed to Augustine to substantiate their interpretation of the Scriptures, without however excluding other authoritative commentators as Thomas Aquinas. The proposed research contributes to the opening up of the precious book heritage preserved in the K U Leuven Libraries, and enhances in a meaningful way the knowledge of our own University’s past, as well as the Lovanienses' important contribution to the broader religious and ideological debates of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. " "A Golden Age of Biblical Scholarship in Louvain and Douai (1550-1650)." "Wim François" "Research Unit of History of Church and Theology" "Around the middle of the sixteenth century, the idea arose in Catholic circles that the Protestant claim to having the Scriptures on their side, could only be countered by a Catholic return to a more Bible-based theology and preaching. This insight was confirmed during the humanistically inspired fifth session of the Council of Trent (1546), giving rise to the flourishing of biblical studies everywhere in Catholic Europe. The period 1550-1650 is therefore considered to be a Golden Age of Catholic Biblical Scholarship (Reventlov 1997). In the Low Countries, the Emperor Charles V aligned himself with this reform movement through the establishment, in that same year of 1546, of a royal chair of Sacred Scriptures at the Faculty of Theology in Louvain. As a consequence, the theological Faculty of Louvain and its daughter University of Douai contributed significantly to the Golden Age through (1) the development of sound text-critical work with regard to the Latin Vulgate which the Council of Trent had declared during its fourth session to be the authentic version of the Scriptures for the Church (2) the production of Bible commentaries of high quality, including Latin postils or homiletic expositions intended as a pulpit help for priests and preachers. These biblical works, which went through several reprints in printing houses all over Europe, are now preserved in the libraries and precious book collections throughout the continent (and its old overseas missions), not least in Louvains heritage libraries, but have never been subjected to a systematic study. Besides examining the hermeneutical principles of both the text-critical and exegetical work, the main aim of the project is to study, through a careful selection of significant Bible pericopes, how the theological issues of grace, free will and predestination were dealt with in commentaries and postils. Precisely these questions were at stake in the main theological debates in the period under consideration, not only between Catholics and Protestants, but also between the different theological currents in post-Tridentine Catholicism, which ultimately exploded in the Jansenist controversy. Since the correct interpretation of Augustines theology of grace was an inextricable part of these debates, one of the most important aims of the project is also to investigate the way in which the commentators under consideration appealed to Augustine to substantiate their interpretation of the Scriptures, without however excluding Thomas Aquinas and other authoritative commentators. To this aim, the researcher will be able to bring to light the features of a specific group of highly skilled biblical scholars with an international reputation, but whose important contribution to the history of ideas in Europe has unfortunately not received the attention it deserves." "A Golden Age of Biblical Scholarship in Louvain and Douai (1550-1650)" "Wim François" "Research Unit of History of Church and Theology" "Around the middle of the sixteenth century, the idea arose in Catholic circles that the Protestant claim to having the Scriptures on their side, could only be countered by a Catholic return to a more Bible-based theology and preaching. This insight was confirmed during the humanistically inspired fifth session of the Council of Trent (1546), giving rise to the flourishing of biblical studies everywhere in Catholic Europe. The period 1550-1650 is therefore considered to be a ‘Golden Age of Catholic Biblical Scholarship’ (Reventlov 1997). In the Low Countries, the Emperor Charles V aligned himself with this reform movement through the establishment, in that same year of 1546, of a ‘royal’ chair of Sacred Scriptures at the Faculty of Theology in Louvain. As a consequence, the theological Faculty of Louvain and its daughter University of Douai contributedsignificantly to the Golden Age through (1) the development of sound text-critical work with regard to the Latin Vulgate – which the Council ofTrent had declared during its fourth session to be the ‘authentic’ version of the Scriptures for the Church – (2) the production of Bible commentaries of high quality, including Latin postils or homileticexpositions intended as a pulpit help for priests and preachers. These biblical works, which went through several reprints in printing houses all over Europe, are now preserved in the libraries and precious book collections throughout the continent (and its old overseas missions), not least in Louvain’s heritage libraries, but have never been subjected to asystematic study. Besides examining the hermeneutical principles of both the text-critical and exegetical work, the main aim of the project is to study, through a careful selection of significant Bible pericopes, how the theological issues of grace, free will and predestination were dealt with in commentaries and postils. Precisely these questions were at stake in the main theological debates in the period under consideration, not only between Catholics and Protestants, but also between the different theological currents in post-Tridentine Catholicism, whichultimately exploded in the ‘Jansenist’ controversy. Since the correct interpretation of Augustine’s theology of grace was an inextricable part of these debates, one of the most important aims of the project is also to investigate the way in which the commentators under consideration appealed to Augustine to substantiate their interpretation of the Scriptures, without however excluding Thomas Aquinas and other authoritativecommentators. To this aim, the researcher will be able to bring to light the features of a specific group of highly skilled biblical scholars with an international reputation, but whose important contribution to thehistory of ideas in Europe has unfortunately not received the attentionit deserves."