BESSON, FRANÇOIS-NICOLAS-LOUIS. - Bishop of Nîmes, b. at Baume-les-Dames on 5 Oct. 1821, d. at Nîmes on 18 Nov. 1888. He studied at the seminary of Besançon and was ordained a priest on 17 Sept. 1845; in 1848 he was vicar of Gray and then of St. Mary Magdalene in Besançon, where he founded the seminary of St. Francis Xavier. In 1873 he was appointed titular canon of Besançon and in 1875, on 23 Sept., he was preconized bishop of Nîmes. Everywhere he left traces of his prodigious activity. A scholar, he took an interest in history and archaeology, was among the promoters of the Catholic University of Lyon, founded the Comité de l'art chrétien in 1876 and the Revue du Midi in 1886. His conferences, delivered at the metropolitan church of Besançon in the years 1863-74, remained famous; they were later published separately in seven volumes (Besançon 1863-74), which form a complete course of Catholic doctrine. He tended his diocese of Nîmes with passion; lavish with advice toward the clergy, he aimed to spread knowledge of the catechism, «l'oeuvre par excellence» as he himself called it, among adults as well as among children.
Among his writings, besides sermons, panegyrics and funeral orations, the following are remembered: Vie de Mgr. Cart (1856); Vie de l'abbé Busson (1862); Montalembert en Franche-Comté (1870); Vie du cardinal Mathieu (1881); Vie de Mgr Paulinien (1885); Vie de Mgr Xavier de Mérode (1886); Vie du cardinal Bonnechose (2 vols., 1887); Le pouvoir temporel des Popes, written in collaboration with Card. Mathieu.
Bibliography3 worksL. Bascoul, Vie de Mgr B., Arras 1903; J. Bricout, s. v. in Dict. pratique des connaissances religieuses, I, coll. 791-92; P. Calendini, s.
BIBL.: L. Bascoul, Vie de Mgr B., Arras 1903; J. Bricout, s. v. in Dict. pratique des connaissances religieuses, I, coll. 791-92; P. Calendini, s. v. in DHG, VIII, coll. 1212-13.
De, Stefano Gabriella. “Besson, françois-nicolas-louis.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. II, col. 1500. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1949. https://azioneromana.com/article/besson-francois-nicolas-louis.
MLA
De, Stefano Gabriella. “Besson, françois-nicolas-louis.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. II, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1949, col. 1500. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/besson-francois-nicolas-louis.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec2_besson_francois_nicolas_louis,
author = {De, Stefano Gabriella},
title = {Besson, françois-nicolas-louis},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {II},
pages = {1500},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1949},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/besson-francois-nicolas-louis}
}
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