BROGLIE, Maurice-Jean-Madeleine, Prince of. - Bishop, b. at the castle of Broglie, in Normandy, on 5 Sept. 1766, d. on 20 July 1821 in Paris. Educated at the seminary of St. Sulpice, in Paris, he was at first favorable to the revolution, but subsequent events disgusted him. He then emigrated to Trier, where he was ordained a priest. Having returned to France in 1803, Napoleon appointed him almoner, and two years later bishop of Acqui. In Aug. 1807 he had himself transferred, for reasons of health, to the episcopal see of Ghent. Decorated with the Legion of Honor, Bishop B. refused to take the required oath, seeing in such an act an approval of the violence perpetrated against Pius VII with the occupation of the Papal States in 1809. Summoned to be a member of the Ecclesiastical Council in March 1811, he was at the National Council among the most resolute opponents of Napoleon's plan with regard to the canonical institution of bishops, which the latter wished to withdraw from the Pope. Imprisoned at Vincennes, B. was forced to renounce his see (21 Nov.).

After the fall of the emperor, B. was firmly opposed to the provisions of the Dutch constitution, which required the civil oath of the clergy. Threatened anew with the loss of his personal freedom, he took refuge in France. In 1817 the Court of Assizes of Brabant condemned the bishop of Ghent in absentia to deportation.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: J. J. De Smet, s. v. in Biographie nationale... de Belgique, III, Bruxelles 1872, col. 83 ff. - Cf. also I. Rinieri, Napoleone e Pio VII (1804-1813), III, Torino 1906, passim; C. Terlinden, Guillaume Ier, roi des Pays-Bas, et l'Eglise catholique en Belgique 1814-1830, Bruxelles 1906, passim.

Silvio Furlani

BROKEN HILL, DIOCESE and APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE, v. respectively: WILKANNIA-FORBES, DIOCESE of and LUSAKA, APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE of.

@incollection{ec3_broglie_maurice_jean_madeleine, author = {Furlani, Silvio}, title = {Broglie, maurice-jean-madeleine, principe di}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {III}, pages = {117}, 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/broglie-maurice-jean-madeleine-principe-di} }

One of some 20,000 entries brought back from the twelve printed volumes (1948–54). Spotted something? Help us improve it.

Broglie, Maurice-Jean-Madeleine, Prince of

About this entry