BRUGÈRE, Louis-Frédéric. - French theologian, born in Orléans on 8 Oct. 1823 to a modest family, and died at Issy on 11 Apr. 1888. He completed his studies in the seminary at Orléans, graduating in Rome after several years of teaching in the diocesan seminary. In 1861 he entered Saint-Sulpice and there, from 1862 to 1886, held the chair of Apologetics, to which he added the teaching of ecclesiastical history in 1869. In formulating the proofs of Revelation, he placed great emphasis on moral arguments, from which he ascended to physical and metaphysical ones, convinced that the act of faith must not only meet the demands of reason but also satisfy the aspirations of the heart. Moral certainty, therefore, in his method, is no less important than physical and metaphysical certainty in inducing the intellect to faith.
He wrote: *De vera religione* (Paris 1873-78); *De vera Ecclesia* (ibid. 1873-78); *Tableau de l'histoire et de la littérature de l'église* (in 4°, lithographed for use by the seminarians of Saint-Sulpice in 4 vols.).