CHARDON, MATHIAS-CHARLES. - Benedictine theologian of the Congregation of St-Vanne of Verdun, b. at Yvoi-Carignan (Ardennes) on 22 Sept. 1695 and d. in the abbey of S. Arnoldo at Metz on 21 Oct. 1771. Skilled in the biblical languages (Greek, Hebrew, and Syriac), he taught rhetoric, philosophy, and theology at Noviles-Moines and for some time was also master of novices; but in 1730, because of his opposition to the bull Unigenitus, he was deprived of every office by the General Chapter held at Toul. Rigid in character, he was an admirer of Jansenist spirituality, and did not conceal his sympathies for its theories.
As a scholar, he traced the history of sacramental errors from their origins to his own time, refuting them admirably from the historical standpoint. His works include: Histoire des Sacrements ou de la manière dont ils ont été célébrés et administrés dans l'église et de l'usage qu'on en a fait depuis les temps des opôtres jusqu'à présent (6 vols., Paris 1745; Italian trans., Verona 1754, Brescia 1758, Capolago 1835), included by Migne in the Cursus Theologiae, XX (Paris 1840), cols. 1-1152.