RICHER, EDMOND. - Gallican jurist, b. at Chaource on 15 Sept. 1560, d. at Paris on 29 Nov. 1631.

Rector of the Sorbonne (1602-18), he was a defender of the "liberties of the Gallican Church" and of the "prerogatives"

RICHER, EDMOND - Portrait. Engraving of the 17th century.(from E. Richer, *Histoire de la Pucelle d'Orléans. From ms. fr. 1635 of the Bibl. nat. of Paris, edited by P. R. Dumand, Paris 1911*)

(phot. Uli)

of the University, violently attacking the religious Orders, especially the Jesuits. Dismissed, he defended his point of view in numerous writings, refusing any retraction. His literary activity is multiform, from rhetorical-grammatical pamphlets to the edition of the Works of Gerson (Paris 1606), which he commented on with Gallican intentions. His principal work is the De ecclesiastica et politica potestate libellus (ibid. 1611), where he sets out the theses of political Gallicanism on the divine power of kings and kingdoms and on the absolute independence of civil power. The authority of the Church would be purely spiritual and would depend on the sovereign in mixed and temporal matters, as in the convocation of general councils and in the administration of property. The supreme pontiff as ministerial head of the Church would have to be subject to the general council, to which alone belongs, as representative of the universal Church, the fullness of power and infallibility. In bishops, jurisdiction would derive immediately from God. R.'s work was condemned by Paul V (1612) and by the General Assembly of the French clergy.

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: A. Puyol, E. R., Paris 1876 (fundamental); J. Carreyre, s. v. in DThC, XIII, coll. 2608-2702; V. Martin, Le gallicanisme et la réforme catholique, Paris 1919, p. 361 ff.; id., Le gallicanisme politique et le clergé de France, ibid. 1929, see index.

Piero Sannazzaro

@incollection{ec10_richer_edmond, author = {Sannazzaro, Piero}, title = {Richer, edmond}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {X}, pages = {882--883}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1953}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/richer-edmond} }

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Richer, Edmond

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