Jacques-Melchior Villefranche
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (December 2023) |
Jacques-Melchior Villefranche (b. at Couzon-sur-Saône, 17 December 1829; d. at Bourg, 10 May 1904) was a French editor, writer, and publicist working for Roman Catholic causes.
Life
After classical studies at the lesser seminary of Largentière, he entered the telegraphic service. In that capacity in 1855, during the Crimean War, he directed the telegraphic bureau of Varna, the first landing-place of the Franco-Russian troops.
In 1870 as telegraphic director at Versailles he was attached to the service of telegraphic communications of the army of Le Mans. In 1875, he left the telegraphic service, and assumed the editorship of the Journal de l'Ain, in which he defended the cause of religious liberty, and campaigned against the laws of scholastic secularization.
Works
He was prolific. His "Fables" (1851) and his "Fabuliste Chrétien" (1875) were pedagogical works. A number of historical and judicial romances included "Cineas, ou Rome sous Néron" (1869), which was translated into several foreign languages.
His major works are historical:
- "Pius IX, son histoire, sa vie, son siècle" (1874), reprinted nineteen times;
- "Vie de Dom Marie-Augustin, Marquis de Ladouze, fondateur de la Trappe de Notre Dame des Dombes" (1876);
- "Vie de l'abbé Olivieri, fondateur de l'oeuvre du rachat des jeunes negresses" (1877);
- "Histoire des Martyrs de Gorcum, du Japon et autres canonisés par Pie IX" (1882);
- "Vie de Dom Bosco" (1887);
- "Vie du Père Chevrier, fondateur du Prado à Lyon" (1894);
- "Histoire de Napoleon III" (2 vols., 1896).
In the controversial pamphlet published in 1891 and entitled "Le Concordat, qu'on l'observe loyalement ou qu'on le dénonce", Villefranche argued against the policy of strict application of the Concordat, limiting the Catholic Church's rights on the basis that matters were not explicitly contained in the concordatory text.
References
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Jacques-Melchior Villefranche". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- Articles needing additional references from December 2023
- All articles needing additional references
- Articles incorporating a citation from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia with Wikisource reference
- Articles incorporating text from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia with Wikisource reference
- Articles with ISNI identifiers
- Articles with VIAF identifiers
- Articles with WorldCat Entities identifiers
- Articles with BNF identifiers
- Articles with BNFdata identifiers
- Articles with GND identifiers
- Articles with ICCU identifiers
- Articles with J9U identifiers
- Articles with LCCN identifiers
- Articles with NKC identifiers
- Articles with NTA identifiers
- Articles with PLWABN identifiers
- Articles with PortugalA identifiers
- Articles with VcBA identifiers
- Articles with CINII identifiers
- Articles with SUDOC identifiers
- 1829 births
- 1904 deaths
- French male writers