Jean Bolland

Jean Bolland (Latin: Johannes Bollandus) (18 August 1596 – 12 September 1665) was a Jesuit priest and prominent Flemish hagiographer.

Bolland's main achievement is the compilation of the first five volumes of the Lives of the Saints in Latin, called the Acta Sanctorum, a series which was continued by others, who, after his death, formed the Society of Bollandists.

Jean Bolland was born in 1596 in the village of Julémont, now part of Herve (Belgium), North-East of the city of Liège. The village of Bolland, after which the family took their name, is nearby. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1612. After his studies at the Jesuit colleges of Maastricht and Antwerp, Bolland taught humanities in Roermond, Den Bosch, Brussels and Antwerp. In 1620 Bolland was sent to study theology at the University of Leuven. Four years later he received holy orders and then became prefect of studies at the Jesuit college of Mechelen. Bolland was ordained in 1625.

In 1630 he was called to Antwerp by the superior of the Flemish province of the Society of Jesus to examine papers left by the hagiographer Heribert Rosweyde who had died shortly before, and report back his opinion as to what it was advisable to do with them. Bolland went to Antwerp, familiarized himself with the manuscripts, and, while admitting that the work was still merely a rough and faulty draft, gave reasons for believing that without an undue expenditure of labour it might be brought to a successful completion. He offered to oversee the work on two conditions: that he should be free to modify the plan of Rosweyde as he understood it, and that Rosweyde's materials should be set apart for his exclusive use. The Provincial Superior, Jacques van Straten, accepted the conditions and Bolland was transferred from the college of Mechelen to Antwerp, where he became director of the Latin Congregation, a congregation composed of the principal people of the city, and had charge of preparing the Acta Sanctorum for publication.

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