Faber, Jacobus

FABER (FABRI), STAPULENSIS, JACOBUS (JACQUES LEitL'VRE D'kTAPLES): The most prominent among the men who in the beginning of the Reformation in France prepared the way for Calvin and Farel, at the same time a promoter and renovator of the genuine Aristotelian philosophy, founder of a better exegesis of Holy Scripture, and translator of the Bible; b. at ttaples (120 m. n.n.w. of Paris), Picardy, c. 1450; d. at Ni=rac (85 m. s.e. of Bordeaux), Barn, 1536 Notning is known of his family or of his youth except that he was or- dained priest and came early to Paris, attracted by his love of knowledge. Here he devoted him- self earnestly and zealously to classical studies. Jerome of Sparta became his teacher in Greek, and with him, as well as with Paulus qua of Verona, Faber lived in intimate intercourse, although his Latin style and his knowledge of the Greek language were always very defective. He became teacher, and in 1492 traveled to Italy, where he sojourned in Florence, Rome, and Venice, studying Platonism and works of mystics, but chiefly Aris- totle. Returning to France he renewed his ac- tivity as teacher in Paris, with a clearer insight. He became professor in the college named after its founder, Cardinal Lemoine, and exerted an influ- ence beyond the lecture-room by intimate inter- course with gifted students and by Latin transla- tions of the Church Fathers and introductions and commentaries on works of Aristotle. He inspired respect and love by his extensive knowledge, his talents as a teacher, his piety, modesty, and gentleness, and found numerous admirers and friends. When Guillaume Briconnet (q.v.), his former pupil, was made head of the famous Benedictine abbey of St. Germain des Pry (1507), he appointed Fa- ber librarian, and they lived together until 1520. About this time, Faber, already more than fifty, laid aside secular studies, and devoted himself to the Bible. Two critical essays on Mary Magdalene which he published in 1517 and 1518 gave the Sorbonne occasion for an accusation of heresy; and Natalia Beda (No51 dier)Bt, syndic of the theo- logical faculty of Paris, had the book formally condemned by a decree of the faculty, Nov. 9, 1521. Beda, who suspected a secret Lutheran in Faber, him, but was prevented by the interference of Francis I. and Marguerite of Navarre. In 1520 London, Faber had to leave Paris and gladly followed an invitation of Brisonnet to come to Meaux as director of the hospital for lepers. In 1523 the bishop ap pointed him vicar-general. After the battle of Pavia (1525), the captivity of the king gave Faber's opponents opportunity to proceed more severely against the adherents of so-called Lutheranism, and a special commission was appointed by parlia- ment to investigate the heresies in the diocese of Meaux. Several preachers who had been installed by Brigonnet, were arrested; others recanted; Faber fled with his friend Gerard Roussel (q.v.) to Strasburg, under the pseudonym of Peregrinus, early in Nov., 1525. After the return of Francis I. to France, both were recalled. Faber even became private tutor of the king's children and lived as librarian in the royal castle at Blois. As conditions grew more menacing for the adherents of the Ref ormation, the Queen of Navarre took Faber to her residence in Nt=rac, where he spent peacefully the remainder of his long and active life. Faber fully avowed the principles of the Reformation, but ex ternally remained in the Roman Church, hoping that the renovation of the Gospel might be effected without rupture with papacy, and being unequal to an open battle with hostile powers. Faber's theological productions may be divided into two classes-editions of Church Fathers and mystical writers, and translations and commen taries on Holy Scripture. The first result of his Biblical studies was his Psalterium quintuplex (1509). The preface to his commentary on the Pauline Epistles is remarkable because Faber here propounded the principles of the Reformation, five years before the Wittenberg theses of Luther. He maintained the authority of Holy Scripture and the unmerited grace of redemption, combated the merit of good works, the celibacy of priests, and discussed the necessity of a reform of the Church. In 1522 appeared his commentary on the four Gospels and in 1525 on the Catholic Epistles. Here he first discovered the errors of the Vulgate and by his exposition of the text prepared the way for a better exegesis. The Bible is for him the only rule of faith, and he is not afraid of offending against the dogmas and usages of the Church. At the in stance of the king and his sister, Brigonnet induced Faber to translate the New Testament into French. The translation was made from the Vulgate and appeared at Antwerp in 1523; the Psalms fol lowed in 1525. In Blois Faber prepared a French translation of the whole Bible (1530), which be came, at least for the New Testament and the Apoc rypha, the basis of R. Olivetan's translation of the Bible (1535) sanctioned by the Reformed Church of France (see Bible Versions, B, VI., § 3) and so very useful.

(G. Bonet-Maury.)

Bibliography: The best sources for a life are Natalia Beda, A""°,`°"°"'a Fabrum et Brasmum (o. lsTb); Gutelsume Fares' Bycstrv a tow SeandeA. (c. 1548); Theodore Base, Icorus, Geneva, 1580. and A. B. Herminjard, CorresPon, dance des ROmrn'ateura, i. 3-4, 89. 132. 158-2IS, Paris, 1878. Later works are: K. A. Graf, in ZHT, 1852, parts wanted to institute further proceedings against 1-2; He Bonnet, Plantfer, Le(ksrs d',tapiss, Montauban, 1870; J. Bonnet, Recite du xui. si&ie, Paris, 1876: H. M. Baird, Hist. of the Rise of As Huguenots, vol. i., chap. ii 1880. On his Bible consult: . Quidvreux, La A~ ~ du Nouveau do 1'Aaciis^ T ta's°ntedeBLe thorn, ib. 1895.