Cæsar Clement
Caesar Clement (1561–1626) was a Catholic priest of English descent in the Habsburg Netherlands.
Life
Caesar was born in Leuven (now Belgium), the illegitimate son of Thomas Clement and so the grandson of Thomas More's friend John Clement.[1] He was a student at the English College, Douai, in 1578 when the college moved to Reims.[2] Shortly thereafter, he was sent to the English College, Rome, where he was admitted 5 September 1579. He was ordained priest in the Lateran Basilica on 7 September 1586, with dispensation for illegitimacy, and left Rome in October 1587. Initially intending to travel to England, after arriving at Rheims on 1 December he instead went to his father in Flanders.[1]
In 1589 Clement was awarded a royal pension in the Habsburg Netherlands and in 1595 was appointed chaplain to the court in Brussels.[1] In 1598 he visited Spain and Italy. Within the next few years he was appointed a protonotary apostolic and vicar general of the Army of Flanders.[1]
He became a canon of Brussels Minster in 1607, and dean of the chapter in 1617.[1]
He was a generous benefactor to English Catholic exiles, especially the Augustinian Canonesses of Louvain.[2] In 1612 he carried out a canonical visitation of the English College, Douai, along with Robert Chambers.[2]
Clement died in Brussels, on 28 August 1626.[2]
Publications
- Philip Numan, Historia de los milagros, translated by Caesar Clement (Brussels, 1606)
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Cæsar Clement — Date of birth uncertain; died at Brussels 28 Aug., 1626, great-nephew of Sir Thomas More's friend, Dr. John Clement. He was a student at Douai when in 1578 the college was removed to Reims, but was shortly sent to the English College, Rome, being admitted 5th September, 1579. He was ordained priest in 1585, but remained in Rome till Oct., 1587. He took the degree of Doctor of Theology in Italy, probably in Rome itself. Though originally destined for the English mission, he never went to England. but held the important positions of Dean of St. Gudule's, Brussels, and vicar-general of the King of Spain's army in Flanders. He was a great benefactor to all English exiles, especially the Augustinian Canonesses of Louvain. In 1612 he, with the Rev. Robert Chambers, was commissioned from Rome to make a visitation of Douai College so as to put an end to the dissatisfaction with the administration there. (See Dodd, "Church Hist. of Eng.", Tierney ed., V, 3 sqq.)
DODD, Church History of England (London, 1737), II, 388; MORRIS, Troubles of our Cath. Forefathers (London, 1872), I, 40, 41, 47, 57; Douay Diaries (London. 1877); FOLEY, Records Eng. Prov. S. J. (London. 1880), VI, 138; GILLOW, Bibl. Dict. Eng. Cath. (London, 1885), I, 497-8; COOPER in Dict. Nat. Biog. (London, 1887). XI, 32; HAMILTON, Chronicles of the English Augustinian Canonesses of Louvain (London, 1904-6).
References
- Back to citation occurrence 1.0 Back to citation occurrence 1.1 Back to citation occurrence 1.2 Back to citation occurrence 1.3 Back to citation occurrence 1.4 Paul Arblaster, "Clement, Caesar (1561–1626), Roman Catholic priest", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004); Accessed 7 August 2025. https://www.oxforddnb.com
- Back to citation occurrence 2.0 Back to citation occurrence 2.1 Back to citation occurrence 2.2 Back to citation occurrence 2.3 Edwin Burton (1913). "Cæsar Clement". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.