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Pierre François Xavier de Ram

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Monseignor Peter de Ram, the first rector of the Catholic University of Mechlin and in 1835 the first rector the new Catholic University of Leuven.

Pierre François Xavier de Ram (September 2, 1804, Leuven – May 14, 1865, Leuven), was a Belgian papal prelate, canon and historian, best known for being the first rector of the Catholic University of Leuven.

Biography

De Ram entered the Major Seminary, Mechelen, where he was ordained in 1827. He was appointed professor of poetry at the seminary of Mechelen and archivist of the diocese.

During the period when King William I was carrying on his campaign against the Catholic faith and traditions of the Belgians, and while de Ram was still young, he took an active part in the struggle maintained by the Belgian clergy against the government of the Netherlands, republishing eighteenth century works, in which, in a series of historical studies refuting the doctrines of Joseph II, he combatted the latter's disciple, King William I.

He was next appointed keeper of the diocesan records and professor in the episcopal seminary at Mechelen. In order to stay the spread of Protestantism in the Netherlands he collaborated with a movement for the publishing of religious works, bringing out Levens van de voornaemste Heyligen en roemweerdige peersonen der Nederlanden (Lives of the most prominent saints and celebrities of the Netherlands). His chief study for many years was hagiography, and he published an edition of Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints (Leuven, 1828–35). Between 1828 and 1858 appeared the Synodicon Belgicum, a collection of unpublished documents upon the ecclesiastical history of the Netherlands since Philip II (Leuven, 4 vols., in quarto).

During the years immediately before the Revolution of 1830, de Ram, who was much influenced by Lamennais, was active in bringing about a coalition of Liberals and Catholics against the government of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands established by the Treaty of Vienna (1815) after the fall of Napoleon, and in endeavouring to give a democratic character to the policy of his church. He declined to stand as a member of the Belgian assembly, and applied himself wholly to teaching and to editing or composing historical books.

De Ram was an active member of Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium and a foreign associate of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. When the monumental project of the Acta Sanctorum, interrupted in 1794, was resumed by the New Bollandists in 1838, De Ram, who as a young man had bought the whole series of Bollandist publications – at that time 53 volumes in folio – was considered as a possible member of the board of editors.[1] While not joining the project, he gave his expert opinion to the Commission royale d'histoire warmly recommending support of the endeavour.[2]

As professor of philosophy at Mechelen he succeeded in bringing about the foundation of the Catholic University of Belgium there in 1834. This new university was only briefly in Mechelen, moving to Leuven on 1 December 1835, where it took the name Catholic University of Leuven. This led to consternation among Belgian anti-clericals, who were afraid that this new university, by usurping the name of the Old University of Leuven, was manoeuvering to claim its former scholarship foundations.[3] It also reinvigorated demands for the foundation of a secular university in Brussels which would lead to the creation of the Free University of Brussels.

De Ram remained rector of the Catholic University until his death in 1865.

Honours

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Pierre François Xavier de Ram — Born at Louvain 2 Sept., 1804; died there 14 May, 1865; Belgian historian and rector of the Catholic University of Louvain. He belonged to an ancient family, originally from the Province of Zealand. De Ram entered the seminary at Mechlin, where he was ordained in 1827. During the trying period when King William I of the Netherlands was carrying on his campaign against the Catholic faith and traditions of the Belgians, and whilst de Ram was still young, he took an active part in the struggle maintained by the Belgian clergy against the government of the Netherlands, republishing eighteenth-century works, in which, in a series of historical studies refuting the doctrines of Joseph II, he combated the latter's disciple, King William I. He was next appointed keeper of the diocesan records and professor in the episcopal seminary at Mechlin. In order to stay the spread of Protestantism in the Netherlands he collaborated with a movement for the publishing of religious works, bringing out "Levens von de voornaemste Heyligen en roemweerdige peersonen der Nederlanden" (Lives of the most prominent saints and celebrities of the Netherlands). His chief study for many years was hagiography, and he published an edition of Butler's "Lives of the Saints" (Louvain, 1828-35). Between 1828 and 1858 appeared the "Synodicon Belgicum", a collection of unpublished documents upon the ecclesiastical history of the Netherlands since Philip II (Louvain, 4 vols., in quarto). These books met with a warm appreciation and showed remarkable ability. His position as keeper of the records facilitated his researches to a great extent.

Then came the Belgian Revolution of 1830. Nothing need be said of the political and philosophical opinions of de Ram, as they are but secondary features of his career. He is best known as a prolific writer upon history and the restorer and first rector of the Catholic University of Louvain. He showed a remarkable talent for organization and administration during his tenure of office. He still continued his historical researches, and the history of the university was treated by him in numerous monographs. For this purpose he had at his disposal the material in the National Archives at Brussels. Upon the reorganization of the Bollandists, de Ram ceased his work upon hagiography, but still continued to produce works upon ecclesiastical and University history. De Ram was an active member of the "Académie Royale de Belgique" and a foreign associate of the Bavarian Academy. The complete list of his works given in the "Bibliographie de l'Universite' Catholique de Louvain" (Louvain, 1880) comprises 205 volumes. Many of these are of considerable length, and the majority contain hitherto unpublished papers of great value. Among the many tributes paid to the historian, that of Gachard, the renowned keeper of the national records, is remarkable for its sincerity and warmth. No complete biography of de Ram has as yet appeared, although such, considering his influential position and important work, would awaken no inconsiderable interest.

Review Cath., XXII (Louvain, 1865), 317-30; DE BUCK, Mgr de Ram (Paris, 1865); THORRISSEN in Annuaire de l'Académie royale de Belgique (Brussels, 1866); NAMECHE in Annuaire de l'Université de Louvain (Louvain, 1866).

Victor Brants.

References

  1. Back to citation De Ram’s library was sold after his death in 1865, and his copy of the Acta Sanctorum came to the court library of the Princely House of Fürstenberg in Donaueschingen, which was sold in 1999. It is now in private ownership in the South of Germany.
  2. Back to citation Pierre François Xavier De Ram, Les nouveaux Bollandistes. Rapport fait a la Commission royale d’histoire. Hayez, Bruxelles 1860 (also in: Bulletins de la Commission royale d’histoire, 3. série, Bd. II 1, 1860.)
  3. Back to citation According to Maurice Voituron, who wrote in his Le parti libéral joué par le parti catholique dans la question de l'enseignement supérieur, (Brussels, 1850): "et alors aurait paru plus évidente encore aux yeux du pays l'intention du parti catholique de tuer l'enseignement de l'État, afin de ne laisser debout que l'Université catholique de Malines, qui allait prendre le titre d'Université de Louvain, pour y usurper la renommée de l'ancienne, ainsi que ses fondations de bourses. Cependant, malgré lui, le parti catholique laissa échapper cet espoir par la bouche de son rapporteur M. Dechamps, lorsqu'il disait: "la confiance entourera de telle façon les établissements privés que les Universités de l'État, par exemple, deviendront à peu près désertes"
  4. Back to citation "ODIS". www.odis.be.
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