Historian and liturgist, born Saint-Jean-de-Losne, France, 1654; died Saint- Germain-des-Pres, 1739. After entering, in 1672, the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Remy at Rheims, he studied at Saint-Germain under d'Achery and Mabillon and thenceforth devoted his whole life to history and liturgy, especially at Rouen. Among his works are a commentary on the Rule of Saint Benedict, the fruit of indefatigable research, published in 1690, liturgical writings such as "De Antiquis ecclesire ritibus libri 4" (Rouen, 1700-1702), "The Life of the Venerable Claude Martin" (1697), and the "Annals of the Order of Saint Benedict" (Paris, 1739). With the Benedictine Ursin Durand, Martene ransacked the archives of France and Belgium in 1708 and published the "Thesaurus novus anecdotorum" (Paris, 1717). Later their journey through Germany and the Netherlands produced another scholarly work, "Veterum scriptorum et monumentorum ecclesiasticorum et dogmaticorum amplissima collectio" (Paris, 1724-1733).
This dictionary contains not only definitions and explanations of every subject in Religion, Scripture, tradition, doctrine, morals, sacraments, rites, customs, devotions and symbolism, but also accounts of the Church in every continent, country, diocese; missions, notable Catholic centers, cities, and places with religious names; religious orders, church societies, sects and false religions. It has brief articles also on historical events and personages, on the Old Testament and New, and on popes, prelates, priests, men and women of distinction, showing what the Church has done for civilization and correcting many errors which have hitherto passed for history.Wikipedia
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