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René, Charles, Comte de Montalembert

1910 New Catholic Dictionary

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Born London, England, 1810; died Paris, France, 1870. After graduating from the College Saint Barbe, he traveled through Ireland where he met O'Connell. In 1831 he joined the staff of Lamennais's newspaper, L'Avenir, and conducted campaigns in favor of Poland and Ireland. He fought for liberty of education until the passage of the "Falloux Law," 1850. He separated from Lamennais, 1836, and continued his fights for the liberties of the Church throughout the Second Republic. Unfortunately he disagreed with such men as Louis Veuillot and Dom Gueranger, and became the leader of a liberal Catholicism, which he expounded in his Mechlin speeches (1863). They were disapproved by Pope Pius IX and were partly responsible for the publication of the Encyclical "Quanta Cura" and of the Syllabus. He opposed the definition of the pope's infallibility, but died before its promulgation. Orator and historian, member of the French Academy from 1851, his best known works are: "The Monks of the West" and "Life of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary," both long known to English readers. His "Speeches" and "Polemics" each comprise three volumes.