Benoit or Benedict, Rene

Benoit or Benedict, Rene curate of the church of St. Eustache at Paris, was born near Angers in 1521. In 1566 he distinguished himself by a French translation of the Bible, published in that year at Paris in fol., and in 1588 in 2 vols. 4to. He was accused of having pretended to make his translation from the Greek and Hebrew, of which languages he knew nothing, and of having, in fact, followed the Geneva Bible, making a few verbal alterations. In spite of his defense, he was expelled from the faculty of theology by a decree dated October 1st, 1572, and the censure passed by that society on his works was confirmed by Gregory XIII; the author was subsequently compelled to submit, was readmitted into the faculty, and made dean. Benoit had been confessor to the unhappy Mary, Queen of Scots, whom he accompanied into Scotland. He died at Paris March 7th, 1608. He published an immense number of works, among which may be specified,

1. Stromata in Universa Biblia (Cologne, 1508, 8vo): —

2. A Catholic Apology (showing that the profession of the Protestant faith was not a sufficient and lawful reason for excluding the heir from the throne of France): —

3. Examen pacifique de la Doctrine des Huguenots. (This curious work was printed at Caen in 1590, and is intended to show that the Council of Trent, not having been fully received in France, was not of sufficient authority there to condemn the Huguenots.) — Hoefer, Biog. Gen. 5, 395.