Britius, Francis

Britius, Francis a French missionary and Orientalist, a native of Rennes, lived in the latter half of the 17th century. He at first preached the Gospel in the East, but was finally recalled to Rome by his superiors, who employed him to translate into Arabic an abridgment of the Annals of Baronius, continued by Sponde down to the year 1646 (Rome, 1653, 1655, 1671). He also assisted in an Arabic version of the Bible, published by Nazari (Rome, 1671), with the text of the Vulgate, opposite. See Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, s.v.