Ess, Karl Van

Ess, Karl van a Roman Catholic theologian of Germany, was born at Warburg, in Westphalia, September 25, 1770. He entered the Benedictine order in 1788, and in 1801 became prior of the Abbey of Huysburg, near Halberstadt. Together with his cousin, Leander van Ess (q.v.), he published a German translation of the Bible (Brunswick, 1807, and a great many editions since), which had an immense circulation until it was forbidden by the pope. Being appointed in 1811, by the bishop of Paderborn, episcopal commissary, he abandoned his liberal views. He wrote a brief history of religion (Entweurf einer kurzen Geschichte der Religion, Halberstadt, 1817), which called forth several replies. He died October 22, 1824. — Herzog, Real-Encykl. 19:488.