Marca, Pierre De

Marca, Pierre De a French Roman Catholic theologian and historian, was born at Pan, in Beam, Jan. 24, 1594. He was of good family, was brought up by the Jesuits of Auch, and afterwards studied law at Toulouse. In 1613 he became member of the Council of Pan, and when, in 1621, this body was erected into a parliament by Louis XIII, he was appolinted its president, as a reward for his services to Romanism. After the death of his wife, which occurred in 1632, he entered the Church. In 1639 he was made counselor of state. Cardinal de Richelieu having commissioned him to reply to Hersent's Optatus Gallus, Marca composed De Concordia Sacerdotii et Imperii (Paris, 1641 sq.), which is his ablest work, and was rewarded by the bishopric of Conserans, to which he was appointed in 1643. The pope, however, would not approve the Gallican writer as incumbent of the episcopal office, and the appointment was not sanctioned at Rome until Marca had recalled the work in 1647. In 1652 he was promoted to the archbishopric of Toulouse; later was transferred to the archiepiscopal see of Paris, and there died in the year of his transfer, 1662. He wrote also Dissertsatio de Priimatu Lu. dunensi et caeteris rimatibus (1644, 8vo): — Relation de ce qui s'est fait depuis 1653 dans les assemblees des iveques

au sujet des cinq propositions (Paris, 1657, 4to). This was unfavorable to the Jansenists, and was refuted by Nicole in his Belga percoantator, and some other writers. Collections of some other writings of Marca on divers subjects were published by Baluze (1669 and 1681, 2 vols. 8vo) and abbé Faget (1668, 4to), who, however, brought out the best edition of Marca's De Concordia (Paris, 1663, and often). See Gallia Christiana, vols. i and vii; De Faget, Vie de Pierre de lMarca; Bompart, Eloge de Marca (Paris, 1672, 8vo); De Longuerue, Dissertations diverses; AMercure de France, 1644 to 1662; Fisquet, France Pontificate. See Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, 33:374; Herzog, Real-Encyklop. 9:17 sq.