Auger Edmond

Edmond Auger was born into the family of a poor peasant, voluntarily went to Rome , where he was first a servant in the kitchen in the Jesuit Order and was eventually accepted into the order personally by Ignatius Loyola . Returning to France in 1559, he became famous for his sermons and the struggle against Protestants during the conversion of the Huguenots to Catholicism. Once he was captured by the leader of the Huguenots Des'Andre , but escaped from hanging thanks to his eloquence (a Protestant pastor interceded for him). Having received freedom, he again took up his business and led it with great success, especially in Issoire and Lyon ; he was credited with the appeal of 40,000 Huguenots. In 1568, he preached at the court of Charles IX and from that year became confessor of Henry III, accompanied him on trips and was known for his devotion to the monarch. In the 1570s, he called for reforms of everyday life in the south of France. In 1575, Henry III appointed him his preacher; this is the first Jesuit to receive such a position at the French court. His devotion to Henry III and monarchism made him hateful for the Catholic League and suspicious for the order, which kept him out of favor after the death of the king. After the death of Henry III, he retired and settled in Italy. Since 1583, he began to cautiously call for peace with the Protestants.

In addition to many books of a polemical nature, he wrote the works of Sucre spirituel pour adoucir l'amertume des aigres malheurs de ce temps (Lyon, 1550), Le pédagogue d'armes à un prince chrétien (Paris, 1568), Breviarium romanum Henrici III (Paris, 1588 ), a catechism in French, Latin and Greek, which was a great success, etc.

Auger's biography was written by the Jesuit P. Dorigny (Lyon, 1716).

• Auger, Edmond // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.

• Article in the Catholic Encyclopedia