MEXARD
IS
MEXART
manuscript which he had found at LasaL He added different Latin treatises of the same age, and notes, in which he showed much judgment and erudition. Me- nard's edition served as a basis for that of Ducange, in which tlie notes and observations of the former are up- held : — Ilinerarium B. A ntonini martyris, cum annota- tionibus (Angers, 1640, 4to) -.—Recherches et avis sur le corps de St. Jacques le Majeur (Angers, 1610). In this work he maintains, against general opinion, that the relics of this apostle are kept in St. Maurille's Church at Angers. To Menard is also attributed Ukistoire de Vordre du Croissant, a JIS. in the library at Paris. See Biographie Universelle, s. v.
Menard, Fran9ois, a Dutch writer of note, was born at Stcllcwroof. in Fricsland, in 1570. He estab- lished hiuiself at Poitiers, where he was at first professor of humanity, and later professor of jurisprudence. He obtained a pension from Louis XHI. The time of his death is not known. His important works are, Regici- diitm detestatum, qucesitum, prcecoeutum (Poitiers, 1610), written on the occasion of the death of Henry IV: — DUputallones dejuribus episcoporum (Poitiers, 1612, 8vo), which dis])lays a deep knowledge of civil and canonical law ; and Des notes sur la vie de Ste.-Radegerel et sur la regie de Saint-Cesaire (edited by Charles Pidoux, Poi- tiers, l6-2l).—Biog7-ap/iie Universelle, s. v.
Menard, Jean, a French ecclesiastic and writer, •was born at Nantes Sept. 23, 1650. He studied law at Paris, and met with great success at Nimes as a pleader. But, intluenced by conscientious scruples, he entered the Seminary of Saint-Magloire in 1675 as a student of the- olog}', and, after receiving orders at Paris, returned to his native place to devote himself to the furtherance of true Christianity. Believing that an ascetic life of the very strictest sort is required of all devout Christians, he determined to give himself entirely to works of charity and kindred offices. He refused the canonship to Sainiu-Chapellc, and also the bishopric of Saint-Pol de Leon, preferring the humble position of warden of the seminary at Nimes, where he labored with great sat- isfaction for more than thirty %-ears. He died at Nimes April 15, 1717. Menard is the author of a Catechisine (Nimes, 1695, 8vo), which has been approved by many prelates. His memory for some time was the object of a kind of worship, and his tomb, it is said, was a place of miracles and wonderful cures. — Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generate, s. v.
Menard, Leon, a French antiquary, was born Sept. 12, 171)1), at Tarasc^'on. After having studied suc- cessfully at the college of the Jesuits at Lyons, he took liis degree in law at Toulouse, and succeeded his father in the position of counsellor to the inferior court of Nimes. After 17-14 he resided almost continually at Paris, whither he had been sent in tlie interest of his clients. Largely devoted to the study of history and antiquity, he made himself known by his History of the Bishops of Xinies, the success of which opened to him in 1719 the doors of the Academy of Inscriptions. He also became a member of the academies of Lyons and of Marseilles. In 1762 he went to Avignon, and, at the ex- press invitation of the magistrates, he spent two years in collecting the materials necessary for a history of that city; but, his health failing, he was obliged to de- sist from this work. He died Oct. 1, 1767, at Paris. Jlenard wrote, Hitstoire des Eveques de jVimes (La Haye [Lyons], 1737, 2 vols. 12mo) ; revised in the Ilistoire of that city : — //istoirc civile, ecrlesiastique, et litteraire de la Ville de Ximes, avcc des A'otes et les P/-eures (Paris, 1750-58, 7 vols. 4to). The only fault of this learned work is its excessive prolixity. An abridgment of it has appeared, continuing as far as 1790 (Nimes, 1831- 33, 3 vols. 8vo): — Refutation du Sentiment dc Voltaire qui traite d'Ouvrage suppose le " Testament du Car- dinal Richelieu''^ (anonymous, 1750, 12mo). Fonce- magne joined Menard in sustaining the authenticity of a Avriting that Voltaire persisted in declaring apocry-
phal : — Pieces fugitives pour servir a I'l/istoiie de France, avec des Xotes historiques et geographiques (Paris, 1759, 3 vols. 4to). This valued collection, published in co- operation with the marquis D'Aubois, contains a num- ber of researches respecting persons, places, dates, etc., from 1546 to 1653: — Vie de Flechicr, at the head of an edition of the works of that prelate, but of which only the first volume appeared (1760, 4to). Menard is also the author of several dissertations, which have been printed in the Memoires de V Academic des Inscriptioits. See Le Beau, Eloge de Menard, in the Jfem, de I'A cad, des Inscript. vol. xxxvi ; Xecrologe des llommes illustres de la France (1770). — Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, s. v.
Menard, Nicolas Hugues, a French thof.lo- gian, was born at Paris in l.'iS,"). Having finished his studies at the college of tlie cardinal Le Moine, Hugues INIenard joined the Benedictines in the Monastery of St. Denis, Feb. 3, 1608. He at first devoted himself to preaching, and was very successfid in the principal pul- pits of Paris. Finding the discipline not sufhciently severe in the Abbey of St. Denis, he repaired to Verdun, to enter the reformed Monastery of St. Vanne. Later he taught rhetoric at Cluni, and finall}^ went to St. (ier- main-des-Pres, where he terminated his laborious ca- reer, Jan. 20, 1644. He wrote, Murtyrologium SS. ord. S. Benedicti (Paris, 1629, 8vo), a work that is still read : — Concordia Regulurum, uuctore S, Benedicto, Aniance abbate, with notes and learned observations (Paris, 1628, 4to) : — 1). Gregorii papw, cognomento Jlagni, Liber Sa- cramentorum (Par. 1642, 4to) -.—De unico Dyonisio, A re- opagilica Athenarum et I'aj-uiorum episcopo (Paris, 1643, 8vo), against the canon of Launoy -.—S.Barnahce, apostoli, Fpistola catholica (Paris, 1645, 4to), an epistle taken by H. jNIenard from a IMS. of Corbie, and pub- lished after his death by D'Achery. See Niceron, Me- moires, vol. xxii; Ellies Dupin, Bibl. des Aut. eccles. du dix-$eptien;e siecle; Hist. litf. de la Cong, de Saint-Maur. p. 18 sq. — Hoefer, Xouv. Biog. Generale, s. v.