# Hermann Busenbaum

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{{Short description|German Jesuit casuist}}
[[File:Busenbaum - Theologia moralis, 1740 - 084.tif|thumb|200px|''Theologia moralis'', 1740 (Milano, [Fondazione Mansutti](/source/Fondazione_Mansutti)).]]
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'''Hermann Busenbaum''' (or '''Busembaum''') (19 September 1600{{snd}}31 January 1668) was a [Jesuit](/source/Society_of_Jesus) theologian. He attained fame as a master of [casuistry](/source/casuistry).

==Biography==
He was born at [Nottuln](/source/Nottuln) in [Westphalia](/source/Westphalia) ([Germany](/source/Germany)). He entered the Jesuit order in 1619, and taught scholastic and moral theology in [Cologne](/source/Cologne). He became rector of the Jesuit college at [Hildesheim](/source/Hildesheim) and then at [Münster](/source/M%C3%BCnster), where he died on 31 January 1668, being at the time father-confessor to Bishop [Christoph von Galen](/source/Christoph_Bernhard_von_Galen).

==''Medulla''==
His book ''Medulla theologiae moralis, facili ac perspicua methodo resolvens casus conscientiae'' (1645) grew out of his lectures to students at Cologne. The manual obtained a wide popularity and passed through over two hundred editions before 1776.<ref name=EB1911/> Although less bold in its declarations than some other Jesuit books, such as, for example, the ''Defensio Fidei'' (1613) of [Francisco Suarez](/source/Francisco_Suarez), it was the most complete and systematized in its exposition, and served as a type for succeeding treatises of the sort.<ref name=nie/>

The theology of ''Medulla'' was generally well received within the [Catholic Church](/source/Roman_Catholic_Church). The book was published in all the major European centers of Catholicism and was widely used in seminaries as a manual on practical [moral theology](/source/moral_theology) for 200 years. It received positive commentary from theologians including St. [Alphonsus de Liguori](/source/Alphonsus_Maria_de_Liguori), a [Doctor of the Church](/source/Doctor_of_the_Church).<ref>{{Cite CE1913 |wstitle= Hermann Busembaum |first= Timothy |last= Barrett}}</ref>

The book met no significant opposition until Claude Lacroix (1652–1714) added considerably to its bulk.<ref name=nie>{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Busenbaum, Hermann |year=1905}}</ref> His editions in two folio volumes appeared in both Germany (1710–1714) and [France](/source/France) (1729). In these editions, the sections on [murder](/source/murder) and especially on [regicide](/source/regicide) were much amplified, and in connection with [Damiens](/source/Robert-Fran%C3%A7ois_Damiens)' attempt on the life of [Louis XV](/source/Louis_XV) the book was severely handled by the [parlement of Paris](/source/parlement_of_Paris). At [Toulouse](/source/Toulouse) in 1757, though the offending sections were repudiated by the heads of the Jesuit colleges, the ''Medulla'' was publicly burned, and the episode undoubtedly led the way to the [duc de Choiseul](/source/%C3%89tienne_Fran%C3%A7ois%2C_duc_de_Choiseul)'s attack on the Jesuits.<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Busenbaum, Hermann|volume=4|page=870}}</ref>

==Other writings==
Busenbaum also wrote a book on the ascetic life, ''Lilium inter spinas''.<ref name=EB1911/>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{wikiquote}}
{{commonscat}}

* {{VD17|004261526}}
* {{BBKL|b/busembaum_h}}
* {{Cite AmCyc|wstitle=Busembaum, Hermann |short=x}}
* {{Cite Americana|wstitle=Busenbaum, Hermann |short=x}}
*[https://www.unigre.it/archivioimg/Fondo_Curia_2009/Indice_Autori.htm Hermann Busembaum in the Historical Archives of the Pontifical Gregorian University]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Busenbaum, Hermann}}
Category:1600 births
Category:1668 deaths
Category:17th-century German Catholic theologians
Category:17th-century German Jesuits
Category:17th-century German male writers
Category:German male non-fiction writers
Category:German Roman Catholic theologians
Category:German Roman Catholic writers
Category:Jesuit theologians
Category:Roman Catholic moral theologians

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Hermann Busenbaum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Busenbaum) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Busenbaum?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.