{{Short description|Roman Catholic archbishop (1542–1620)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Archbishop | honorific-prefix = | name = Mathias Hovius | honorific-suffix = | title = [[Archbishop]] of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels|Mechelen]] | image = Lucas Franchoys (I) - Portrait of Mathias Hovius.jpg | imagesize = | alt = | caption = Matthias Hovius – by [[Lucas Franchoys the Elder]] (attributed) | church = [[Roman Catholic]] | archdiocese = [[Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels|Mechelen]] | province = | metropolis = | diocese = | see = [[St. Rumbold's Cathedral]] | enthroned = 1596 | ended = 1620 | predecessor = [[Joannes Hauchin]] | opposed = | successor = [[Jacobus Boonen]] | ordination = 1566 | consecration = 18 February 1596 | cardinal = | rank = | other_post = <!---------- Personal details ----------> | birth_name = | birth_date = 1542 | birth_place = [[Mechelen]] | death_date = 30 May 1620 | death_place = [[Affligem]] | buried = [[St. Rumbold's Cathedral]] | nationality = | occupation = | alma_mater = [[Old University of Leuven|University of Leuven]] | signature = | motto = ''Superat Patientia Fortem'' (Patience Overcomes the Strong) }} '''Mathias Hovius''' (1542–1620), born '''Matthijs Van Hove''', was the third [[Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels|Archbishop of Mechelen]] from 1596 to 1620. As Archbishop, Hovius presided over implementing the [[Catholic Reformation]] in the [[Spanish Netherlands]].

==Early career== Hovius was born in [[Mechelen]] in 1542; his father was a [[Fulling|fuller]]. Hovius attended the [[Jan Standonck|Standonck College]] in Mechelen, and later studied theology and philosophy at [[Old University of Leuven|Leuven University]], and was ordained priest in 1566, the year [[iconoclasm]] broke out in the [[Netherlands]]. While pastor at Saints Peter and Paul's Church in Mechelen, Hovius witnessed the [[Spanish Fury at Mechelen]] in 1572, and the [[English Fury at Mechelen]] in 1580, both during the [[Eighty Years' War]].<ref name=Harline>[https://books.google.com/books?id=FWWCR1WKctwC&dq=Affligem+Abbey&pg=PA56 Harline, Craig and Put, E., ''A bishop's tale: Mathias Hovius among his flock in seventeenth-century Flanders''], [[Yale University Press]], 2000 {{ISBN|0-300-08342-4}}</ref>

==Vicar-General== Hovius was appointed [[vicar-general]] of the archdiocese of Mechelen upon the death of Archbishop [[Joannes Hauchin]] in 1589.<ref name=Harline/>

==Archbishop== In 1596, Hovius was consecrated the third Archbishop of Mechelen.<ref name=Harline/> Among his accomplishments were the founding of a seminary<ref name=Kooi/> and the creation of a [[catechism]] with help from the [[Jesuits]]. The ''Mechelen Catechism'' remained a standard in Catholic religious education in Belgium until well into the twentieth century.

On 14 November 1599 he installed [[Joanne Berkeley]] as the first abbess of a new Benedictine convent in Brussels. The new convent had been approved by the pope and the local authorities and it was funded by [[Mary Percy (abbess)|Mary Percy]] who was one of the first nuns.<ref>{{Cite ODNB|title=Berkeley, Joanne [name in religion Joanna] (1555/6–1616), abbess of the Convent of the Assumption of Our Blessed Lady, Brussels|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-105817|access-date=2021-02-12|year = 2004|language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/105817|isbn = 9780198614111}}</ref>

In 1607, Hovius convened a provincial council in Mechelen to implement the decrees of the [[Council of Trent]] in the archdiocese.<ref name=Kooi>[https://books.google.com/books?id=HBlyEAAAQBAJ&dq=Mathias+Hovius&pg=PA147 Kooi, Christine. ''Reformation in the Low Countries, 1500-1620'', Cambridge University Press, Jun 9, 2022, p. 147] {{isbn|9781009075404}}</ref> After an official enquiry, in 1604, Hovius approved the cult of [[Basilica of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel|Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel]],<ref>Boni, Armand (1953). ''Scherpenheuvel: Basiliek en gemeente in het kader van de vaderlandse geschiedenis''. Standaard</ref> In 1606, the newly constructed shrine received a papal indulgence. He also promoted the veneration of the [[Martyrs of Gorkum]]. He was supported in his efforts by [[Archduke Albert of Austria (1559–1621)|Albert]] and [[Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain|Isabella]] of Austria, Governors-General of the Spanish Netherlands.

Archbishop Hovius died on 30 May 1620 during a [[canonical visitation]] to [[Affligem Abbey]].

==References== {{Reflist}}

*Laenen, Kan. Dr. J. (1930), ''Geschiedenis van het Mechelsch Seminarie vanaf het Episcopaat van Aartsbisschop Matthias Hovius tot onder Z.E. Kardinaal van Roey'', Mechelen, Gebr. Laurent, 393 pp. *[[Craig Harline|Harline, C. E.]] & Put, E. (2000), ''A bishop's tale: Mathias Hovius among his flock in seventeenth-century Flanders'', [[Yale University Press]], {{ISBN|0-300-08342-4}} (Cloth); {{ISBN|0-300-13054-6}} (Electronic), {{ISBN|978-0-300-08342-2}} (Cloth); {{ISBN|978-0-300-13054-6}} (Electronic)

{{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{succession box | title=[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels|3rd Archbishop of Mechelen]] | before=[[Joannes Hauchin]] | after=[[Jacobus Boonen]] | years=1596&ndash;1620 |}} {{S-end}}

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{{Subject bar |portal1= Biography |portal2= Catholicism |portal3= Belgium}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hovius, Mathias}} [[Category:1542 births]] [[Category:1620 deaths]] [[Category:16th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Holy Roman Empire]] [[Category:17th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Holy Roman Empire]] [[Category:Flemish Roman Catholic priests]] [[Category:Roman Catholic archbishops of Mechelen-Brussels]] [[Category:Old University of Leuven alumni]]