PSEAUME, NICOLAS

French prelate active at the Council of Trent and in the Counter Reformation; b. Chaumont-sur-Aire (Meuse), Dec. 11, 1518; d. Verdun, Aug. 10, 1575. Though his family was not wealthy, Pseaume (Psaume, Psalmaeus) was sent to school first at the Norbertine Abbey of St. Paul in Verdun, then to Paris, Orleans, and Poitiers. In 1538 he returned to Verdun where he joined the Norbertines, subsequently replacing his uncle as abbot of St. Paul's (1540). A year later he was awarded a doctorate in theology from the University of Paris. In 1548 Pseaume was made bishop of Verdun. When sent to Trent in 1551 as a representative of the Norbertine Order, Pseaume spoke out strongly against the prevailing system of benefices held in commendam and advocated residence for bishops. While at the Council, he kept a diary of the proceeding, which was later published in Paris and Verdun. Returning to Verdun (1552), Pseaume attended to the administration of his diocese. He rebuilt St. Paul's Abbey, which had been destroyed by war, and reorganized the hospital and reformed the municipal institutions of the city. To further the cause of Catholic education in his diocese, he helped establish a Jesuit college in Verdun. Called back to Trent in 1563, Pseaume took part in the final sessions and subsequently edited the acts of the Council. He lies buried in the cathedral of Verdun.

Pseaume's publications include a number of religious treatises defending Catholicism against the reform movement: Le Vrai et naïf portrait de l'église catholique; Advertissement à l'homme chrétien pour cognoistre et fuir les hérétiques de ce temps; Préservatif contre le changement de religion.

Bibliography: j. j. i. von dÖllinger, Ungedruckte Berichte und Tagebücher zur Geschichte des Concils von Trient, 1 v. in 2 (Nördlingen 1876). c. n. gabriel, Étude sur Nicolas Psaulme, évêque et comte de Verdun (Verdun 1867). c. l. hugo, Sacrae antiquitatis monumenta …, 2 v. (Étival-Saint-Dié 1725–31) 1:9–21. n. roussel, Histoire ecclésiastique et civil de Verdun, 2v. (Bar-le-Duc 1863–64). a. erens Dictionnaire de théologie catholique, ed. a. vacant et al. (Paris 1903–50) 3.1:1086–93. a.k. huber, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (Freiburg 1957–65) 8:863–864.

[c. holmes]