Mathias Hovius (1542–1620), born Matthijs Van Hove, was the third 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. Hovius attended the
Jan Standonck in Mechelen, and later studied theology and philosophy at 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.
[ Harline, Craig and Put, E., A bishop's tale: Mathias Hovius among his flock in seventeenth-century Flanders, Yale University Press, 2000 ]
Vicar-General
Hovius was appointed
vicar-general of the archdiocese of Mechelen upon the death of Archbishop
Joannes Hauchin in 1589.
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]
Archbishop
In 1596, Hovius was consecrated the third Archbishop of Mechelen.[ Among his accomplishments were the founding of a seminary][ 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 who was one of the first nuns.
In 1607, Hovius convened a provincial council in Mechelen to implement the decrees of the Council of Trent in the archdiocese.[ Kooi, Christine. Reformation in the Low Countries, 1500-1620, Cambridge University Press, Jun 9, 2022, p. 147 ] After an official enquiry, in 1604, Hovius approved the cult of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel,[Boni, Armand (1953). Scherpenheuvel: Basiliek en gemeente in het kader van de vaderlandse geschiedenis. Standaard] 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 Albert and Isabella of Austria, Governors-General of the Spanish Netherlands.
Archbishop Hovius died on 30 May 1620 during a canonical visitation to Affligem Abbey.
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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.
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Craig Harline & Put, E. (2000), A bishop's tale: Mathias Hovius among his flock in seventeenth-century Flanders, Yale University Press, (Cloth); (Electronic), (Cloth); (Electronic)
