Willem Hessels van Est
| Willem Hessels van Est | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1542 Gorinchem |
| Died |
20 September 1613 Douai |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Occupation | theologian |
Willem Hessels van Est (Latinized as Estius) (1542 – 20 September 1613) was a Dutch Catholic commentator on the Pauline epistles.
He was born at Gorcum, County of Holland.
He received his early education at home, after which he went to Utrecht, where he studied classics and thence proceeded to Leuven, where he spent about twenty years in the study of philosophy, theology and Holy Scripture. During the last ten years there he was professor of philosophy in one of the colleges. In 1580 he received the degree of Doctor of Theology.
During this time he was frequently the bearer of pecuniary aid to his uncle, Nicolas Pieck, who was giving missions in present Belgium; but the latter would never accept any help. In 1572, while Est was still at Leuven, his native town was captured by the Calvinists. His father, brother and uncle were made prisoners. The father and brother escaped, but Nicolas Pieck, who was then Superior of the Franciscan convent at Gorcum, and eighteen other ecclesiastics, were taken to Den Briel, on the North sea-coast, and put to death. Est wrote what is considered the best history of these Martyrs of Gorcum, who were canonized by Pius IX in 1867.
When Est first arrived at Leuven he found the place in a ferment owing to the recently broached opinions of Michel Baius, one of the professors of Holy Scripture, who held a leading position in the university all the time that Est was there; violent controversy raged around the person of Baius during all that time. It is evident from the commentaries of Est that he was much influenced on questions of divine grace and free will by the teaching of his old professor, Baius; and on these points he has to be read with some caution. After having been made doctor, he continued teaching philosophy at Leuven two years longer. In 1582 he was made professor of theology at Douai, a position which he retained for thirty-one years. He was also for many years rector of the diocesan seminary and during the last eighteen years of his life chancellor of the University of Douai.
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