A French Dominican theologian of the convent of Evreux ; died c. 1479. He was made Doctor of Theology at the University of Caen, 1443; Prior of St.-Jacques, Paris, 1455; and Inquisitor General of France, 1452, which office he held until 1474. At the instance of Charles VII, he was delegated to revise the acts and proceedings of the trial of Joan of Arc , and on 7 July, 1456, he solemnly declared her condemnation to have been iniquitous and unjust. His review of the case and his investigations, which are exhaustive, are given at length by the Dominican Fathers Belon and Balme in "Jean Bréhal, Grand Inquisiteur de France et la réhabilitation de Jeanne d'Arc" (Paris, 1893), and by the Jesuit Father Ayroles in "La vraie Jeanne d'Arc" (1790). Bréhal resigned his office in 1474 and retired to his convent of Evreux, where he spent the rest of his days in study, a model of conventual observance and discipline. He wrote: "De libera auctoritate audiendi confessiones religiosis mendicantibus concessa", first edition, date and place of publication not given; later, 1479; and Paris, 1507.

The Catholic Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history. This easy-to-search online version was originally printed in fifteen hardcopy volumes.

Designed to present its readers with the full body of Catholic teaching, the Encyclopedia contains not only precise statements of what the Church has defined, but also an impartial record of different views of acknowledged authority on all disputed questions, national, political or factional. In the determination of the truth the most recent and acknowledged scientific methods are employed, and the results of the latest research in theology, philosophy, history, apologetics, archaeology, and other sciences are given careful consideration.

No one who is interested in human history, past and present, can ignore the Catholic Church, either as an institution which has been the central figure in the civilized world for nearly two thousand years, decisively affecting its destinies, religious, literary, scientific, social and political, or as an existing power whose influence and activity extend to every part of the globe. In the past century the Church has grown both extensively and intensively among English-speaking peoples. Their living interests demand that they should have the means of informing themselves about this vast institution, which, whether they are Catholics or not, affects their fortunes and their destiny.

Copyright © Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company New York, NY. Volume 1: 1907; Volume 2: 1907; Volume 3: 1908; Volume 4: 1908; Volume 5: 1909; Volume 6: 1909; Volume 7: 1910; Volume 8: 1910; Volume 9: 1910; Volume 10: 1911; Volume 11: - 1911; Volume 12: - 1911; Volume 13: - 1912; Volume 14: 1912; Volume 15: 1912

Catholic Online Catholic Encyclopedia Digital version Compiled and Copyright © Catholic Online