Natalis Alex

noel alexandre) (1639-1724. French historian and theologian. Born in Rouen, he entered the Dominican Order in 1655 and studied philosophy and theology at the Convent of St. Jacques in Paris, gaining a doctorate from the Sorbonne in 1675. Persuaded by Jean Baptiste Colbert, he entered the Society of Savants, lecturing on historical subjects of which twenty-four volumes were published between 1677 and 1688. The first volumes were welcomed, but later ones gave offense to Rome because of the author's Gallicanism,* causing the works to be placed on the Index, until later revised. His work included six octavo volumes on OT history, ten volumes on the Catechisma Romanus, including sermons and instructions to preachers. In 1704 he fell into Jansenism* by signing the Cas de Conscience, but soon recanted. He debated the Dominican and Jesuit doctrines of grace and predestination. His literary work ended through blindness.