François Baert

Bollandist, born at Ypres, 25 August, 1651; died at Antwerp, 27 October, 1719. He entered the Society of Jesus at Mechlin, 28 September, 1667. After passing through the novitiate he was regent of several colleges in the province of Belgian Flanders, studied theology and philosophy, and was finally ordained priest in 1680. The following year, 1681, he made assistant to Father Daniel Papebroch, the last survivor of the first generation of Bollandists. The name of Baertius is on the title pages of nine of the volumes of the Acta Sanctorum; the last four of May, and of the first five of June; but to judge from the articles published in these volumes his collaboration is by no means so large as these figures would indicate. There are no articles bearing his signature either in the volumes for May nor in the fifth volume for June. The other four volumes for June contain some fifteen articles by him, all very short excepting the commentaries on St. Columba and Saint Basil the Great, of the date of 9 June. In 1688, in company with Father Conrad Jannick, he made a trip to Austria and Hungary in search of literary material; the journey lasted eight months and the two returned with a large number of documents.

Cuper, Elogium R. P. Francisci Baertii hagiographi in Acta SS., July, II.

Charles De Smedt.