Pamelius was born at
Bruges, in the
County of Flanders, the son of Adolphe de Joigny de Pamele, lord of Castre and Gotthem, by Madeleine Vanden Heede. His father served in turn as alderman of Bruges,
master of requests to the
Privy Council,
councillor of state, and
imperial privy councillor. His elder brother,
Willem van Pamele, would become president of the
Council of Flanders and president of the
Privy Council. Jacobus was educated at the
Cistercian Abbey of Boneffe in the
County of Namur. He studied
philosophy at
Louvain University, and graduated
magister artium on 27 March 1553. For the next nine years he was a student of theology in
Pope's College, Leuven, following the lectures of
Ruard Tapper and
Josse Ravestein. "For as in the bringing together of the books of Bede, so also in the emendation and restoration of many readings, Jacobus Pamelius laid out no small effort, an erudite man, one very respected in these matters, and diligent, and one to whom the readers owe a great deal." Pamelius devoted himself to the publication of rare texts, continuing with the
Micrologus de ecclesiasticis observationibus (Antwerp,
Christophe Plantin, 1565), a
liturgical commentary of the Roman
Ordo which dates probably from the beginning of the twelfth century, and an edition of
Cassiodorus's
Institutiones divinarum lectionum published jointly with a catalogue of ancient biblical commentaries (Antwerp, Plantin, 1566), which he dedicated to
Richard Creagh,
Archbishop of Armagh. He was particularly interested in the writings of
Cyprian and in liturgical books. From 1568 to 1571 he held the
deanery of Bruges, which he had accepted only on condition that he should be allowed to resign at the earliest opportunity. In 1570 he was appointed a member of the commission for the examination of books by
Remi Drieux,
Bishop of Bruges, and he aided in the publication of the
Index expurgatorius of 1571. On 4 May 1574, he replaced
George de Vrieze as
scholaster of the chapter of St Donatian, and he was an active fundraiser for the establishment of a
Jesuit college at Bruges in 1575. The
Dutch Revolt was by then in progress, and in response to the 1576
Pacification of Ghent, Pamelius penned a memo for the Flemish bishops (in particular
Martin Rythovius,
bishop of Ypres, and Remi Drieux, bishop of Bruges) providing arguments against religious toleration. After his death this was printed under the title
De religionibus diversis non admittendis (Antwerp, Plantin, 1589). On 20 March 1578, rebel forces took control of Bruges. His efforts to save three Franciscan friars accused of sodomy from the death penalty attracted hostility, and he was obliged to withdraw to
Douai. He probably left Bruges on 8 October 1578, the day that the Dominicans, Augustinian Hermits, and Carmelites were expelled. The chapter of Saint-Omer granted him a prebend in 1580, and in 1581 appointed him
Archdeacon of Flanders. It was during this period that he put the finishing touches to his long-gestated edition of
Tertullian, which was published in Paris in 1584. He continued to develop a reputation for generosity to Catholic refugees in
Walloon Flanders, both from parts of the
Low Countries under Calvinist control, and from England and Ireland. When
Louis de Berlaymont,
Archbishop of Cambrai, summoned a provincial council to meet in
Mons on 2 October 1586, Pamelius was to accompany
Jean Six,
bishop of Saint-Omer, as a theological adviser. Bishop Six fell ill at
Lille and was unable to continue the journey. The bishop's secretary,
Franciscus Lucas Brugensis, remained at his sick-bed and Pamelius went on alone, as the bishop's delegate. Jean Six died on 11 October 1586, and Philip II named Pamelius as his successor as bishop. Pamelius died at
Mons, in the
County of Hainaut, before receiving his bulls of confirmation. He was buried in
Saint Waltrude Collegiate Church in Mons. A service of commemoration was held in Saint-Omer on 20 January 1588, with Guillaume Taelboom delivering the eulogy. ==Works==