Peter Du Moulin (1601-1684)

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Biography of Peter Du Moulin (1601-1684):

Peter Du Moulin (or Pierre) (1601-1684), Anglican divine, son of Pierre Du Moulin, was born in Paris on April 24, 1601. After studying at Sedan and Leyden, he repaired to Cambridge, where he received the degree of D.D. About 1625, after an imprisonment at Dunkirk, he was appointed to the living (refused by his father) of St. John’s, Chester, but there is no trace in the church books of his having resided there. In 1640, however, on becoming D.D. at Leyden, he described himself as holding that benefice. Mr. Wood could not ascertain whether he held any English preferment prior to the civil war, but he was rector of Witherley, Leicestershire, in 1633, and of Wheldrake, Yorkshire, in 1641. During the civil war he was first in Ireland as tutor for the Boyle family, and was next tutor at Oxford to Richard Boyle and Lord Dungarvan, frequently preaching at St. Peter-in-the-East. He was rector of Adisham, Kent, from 1646 (with a short intermission in 1660 on the reinstatement of Dr. Oliver) until his death.

He sided, like his father, with the royalists, and wrote the scurrilous reply to Milton, “Regii Sanguinis Clamor,” mistakenly attributed to Alexander More. Du Moulin concealed his authorship, was consequently unmolested, and was even in 1656 made D.D. at Oxford, then under puritan sway. At the Restoration he was rewarded by a chaplaincy to Charles II and he succeeded to his father’s prebend at Canterbury. He took up his residence there, died Oct. 10, 1684, and was buried in the cathedral.

For further study:

 

Life in Lansdowne MS. 987, fol. 44, Brit. Mus.; Wood’s Athenae Oxon.; Dart’s Canterbury, 1726, p. 200 ; Album Studiosorum Lugdunae, the Hague, 1875; Agnew’s Protestant Exiles from France, 1886 ; Haag’s La France Protestant ; Foster’s Alumni Oxon. and London Marriage Licenses; Archaeologia Cantiana, 1882.

His Works:

The Works of Peter du Moulin (1601-1684) available in old English: (Puritan Publications is working to modernize the following works of du Moulin and publish them in a readable format.)

A Treatise of the Knowledge of God by Peter Du Moulin – eBook
Buy the Print Book HERE

Repentance and Fasting by Peter Du Moulin – eBook
Buy the Print Book HERE

The Love of God by Peter Du Moulin – eBook
Buy the Print Book HERE

1. “The Anatomy of Arminianism,” 1625.
2. “The Elements of Logic,” 1647.
3. “Coals from the Altar,” 1623.
4. “A Preparation Unto Fasting,” 1620. (Published by Puritan Publications)
5. “A Treatise on the Knowledge of God,” 1634. (Published by Puritan Publications)
6. “Theophilus, or Divine Love,” 1628. (Published by Puritan Publications)

He published “A Treatise of Peace and Contentment of the Soul,” London, 1657, and about twenty other works in English, French, and Latin. Mr. Wood describes him, “an honest, zealous Calvinist.” By his marriage in 1633 with Anne, daughter of Matthew Claver of Foscott, Buckinghamshire, he had a son Lewis, one of Frederick II’s best generals. Peter’s brother, Cyrus, was for a time French pastor at Canterbury.