| Simon Verepaeus | |
| Native Name: | Simon Verrept |
| Native Name Lang: | nl |
| Birth Date: | 1522 |
| Birth Place: | Dommelen, Duchy of Brabant, Habsburg Netherlands |
| Death Date: | 10 November 1598 (aged 76) |
| Death Place: | 's-Hertogenbosch, Duchy of Brabant, Habsburg Netherlands |
| Occupation: | priest and teacher |
| Language: | Latin |
| Alma Mater: | Louvain University |
| Period: | Renaissance |
| Genres: | education |
| Subjects: | Latin composition, Latin grammar, prayer |
| Movement: | Catholic Reformation |
| Notableworks: | Enchiridion precationum piarum (1565), Grammaticae Despauterianae (1571) |
Simon Verepaeus or Verrept (1522–10 November 1598) was a Dutch priest and educator in the 16th-century Habsburg Netherlands, whose works on prayer, Latin grammar, and Latin composition continued to be reprinted until the early 19th century.
Verepaeus was born at Dommelen in the Duchy of Brabant (now North Brabant) in 1522.[1] After studying the Liberal Arts and Theology at Leuven University he was ordained priest and became chaplain to the Augustinian canonesses of Mount Thabor Convent outside Mechelen. There he compiled the Enchiridion precationum piarum, one of the most reprinted prayer books of the Tridentine Church, which was translated into all the major languages of Western Europe except English.[2] [3]
During the early stages of the Dutch Revolt Verepaeus sought refuge first in Cologne, where he stayed at the College of the Three Crowns in 1567, and later in Hilvarenbeek, where he taught at the town's college under the headmastership of Nicolas Busius. His introduction to Latin grammar and his handbooks on Latin composition were initially written for use in the school.
In 1572, he returned to his duties at Mount Thabor Convent, but on 2 October 1572, during the Spanish Fury at Mechelen, the convent was burned down and his library destroyed. He nevertheless remained in the city, contributing to its reconstruction, until 1578, when the community he served temporarily disbanded. In 1580 he was living in Helmond, and from 1585 he lived in 's-Hertogenbosch, where he held a canonry in the cathedral and was headmaster of the city's college. He died in 's-Hertogenbosch on 10 November 1598.[4]