Arnold Wyon


Arnold Wyon, also known as Arnold de Wion, was a Benedictine monk and historian born in Douai 15 May 1554, and died near Mantua, Italy around 1610.

Life

Wyon was the son of Amé Wion, a tax attorney of Douai and studied in his hometown, before joining the Benedictine Abbey Saint-Pierre of Oudenburg near Bruges. In the religious wars that took place in the Netherlands, he was forced to take refuge in the Abbey at Marchiennes in 1578.
On March 14, 1579, he was ordained in the Cathedral of Arras and moved to the Polirone Abbey, near Mantua.

List of works

Wyon is best known for reportedly discovering the Prophecy of the Popes or Prophecy of Saint Malachy. Critics cite a lack of accuracy for popes after Wyon "discovered" the document, and the similarity between the 75th pope and Cardinal Simoncelli, a friend of Wyon's, who was seeking election in the then upcoming papal conclave.