Jean-Baptiste Bethune (April 25, 1821 – June 18, 1894) was a Belgian architect, artisan and designer who played a pivotal role in the Belgian and Catholic Gothic Revival movement. He was called by some the "Pugin of Belgium", with reference to the influence on Bethune of the English Gothic Revival architect and designer, Augustus Pugin.
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Life
Jean Bethune was the eldest son of baron Felix Bethune, a textile merchant in Kortrijk and his wife, Julie de Renty (1791–1856), from Lille. His family was Flemish of French origin. He and his relatives were fervent Catholics, and many were active in politics and civil service. The family which was originally called "Bethune" was in 1845 granted nobility by the Belgian King and added the preposition "de" (some of them took the name "de Béthune-Sully" due to an unproved relation to the ancient House of Béthune of the famous Duke of Sully), in the 20th century, to underline their noble status. However, this great architect never used the particule.
His Irish home teacher Michel Breen first introduced him to history and antiquity, and more particularly Gothic art as an expression of Christianity. Bethune first studied law at the Catholic University of Leuven from 1837 to 1842, but did not complete his studies. It was at Leuven that he discovered the writings of Augustus Welby Pugin, the advocate of Gothicism in England and another enthusiastic Catholic.