Charles Coffin

irth Year: 1676
Death Year: 1749
Place of Birth: Buzaney, Ardennes, France

Charles Coffin was born in 1676 at Buzaney in the Ardennes. He was educated in classical literature and became known early for his skill in Latin poetry. In 1712, he was appointed principal of the College of Beauvais, succeeding the historian Charles Rollin. In 1718, he became rector of the University of Paris, a position that placed him among the leading academic figures in France.

Coffin published a collection of his Latin poems in 1727. His most enduring contribution, however, was in the field of hymnody. In 1736, a substantial body of his Latin hymns was incorporated into the Paris Breviary, a major liturgical revision in which Coffin exercised significant influence. In the same year, these hymns were issued separately under the title Hymni Sacri Auctore Carolo Coffin. A complete edition of his works was later published in 1755, appearing in two volumes.

In the preface to Hymni Sacri, Coffin stated that his purpose in writing hymns was not poetic ornamentation but clarity, doctrinal purity, and devotion, drawing extensively from Scripture and adapting biblical material for congregational and liturgical use. His approach shaped both the theological tone and literary character of the Paris Breviary.

Coffin’s hymns number approximately 100 in the 1736 edition. Contemporary and later critics described them as less ornate than those of Jean-Baptiste Santeuil, but marked by simplicity, reverence, and devotional warmth. Many of his hymns were translated into English by figures such as John Chandler and Isaac Williams, and entered English hymnody through these translations.

Charles Coffin died in 1749. His reputation rests primarily on his role as a reformer of French liturgical hymnody and as one of the most influential Latin hymn writers of his period.