Footnotes:
(1) Pierre Lambert de la Motte (1624-1679 CE) was a founding member of the Missions Etrangères de Paris. La Motte was ordained a priest on 27 December 1655 CE. He was recruited to become a missionary in Asia, together with François Pallu and Ignace Cotolendi. Pope Alexander VII appointed him on 29 July 1658 CE as the first Apostolic Vicar of Cochin and as titular bishop of Beirut. On 11 June 1660 CE, he was consecrated bishop. Lambert left Marseilles on 26 November 1660 CE, accompanied by Fathers De Bourges and Deydier, and reached Mergui in Siam 18 months later. Bishop Lambert chiefly worked in Siam and died in 1679 CE in Ayutthaya.
(2) François Pallu (1626–1684 CE) was a founding member of the Missions Etrangères de Paris. Pallu was recruited to become a missionary in Asia with Pierre Lambert de la Motte and Ignace Cotolendi and sent to the Far East as Apostolic vicar. The three bishops left France (1660–62 CE) to go to their respective missions. Pallu, with nine associates, left on 3 January 1662 CE, and he joined Lambert in Ayutthaya after 24 months overland. From 1667 to 1673 CE, Pallu was in France and returned to Siam in 1673 CE. In 1674 CE, Pallu was imprisoned by the Spanish and would only be able to return to Siam in July 1682 CE. In 1684 CE, he arrived in China, where he died the same year.
(3) Louis Laneau (1637-1696 CE), born in Mondoubleau, France, was ordained a priest in La Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris. On 4 July 1669 CE, Laneau was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Siam and Titular Bishop of Metellopolis. On 25 March 1674 CE, he was consecrated bishop by Pierre Lambert de la Motte, Vicar Apostolic of Cochin, with Bishop François Pallu, Vicar Apostolic of Fo-Kien, serving as co-consecrator. He died in 1696 CE in Ayutthaya.
(4) The location is related to the angel Maha Brahma. Siamese religious and historical works believe that the true Vedas (Trai Phet), now lost, were taught by the angel Maha Brahma, who descended from heaven in the form of a Brahmin for that purpose. This is but a variation of the Hindu tradition that they were revealed by the god Brahma. [Alabaster, 1871]
(5) Jacques de Bourges (1634-1714 CE) was expelled from Tonkin in 1713 CE and took refuge in Siam with twenty-two seminarians and funds to support the impoverished and almost extinct Ayutthaya mission. In his short time there, he persuaded the apostolic vicar of Siam, Mgr de Cice, to return the seminary from the capital to its original site in Maha Pram, slightly to the north of Ayutthaya, the land being restored to the mission. [Smithies, 1993]
References:
[1] www.rc.net - A brief history of College General by Edmund Woon Yaw Yen - data retrieved 25 July 2009.
[2] www.catholic-hierarchy.org - data retrieved on 25 July 2009.
[3] www.catholique-belley-ars.cef.fr - data retrieved on 25 July 2009.
[4] www.archway.org.my - data retrieved on 25 July 2009.
[5] www.collegegeneral.org - data retrieved on 25 July 2009.
[6] www.catholique-belley-ars.cef.fr - data retrieved on 25 July 2009.