Canonist; born Louvain, Belgium, 1646; died Amersfoort, Netherlands, 1728. While teaching canon law at the University of Louvain, he wrote his famous work "Jus canonicum universum." He pronounced in favor of the ordination of the Jansenist Bishop of Utrecht, which with his Jansenist doctrines brought about his suspension by the Bishop of Mechlin; on his condemnation by the university he fled to the Jansenists in Holland. The Augustinian Desirant, professor at the university, is accused of having fabricated false documents in the controversy; this is known as the "Forgery of Louvain." Desirant was condemned and banished. All of Van Espen's works are on the Index.