Excerpt:
Marin Mersenne attended school at the College of Mans, then, from 1604 spent five years in the Jesuit College at La Fleche. From 1609 to 1611 he studied theology at the Sorbonne.
Mersenne joined the religious order of the Minims in 1611. The name of the order comes since the Minims regard themselves as the least (minimi) of all the religious; they devote themselves to prayer, study and scholarship. Mersenne continued his education within the order at Nigeon and then at Meaux. He returned to Paris where in 1612 he became a priest at the Place Royale.