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Vincent of Beauvais

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Vincent of Beauvais
Fresco of Friar Vincent of Beauvais, author of The Great Mirror
Born c. 1184/1194
Died c. 1264
Other names Vincentius Bellovacensis, Vincentius Burgundus, Vincent de Beauvais
Occupation Friar
Known for Author/Compiler
Notable work The Great Mirror (Speculum Maius)

Vincent of Beauvais (Latin: Vincentius Bellovacensis or Burgundus; French: Vincent de Beauvais; c. 1184/1194 – c. 1264) was a Dominican friar at the Cistercian monastery of Royaumont Abbey, France.[1] He is known mostly for his Speculum Maius (Great mirror), a major work of compilation that was widely read in the Middle Ages. Often retroactively described as an encyclopedia or as a florilegium,[2] his text exists as a core example of brief compendiums produced in medieval Europe.[3]

Biography

The exact dates of his birth and death are unknown, and not much detail has surfaced concerning his career. Conjectures place him first in the house of the Dominicans at Paris between 1215 and 1220, and later at the Dominican monastery founded by Louis IX of France at Beauvais in Picardy. It is more certain, however, that he held the post of "reader" at the monastery of Royaumont on the Oise, not far from Paris, also founded by Louis IX, between 1228 and 1235. Around the late 1230s, Vincent had begun working on the Great Mirror and in 1244 he had completed the first draft.[4] The king read the books that Vincent compiled and supplied the funds for procuring copies of such authors as he required. Queen Margaret of Provence and her son-in-law, Theobald V of Champagne and Navarre, are also named among those who urged him to the composition of his "little works", especially De morali principis institutione.[5] In the late 1240s, Vincent was working on his Opus which included On the Education of Noble Girls (De Eruditione Filiorum Nobilium). In this work he styles himself as "Vincentius Belvacensis, de ordine praedicatorum, qualiscumque lector in monasterio de Regali Monte".[5] Though Vincent may have been summoned to Royaumont before 1240, there is no evidence that he lived there before the return of Louis IX and his wife from the Holy Land.[5] It is possible that he left Royaumont in 1260,[6] which is also the approximate year that he wrote Tractatus Consolatorius, which was occasioned by the death of the king's son Louis that year.[5] Between the years 1260 and 1264 Vincent sent the first completed book of the Opus to Louis IX and Thibaut V.[6] In 1264 he died.

Great Mirror (Speculum Maius)

What is known of Vincent and his historical importance largely depends on his compendium Speculum Maius or the Great Mirror. He worked on it for approximately 29 years (1235–1264)[7] in the pursuit of presenting a compendium of all of the knowledge available at the time. He collected the materials for the work from Île-de-France libraries, and there is evidence to suggest even further than that.[8] He found support for the creation of the Great Mirror from the Dominican order to which he belonged as well as King Louis IX of France.[8] The metaphor of the title has been argued to "reflect" the microcosmic relations of Medieval knowledge. In this case, the book mirrors "both the contents and organization of the cosmos".[9] Vincent himself stated that he chose "Speculum" for its name because his work contains "whatever is worthy of contemplation (speculatio), that is, admiration or imitation".[10] It is by this name that the compendium is connected to the medieval genre of speculum literature.

Other works

  • Universal Work on the Royal Condition (Opus universale de statu principis) was described as a guideline to "provide instructions for the behaviors and duties of the prince, his family, and his court".[11] It was to be a four-part treatise, although only the first, The moral instruction of a prince, and the fourth, The education of noble children, were completed.
The Moral Instruction of a Prince or On the Foundations of Royal Morals (De morali Principis institutione) (1260–1263), written for King Louis IX of France on the topic of kingship;[12] The Education of Noble Children (De eruditione filiorum nobilium) (1249).[13] This pedagogical treatise has also been viewed as a sermon expanding on the biblical passage Ecclesiasticus 7:25-26: "You have sons? Train them and care for them from boyhood. You have daughters? Guard their bodies and do not show a joyful face to them."[14] The majority of the text deals with the education of boys, with roughly one-fifth of the text devoted to the education of girls. The text is notable for being "the first medieval educational text to both systematically present a comprehensive method of instruction for lay children and to included a section devoted to girls."[11]
  • Expositio in orationem dominicam (Exposition on the Lord’s Prayer)[15]
  • Liber consolatorius ad Ludovicum regem de morte filii (Book to Console King Louis after the Death of His Son), (1260)[15]
  • Liber de laudibus beatae Virginis (The Book Praising the Blessed Virgin)[15]
  • Liber de laudibus Johannis Evangelistae (The Book Praising John the Evangelist)[15]
  • Liber de sancta Trinitate or Tractatus de sancta trinitate (The Book of the Holy Trinity), (1259–1260)[13]
  • Liber gratiae (The Book of Grace), (1259–1260)[13]
  • Memoriale temporum (Chronicle of the Times)[16]
  • Sermones manuals de tempore. (Johann Koelhoff d. Ä., Cologne c. 1482 digitized)
  • Tractatus de poenitentia (Treatise on Penance)[15]
  • Tractatus in salutatione beatae Virginis Mariae ab angelo facta (Treastie on the Salutation to the Blessed Virgin Mary Made by the Angel)[15]

There are manuscript copies and modern editions of De eruditione filiorum nobilium, De morali principis institutione, Liber consolatorius ad Ludovicum regem de morte filii. There are only manuscript copies of Liber de sancta Trinitate, Memoriale temporum, Tractatus de poenitentia, and Tractatus in salutatione beatae Virginis Mariae ab angelo facta.[17]

Beyond the thirteen works that can be confidently accredited to Vincent,[18] there is the possibility of a lost work named Tractatus de vitio detractionis (Treastise on the Sin of Omission)[15] and the apocryphal fourth part to the Great Mirror, Speculum morale.[19]

Along with Conradus of Altzheim, Henricus Suso, Ludolphus of Saxony, the authorship of Speculum Humanae Salvationis has been sometimes attributed to Vincent.[20]

See also

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Priest and encyclopedist. Little is known of his personal history. The years of his birth and death are uncertain, the dates frequently assigned being 1190 and 1264 respectively. It is thought that Vincent joined the Dominicans in Paris shortly after 1218; with the exception of visits to Louis IX at Royaumont, he spent all his religious life in the monastery at Beauvais. A man of industry, Vincent undertook a systematic and comprehensive treatment of all branches of human knowledge. In the preparation of this colossal work, he was helped in the purchase of books by his royal patron Louis IX. The general title of Vincent's work is "Speculum majus". The first part, "Speculum naturale", contains thirty-two books and 3718 chapters, and treats of theology, psychology, physiology, cosmography, physics, botany, zoology, mineralogy, agriculture. Book IX, chap. 40, contains an early reference to the use of the magnet for the purpose of navigation. The edition of the "Speculum naturale" in the Wheeler collection in the Library of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (New York) was printed in Strasburg, probably in the year 1468. It is in two royal folio volumes containing 694 double column pages of 66 lines to the column. Like other incunabula, it was published without title-page, folio-number or printer's imprint. The second part, "Speculum doctrinale", in seventeen books and 2374 chapters, treats of logic, rhetoric, poetry, geometry, astronomy, instincts, passions, education, industrial and mechanical arts, anatomy, surgery, medicine, jurisprudence, and administration of justice. The third part, "Speculum historiale", in thirty-one books and 3793 chapters, brings the history of the world to A.D. 1250. A fourth part, "Speculum morale", appears in some additions, but its authenticity is questioned, Daunou (1761- 1840) affirming that it cannot be attributed to Vincent. The "Speculum majus" contains 80 books, divided into 9885 chapters, figures which give some idea of the magnitude of the work accomplished by the Dominican Friar in the first half of the thirteenth century. Other works of Vincent of Beauvais are: "De eruditione filiorum regalium"; "Tractatus consolatorius de morte amici", addressed to St. Louis on the death of one of his sons in 1260.

BOURGEAT, Etudes sur Vincent de Beauvais (Paris, 1856); DAUNOU, Continuation de l'hist. litt. De France, XVIII; TOURON, Hist. des hommes illustres de l'ordre de saint Dominique; Revue des quest. hist. (Paris, 1875).

References

  1. Back to citation "Vincent de Beauvais" (in French). Arlima Archives de littérature du moyen âge. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
  2. Back to citation Franklin-Brown, Mary (2012). Reading the world: encyclopedic writing in the scholastic age. Chicago London: The University of Chicago Press. p. 9. ISBN 9780226260709.
  3. Back to citation Binkley, Peter (1997). Pre-modern encyclopaedic texts: proceedings of the second COMERS Congress, Groningen, 1-4 July 1996. Leiden New York: Brill. p. 48. ISBN 9789004108301.
  4. Back to citation Jacobs-Pollez, Rebecca (2012). The education of noble girls in medieval france: Vincent of beauvais and "De eruditione filiorum nobilium" (PhD). University of Missouri - Columbia. p. 234. ProQuest 1266044945.
  5. Back to citation occurrence 5.0 Back to citation occurrence 5.1 Back to citation occurrence 5.2 Back to citation occurrence 5.3 Archer 1911, p. 90.
  6. Back to citation occurrence 6.0 Back to citation occurrence 6.1 Jacobs-Pollez 2012, p. 235.
  7. Back to citation Franklin-Brown 2012, p. 11.
  8. Back to citation occurrence 8.0 Back to citation occurrence 8.1 Franklin-Brown 2012, p. 95.
  9. Back to citation Harris-McCoy, Daniel (2008). Varieties of encyclopedism in the early Roman Empire: Vitruvius, Pliny the Elder, Artemidorus (Ph. D). University of Pennsylvania. p. 116. ProQuest 304510158.
  10. Back to citation Franklin-Brown 2012, p. 271.
  11. Back to citation occurrence 11.0 Back to citation occurrence 11.1 Jacobs-Pollez 2012, p. iv.
  12. Back to citation Robert J., Schneider; Rouse, Richard H. (1991). "The Medieval Circulation of the De morali principis institutione of Vincent of Beauvais". Viator. 22: 189–228. doi:10.1484/J.VIATOR.2.301322.
  13. Back to citation occurrence 13.0 Back to citation occurrence 13.1 Back to citation occurrence 13.2 Jacobs-Pollez 2012, p. 234.
  14. Back to citation Tobin, Rosemary Barton (1974). "Vincent of Beauvais on the Education of Women". Journal of the History of Ideas. 35 (3): 485–489. doi:10.2307/2708795. JSTOR 2708795.
  15. Back to citation occurrence 15.0 Back to citation occurrence 15.1 Back to citation occurrence 15.2 Back to citation occurrence 15.3 Back to citation occurrence 15.4 Back to citation occurrence 15.5 Back to citation occurrence 15.6 Jacobs-Pollez 2012, p. 21.
  16. Back to citation Jacobs-Pollez 2012, p. 22.
  17. Back to citation Jacobs-Pollez 2012, p. 236–237.
  18. Back to citation Jacobs-Pollez 2012, p. 20.
  19. Back to citation Jacobs-Pollez 2012, p. 237.
  20. Back to citation Wilson, Adrian; Lancaster Wilson, Joyce (1984). A Medieval Mirror: Speculum Humanae Salvationis 1324–1500. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 26–27. ISBN 978-0520051942.

Bibliography

Attribution

Further reading

  • Brother Potamian (1913). "Vincent of Beauvais". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  • A. Gabriel, The Educational Ideas of Vincent of Beauvais (2d ed., 1962)
  • L. Thorndike. A History of Magic and Experimental Science. During the First Thirteen Centuries of our Era (1929) vol 2 ch 56 pp 457–76, a detailed study of the science coverage
  • P. Throop, Vincent of Beauvais: The Education of Noble Children (Charlotte, VT: MedievalMS, 2011)
  • P. Throop, Vincent of Beauvais: The Moral Instruction of a Prince (Charlotte, VT: MedievalMS, 2011)
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