Jacques de Vitry

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Seal of Jacques de Vitry as bishop of Acre.

Jacques de Vitry (Jacobus de Vitriaco, c. 1160/70 – 1 May 1240) was a

French canon regular who was a noted theologian
and chronicler of his era. He was elected
cardinal
in 1229. His Historia Orientalis (also known as Historia Hierosolymitana) is an important source for the historiography of the Crusades.

Biography

Jacques was born in central France (perhaps Reims). He was born in 1170 at the latest.[1]

He studied at the

Crusaders.[2]

In 1214 Jacques was elected Bishop of Acre. He received episcopal consecration and arrived at his see in 1216. He was subsequently heavily involved in the Fifth Crusade, participating in the siege of Damietta from 1218 to 1220. In 1219 he began to write the Historia Hierosolymitana, a history of the Holy Land from the advent of Islam until the crusades of his own day, but only two parts were completed. He returned to Europe in 1225.

Between 16 April and 29 July 1229,

Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals
. His remains were transferred to Oignies and buried there in 1241.

From a document issued by Pope Gregory on 14 May 1240 it appears that de Vitry, shortly before his death, had been elected as the

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
, but this election was either not ratified by the Pope or he rejected it himself.

Manuscript of Sermones Vulgares, 13th century, by Jacques de Vitry

Aside from the Historia, his works include hundreds of sermons, and letters to

Marie d'Oignies, whose advice inspired him to become a canon regular.[3]

Jacques de Vitry was fascinated by the powers held by the beguines, such that they were paralleled with the priests of the time, yet functioned outside the church proper.[4] Although this movement was unrecognized in the church, Jacques made appeal to Pope Honorius III to legitimize the work of their community, as well as the Liège diocese, all France and throughout the Holy Roman Empire.[5]

Reliquary at Oignies

In 2015, the CROMIOSS project, led by the Archaeological Society of Namur (SAN) in partnership with several Belgian universities and research institutes, undertook an interdisciplinary scientific study around the reliquary of Jacques de Vitry, located in the church of

Saint Marie d’Oigines in Belgium. Anthropological, isotopic and genetic analyses indicated a high likelihood that the remains were in fact those of Jacques de Vitry.[6] His unique parchment mitre was also analysed.[7] Forensic work on the skull, supplemented with DNA evidence, also allowed for the creation of a visual reconstruction of what the bishop might have looked like.[8][9] The remains were reinterred at Oignies in 2019.[10]

Editions

Historiography
  • Orientalis et occidentalis Historia. ed. F. Moschi, ex officina typographica Balthazaris Belleri, Douai, 1596, (archive.org, online facsimile).
  • Historia Hierosolimitana. ed. Jacques Bongars, in: Gesta Dei Per Francos, Sive Orientalium Expeditionum, Et Regni Francorum Hierosolimitani Historia. 1611, (online facsimile).
  • John Frederick Hinnebusch (ed.): The Historia occidentalis of Jacques de Vitry. A Critical Edition (= Spicilegium Friburgense. Texte zur Geschichte des kirchlichen Lebens. vol. 17,
    ISSN 0561-6158
    ). The University Press, Fribourg 1972.
  • Jacques de Vitry. Historia Orientalis, ed. Jean Donnadieu, 2008.

Translations:

Sermons
Letters
  • Reinhold Röhricht (ed.): Briefe. In: Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte. vol. 14, 1894, 97–118; vol. 15, 1895, vol. 568–587; vol. 16, 1896, 72–114.
  • Lettres de Jacques de Vitry ed. R. B. C. Huygens. Leiden, 1960.
Other

References

  1. ISSN 0018-2648
    .
  2. Historia Albigensis 285. It was perhaps during this preaching campaign that he met Bishop Foulques of Toulouse; cf. Guillaume de Puylaurens, Chronica
    28.
  3. ^ Louis René Bréhier (1910). "Jacques de Vitry". In Catholic Encyclopedia. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  4. ^ Fulton, Rachel, and Bruce W. Holsinger. History in the Comic Mode: Medieval Communities and the Matter of Person. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007. p. 45.
  5. ^ Coakley, John W. Women, men, and spiritual power female saints and their male collaborators. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006. pg 69
  6. PMID 30794540
    .
  7. ^ "Parchment Mitre (images)". oignies.collectionkbf.be. Archived from the original on 11 Jan 2019.
  8. ^ "Photographs of Cardinal Jacques de Vitry, who died in 1240!". Focus on Belgium. 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
  9. ^ "Bishop Jacques de VITRY – Visualforensic". Retrieved 2021-03-24.
  10. ^ Brouillard, Etienne. "Jacques de Vitry a été ré-inhumé à Oignies". www.lasan.be (in French). Retrieved 2021-03-24.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jacques de Vitry.
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