Guibert of Tournai (Latin: ''Guibertus'' or ''Gilbertus Tournacensis''; c. 1200 – 1284) was a French

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

friar, known for his sermons and other writings.

Life

Guibert was born near

Tournai Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Euromet ...

around 1200. He attended the University of Paris where he became a master. In 1240, he joined the Franciscan order. A student and collaborator of

Bonaventure Bonaventure ( ; it, Bonaventura ; la, Bonaventura de Balneoregio; 1221 – 15 July 1274), born Giovanni di Fidanza, was an Italian Catholic Franciscan, bishop, cardinal, scholastic theologian and philosopher. The seventh Minister G ...

, he held the Franciscan chair of theology between 1259 and 1261. Guibert was also connected to the court of

Louis IX Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the d ...

; he may even have accompanied Louis on his first crusade to Egypt and the Holy Land (1248-1254), although this is uncertain. He participated along with Bonaventure in the

Council of Lyon The Council of Lyon may refer to a number of synods or councils of the Roman Catholic Church, held in Lyon, France or in nearby Anse. Previous to 1313, a certain Abbé Martin counted twenty-eight synods or councils held at Lyons or at Anse. Some ...

in 1274. He died in 1284.

Sermons

Guibert wrote several popular collections of sermons, including one of ''Sermones domincales et de sanctis'' (sermons for each Sunday and holy day of the year) and one of ''Sermones ad varios status'' (sermons addressed to different audiences for different occasions). Particular audiences mentioned in this latter collection include scholars, monks, the poor, lepers, pilgrims, servants, and children.

Other writings

Guibert also wrote a number of pedagogical, theological, and

hagiographical A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

works, including:E. Bonifacio (ed), ''De modo addiscendi'' (Torino, 1953), pp. 13-20. * ''Erudimentum doctrinae'' * ''De modo addiscendi'' ('On the Method of Learning') written for John de Dampierre, provost of Bruges, son of

Guy of Flanders Guy of Dampierre (french: Gui de Dampierre; nl, Gwijde van Dampierre) ( – 7 March 1305, Compiègne) was the Count of Flanders (1251–1305) and Marquis of Namur (1264–1305). He was a prisoner of the French when his Flemings defeated th ...

. * ''Eruditio regum et principum'', written for Louis IX in 1259 * ''De officio episcopali et ecclesiae caeremoniis'' * ''Vita Sancti Eleutherii'' (hagiographical work) * ''Tractatus de pace et tranquillitate animi'' ('Treatise on the Peace and Tranquility of the Soul') * ''Tractatus de virginitate,'' dedicated to Louis IX's sister

Isabelle Isabel is a female name of Spanish origin. Isabelle is a name that is similar, but it is of French origin. It originates as the medieval Spanish form of '' Elisabeth'' (ultimately Hebrew ''Elisheva''), Arising in the 12th century, it became popul ...

in 1270 * ''De morte non timenda'' ('On Not Fearing Death') * ''Collectio de scandalis ecclesiae'', written for the

Second Council of Lyon :''The First Council of Lyon, the Thirteenth Ecumenical Council, took place in 1245.'' The Second Council of Lyon was the fourteenth ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, convoked on 31 March 1272 and convened in Lyon, Kingdom of Arl ...

(1274) after an appeal for advice concerning the recovery of the Holy Land

References

{{reflist

External sources

Digitised manuscripts

* ''Sermones'' 'ad status''

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

latin 15943, o
Gallica

Early printed editions

* ''Sermones ad omnes status'' (Lyon, 1511
Google Books

Modern critical editions

* ''Le traité Eruditio regum et principum de Guibert de Tournai: étude critique et texte inédit'', ed. A. de Poorter (Louvain, 1914). * ''De modo addiscendi'', ed. E. Bonifacio (Torino, 1953). * ''De morte, De septem verbis Domini in cruce,'' ed. C. Munier, CCCM 242 (Turnhout, 2011).

Secondary sources

* Casagrande, Carla. ‘Le roi, les anges et la paix chez le franciscain Guibert de Tournai’, in ''Prêcher la paix et discipliner la société: Italie, France, Angleterre (XIIIe-XVe siècles)'', ed. Rosa Maria Dessi (Turnhout, 2005). * Davis, Adam J. ‘Preaching in Thirteenth-Century Hospitals’, Journal of Medieval History 36, no. 1 (2010). *D'Avray, David, and M. Tausche, ‘Marriage Sermons in "Ad Status" Collections of the Central Middle Ages’, ''Archives d'histoire doctrinale et littéraire du Moyen Âge'' 47 (1981). * D'Avray, David. ''Medieval Marriage Sermons'' (2001). *Friday, Hal. 'The "Vidi Alterum Angelum" Topos in Two Sermons by Guibert of Tournai for the Feast of St. Francis.' ''Franciscan Studies'' 70 (2012): 101-38. 13th-century French Catholic theologians French Franciscans 13th-century Christian monks Franciscan theologians