Hugh of Vaucemain (died 1341) was a French Dominican, who became head of his order in 1333. He was a

Burgundian Burgundian can refer to any of the following: *Someone or something from Burgundy. *Burgundians, an East Germanic tribe, who first appear in history in South East Europe. Later Burgundians colonised the area of Gaul that is now known as Burgundy (F ...

. His time as Master-General was marked by a conflict with

Pope Benedict XII Pope Benedict XII ( la, Benedictus XII, french: Benoît XII; 1285 – 25 April 1342), born Jacques Fournier, was head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1334 to his death in April 1342. He was the third Avignon pope. Benedict was a careful p ...

. Benedict, a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

, was attempting a reform of the monastic orders. Hugh's position as the head of a mendicant order was apparently not against the reform as such, but derived from the feeling that the mendicants' position would then be threatened. The Order numbered around 12,000 at this time, according to a census of 1337.CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Order of Preachers
/ref> This was a decade before the

Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...

, which caused a general fall in population.

References

French Dominicans 1341 deaths Year of birth unknown Masters of the Order of Preachers {{france-reli-bio-stub