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

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

canon regular Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated b ...

who was a noted

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

and chronicler of his era. He was elected bishop of Acre in 1214 and made 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 Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded ...

) and studied at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...

, becoming a

in 1210 at the Priory of Saint-Nicolas d'Oignies in the Diocese of Liège, a post he maintained until his consecration as bishop in 1216. From 1211 to 1213 he preached the

Albigensian Crusade The Albigensian Crusade or the Cathar Crusade (; 1209–1229) was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted primarily by the French crow ...

, touring France and Germany with William, the archdeacon of Paris, and recruiting many

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

. 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 The Fifth Crusade (1217–1221) was a campaign in a series of Crusades by Western Europeans to reacquire Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering Egypt, ruled by the powerful Ayyubid sultanate, led by al-Adil, brother of Sala ...

, participating in the siege of

Damietta Damietta ( arz, دمياط ' ; cop, ⲧⲁⲙⲓⲁϯ, Tamiati) is a port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt, a former bishopric and present multiple Catholic titular see. It is located at the Damietta branch, an easte ...

from 1218 to 1220. In 1219 he began to write the ''Historia Hierosolymitana'', a history of the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Ho ...

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,

Pope Gregory IX Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...

elevated Jacques to the

College of Cardinals The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are appo ...

and transferred him to the

suburbicarian see of Frascati The Diocese of Frascati (Lat.: ''Tusculana'') is a suburbicarian see of the Holy Roman Church and a diocese of the Catholic Church in Italy, based at Frascati, near Rome. The bishop of Frascati is a Cardinal Bishop; from the Latin name of the are ...

. With the exception of a short legation to

Emperor Frederick II Frederick II ( German: ''Friedrich''; Italian: ''Federico''; Latin: ''Federicus''; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 and King of Je ...

in 1232, he spent his last years working in the papal court. He subscribed the papal bulls between 29 July 1229 and 23 June 1239. He died at Rome as

Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals The dean of the College of Cardinals ( la, Decanus Collegii Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalium) presides over the College of Cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church, serving as '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals). The position was estab ...

. 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. Houghton MS Riant 35 - de Vitry page 1

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

Pope Honorius III Pope Honorius III (c. 1150 – 18 March 1227), born Cencio Savelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 18 July 1216 to his death. A canon at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, he came to hold a number of import ...

. He also wrote about the immoral life of the students at the University of Paris and the holy life of the

Beguines The Beguines () and the Beghards () were Christian lay religious orders that were active in Western Europe, particularly in the Low Countries, in the 13th–16th centuries. Their members lived in semi-monastic communities but did not take form ...

of Liège, in particular his ''Life of Marie d'Oignies'', whose advice inspired him to become a canon regular. 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. 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.

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. His unique parchment

mitre The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in t ...

was also analysed. 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. The remains were reinterred at Oignies in 2019.

Editions

;Historiography * ''Orientalis et occidentalis Historia.'' ed. F. Moschi, ex officina typographica Balthazaris Belleri, Douai, 1596,
archive.org
. * ''Historia Hierosolimitana.'' ed. Jacques Bongars, in: ''Gesta Dei Per Francos, Sive Orientalium Expeditionum, Et Regni Francorum Hierosolimitani Historia.'' 1611,

. * John Frederick Hinnebusch (ed.): ''The Historia occidentalis of Jacques de Vitry. A Critical Edition'' (= ''Spicilegium Friburgense. Texte zur Geschichte des kirchlichen Lebens.'' vol. 17, ). The University Press, Fribourg 1972. *''Jacques de Vitry. Historia Orientalis'', ed. Jean Donnadieu, 2008. Translations: * Abridged and incomplete translation to English
''The History of Jerusalem, A.D. 1180 by Jacques de Vitry''
(= ''

Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society __NOTOC__ The Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society (PPTS) was a text publication society based in London, which specialised in publishing editions and translations of medieval texts relevant to the history of pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Particular a ...

'' vol. 11, no. 2, ), translated by Aubrey Stewart, year 1896. * French translation
''Histoire des croisades, par Jacques de Vitry''
translated by François Guizot year 1825 ;Sermons * ''Sermones de tempore.'' Kreuzherrenkonvent, Düsseldorf 1486, () * ''Sermones de Tempore.'' In aedibus viduae & haeredum Ioannis Steelsij, Antwerpen 1575. *''Iacobus de Vitriaco. Sermones vulgares vel ad status'' I, éd. J. Longère (''Corpus Christianorum. Continuatio Mediaevalis'' 255), Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, 2013 () * ''Sermones vulgares.'' In: ''Analecta Novissima Spicilegii solesmensis.'' Disseruit Joannes Baptista Pitra. Band 2. Typis Tusculanis, Paris 1888, (excerpts). * ''The Exempla or Illustrative Stories from the Sermones Vulgares of Jacques de Vitry'' (= ''Publications of the Folk-Lore Society.'' 26, ). Edited with introduction, analysis, and notes by Thomas Frederick Crane. Nutt, London 1890,
archive.org
. * Joseph Greven (ed.): ''Die Exempla aus den Sermones feriales et communes des Jakob von Vitry'' (= ''Sammlungen mittellateinischer Texte.'' 9, ). Winter, Heidelberg 1914,
archive.org
. * Goswin Frenken, ''Die Exempla des Jacob von Vitry. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Erzählungsliteratur des Mittelalters'' (= ''Quellen und Untersuchungen zur lateinischen Philologie des Mittelalters.'' vol. 5.1, ). Beck, München 1914. ;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 * ''Vita b. Mariae Oignies.'' In: ''

Acta Sanctorum ''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. The project w ...

. Junii.'' vol. 4. Petrus Jacobs, Antwerp 1707
636–666

References

in Salvador Miranda, ''The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church'' *

Agostino Paravicini Bagliani Agostino Paravicini Bagliani (born 19 November 1943, Bergamo) is an Italian historian, specializing in the history of the papacy, cultural anthropology, and in the history of the body and the relationship between nature and society during the Mid ...

, ''Cardinali di curia e "familiae" cardinalizie dal 1227 al 1254'', Padova 1972, pt. I, p. 99-112

External links

Lewis E 138 Historia hierosolymitana (History of Jerusalem) at OPenn

Translations of two of Jacques de Vitry's ''ad status'' sermons (to those in a military order), at De Rei Militari

Jacques de Vitry's parchment mitre, the only one of its kind that has survived
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacques de Vitry 1160s births 1240 deaths 13th-century Latin writers 13th-century French historians People of the Albigensian Crusade Christians of the Fifth Crusade 13th-century people of the Kingdom of Jerusalem 13th-century French cardinals Cardinal-bishops of Frascati Canonical Augustinian bishops Canonical Augustinian cardinals Canonical Augustinian theologians Deans of the College of Cardinals