Louis-Hugues Vincent (31 August 1872 – 30 December 1960) was a French
archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
,
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
of the
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...
, who was educated at Jerusalem's
École Biblique
École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem, commonly known as École Biblique, is a French academic establishment in Jerusalem specializing in archaeology and Biblical exegesis.
History
Foundation
The school was founded in 1890 ...
. He undertook important archaeological research in
Palestine (region)
Palestine ( el, Παλαιστίνη, ; la, Palaestina; ar, فلسطين, , , ; he, פלשתינה, ) is a geographic region in Western Asia. It is usually considered to include Israel and the State of Palestine (i.e. West Bank and Gaza ...
, primarily during the
Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...
period.
Biography
He was born on 31 August 1872 in
Isère
Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.Vernioz, near
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
. Immediately after his Dominican
novitiate
The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...
training, in 1891, he was sent to Jerusalem at the Biblical School ("
École Biblique
École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem, commonly known as École Biblique, is a French academic establishment in Jerusalem specializing in archaeology and Biblical exegesis.
History
Foundation
The school was founded in 1890 ...
") of
St. Stephen's Basilica
St. Stephen's Basilica ( hu, Szent István-bazilika ) is a Roman Catholic basilica in Budapest, Hungary. It is named in honour of Stephen, the first King of Hungary (c 975–1038), whose right hand is housed in the reliquary. It was the sixth l ...
, founded a year before by
Marie-Joseph Lagrange
Marie-Joseph Lagrange (born Albert Marie-Henri Lagrange on 7 March 1855, in Bourg-en-Bresse, died on 10 March 1938, in Marseille) was a Catholic priest in the Dominican Order, theologian and founder of the École Biblique in Jerusalem.
Life
Al ...
. Vincent remained there all his life, with the exception of long stays in France during the World Wars.
At the École Biblique, Louis Vincent studied and was ordained a Catholic priest. Soon he became one of the most learned scholars in the field of biblical archaeology, including ceramics and ancient objects, lecturing on archaeology at the school. He came to know all the archaeological sites in the Holy Land.
He carried out excavations with Father
Roland de Vaux
Roland Guérin de Vaux (17 December 1903 – 10 September 1971) was a French Dominican priest who led the Catholic team that initially worked on the Dead Sea Scrolls. He was the director of the Ecole Biblique, a French Catholic Theological S ...
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
. Vincent was also involved in the excavations conducted at the underground street of
Via Dolorosa
The ''Via Dolorosa'' (Latin, 'Sorrowful Way', often translated 'Way of Suffering'; ar, طريق الآلام; Hebrew: ויה דולורוזה) is a processional route in the Old City of Jerusalem. It represents the path that Jesus would have t ...
in Jerusalem during the 1930s, and which he proposed may have been part of the
Antonia fortress
The Antonia Fortress (Aramaic: קצטרא דאנטוניה) was a citadel built by Herod the Great and named for Herod's patron Mark Antony, as a fortress whose chief function was to protect the Second Temple. It was built in Jerusalem at the ea ...
, a view later rejected by Pierre Benoit who claimed that it was merely the pavement of the eastern
forum
Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to:
Common uses
* Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States
*Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city
**Roman Forum, most famous example
*Internet ...
of
Aelia Capitolina
Aelia Capitolina (Traditional English Pronunciation: ; Latin in full: ) was a Roman colony founded during Emperor Hadrian's trip to Judah in 129/130, centered around Jerusalem, which had been almost totally razed after the siege of 70 CE. The f ...
built by
Hadrian
Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...
in the 2nd century CE.
He published many articles in the ''
Revue Biblique
''Revue Biblique'' is an academic journal published by the École Biblique, an institute of a French community of Dominicans based in Jerusalem. The journal was established in 1892 by Pierre Batiffol and Marie-Joseph Lagrange
Marie-Joseph Lagr ...
'' journal, of which he was the editor-in-chief between 1931 and 1938.
Vincent died on 30 December 1960. His tomb is in the
Old City of Jerusalem
The Old City of Jerusalem ( he, הָעִיר הָעַתִּיקָה, translit=ha-ir ha-atiqah; ar, البلدة القديمة, translit=al-Balda al-Qadimah; ) is a walled area in East Jerusalem.
The Old City is traditionally divided into ...
in the courtyard of the Dominican convent near the
Damascus Gate
The Damascus Gate is one of the main Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is located in the wall on the city's northwest side and connects to a highway leading out to Nablus, which in the Hebrew Bible was called Shechem or Sichem, and from the ...
.
Awards and distinctions
* Honorary member of the
Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...
* Honorary member of the British Academy
* Member of the
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
MBE
* Cross of the
Order of Leopold Order of Leopold may refer to:
* Order of Leopold (Austria), founded in 1808 by emperor Francis I of Austria and discontinued in 1918
* Order of Leopold (Belgium), founded in 1832 by king Leopold I of Belgium
* Order of Leopold II, founded in Congo ...
(
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
)
*
Legion of Honor
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
See also
*
Pro-Jerusalem Society The Pro-Jerusalem Society was a society for the "preservation and advancement of the interests of Jerusalem", including its amenities, antiquities, cultural institutions and education. It was founded in 1918 in Jerusalem by Sir Ronald Storrs, the B ...
(1918-1926) - "le Rev. Père Vincent" was a member of its leading Council
William Foxwell Albright
William Foxwell Albright (May 24, 1891– September 19, 1971) was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist, and expert on ceramics. He is considered "one of the twentieth century's most influential American biblical scholars."
...