Oliver Maillard (b. at Juignac, (?), Brittany, about 1430; d. at

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

, 22 July 1502) was a Breton

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

preacher. He was celebrated as forceful and popular, for his Lenten sermons in both churches and public places. His manner and style were rather blunt and plebeian. Fearless, he attacked the abuses of his time, and the cruelties of

Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revol ...

. He also espoused the cause of Jeanne de Valois, the repudiated wife of the Duke of Orléans. He confirmed Charles VIII of France in his plan of restoring Roussillon and Cerdagne to Aragon. Pope Innocent VIII asked Maillard in 1488 to use his best endeavours with the French king for abolishing the

Pragmatic Sanction A pragmatic sanction is a sovereign's solemn decree on a matter of primary importance and has the force of fundamental law. In the late history of the Holy Roman Empire, it referred more specifically to an edict issued by the Emperor. When used ...

Life

He took the Franciscan habit with the Observants, apparently in the province of Aquitaine. He was there the vicar Provincial of the Observants, when on 2 June 1487, he was elected Vicar General of the Ultramontane Observants (i.e. those north of the Alps) at the general chapter of the Observants at Toulouse. After his first term of office (1487–90), he was twice re-elected (1493-6 and 1499-1502). Retiring from office at the General Chapter of 15 May 1502, he went to Toulouse, where he died at the monastery of St. Mary of the Angela. As miracles soon were reported at his grave, the General Chapter of Barcelona in 1508 ordered that his remains should be translated to a chapel built specially for them, where for some time he enjoyed a certain amount of public veneration.

Works

Of his works, nearly all of which are sermons, the most important are: *"Sermones de adventu, quadragesimales et dominicales" (3 vols., Paris, 1497-8, 1506, 1522, etc.: Lyons, 1498, etc.); *"Sermones de adventu, quadragesimales, dominicales" and "De peccati stipendio et gratiae praemio" (Paris, 1498-, 1515, etc.; Lyons, 1503), delivered at Paris in 1498; *"Quadragesimale", delivered at Bruges in 1501 (Paris, s.d.); printed with the author's notes and the edition of his "Sermon fait l'an 1500 ... en la ville de Bruges" (2nd ed., Antwerp, s. d.); *"Chanson piteuse ... chantée à Toulouse 1502" (2nd ed., Paris, 1826); "Histoire de la passion ... de nostre doulx sauveur" (Paris, 1493); *"La conformité et correspondance tres dévote des ... mystères de la messe à la passion.", (Paris, 1552), reprinted as a literary monument (Paris, 1828); *"L'instruction et consolacion de la vie contemplative", (Paris, s.d.), containing various treatises; *"La confession de Frère Oliver Maillard" (Paris, s.d. ; Paris, 1500), frequently edited.

References

*SAMOUILLAN, Etude sur la chaire ... française au XVe siecle, Oliver Maillard (Bordeaux, Toulouse, and Paris, 1891); *BORDERIE, Oeuvres francaises d'Oliv. M. : Sermones et poesies (Nantes, 1877); *PIAGET in Annales du Midi, V (Toulouse, 1893), 315 sqq.: * Luke Wadding, ''Annales Ord. Frat. Minorum'', XIV (Rome, 1735), 270; (2nd ed. Rome, 1806), 184; (3rd ed., 1906), 571; *

Sbaralea Giovanni or Gian Giacinto Sbaraglia (1687–1764), otherwise Joannes Hyacinthus Sbaralea, was a historian of the Franciscan Order. Works include ''Supplementum et castigatio ad scriptores trium ordinum S. Francisi'' and '' Bullarium Franciscanum ...

, ''Supplem. ad. Script. O. M.'' (Rome, 1806), 571; *FERET, La faculté de theologie de Paris, époque moderne, II, 213-33; *CHEVALIER, Bio-bibl. (Paris, 1907), s. v.

External links

''Catholic Encyclopedia'' article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maillard, Oliver 1430s births 1502 deaths French Friars Minor