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The Speculum Maius or Majus ( Latin : "The Greater Mirror") was a major encyclopedia of the Middle Ages written by Vincent of Beauvais in the 13th century . It was a great compendium of all knowledge of the time. The work seems to have consisted of three parts: the Speculum Naturale ("The Mirror of Nature"), the Speculum Doctrinale ("The Mirror of Doctrine"), and Speculum Historiale ("The Mirror of History"). However, all the printed editions include a fourth part, the Speculum Morale ("The Mirror of Morals"), added in the 14th century and mainly compiled from Thomas Aquinas , Stephen of Bourbon , and a few other contemporary writers.

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88-592: Vincent de Beauvais worked on his compendium for approximately 29 years (1235-1264) in the pursuit of presenting a compendium of all of the knowledge available at the time. He collected the materials for the work from libraries around the Île-de-France , and there is evidence to suggest even further than that. He found support for the creation of the Speculum Maius from the Dominican order to which he belonged as well as King Louis IX of France. The metaphor of

176-687: A book entitled " The second volume of the history of the Province of Spain of the Order of Preachers, chronicling the progress of their foundations and the lives of illustrious figures," was written by the chronicler of the Order of Preachers and the province of Spain, the General Preacher Fr. Manuel Joseph de Medrano, Prior of the convent of Santo Domingo in Guadalajara . Medrano, a native of Logroño , dedicated his book to, and under

264-668: A framework—a rule—to organize these components. The Rule of Saint Augustine was an obvious choice for the Dominican Order, according to Dominic's successor Jordan of Saxony, in the Libellus de principiis , because it lent itself to the "salvation of souls through preaching". By this choice, however, the Dominican brothers designated themselves not monks, but canons regular . They could practice ministry and common life while existing in individual poverty. The Order of Preachers

352-674: A group of nuns to start a teaching mission in King Williamstown. From this mission were founded many Third Order Regular congregations of Dominican sisters, with their own constitutions, though still following the Rule of Saint Augustine and affiliated to the Dominican Order. These include the Dominican Sisters of Oakford, KwazuluNatal (1881), the Dominican Missionary Sisters, Zimbabwe, (1890) and

440-550: A growing number of associates of the religious sisters who are unrelated to the tertiaries. Founded to preach the gospel and to oppose heresy , the teaching activity of the order and its scholastic organisation placed it at the forefront of the intellectual life of the Middle Ages . The order is famed for its intellectual tradition and for having produced many leading theologians and philosophers. In 2018, there were 5,747 Dominican friars, including 4,299 priests. The order

528-549: A large number of converts were made, it has to be said that the results were not such as had been hoped for". The differences in religious principles of the Albigensians called for far greater reforms than moderated appearances. Dominic became the spiritual father to several Albigensian women he had reconciled to the faith, and in 1206 he established them in a convent in Prouille , near Toulouse . This convent would become

616-560: A niece of King Valdemar II of Denmark . At that time the south of France was the stronghold of the Cathar movement. The Cathars (also known as Albigensians, due to their stronghold in Albi , France) were considered a heretical neo- gnostic sect. They believed that matter was evil and only the spirit was good; this was a fundamental challenge to the notion of the incarnation , central to Catholic theology . The Albigensian Crusade (1209–1229)

704-452: A primary system of organization. One remarkable feature of The Mirror of History is Vincent's constant habit of devoting several chapters to selections from the writings of each great author, whether sacred or profane, as he mentions him in the course of his work. The extracts from Cicero and Ovid, Origen and St John Chrysostom, Augustine and Jerome are but specimens of a useful custom which reaches its culminating point in book xxviii., which

792-459: A reformed apostolic life. The legates agreed to the proposed changes if they could find a strong leader who could meet the Albigensians on their own ground. The prior took up the challenge, and he and Dominic dedicated themselves to the conversion of the Cathars. Despite this particular mission, Dominic met limited success converting Cathars by persuasion, "for though in his ten years of preaching

880-404: A total of 4,472 nominally or actually engaged in proper activities of the order. As of 2013 , there were 6,058 Dominican friars, including 4,470 priests. As of January 2021 , there were 5,753 friars overall, and 4,219 priests. France held a foremost place in the revival movement, owing to the reputation and convincing power of the orator, Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire (1802–1861). He took

968-592: A tradition of profound learning and piety. Strict discipline and plain living were characteristic of the monastery throughout its existence. Bartolomé de Las Casas , as a settler in the New World , was galvanized by witnessing the brutal torture and genocide of the Native Americans by the Spanish colonists. He became famous for his advocacy of the rights of Native Americans, whose cultures, especially in

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1056-531: Is composed of two bodies, the Chapter of Provincials and the Chapter of Definitors (or Diffinitors ), a unique configuration within the Catholic Church. Each body is of equal authority to propose legislation and discuss other matters of general importance within the order, and each body may be called individually or jointly. The Provincials consists of the superiors of individual Dominican provinces, while

1144-764: Is currently elected for a 9-year term, and is aided by the General Curia of the Order. His authority is subject only to the General Chapter. He, along with the General Chapter, may assign members, and appoint or remove superiors and other officials for the good of the order. The Dominican nuns were founded by Dominic even before he had established the friars. They are contemplatives in the cloistered life. The nuns celebrated their 800th anniversary in 2006. Some monasteries raise funds for their operations by producing religious articles such as priestly vestments or baking communion wafers. Friars are male members of

1232-411: Is devoted entirely to the writings of St Bernard. Another notable aspect of The Mirror of History is the large space devoted to miracles. Four of the medieval historians from whom he quotes most frequently are Sigebert of Gembloux, Hugh of Fleury , Helinand of Froidmont , and William of Malmesbury , whom he uses for Continental as well as for English history. The number of writers quoted by Vincent

1320-455: Is due to the fact that the Speculum Maius was rarely copied in full, with the possibility of only two complete sets of a tripartite copy surviving today. Beyond the labour involved in copying manuscripts, one historian has argued that such separation of the Speculum Maius was due in part to medieval readers not recognizing the work to be organized as a whole. The circulation of the four parts accordingly varied. While The Mirror of History

1408-459: Is headed by the master of the order who, as of 2022 , is Gerard Timoner III . Mary Magdalene and Catherine of Siena are the co-patronesses of the order. The Dominican Order came into being during the Middle Ages at a time when men of God were no longer expected to stay behind the walls of a cloister . Instead, they travelled among the people, taking as their examples the apostles of

1496-475: Is no historical record of its content. However, after 1300 a compilation was created and attributed to be part of the Speculum Maius . An eighteenth century writer remarked that this work was "a more-or-less worthless farrago of a clumsy plagiarist", one who merely extracted and compiled great swaths of text from other authors. A textual analysis of how the Speculum Maius integrated St. Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologiae shows that, while heavily extracted,

1584-428: Is required prior to taking final vows of membership. Hugh of Fleury Hugh of Fleury ( Hugo Floriacensis , Hugo a Santa Maria ) (d. not before 1118) was a French Benedictine monk and ecclesiastical writer. He is known only by his works. He is frequently misidentified as a different Hugh of Fleury, who became Abbot of Canterbury and died in 1124. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from

1672-665: Is substantial: in the Speculum Maius alone no less than 350 distinct works are cited, and to these must be added at least 100 more for the other two sections. His reading ranges from philosophers to naturalists including Peter Alphonso , Aristotle , Augustine , Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā), Julius Caesar (whom he calls Julius Celsus ), Cicero , Eusebius , Peter Helias , the Didascalicon of Hugh of St. Victor , Quintilian , Seneca , and Thomas Aquinas 's Quaestiones Disputatae de Veritate . Beauvais also extracted information from another encyclopedic text heavily referenced in

1760-484: The École Biblique et Archéologique française de Jérusalem founded in 1890 by Marie-Joseph Lagrange (1855–1938), one of the leading international centres for biblical research. It is at the École Biblique that the famed Jerusalem Bible (both editions) was prepared. Likewise Cardinal Yves Congar was a product of the French province of the Order of Preachers. Doctrinal development has had an important place in

1848-654: The Speculum Maius printed between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. Printed editions of the Speculum Maius often include a fourth section called the Speculum Morale . The four-volume complete edition Speculum Quadruplex with the Speculum Morale was first printed in Douai by Balthazar Bellerus in 1624 and was reprinted in 1964/65 in Graz. While Beauvais had plans to write this book there

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1936-513: The Speculum Maius was The Mirror of History , which provided a history of the world down to Vincent's time. It was a massive work, running to nearly 1400 large double-column pages in the 1627 printing. While it has been suggested that the Chronicon of Helinand of Froidmont (d. c.  1229 ) served as its model, more recent research points out that The Mirror of History differs from Helinand's work because it did not use chronology as

2024-729: The Caribbean , he describes with care. Gaspar da Cruz ( c.  1520–1570 ), who worked all over the Portuguese colonial empire in Asia, was probably the first Christian missionary to preach (unsuccessfully) in Cambodia . After a (similarly unsuccessful) stint, in 1556, in Guangzhou , China, he eventually returned to Portugal and became the first European to publish a book devoted exclusively to China in 1569/1570. The beginning of

2112-466: The Divine Office and kept all the monastic observances. The nuns lived under the authority of the general and provincial chapters of the order. They shared in all the applicable privileges of the order. The friars served as their confessors, priests, teachers and spiritual mentors. Women could be professed to the Dominican religious life at the age of 13. The formula for profession contained in

2200-564: The Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum . The Dominican friars quickly spread, including to England, where they appeared in Oxford in 1221. In the 13th century the order reached all classes of Christian society, fought heresy , schism , and paganism by word and book, and by its missions to the north of Europe, to Africa, and Asia passed beyond the frontiers of Christendom . Its schools spread throughout

2288-579: The 16th century confronted the order with the upheavals of Reformation. The spread of Protestantism cost it six or seven provinces and several hundreds of convents , but the discovery of the New World opened up a fresh field of activity. In the 18th century, there were numerous attempts at reform, accompanied by a reduction in the number of devotees. The French Revolution ruined the order in France, and crises that more or less rapidly followed considerably lessened or wholly destroyed numerous provinces In 1731,

2376-580: The 1850s, the Dominicans had half a million followers in the Philippines and well-established missions in the Chinese province of Fujian and Tonkin , Vietnam, performing thousands of baptisms each year. The Dominicans presence in the Philippines has become one of the leading proponents of education with the establishment of Colegio de San Juan de Letran . The Friars, Nuns and Third Orders form

2464-508: The Cathars, the first Grand Inquistor of Spain , Tomás de Torquemada , would be drawn from the Dominican Order. The order was appointed by Pope Gregory IX the duty to carry out the Inquisition . Torture was not regarded as a mode of punishment, but as a means of eliciting the truth. In his papal bull Ad extirpanda of 1252, Pope Innocent IV authorised the Dominicans' use of torture under prescribed circumstances. The expansion of

2552-703: The Constitutions of Montargis Priory (1250) requires that nuns pledge obedience to God, the Blessed Virgin, their prioress and her successors according to the Rule of Saint Augustine and the institute of the order, until death. The clothing of the sisters consisted of a white tunic and scapular, a leather belt, a black mantle, and a black veil. Candidates to profession were questioned to reveal whether they were actually married women who had merely separated from their husbands. Their intellectual abilities were also tested. Nuns were to be silent in places of prayer,

2640-464: The Diffinitors consists of "grass root" representatives of each province, so created to avoid provincial superiors having to spend excessive time away from their day-to-day duties of governing. To maintain stability of the legislation of the order, new legislation is enacted only when approved by three successive meetings of the General Chapter. The first General Chapters were held at Pentecost in

2728-534: The Dominican Order, held in Bologna during the spring of 1221. Dominic dispatched 12 friars to England under the guidance of their English prior, Gilbert of Fresney, and they landed in Dover on August 5, 1221. The province officially came into being at its first provincial chapter in 1230. The English Province was a component of the international order from which it obtained its laws, direction, and instructions. It

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2816-579: The Dominican Sisters of Newcastle, KwazuluNatal (1891). The Dominican Order has influenced the formation of other orders outside of the Catholic Church, such as the Anglican Order of Preachers within the Anglican Communion . Since not all members are obliged to take solemn or simple vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, it operates more like a third order with a third order style structure, with no contemporary or canonical ties to

2904-603: The Dominican nuns blended these elements with the defining characteristics of English Dominican spirituality and created a spirituality and collective personality that set them apart. As an adolescent, Dominic de Guzmán had a particular love of theology, and the Scriptures became the foundation of his spirituality. During his studies in Palencia , Spain, there was a dreadful famine, prompting Dominic to sell all of his beloved books and other equipment to help his neighbours. He

2992-632: The East . Another Dominican, Ricold of Monte Croce , worked in Syria and Persia. His travels took him from Acre to Tabriz, and on to Baghdad. There "he was welcomed by the Dominican fathers already there, and with them entered into a disputation with the Nestorians." Although a number of Dominicans and Franciscans persevered against the growing faith of Islam throughout the region, all Christian missionaries were soon expelled with Timur 's death in 1405. By

3080-480: The Middle Ages, Pliny the Elder 's Natural History . Additionally he seems to have known Hebrew, Arabic and Greek authors only through their popular Latin versions. He admits that his quotations are not always exact, but asserts that this was the fault of careless copyists. Researchers have accounted for approximately 250–350 different manuscript copies of the Speculum Maius in varying degrees of completion. This

3168-519: The Order of Preachers. Together with the Members of Priestly Fraternities of Saint Dominic, Dominican Laity and Dominican Youths they form the Dominican family. The highest authority within the Order of Preachers is the General Chapter , which is empowered to develop legislation governing all organizations within the Dominican umbrella, as well as enforce that legislation. The General Chapter

3256-590: The Pontifical Navy, and historian Heinrich Denifle ( d. 1905). During the Reformation, many of the convents of Dominican nuns were forced to close. One which managed to survive, and afterwards founded many new houses, was St Ursula's in Augsburg. In the 17th century, convents of Dominican women were often asked by their bishops to undertake apostolic work, particularly educating girls and visiting

3344-601: The Strassburg monastery of Saint Margaret, some of the nuns could converse fluently in Latin. Learning still had an elevated place in the lives of these religious. In fact, Margarette Reglerin, a daughter of a wealthy Nuremberg family, was dismissed from a convent because she did not have the ability or will to learn. The English Province and the Hungarian Province both date back to the second general chapter of

3432-469: The ancient Roman basilica of Santa Sabina , which they did by early 1220. Before that time the friars had only a temporary residence in Rome at the convent of San Sisto Vecchio which Honorius III had given to Dominic circa 1218 intending it to become a convent for a reformation of nuns at Rome under Dominic's guidance. In May 1220 at Bologna the order's first General Chapter mandated that each new priory of

3520-459: The cloister, the dormitory, and refectory. Silence was maintained unless the prioress granted an exception for a specific cause. Speaking was allowed in the common parlor, but it was subordinate to strict rules, and the prioress, subprioress or other senior nun had to be present. As well as sewing, embroidery and other genteel pursuits, the nuns participated in a number of intellectual activities, including reading and discussing pious literature. In

3608-466: The compiler made conscious decisions about the placement of parts and also redirected the meaning of certain passages. Dominican order The Order of Preachers ( Latin : Ordo Prædicatorum , abbreviated OP ), commonly known as the Dominican Order , is a Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilian priest named Dominic de Guzmán . It

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3696-557: The curricular areas, however, theology was the most important. Dartford Priory was established long after the primary period of monastic foundation in England had ended. It emulated, then, the monasteries found in Europe—mainly France and Germany-as well as the monastic traditions of their English Dominican brothers. The first nuns to inhabit Dartford were sent from the priory of Poissy  [ fr ] in France. Even on

3784-533: The entire church; its doctors wrote monumental works in all branches of knowledge, including the extremely important Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas . Its members included popes, cardinals, bishops, legates, inquisitors, confessors of princes, ambassadors, and paciarii (enforcers of the peace decreed by popes or councils). The order's origins in battling heterodoxy influenced its later development and reputation. Many later Dominicans battled heresy as part of their apostolate; many years after Dominic reacted to

3872-487: The establishment of the Kipchak Khanate by Batu), and in 1240 Pope Gregory IX despatched others to Persia and Armenia." The most famous Dominican was Jordanus de Severac who was sent first to Persia then in 1321, together with a companion (Nicolas of Pistoia) to India. Jordanus' work and observations are recorded in two letters he wrote to the friars of Armenia, and a book, Mirabilia , translated as Wonders of

3960-574: The eve of the Dissolution , Prioress Jane Vane wrote to Cromwell on behalf of a postulant, saying that though she had not actually been professed, she was professed in her heart and in the eyes of God. Profession in Dartford Priory seems, then, to have been made based on personal commitment, and one's personal association with God. As heirs of the Dominican priory of Poissy in France, the nuns of Dartford Priory in England were also heirs to

4048-400: The foundation of the Dominican nuns, thus making the Dominican nuns older than the Dominican friars. Diego sanctioned the building of a monastery for girls whose parents had sent them to the care of the Albigensians because their families were too poor to fulfill their basic needs. The monastery in Prouille would later become Dominic's headquarters for his missionary effort. After two years on

4136-543: The growth of the orders of mendicant friars . The Dominicans and other mendicant orders may have been an adaptation to the rise of the profit economy in medieval Europe. Dominic sought to establish a new kind of order, one that would bring the dedication and systematic education of the older monastic orders like the Benedictines to bear on the religious problems of the burgeoning population of cities, but with more organizational flexibility than either monastic orders or

4224-422: The habit of a Friar Preacher at Rome (1839), and the province of France was canonically erected in 1850. From this province were detached the province of Lyon , called Occitania (1862), that of Toulouse (1869), and that of Canada (1909). The French restoration likewise furnished many laborers to other provinces, to assist in their organization and progress. From it came the master general who remained longest at

4312-691: The head of the administration during the 19th century, Père Vincent Jandel (1850–1872). Here should be mentioned the province of Saint Joseph in the United States . Founded in 1805 by Edward Fenwick (1768–1832), afterwards first Bishop of Cincinnati, Ohio (1821–1832). In 1905, it established the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. ,. The province of France has produced many preachers. The conferences of Notre-Dame-de-Paris were inaugurated by Père Lacordaire. The Dominicans of

4400-743: The historical order founded by Dominic of Guzman. The Order of Christ the Saviour is a dispersed Anglo-Catholic Dominican community founded in the 21st century within the Episcopal Church . The Pax Mongolica of the 13th and 14th centuries that united vast parts of the European-Asian continents enabled Western missionaries to travel east. "Dominican friars were preaching the Gospel on the Volga Steppes by 1225 (the year following

4488-825: The increasing demands of female religious establishments on their time and resources. Nonetheless, women's houses dotted the countryside throughout Europe. There were 74 Dominican female houses in Germany, 42 in Italy, 9 in France, 8 in Spain, 6 in Bohemia, 3 in Hungary, and 3 in Poland. Many of the German religious houses that lodged women had been home to communities of women, such as Beguines , that became Dominican once they were taught by

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4576-431: The information available is taken from visitation records. The "visitation" was an inspection of the province by which visitors to each priory could describe the state of its religious life and its studies at the next chapter. There were four such visits in England and Wales—Oxford, London, Cambridge and York. All Dominican students were required to learn grammar, old and new logic, natural philosophy and theology. Of all of

4664-400: The medieval genre of speculum literature . The original structure of the work consisted of three parts: The Mirror of Nature ( Speculum Naturale ), The Mirror of Doctrine ( Speculum Doctrinale ), and The Mirror of History ( Speculum Historiale ). A fourth part, The Mirror of Morals ( Speculum Morale ), was initiated by Vincent but there are no records of its contents. All

4752-595: The mission field, Diego died while traveling back to Spain. Dominic founded the Dominican Order in 1215. Dominic established a religious community in Toulouse in 1214, to be governed by the rule of Saint Augustine and statutes to govern the life of the friars, including the Primitive Constitution. The founding documents establish that the order was founded for two purposes: preaching and the salvation of souls. Henri-Dominique Lacordaire noted that

4840-404: The order maintain its own studium conventuale , thus laying the foundation of the Dominican tradition of sponsoring widespread institutions of learning. The official foundation of the Dominican convent at Santa Sabina with its studium conventuale occurred with the legal transfer of property from Honorius III to the Order of Preachers on June 5, 1222. This studium was transformed into

4928-436: The order produced changes. A smaller emphasis on doctrinal activity favoured the development here and there of the ascetic and contemplative life and there sprang up, especially in Germany and Italy, the mystical movement with which the names of Meister Eckhart , Heinrich Suso , Johannes Tauler , and Catherine of Siena are associated. (See German mysticism , which has also been called "Dominican mysticism".) This movement

5016-401: The order's first studium generale . Dominic was to establish similar foundations at other university towns of the day, Bologna in 1218, Palencia and Montpellier in 1220, and Oxford just before his death in 1221. The women of the order also established schools for the children of the local gentry. In 1219, Pope Honorius III invited Dominic and his companions to take up residence at

5104-487: The order's first studium provinciale by Thomas Aquinas in 1265. Part of the curriculum of this studium was relocated in 1288 at the studium of Santa Maria sopra Minerva which in the 16th century world be transformed into the College of Saint Thomas ( Latin : Collegium Divi Thomæ ). In the 20th century the college would be relocated to the convent of Saints Dominic and Sixtus and would be transformed into

5192-597: The order, and consist of members ordained to the priesthood as well as non-ordained members, known as cooperator brothers. Both priests and cooperators participate in a variety of ministries, including preaching, parish assignments, educational ministries, social work, and related fields. Dominican life is organized into four pillars that define the order's chrism: prayer, study, community and preaching. Dominicans are known for their intellectual rigor that informs their preaching, as well as engaging in academic debate with contemporary scholars. A significant period of academic study

5280-481: The overwhelming force of the crusades brought against them. Diego suggested another reason that was possibly aiding the spread of the reform movement. The representatives of the Catholic Church acted and moved with an offensive amount of pomp and ceremony. In contrast, the Cathars generally led ascetic lifestyles . To try persuasion in place of persecution, Diego suggested that the regional papal legates begin to live

5368-546: The primitive Church. Out of this ideal emerged two orders of mendicant friars – one, the Friars Minor, led by Francis of Assisi ; the other, the Friars Preachers, led by Dominic de Guzmán . Like his contemporary, Francis, Dominic saw the need for a new type of organization, and the quick growth of the Dominicans and Franciscans during their first century of existence confirms that conditions were favorable for

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5456-588: The printed editions of the Speculum Maius include this fourth part, which is mainly compiled from Thomas Aquinas , Stephen de Bourbon , and a few other contemporary writers by anonymous fourteenth century Dominicans. As a whole, the work totals 3.25 million words and 80 books and 9885 chapters. Additionally it is ordered "according to the order of sacred Scripture," utilizing the sequence of Genesis to Revelation , from "creation, to fall, redemption, and re-creation". This ordering system provides evidence that this "thirteenth-century encyclopedia must be counted among

5544-555: The protection of the Illustrious and Reverend Lord D. Fr. Francisco Lasso de la Vega y Cordova, bishop of Plasencia , with privilege, printed in Madrid at the printing press of Geronimo Roxo. During the early 19th century, the number of Preachers seems never to have sunk below 3,500. Statistics for 1876 show 3,748, but 500 of these had been expelled from their convents and were engaged in parochial work. Statistics for 1910 show

5632-479: The province of France furnished Lacordaire (1835–1836, 1843–1851), Jacques Monsabré , and Joseph Ollivier. The pulpit of Notre Dame has been occupied by a succession of Dominicans. Père Henri Didon (1840–1900) was a Dominican. The house of studies of the province of France publishes L'Année Dominicaine (founded 1859), La Revue des Sciences Philosophiques et Theologiques (1907), and La Revue de la Jeunesse (1909). French Dominicans founded and administer

5720-615: The restoration of the Preachers. Several institutions, besides those already mentioned, played important parts. Such is the École Biblique at Jerusalem , open to the religious of the order and to secular clerics, which publishes the Revue Biblique . The Pontificium Collegium Internationale Angelicum , the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas ( Angelicum ) established in Rome in 1908 by Master Hyacinth Cormier , opened its doors to regulars and seculars for

5808-461: The same time, Dominic inspired the members of his order to develop a "mixed" spirituality. They were both active in preaching, and contemplative in study, prayer and meditation. The brethren of the Dominican Order were urban and learned, as well as contemplative and mystical in their spirituality. While these traits affected the women of the order, the nuns especially absorbed the latter characteristics and made those characteristics their own. In England,

5896-401: The secular clergy. The Order of Preachers was founded in response to a perceived need for informed preaching. Dominic's new order was to be trained to preach in the vernacular languages. Dominic inspired his followers with loyalty to learning and virtue, a deep recognition of the spiritual power of worldly deprivation and the religious state, and a highly developed governmental structure. At

5984-404: The sick. St Ursula's returned to an enclosed life in the 18th century, but in the 19th century, after Napoleon had closed many European convents, King Louis I of Bavaria in 1828 restored the Religious Orders of women in his realm, provided that the nuns undertook some active work useful to the State (usually teaching or nursing). In 1877, Bishop Ricards in South Africa requested that Augsburg send

6072-449: The statutes had similarities with the constitutions of the Premonstratensians , indicating that Dominic had drawn inspiration from the reform of Prémontré. In July 1215, with the approbation of Bishop Foulques of Toulouse , Dominic ordered his followers into an institutional life. Its purpose was revolutionary in the pastoral ministry of the Catholic Church. These priests were organized and well trained in religious studies. Dominic needed

6160-407: The study of the sacred sciences. In addition to the reviews above are the Revue Thomiste , founded by Père Thomas Coconnier ( d. 1908), and the Analecta Ordinis Prædicatorum (1893). Among numerous writers of the order in this period are: Cardinals Thomas Zigliara ( d. 1893) and Zephirin González ( d. 1894), two esteemed philosophers; Alberto Guillelmotti ( d. 1893), historian of

6248-520: The stylistic brevity used to describe the branches of knowledge. The vast tome of The Mirror of Nature , divided into thirty-two books and 3,718 chapters, is a summary of all of the science and natural history known to Western Europe towards the middle of the 13th century, a mosaic of quotations from Latin , Greek , Arabic , and even Hebrew authors, with the sources given. Vincent distinguishes, however, his own remarks. Vincent de Beauvais began work on The Mirror of Nature from around 1235 to around

6336-456: The subtleties of the scholar, the duties of the prince and the tactics of the general. It is a summary of all the scholastic knowledge of the age and does not confine itself to natural history. It treats of logic, rhetoric, poetry, geometry, astronomy, the human instincts and passions, education, the industrial and mechanical arts, anatomy, surgery and medicine, jurisprudence and the administration of justice. The most widely disseminated part of

6424-406: The time of his death in 1264. During this period, it was first completed in 1244 and then expanded in a second version in 1259 or 1260. The second part, The Mirror of Doctrine , Education , or Learning , in seventeen books and 2,374 chapters, is intended to be a practical manual for the student and the official alike; and, to fulfil this object, it treats of the mechanic arts of life as well as

6512-406: The title has been argued to "reflect" the microcosmic relations of Medieval knowledge. In this case, the book mirrors "both the contents and organization of the cosmos". Vincent himself stated that he chose speculum for its name because his work contains "whatever is worthy of contemplation ( speculatio ), that is, admiration or imitation." It is by this name that the compendium is connected to

6600-491: The tools for biblical exegesis ". In this vein, the Speculum Naturale has connections to the hexameron genre of texts that are commentaries on the six days of creation. Additional generic connections come from Hélinand of Froidmont chronicle and Isidore of Seville 's Etymologies . Isidore's influence is explicitly referenced by Vincent's prologue and can be seen in some minor forms of organization as well as

6688-492: The traveling preachers and put under the jurisdiction of the Dominican authoritative structure. A number of these houses became centers of study and mystical spirituality in the 14th century, as expressed in works such as the sister-books . There were 157 nunneries in the order by 1358. After that year, the number lessened considerably due to the Black Death. In places besides Germany, convents were founded as retreats from

6776-459: The work and spirituality of the order is study, the method most used by the Dominicans in working to defend the church against the perils it faced. In Dominic's thinking, it was impossible for men to preach what they did not or could not understand. On August 15, 1217, Dominic dispatched seven of his followers to the great university center of Paris to establish a priory focused on study and preaching. The Convent of St. Jacques would eventually become

6864-409: The world for women of the upper classes. These were original projects funded by wealthy patrons. Among these was Countess Margaret of Flanders who established the monastery of Lille, while Val-Duchesse at Oudergem near Brussels was built with the wealth of Adelaide of Burgundy, Duchess of Brabant (1262). Female houses differed from male Dominican houses in that they were enclosed. The sisters chanted

6952-495: The writer of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili ) and Matteo Bandello . Many Dominicans took part in the artistic activity of the age, the most prominent being Fra Angelico and Fra Bartolomeo . Although Dominic and the early brethren had instituted female Dominican houses at Prouille and other places by 1227, houses of women attached to the Order became so popular that some of the friars had misgivings about

7040-407: The years 1220 and 1221. More recent General Chapters have been held as follows: The General Chapter elects a Master of the Order , who has "broad and direct authority over every brother, convent and province, and over every nun and monastery". The master is considered the successor of Dominic, the first Master of the Order, who envisioned the office to be one of service to the community. The master

7128-630: Was a 20-year military campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc , in southern France . Dominic saw the need for a response that would attempt to sway members of the Albigensian movement back to mainstream Catholic thought. Dominic became inspired to achieve this by preaching and teaching, starting near Toulouse , since the Albigensian Christians refused to compromise their principles despite

7216-574: Was also, however, a group of Englishmen. Its direct supervisors were from England, and the members of the English Province dwelt and labored in English cities, towns, villages, and roadways. English and European ingredients constantly came in contact. The international side of the province's existence influenced the national, and the national responded to, adapted, and sometimes constrained the international. The first Dominican site in England

7304-459: Was approved by Pope Honorius III via the papal bull Religiosam vitam on 22 December 1216. Members of the order, who are referred to as Dominicans , generally display the letters OP after their names, standing for Ordinis Praedicatorum , meaning 'of the Order of Preachers'. Membership in the order includes friars , nuns , active sisters , and lay or secular Dominicans (formerly known as tertiaries ). More recently, there have been

7392-487: Was approved in December 1216 and January 1217 by Pope Honorius III in the papal bulls Religiosam vitam and Nos attendentes . On January 21, 1217, Honorius issued the bull Gratiarum omnium recognizing Dominic's followers as an order dedicated to study and universally authorized to preach, a power formerly reserved to local episcopal authorization. Along with charity, the other concept that most defines

7480-497: Was at Oxford, in the parishes of St. Edward and St. Adelaide. The friars built an oratory to the Blessed Virgin Mary and by 1265, the brethren, in keeping with their devotion to study, began erecting a school. The Dominican brothers likely began a school immediately after their arrival, as priories were legally schools. Information about the schools of the English Province is limited, but a few facts are known. Much of

7568-514: Was by far the most popular part to be copied within Europe, The Mirror of Nature was sometimes mistakenly discussed as the great work of William of Conches , the Magna de Naturis Philosophia ("The Great Philosophy of Nature"). With the advent of moveable type, the Speculum Maius saw renewed interest since it was easier to reproduce such a sizeable work. Accordingly, there were five editions of

7656-543: Was made a canon and ordained to the priesthood in the monastery of Santa María de La Vid. After completing his studies, Bishop Martin Bazan and Prior Diego de Acebo appointed him to the cathedral chapter of Osma . In 1203, Dominic de Guzmán joined Diego de Acebo , the Bishop of Osma , on a diplomatic mission to Denmark for the monarchy of Spain, to arrange the marriage between the son of King Alfonso VIII of Castile and

7744-517: Was the prelude to the reforms undertaken, at the end of the century, by Raymond of Capua , and continued in the following century. At the same time, the order found itself face to face with the Renaissance . It struggled against pagan tendencies in Renaissance humanism , in Italy through Dominici and Savonarola, in Germany through the theologians of Cologne but it also furnished humanism with such advanced writers as Francesco Colonna (probably

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