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As the Order of the Friars Preachers is
the principal part of the entire Order of St. Dominic, we shall
include under this title the two other parts of the order: the
Dominican Sisters (Second Order) and the Brothers of Penitence of St.
Dominic (Third Order). First, we shall study the legislation of the
three divisions of the order, and the nature of each. Secondly, we
shall give an historical survey of the three branches of the order.
I. Legislation and
Nature
In its formation and development, the
Dominican legislation as a whole is closely bound up with historical
facts relative to the origin and progress of the order. Hence some
reference to these is necessary, the more so as this matter has not
been sufficiently studied. For each of the three groups, constituting
the ensemble of the Order of St. Dominic, we shall examine: A.
Formation of the Legislative Texts; B. Nature of the Order, resulting
from legislation.
A. Formation of the
Legislative Texts
In regard to their legislation the
first two orders are closely connected, and must be treated together.
The preaching of St. Dominic and his first companions in Languedoc led
up to the pontifical letters of Innocent III, 17 Nov., 1205 (Potthast,
"Reg., Pont., Rom.", 2912). They created for the first time
in the Church of the Middle Ages the type of apostolic preachers,
patterned upon the teaching of the Gospel. In the same year, Dominic
founded the Monastery of Prouille, in the Diocese of Toulouse, for the
women whom he had converted from heresy, and he, made this
establishment the centre of union of his missions and of his apostolic
works (Balme-Lelaidier, "Cartulaire ou Histoire Diplomatique de
St. Dominic", Paris, 1893, I, 130sq.; Guiraud, "Cart. de
Notre Dame de Prouille," Paris, 1907, I, CCCXXsq). St. Dominic
gave to the new monastery the Rule of St. Augustine and also the
special Institutions which regulated the life of the Sisters, and of
the Brothers who lived near them, for the spiritual and temporal
administration of the community. The Institutions are edited in Balme,
"Cart." II, 425; "Bull. Ord. Præd.", VII,
410; Duellius, "Misc.", bk. I (Augsburg, 1723), 169;
"Urkundenbuch der Stadt.", I (Fribourg, Leipzig, 1883), 605.
On 17 Dec., 1219, Honorius III, with a view to a general reform among
the religious of the Eternal City, granted the monastery of the
Sisters of St. Sixtus of Rome to St. Dominic, and the Institutions of
Prouille were given to that monastery under the title of Institutions
of the Sisters of St. Sixtus of Rome. With this designation they were
granted subsequently to other monasteries and congregations of
religious. It is also under this form that we possess the primitive
Institutions of Prouille, in the editions already mentioned. St.
Dominic and his companions, having received from Innocent III
authorization to choose a rule, with a view to the approbation of
their order, adopted in 1216, that of St. Augustine, and added thereto
the "Consuetudines" which regulated the ascetic and
canonical life of the religious. These were borrowed in great part
from the Constitutions of Prémontré, but with some essential
features, adapted to the purposes of the new Preachers who also
renounced private possession of property, but retained the revenues.
The "Consuetudines" formed the first part (prima
distinctio) of the primitive Constitutions of the order (Quétif-Echard,
"Scriptores Ord. Præd.", L 12-13; Denifle,
"Archiv. für Literatur und Kirchengeschichte", I, 194;
Balme, "Cart.", II, 18). The order was solemnly approved, 22
Dec., 1216. A first letter, in the style of those granted for the
foundation of regular canons, gave the order canonical existence; a
second determined the special vocation of the Order of Preachers as
vowed to teaching and defending the truths of faith. "Nos
attendentes fratres Ordinis tui futuros pugiles fidei et vera mundi
lumina confirmamus Ordinem tuum" (Balme, "Cart." II,
71-88; Potthast, 5402-5403). (Expecting the brethren of your order to
be the champions of the Faith and true lights of the world, we confirm
your order.)
On 15 Aug., 1217 St. Dominic sent out
his companions from Prouille. They went through France, Spain, and
Italy, and established as principal centres, Toulouse, Paris, Madrid,
Rome, and Bologna. Dominic, by constant journeyings, kept watch over
these new establishments, and went to Rome to confer with the
Sovereign Pontiff (Balme, "Cart." II, 131; "Annales
Ord. Præd.", Rome, 1756, p. 411; Guiraud, "St.
Dominic", Paris, 1899, p. 95). In May, 1220, St. Dominic held at
Bologna the first general chapter of the order. This assembly drew up
the Constitutions, which are complementary to the
"Consuetudines" of 1216 and form the second part (secunda
distinctio). They regulated the organization and life of the
order, and are the essential and original basis of the Dominican
legislation. In this chapter, the Preachers also gave up certain
elements of the canonical life; they relinquished all possessions and
revenues, and adopted the practice of strict poverty; they rejected
the title of abbey for the convents, and substituted the rochet of
canons for the monastic scapular. The regime of annual general
chapters was established as the regulative power of the order, and the
source of legislative authority. ("Script. Ord. Præd.",
I, 20; Denifle, "Archiv.", I, 212; Balme, "Cart.",
III, 575). Now that the legislation of the Friars Preachers was fully
established, the Rule of the Sisters of St. Sixtus was found to be
very incomplete. The order, however, supplied what was wanting by
compiling a few years after, the Statuta, which borrowed from
the Constitutions of the Friars, whatever might be useful in a
monastery of Sisters. We owe the preservation of these Statuta, as
well as the Rule of St. Sixtus, to the fact that this legislation was
applied in 1232 to the Penitent Sisters of St. Mary Magdalen in
Germany, who observed it without further modification. The Statuta are
edited im Duellius, "Misc.", bk. I, 182. After the
legislative work of the general chapters had been added to the
Constitution of 1216-20, without changing the general ordinance of the
primitive text, the necessity was felt, a quarter of a century later,
of giving a more logical distribution to the legislation in its
entirety. The great canonist Raymond of Penaforte, on becoming master
general of the order, devoted himself to this work. The general
chapters, from 1239 to 1241, accepted the new text, and gave it the
force of law. In this form it has remained to the present time as the
official text, with some modification, however, in the way of
suppressions and especially of additions due to later enactments of
the general chapters. It was edited in Denifle, "Archiv.",
V, 553; "Acta Capitulorum Generalium", I (Rome, 1898), II,
13, 18, in "Monum. Ord. Præd. Hist.", bk. III.
The reorganization of the Constitutions
of the Preachers called for a corresponding reform in the legislation
of the Sisters. In his letter of 27 Aug., 1257, Alexander IV ordered
Humbert of Romans, the fifth master general, to unify the
Constitutions of the Sisters. Humbert remodelled them on the
Constitutions of the Brothers, and put them into effect at the General
Chapter of Valenciennes, 1259. The Sisters were henceforth
characterized as Sorores Ordinis Prdicatorum. The Constitutions
are edited in "Analecta, Ord. Præd." (Rome, 1897),
338; Finke, "Ungedruckte Dominicanerbriefe des 13
Jahrhunderts" (Paderborn, 1891), D. 53; "Litterae Encyclicae
magistrorum generalium" (Rome, 1900), in " Mon. Ord. Praed.
Hist.", V, p. 513. To this legislation, the provincials of
Germany, who had a large number of religious convents under their
care, added certain admonitiones by way of completing and
definitely settling the Constitutions of the Sisters. They seem to be
the work of Herman of Minden, Provincial of Teutonia (1286-90). He
drew up at first a concise admonition (Denifle, "Archiv.",
II, 549); then other series of admonitions, more important, which have
not been edited (Rome, Archives of the Order, Cod. Ruten, 130-139).
The legislation of the Friars Preachers is the firmest and most
complete among the systems of law by which institutions of this sort
were ruled in the thirteenth century. Hauck is correct in saying:
"We do not deceive ourselves in considering the organization of
the Dominican Order as the most perfect of all the monastic
organizations produced by the Middle Ages"
("Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands", part IV, Leipzig, 1902,
p. 390). It is not then surprising that the majority of the religious
orders of the thirteenth century should have followed quite closely
the Dominican legislation, which exerted an influence even upon
institutions very dissimilar in aim and nature. The Church considered
it the typical rule for new foundations. Alexander IV thought of
making the legislation of the Order of Preachers into a special rule
known as that of St. Dominic, and for that purpose commissioned the
Dominican cardinal, Hugh of St. Cher (3 Feb., 1255), but the project
encountered many obstacles, and nothing came of it. (Potthast, n.
1566; Humberti de Romanis, "Opera de vita regulari", ed.,
Berthier, I, Rome, 1888, n. 43)
B. Nature of the
Order of Preachers
(1) Its Object
The canonical title of "Order of
Preachers", given to the work of St. Dominic by the Church, is in
itself significant, but it indicates only the dominant feature. The
Constitutions are more explicit: "Our order was instituted
principally for preaching and for the salvation of souls." The
end or aim of the order then is the salvation of souls, especially by
means of preaching. For the attainment of this purpose, the order must
labour with the utmost zeal -- "Our main efforts should be put
forth, earnestly and ardently, in doing good to the souls of our
fellow-men."
(2) Its Organization
The aim of the order and the conditions
of its environment determined the form of its organization. The first
organic group is the convent, which may not be founded with less than
twelve religious. At first only large convents were allowed and these
were located in important cities (Mon. Ger. Hist.: SS. XXXII, 233,
236), hence the saying:
Bernardus valles, montes Benedictus amabat,
Oppida Franciscus, celebres Dominicus urbes.
(Bernard loved the valleys, Benediet the mountains, Francis the
towns, Dominic the populous cities).
The foundation and the existence of the
convent required a prior as governor, and a doctor as teacher. The
Constitution prescribes the dimensions of the church and the convent
buildings, and these should be quite plain. But in the course of the
thirteenth century the order erected large edifices, real works of
art. The convent possesses nothing and lives on alms. Outside of the
choral office (the Preachers at first had the title of canonici)
their time is wholly employed in study. The doctor gives lectures in
theology, at which all the religious, even the prior, must be present,
and which are open to secular clerics. The religious vow themselves to
preaching, both within and without the convent walls. The
"general preachers" have the most extended powers. At the
beginning of the order, the convent was called praedicatio, or sancta
praedicatio. The convents divided up the territory in which they
were established, and sent out on preaching tours religious who
remained for a longer or shorter time in the principal places of their
respective districts. The Preachers did not take the vow of stability,
but could be sent from one locality to another. Each convent received
novices, these, according to the Constitutions, must be at least
eighteen years of age, but this rule was not strictly observed. The
Preachers were the first among religious orders to suppress manual
labour, the necessary work of the interior of the house being
relegated to lay brothers called conversi whose number was
limited according to the needs of each convent. The prior was elected
by the religious and the doctor was appointed by the provincial
chapter. The chapter, when it saw fit, relieved them from office.
The grouping of a certain number of
convents forms the province, which is administered by a provincial
prior, elected by the prior and two delegates from each convent. He is
confirmed by the general chapter, or by the master general, who can
also remove him when it is found expedient. He enjoys in his province
the same authority as the master general in the order; he confirms the
election of conventual priors, visits the province, sees to it that
the Constitutions and the ordinances are observed and presides at the
provincial chapters. The provincial chapter, which is held annually,
discusses the interests of the province. It is composed of a
provincial prior, priors from the convents, a delegate from each
convent, and the general preachers. The capitulants (members of the
chapter), choose from among themselves, four counsellors or
assistants, who, with the provincial, regulate the affairs brought
before the chapter. The chapter appoints those who are to visit
annually each part of the province. The provinces taken together
constitute the order, which has at its head a master general, elected
by the provincial priors and by two delegates from each province. For
a long time his position was for life; Pius VII (1804), reduced it to
six years, and Pius IX (1862) fixed it at twelve years. At first the
master general had no permanent residence; since the end of the
fourteenth century, he has lived usually at Rome. He visits the order,
holds it to the observance of the laws, and corrects abuses. In 1509,
he was granted two associates (socii); in 1752, four; in 1910,
five. The general chapter is the supreme authority within the order.
From 1370, it was held every two years; from 1553, every three years,
from 1625, every six years. In the eighteenth and at the beginning of
the nineteenth century, chapters were rarely held. At present they
take place every three years. From 1228, for two years in succession,
the general chapter was composed of definitors or delegates from the
provinces, each province sending one delegate; the following year it
was held by the provincial priors. The chapter promulgates new
constitutions, but to become law they must be accepted by three
constitutive chapters. The chapter deals with all the general concerns
of the order, whether administrative or disciplinary. It corrects the
master general, and in certain eases can depose him. From 1220 to
1244, the chapters were held alternately at Bologna and Paris;
subsequently, they passed round to all the principal cities of Europe.
The generalissimo chapter acknowledged by the Constitution and
composed of two definitors from each province, also of provincials,
i.e. equivalent to three consecutive general chapters, was held only
in 1228 and 1236. The characteristic feature of government is the
elective system which prevails throughout the order. "Such was
the simple mechanism which imparted to the Order of Friars Preachers a
powerful and regular movement, and secured them for a long time a real
preponderance in Church and in State" (Delisle, "Notes et
extraits des mss. de la Bibl. Nat.", Paris, xxvii, 1899, 2nd
part, p. 312. See the editions of the Constitutions mentioned above:
"Const. Ord. Fr. Præd.", Paris, 1, 1888, "Acta
Capit. Gen. Ord. Fr. Præd.", ed., Reichert, Rome, 1898, sq.
9 vols.; Lo Cicero, Const., "Declar. et Ord. Capit. Gen. O.
P.", Rome, 1892; Humbert de Romanis, "Opera de vita
regulari", ed. Berthier, Rome, 1888; Reichert, "Feier und
Gesehäftsordung der Provincialkapitel des Dominikanerordens im 13
Jahrhundert" in "Römische Quart.", 1903, p. 101).
(3) Forms of its Activity
The forms of life or activity of the
Order of Preachers are many, but they are all duly subordinated. The
order assimilated the ancient forms of the religious life, the
monastic and the canonical, but it made them subservient to the
clerical and the apostolic life which are its peculiar and essential
aims. The Preachers adopted from the monastic life the three
traditional vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty; to them they
added the ascetic element known as monastic observances; perpetual
abstinence, fasting from 14 Sept. until Easter and on all the Fridays
throughout the year the exclusive use of wool for clothing and for the
bed a hard bed, and a common dormitory, silence almost perpetual in
their houses, public acknowledgment of faults in the chapter, a graded
list of penitential practices, etc. The Preachers, however, did not
take these observances directly from the monastic orders but from the
regular canons, especially the reformed canons, who had already
adopted monastic rules The Preachers received from the regular canons
the choral Office for morning and evening, but chanted quickly. They
added, on certain days, the Office of the Holy Virgin, and once a week
the Office of the Dead. The habit of the Preachers, as of the regular
canons, is a white tunic and a black cloak. The rochet, distinctive of
the regular canons, was abandoned by the Preachers at the General
Chapter of 1220, and replaced by the scapular. At the same time they
gave up various canonical customs, which they had retained up to that
period. They suppressed in their order the title of abbot for the head
of the convent, and rejected all property, revenues, the carrying of
money on their travels, and the use of horses. The title even of canon
which they had borne from the beginning tended to disappear about the
middle of the thirteenth century, and the General Chapters of
1240-1251 substituted the word clericus for canonicus in
the article of the Constitutions relating to the admission of novices;
nevertheless the designation, "canon" still occurs in some
parts of the Constitutions. The Preachers, in fact, are primarily and
essentially clerics. The pontifical letter of foundation said:
"These are to be the champions of the Faith and the true lights
of the world." This could apply only to clerics. The Preachers
consequently made study their chief occupation, which was the
essential means, with preaching and teaching as the end. The apostolic
character of the order was the complement of its clerical character.
The Friars had to vow themselves to the salvation of souls through the
ministry of preaching and confession, under the conditions set down by
the Gospel and by the example of the Apostles: ardent zeal, absolute
poverty, and sanctity of life.
The ideal Dominican life was rich in
the multiplicity and choice of its elements, and was thoroughly
unified by its well-considered principles and enactments; but it was
none the less complex, and it, full realization was difficult. The
monastic-canonical element tended to dull and paralyze the intense
activity demanded by a clerical-apostolic life. The legislators warded
off the difficulty by a system of dispensations, quite peculiar to the
order. At the head of the Constitutions the principle of dispensation
appears jointly with the very definition of the order's purpose, and
is placed before the text of the laws to show that it controls and
tempers their application. "The superior in each convent shall
have authority to grant dispensations whenever he may deem it
expedient, especially in regard to what may hinder study, or
preaching, or the profit of souls since our order was originally
established for the work of preaching and the salvation of
souls", etc. The system of dispensation thus broadly understood
while it favoured the most active element of the order, displaced, but
did not wholly eliminate, the difficulty. It created a sort of dualism
in the interior life, and permitted an arbitrariness that might easily
disquiet the conscience of the religious and of the superiors. The
order warded off this new difficulty by declaring in the generalissimo
chapter of 1236, that the Constitutions did not oblige under pain of
sin, but under pain of doing penance (Acta Cap. Gen. I, 8.) This
measure, however, was not heartily welcomed by everyone in the order
(Humbert de Romanis, Op., II, 46), nevertheless it stood.
This dualism produced on one side,
remarkable apostles and doctors, on the other, stern ascetics and
great mystics. At all events the interior troubles of the order grew
out of the difficulty of maintaining the nice equilibrium which the
first legislators established, and which was preserved to a remarkable
degree during the first century of the order's existence. The logic of
things and historical circumstances frequently disturbed this
equilibrium. The learned and active members tended to exempt
themselves from monastic observance, or to moderate its strictness;
the ascetic members insisted on the monastic life, and in pursuance of
their aim, suppressed at different times the practice of dispensation,
sanctioned as it was by the letter and the spirit of the Constitutions
["Cons". Ord. Praed.", passim;. Denifle, "Die
Const. des Predigerordens" in "Archiv. f. Litt. u.
Kirchengesch.", I, 165; Mandonnet, " Les Chanoines -- Prêcheurs
de Bologne d'après Jacques de Vitry" in "Archives de
la société d'histoire du canton de Fribourg", bk. VIII, 15;
Lacordaire, " Mémoire pour la restauration des Frères Prêcheurs
dans la Chrétienté", Paris, 1852; P. Jacob, "Memoires sur
la canonicité de l'institut de St. Dominic", Béziers, 1750, tr.
into Italian under the title; " Difesa del canonicato dei FF.
Predicatori", Venice, 1758; Laberthoni, "Exposé de l'état,
du régime, de la legislation et des obligations des Frères Prêcheurs",
Versailles, 1767 (new ed., 1872)].
(4) Nature of the Order of the
Dominican Sisters
We have indicated above the various
steps by which the legislation of the Dominican Sisters was brought
into conformity with the Constitutions of Humbert of Romans (1259).
The primitive type of religious established at Prouille in 1205 by St.
Dominic was not affected by successive legislation. The Dominican
Sisters are strictly cloistered in their monasteries; they take the
three religious vows, recite the canonical Hours im choir and engage
in manual labor. The eruditio litterarum inscribed in the
Institutions of St. Sixtus disappeared from the Constitutions drawn up
by Humbert of Romans. The ascetic life of the Sisters is the same as
that of the Friars. Each house is governed by a prioress, elected
canonically, and assisted by a sub-prioress, a mistress of novices,
and various other officers. The monasteries have the right to hold
property in common; they must be provided with an income sufficient
for the existence of the community; they are independent and are under
the jurisdiction of the provincial prior, the master general, and of
the general chapter. A subsequent paragraph will deal with the various
phases of the question as to the relation existing between the Sisters
and the Order of Preachers. Whilst the Institutions of St. Sixtus
provided a group of brothers, priests, and lay servants for the
spiritual and temporal administration of the monastery, the
Constitutions of Humbert of Romans were silent on these points. (See
the legislative texts relating to the Sisters mentioned above.)
(5) The Third Order
St. Dominic did not write a rule for
the Tertiaries, for reasons which are given further on in the
historical sketch of the Third Order. However, a large body of the
laity, vowed to piety, grouped themselves about the rising Order of
Preachers, and constituted, to all intents and purposes, a Third
Order. In view of this fact and of some circumstances to be noted
later on, the seventh master general of the order, Munio de Zamora,
wrote (1285) a rule for the Brothers and Sisters of Penitence of St.
Dominic. The privilege granted the new fraternity 28 Jan., 1286, by
Honorius IV, gave it a canonical existence (Potthast, 22358). The rule
of Munio was not entirely original; some points being borrowed from
the Rule of the Brothers of Penitence, whose origin dates back to St.
Francis of Assisi; but it was distinctive on all essential points. It
is in a sense more thoroughly ecclesiastical; the Brothers and Sisters
are grouped in different fraternities; their government is immediately
subject to ecclesiastical authority; and the various fraternities do
not form a collective whole, with legislative chapters, as was the
case among the Brothers of Penitence of St. Francis. The Dominican
fraternities are local and without any bond of union other than that
of the Preaching Brothers who govern them. Some characteristics of
these fraternities may be gathered from the Rule of Munio de Zamora.
The Brothers and Sisters, as true children of St. Dominic, should be,
above all things, truly zealous for the Catholic Faith. Their habit is
a white tunic, with black cloak and hood, and a leathern girdle. After
making profession, they cannot return to the world, but may enter
other authorized religious orders. They recited a certain number of
Paters and Aves, for the canonical Hours; receive communion at least
four times a year, and must show great respect to the ecclesiastical
hierarchy. They fast during Advent, Lent, and on all the Fridays
during the year, and eat meat only three days in the week, Sunday,
Tuesday, and Thursday. They are allowed to carry arms only in defense
of the Christian Faith. They visit sick members of the community, give
them assistance if necessary, attend the burial of Brothers or Sisters
and aid them with their prayers. The head or spiritual director is a
priest of the Order of Preachers, whom the Tertiaries select and
propose to the master general or to the provincial; he may act on
their petition or appoint some other religious. The director and the
older members of the fraternity choose the prior or prioress, from
among the Brothers and Sisters, and their office continues until they
are relieved. The Brothers and the Sisters have, on different days, a
monthly reunion in the church of the Preachers, when they attend Mass,
listen to an instruction, and to an explanation of the rule. The prior
and the director can grant dispensations; the rule, like the
Constitutions of the Preachers, does not oblige under pain of sin.
The text of the Rule of the Brothers of
the Penitence of St. Dominic is in "Regula S. Augustini et
Constitutiones FF. Ord. Praed." (Rome, 1690), 2nd pt. p. 39;
Federici, "Istoria dei cavalieri Gaudent" (Venice, 1787),
bk. II, cod. diplomat., p. 28; Mandonnet, "Les règles et
le gouvernement de l'Ordo de Poenitentia au XIIIe siècle"
(Paris, 1902); Mortier, "Histoire des Maîtres Généraux des Frères
Prêcheurs", II (Paris, 1903), 220.
II. History of the
Order
A. The Friars
Preachers
Their history may be divided into three
periods: (1) The Middle Ages (from their foundation to the beginning
of the sixteenth century); (2) The Modern Period up to the French
Revolution; (3) The Contemporaneous Period. In each of these periods
we shall examine the work of the order in its various departments.
(1) The Middle Ages
The thirteenth century is the classic
age of the order, the witness to its brilliant development and intense
activity. This last is manifested especially in the work of teaching.
By preaching it reached all classes of Christian society, fought
heresy, schism, 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 the entire Church its
doctors wrote monumental works in all branches of knowledge and two
among them, Albertus Magnus, and especially Thomas Aquinas, founded a
school of philosophy and theology which was to rule the ages to come
in the life of the Church. An enormous number of its members held
offices in Church and State -- as popes, cardinals, bishops, legates,
inquisitors, confessors of princes, ambassadors, and paciarii (enforcers
of the peace decreed by popes or councils). The Order of Preachers,
which should have remained a select body, developed beyond bounds and
absorbed some elements unfitted to its form of life. A period of
relaxation ensued during the fourteenth century owing to the general
decline of Christian society. The weakening of doctrinal activity
favoured the development here and there of the ascetic and
contemplative life and there sprang up, especially in Germany and
Italy, an intense and exuberant mysticism with which the names of
Master Eckhart, Suso, Tauler, St. Catherine of Siena are associated.
This movement was the prelude to the reforms undertaken, at the end of
the century, by Raymond of Capua, and continued in the following
century. It assumed remarkable proportions in the congregations of
Lombardy and of Holland, and in the reforms of Savonarola at Florence.
At the same time the order found itself face to face with the
Renaissance. It struggled against pagan tendencies in Humanism, in
Italy through Dominici and Savonarola, in Germany through the
theologians of Cologne but it also furnished Humanism with such
advanced writers as Francis Colonna (Poliphile) and Matthew Brandello.
Its members, in great numbers, took part im the artistic activity of
the age, the most prominent being Fra Angelico and Fra Bartolomeo.
(a) Development and Statistics
When St. Dominic, in 1216, asked for
the official recognition of his order, the first Preachers numbered
only sixteen. At the general Chapter of Bologna, 1221, the year of St.
Dominic's death, the order already counted some sixty establishments,
and was divided into eight provinces: Spain, Provence, France,
Lombardy, Rome, Teutonia, England, and Hungary. The Chapter of 1228
added four new provinces: the Holy Land, Greece, Poland, and Dacia
(Denmark and Scandinavia). Sicily was separated from Rome (1294),
Aragon from Spain (1301). In 1303 Lombardy was divided into Upper and
Lower Lombardy; Provence into Toulouse and Provence; Saxony was
separated from Teutonia, and Bohemia from Poland, thus forming
eighteen provinces. The order, which in 1277 counted 404 convents of
Brothers, in 1303 numbered nearly 600. The development of the order
reached its height during the Middle Ages; new houses were established
during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but in relatively small
numbers As to the number of religious only approximate statements can
be given. In 1256, according to the concession of suffrages granted by
Humbert of Romans to St. Louis, the order numbered about 5000 priests;
the clerks and lay brothers could not have been less than 2000. Thus
towards the middle of the thirteenth century it must have had about
7000 members (de Laborde, "Layette du trésor des chartes",
Paris 1875, III, 304). According to Sebastien de Olmeda, the
Preachers, as shown by the census taken under Benedict XII, were close
on to 12,000 in 1337. (Fontana, "Monumenta Dominicana",
Rome, 1674, pp. 207-8). This number was not surpassed at the close of
the Middle Ages; the Great Plague of 1348, and the general state of
Europe preventing a notable increase, The reform movement begun in
1390 by Raymond of Capua established the principle of a twofold
arrangement in the order. For a long time it is true, the reformed
convents were not separate from their respective provinces; but with
the foundation of the congregation of Lombardy, in 1459, a new order
of things began. The congregations were more or less self-governing,
and, according as they developed, overlapped several provinces and
even several nations. There were established successively the
congregations of Portugal (1460), Holland (1464), Aragon, and Spain
(1468), St. Mark in Florence (1493), France (1497), the Gallican
(1514). About the same time some new provinces were also established:
Scotland (1481), Ireland (1484), Bétique or Andalusia (1514), Lower
Germany (1515). (Quétif-Echard, "Script. Ord. Praed.", I,
p. 1-15; "Anal. Ord. Praed.", 1893, passim; Mortier,
"Hist. des Maîtres Généraux", I-V, passim).
(b) Administration
The Preachers possessed a number of
able administrators among their masters general during the Middle
Ages, especially in the thirteenth century. St. Dominic, the creator
of the institution (1206-1221), showed a keen intelligence of the
needs of the age. He executed his plans with sureness of insight,
firmness of resolution, and tenacity of purpose. Jordan of Saxony
(1222-1237) sensitive, eloquent, and endowed with rare powers of
persuasion, attracted numerous and valuable recruits. St. Raymond of
Penaforte (1238-1240), the greatest canonist of the age, ruled the
order only long enough to reorganize its legislation. John the Teuton
(1241-1252), bishop and linguist, who was associated with the greatest
personalities of his time pushed the order forward along the line of
development outlined by its founder. Humbert of Romans (1254-1263), a
genius of the practical sort, a broad-minded and moderate man, raised
the order to the height of its glory, and wrote manifold works,
setting forth what, in his eyes, the Preachers and Christian society
ought to be. John of Vercelli (1264-1283), an energetic and prudent
man, during his long government maintained the order in all its vigor.
The successors of these illustrious masters did their utmost in the
discharge of their duty, and in meeting the situations which the state
of the Church and of society from the close of the thirteenth century
rendered more and more difficult. Some of them did no more than hold
their high office, while others had not the genius of the masters
general of the golden age [Balme-Lelaidier, "Cart. de St.
Dominic"; Guiraud, "St. Dominic" (Paris, 1899); Mothon,
"Vie du B. Jourdain de Saxe" (Paris, 1885); Reichert,
"Des Itinerar des zweiten Dominikaner-generals Jordanis von
Sachsen" in "Festschrift des Deutschen Campo Santo in
Rom" (Freiburg, 1897) 153; Mothon, "Vita del B. Giovanini da
Vecellio" (Vecellio 1903); Mortier, "Histoire des Maîtres Généraux",
I-V]. The general chapters which wielded supreme power were the great
regulators of the Dominican life during the Middle Ages. They are
usually remarkable for their spirit of decision, and the firmness with
which they ruled. They appeared even imbued with a severe character
which, taking no account of persons, bore witness to the importance
they attached to the maintenance of discipline. (See the Acta Cap.
Gen. already referred to.)
(c) Modification of the Statute
We have already spoken of the chief
exception to be taken to the Constitution of the order, the difficulty
of maintaining an even balance between the monastic and canonical
observances and the clerical and apostolical life. The primitive régime
of poverty, which left the convents without an assured income, created
also a permanent difficulty. Time and the modifications of the state
of Christian society exposed these weak points. Already the General
Chapters of 1240-1242 forbade the changing of the general statutes of
the order, a measure which would indicate at least a hidden tendency
towards modification (Acta, I, p. 14-20). Some change seems to have
been contemplated also by the Holy See when Alexander IV, 4 February,
1255, ordered the Dominican cardinal, Hugh of Saint Cher, to recast
the entire legislation of the Preachers into a rule which should be
called the Rule of St. Dominic (Potthast, 156-69). Nothing came of the
project, and the question was broached again about 1270 (Humbert de
Romanis, "Opera", I, p. 43). It was during the pontificate
of Benedict XII, (1334-1342), who undertook a general reform of the
religious orders, that the Preachers were on the point of undergoing
serious modifications in the secondary elements of their primitive
statute. Benedict, desiring to give the order greater efficiency,
sought to impose a régime of property-holding as necessary to its
security and to reduce the number of its members (12,000) by
eliminating the unfit etc.; in a word, to lead the order back to its
primitive concept of a select apostolic and teaching body. The order,
ruled at that time by Hugh de Vansseman (1333-41), resisted with all
its strength (1337-40). This was a mistake (Mortier, op. cit., III,
115). As the situation grew worse, the order was obliged to petition
Sixtus IV for the right to hold property, and this was granted 1 June,
1475. Thence forward the convents could acquire property, and
perpetual rentals (Mortier, IV, p. 495). This was one of the causes
which quickened the vitality of the order in the sixteenth century.
The reform projects of Benedict XII
having failed, the master general, Raymond of Capua (1390) sought to
restore the monastic observances which had fallen into decline. He
ordered the establishment in each province of a convent of strict
observance, hoping that as such houses became more numerous, the
reform would eventually permeate the entire province. This was not
usually the case. These houses of the observance formed a
confederation among themselves under the jurisdiction of a special
vicar. However, they did not cease to belong to their original
province in certain respects, and this, naturally gave rise to
numerous conflicts of government. During the fifteenth century,
several groups made up congregations, more or less autonomous; these
we have named above in giving the statistics of the order. The scheme
of reform proposed by Raymond and adopted by nearly all who
subsequently took up with his ideas, insisted on the observance of the
Constitutions ad unguem, as Raymond, without further
explanation, expressed it. By this, his followers, and, perhaps
Raymond himself, understood the suppression of the rule of
dispensation which governed the entire Dominican legislation. "In
suppressing the power to grant and the right to accept dispensation,
the reformers inverted the economy of the order, setting the part
above the whole, and the means above the end" (Lacordaire,
"Mémoire pour la restauration des Frères L Prêcheurs
dans la chrétienité", new ed., Dijon, 1852, p. 18). The
different reforms which originated within the order up to the
nineteenth century, began usually with principles of asceticism, which
exceeded the letter and the spirit of the original constitutions. This
initial exaggeration was, under pressure of circumstances, toned down,
and the reforms which endured, like that of the congregation of
Lombardy, turned out to be the most effectual. Generally speaking, the
reformed communities slackened the intense devotion to study
prescribed by the Constitutions; they did not produce the great
doctors of the order, and their literary activity was directed
preferably to moral theology, history, subjects of piety, and
asceticism. They gave to the fifteenth century many holy men (Thomae
Antonii Senesis, "Historia disciplinæ regularis instaurata
in Cnobiis Venetis Ord. Præd." in Fl. Cornelius,
"Ecclesiæ Venetæ", VII, 1749, p. 167; Bl.
Raymond of Capua, "Opuscula et Litterae", Rome, 1899; Meyer,
"Buch der Reformacio Predigerordens" in "Quellen und
Forschungen zur Geschichte des Dominikanerordens in Deutschland",
II, III, Leipzig 1908-9; Mortier, "Hist. des Maîtres Généraux",
III, IV).
(d) Preaching and Teaching
Independently of their official title
of Order of Preachers, the Roman Church especially delegated the
Preachers to the office of preaching. It is in fact the only order of
the Middle Ages which the popes declared to be specially charged with
this office (Bull. Ord. Præd., VIII, p. 768). Conformably to its
mission, the order displayed an enormous activity. The "Vitæ
Fratrum " (1260) (Lives of the Brothers) informs us that many of
the brothers refused food until they had first announced the Word of
God
(op. cit., p. 150). In his circular letter (1260), the Master General
Humbert of Romans, in view of what had been accomplished by his
religious, could well make the statement: "We teach the people,
we teach the prelates, we teach the wise and the unwise, religious and
seculars, clerics and laymen, nobles and peasants, lowly and
great." (Monum. Ord. Præd. Historia, V, p. 53). Rightly,
too, it has been said: "Science on one hand, numbers on the
other, placed them [the Preachers] ahead of their competitors in the
thirteenth century " (Lecoy de la Marche, "La chaire française
au Moyen Age", Paris, 1886, p. 31). The order maintained this
supremacy during the entire Middle Ages (L. Pfleger, " Zur
Geschichte des Predigtwesens in Strasburg", Strasburg, 1907, p.
26; F. Jostes, "Zur Geschichte der Mittelalterlichen Predigt in
Westfalen", Münster, 1885, p. 10). During the thirteenth
century, the Preachers in addition to their regular apostolate, worked
especially to lead back to the Church heretics and renegade Catholics.
An eyewitness of their labours (1233) reckons the number of their
converts in Lombardy at more than 100,000 ("Annales Ord. Præd.",
Rome, 1756, col. 128). This movement grew rapidly, and the witnesses
could scarcely believe their eyes, as Humbert of Romans (1255) informs
us (Opera, II, p. 493). At the beginning of the fourteenth century, a
celebrated pulpit orator, Giordano da Rivalto, declared that, owing to
the activity of the order, heresy had almost entirely disappeared from
the Church ("Prediche del Beato Fra Giordano da Rivalto",
Florence, 1831, I, p. 239).
The Friars Preachers were especially
authorized by the Roman Church to preach crusades, against the
Saracens in favour of the Holy Land, against Livonia and Prussia, and
against Frederick II, and his successors (Bull. O. P., XIII, p. 637).
This preaching assumed such importance that Humbert of Romans composed
for the purpose a treatise entitled, "Tractatus de prædicatione
contra Saracenos infideles et paganos" (Tract on the preaching of
the Cross against the Saracens, infidels and pagans). This still
exists in its first edition in the Paris Bibliothèque Mazarine,
incunabula no. 259; Lecoy de la Marche, "La prédication de la
Croisade au XIIIe siècle" in "Rev. des questions
historiques", 1890, p. 5). In certain provinces, particularly in
Germany and Italy, the Dominican preaching took on a peculiar quality,
due to the influence of the spiritual direction which the religious of
these provinces gave to the numerous convents of women confided to
their care. It was a mystical preaching; the specimens which have
survived are in the vernacular, and are marked by simplicity and
strength (Denifle, "Uber die Anfänge der Predigtweise der
deutschen Mystiker" in "Archiv. f. Litt. u.
Kirchengesch", II, p. 641; Pfeiffer, "Deutsche Mystiker des
vierzehnten Jahrhundert", Leipzig, 1845; Wackernagel,
"Altdeutsche Predigten und Gebete aus Handschriften", Basle,
1876). Among these preachers may be mentioned: St. Dominic, the
founder and model of preachers (d. 1221); Jordan of Saxony (d. 1237)
(Lives of the Brothers, pts. II, III); Giovanni di Vincenza, whose
popular eloquence stirred Northern Italy during the year 1233 --
called the Age of the Alleluia (Sitter, "Johann von Vincenza und
die Italiensche Friedensbewegung", Freiburg, 1891); Giordano da
Rivalto, the foremost pulpit orator in Tuscany at the beginning of the
fourteenth century [d. 1311 (Galletti, "Fra Giordano da
Pisa", Turin, 1899)]; Johann Eckhart of Hochheim (d. 1327), the
celebrated theorist of the mystical life (Pfeiffer, "Deutsche
Mystiker", II, 1857; Buttner, "Meister Eckharts Schriften
und Predigten", Leipzig, 1903); Henri Suso (d. 1366), the
poetical lover of Divine wisdom (Bihlmeyer, "Heinrich Seuse
Deutsche Schriften", Stuttgart, 1907); Johann Tauler (d. 1361),
the eloquent moralist ("Johanns Taulers Predigten" ed. T.
Harnberger, Frankfort, 1864); Venturino la Bergamo (d. 1345), the
fiery popular agitator (Clementi, "Un Santo Patriota, Il B.
Venturino da Bergamo", Rome, 1909); Jacopo Passavanti (d. 1357),
the noted author of the "Mirror of Penitence" (Carmini di
Pierro, "Contributo alla Biografia di Fra Jacopo Passavanti"
in "Giornale storico della letteratura italiana", XLVII,
1906 p. 1); Giovanni Dominici (d. 1419), the beloved orator of the
Florentines (Gallette, "Una Raccolta di Prediche volgari del
Cardinale Giovanni Dominici" in "Miscellanea di studi
critici publicati in onore di G. Mazzoni", Florence, 1907, I);
Alain de la Rochei (d. 1475), the Apostle of the Rosary (Script. Ord.
Præd., I, p. 849); Savonarola (d. 1498), one of the most
powerful orators of all times (Luotto, "II vero Savonarola",
Florence, p. 68).
(e) Academic Organization
The first order instituted by the
Church with an academic mission was the Preachers. The decree of the
Fourth Lateran Council (1215) requiring the appointment of a master of
theology for each cathedral school had not been effectual. The Roman
Church and St. Dominic met the needs of the situation by creating a
religious order vowed to the teaching of the sacred sciences. To
attain their purpose, the Preachers from 1220 laid down as a
fundamental principle, that no convent of their order could be founded
without a doctor (Const., Dist. II, cog. I). From their first
foundation, the bishops, likewise, welcomed them with expressions like
those of the Bishop of Metz (22 April, 1221): "Cohabitatio
ipsorum non tantum laicis in praedicationibus, sed et clericis in
sacris lectionibus esset plurimum profutura, exemplo Domini Papæ,
qui eis Romæ domum contulit, et multorum archiepiscoporum ac
episcoporum" etc. (Annales Ord. Præd. I, append., col. 71).
(Association with them would be of great value not only to laymen by
their preaching, but also to the clergy by their lectures on sacred
science, as it was to the Lord Pope who gave them their house at Rome,
and to many archbishops and bishops.) This is the reason why the
second master general, Jordan of Saxony, defined the vocation of the
order: "honeste vivere, discere et docere", i.e. upright
living, learning and teaching (Vitæ Fratrum, p. 138); and one of
his successors, John the Teuton, declared that he was "ex ordine
Praedicatorum, quorum proprium esset docendi munus" (Annales, p.
644). (Of the Order of Preachers whose proper function was to teach.)
In pursuit of this aim the Preachers established a very complete and
thoroughly organized scholastic system, which has caused a writer of
our own times to say that "Dominic was the first minister of
public instruction in modern Europe" (Larousse, "Grand
Dictionnaire; Universel du XIXe Siècle", s. v. Dominic).
The general basis of teaching was the
conventual school. It was attended by the religious of the convent,
and by clerics from the outside; the teaching was public. The school
was directed by a doctor, called later, though not in all cases,
rector. His principal subject was the text of Holy Scripture, which he
interpreted, and in connection with which he treated theological
questions. The "Sentences" of Peter Lombard, the
"History" of Peter Comestor, the "Sum" of cases of
conscience, were also, but secondarily, used as texts. In the large
convents, which were not called studia generalia, but were in
the language of the times studia solemnia, the teaching staff
was more complete. There was a second master or sub-rector, or a
bachelor, whose duty it was to lecture on the Bible and the
"Sentences". This organization somewhat resembled that of
the studia generalia. The head master held public disputations
every fortnight. Each convent possessed a magister studentium, charged
with the superintendence of the students, and usually an assistant
teacher. These masters were appointed by the provincial chapters, and
the visitors were obliged to report each year to the chapter on the
condition of academic work. Above the conventual schools were the studia
generalia. The first studium generale which the order
possessed was that of the Convent of St. Jacques at Paris. In 1229
they obtained a chair incorporated with the university and another in
1231. Thus the Preachers were the first religious order that took part
in teaching at the University of Paris, and the only one possessing
two schools. In the thirteenth century the order did not recognize any
mastership of theology other than that received at Paris. Usually the
masters did not teach for any length of time. After receiving their
degrees, they were assigned to different schools of the order
throughout the world. The schools of St. Jacques at Paris were the
principal scholastic centres of the Preachers during the Middle Ages.
In 1248 the development of the order
led to the erection of four new studia generalia -- at Oxford,
Cologne, Montpellier, and Bologna. When at the end of the thirteenth
and the beginning of the fourteenth century several provinces of the
order were divided, other studia were established at Naples,
Florence, Genoa, Toulouse, Barcelona, and Salamanca. The studium
generale was conducted by a master or regent, and two bachelors
who taught under his direction. The master taught the text of the Holy
Scriptures with commentaries. The works of Albert the Great and St.
Thomas Aquinas show us the nature of these lessons. Every fifteen days
the master held a debate upon a theme chosen by himself. To this class
of exercises belong the "Quæstiones Disputatæ"
of St. Thomas, while his "Quaestiones Quodlibeticae"
represent extraordinary disputations which took place twice a year
during Advent and Lent and whose subject was proposed by the auditors.
One of the bachelors read and commentated the Book of Sentences. The
commentaries of Albert and Thomas Aquinas on the Lombard are the fruit
of their two-year baccalaureate course as sententiarii. The biblicus
lectured on the Scriptures for one year before becoming a sententiarius.
He did not commentate, but read and interpreted the glosses which
preceding ages had added to the Scriptures for better understanding of
the text. The professors of the studia generalia were appointed
by the general chapters, or by the master general, delegated for the
purpose. Those who were to teach at Paris were taken indiscriminately
from the different provinces of the order.
The conventual schools taught only the
sacred sciences, i.e. Holy Scripture and theology. At the beginning of
the thirteenth century neither priest nor religious studied or taught
the profane sciences As it could not set itself against this general
status the order provided in its constitutions, that the master
general, or the general chapter, might allow certain religious to take
up the study of the liberal arts Thus, at first, the study of the
arts, i.e. of philosophy was entirely individual. As numerous masters
of arts entered the order during the early years, especially at Paris
and Bologna, it was easy to make a stand against this private
teaching. However, the development of the order and the rapid
intellectual progress of the thirteenth century soon caused the
organization -- for the use of religious only -- of regular schools
for the study of the liberal arts. Towards the middle of the century
the provinces established in one or more of their convents the study
of logic; and about 1260 the studia naturalium, i.e. courses in
natural science. The General Chapter of 1315 commended the masters of
the students to lecture on the moral sciences to all the religious of
their convents; i.e. on the ethics, politics, and economics of
Aristotle. From the beginning of the fourteenth century we find also
some religious who gave special courses in philosophy to secular
students. In the fifteenth century the Preachers occupied in several
universities chairs of philosophy, especially of metaphysics. Coming
in contact as it did with barbaric peoples -- principally with the
Greeks and Arabs -- the order was compelled from the outset to take up
the study of foreign languages. The Chapter Generalissimo of 1236
ordered that in all convents and in all the provinces the religious
should learn the languages of the neighbouring countries. The
following year Brother Phillippe, Provincial of the Holy Land, wrote
to Gregory IX that his religious had preached to the people in the
different languages of the Orient, especially in Arabic, the most
popular tongue, and that the study of languages had been added to
their conventual course. The province of Greece furnished several
Hellenists whose works we shall mention later. The province of Spain,
whose population was a mixture of Jews and Arabs, opened special
schools for the study of languages. About the middle of the thirteenth
century it also established a studium arabicum at Tunis; in
1259 one at Barcelona; between 1265 and 1270 one at Murcia; in 1281
one at Valencia. The same province also established some schools for
the study of Hebrew at Barcelona in 1281, and at Jativa in 1291.
Finally, the General Chapters of 1310 commanded the master general to
establish, in several provinces, schools for the study of Hebrew,
Greek, and Arabic, to which each province of the order should send at
least one student. In view of this fact a Protestant historian,
Molmier, in writing of the Friars Preachers, remarks: "They were
not content with professing in their convents all the divisions of
science, as it was then understood; they added an entire order of
studies which no other Christian schools of the time seem to have
taught, and in which they had no other rivals than the rabbis of
Languedoc and Spain" ("Guillem Bernard de Gaillac et
l'enseignement chez les Dominicains", Paris, 1884, p. 30).
This scholastic activity extended to
other fields, particularly to the universities which were established
throughout Europe from the beginning of the thirteenth century; the
Preachers took a prominent part in university life. Those
universities, like Paris, Toulouse etc., which from the beginning had
chairs of theology, incorporated the Dominican conventual school which
was patterned on the schools of the studia generalia. When a
university was established as in a city -- as was usually the case --
after the foundation of a Dominican convent which always possessed a
chair of theology, the pontifical letters granting the establishment
of the university made no mention whatever of a faculty of theology.
The latter was considered as already existing by reason of the
Dominican school and others of the mendicant orders, who followed the
example of the Preachers. For a time in the Dominican theological
schools were simply in juxtaposition to the universities, which had no
faculty of theology. When these universities petitioned the Holy See
for a faculty of theology, and their petition was granted, they
usually incorporated the Dominican school, which thus became a part of
the theological faculty. This transformation began towards the close
of the fourteenth and lasted until the first years of the sixteenth
century. Once established, this state of things lasted until the
Reformation in the countries which became Protestant, and until the
French Revolution and its spread in the Latin countries.
The archbishops, who according to the
decree of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) were to establish each
metropolitan church a master of theology, considered themselves
dispensed from this obligation by reason of the creation of Dominican
schools open to the secular clergy. However, when they thought it
their duty to apply the decree of the council, or when later they were
obliged by the Roman Church to do so, they frequently called in a
Dominican master to fill the chair of their metropolitan school. Thus
the metropolitan school of Lyons was entrusted to the Preachers, from
their establishment in that city until the beginning of the sixteenth
century (Forest, "L'école cathédrale de Lyon",
Paris-Lyons, 1885, pp. 238, 368; Beyssac, "Les Prieurs de Notre
Dame de Confort", Lyons, 1909; "Chart. Univer. Paris",
III, p. 28). The same arrangement, though not so permanent, was made
at Toulouse, Bordeaux, Tortosa, Valencia, Urgel, Milan etc. The popes,
who believed themselves morally obligated to set an example regarding
the execution of the scholastic decree of the Lateran Council, usually
contented themselves during the thirteenth century with the
establishment of schools at Rome by the Dominicans and other religious
orders. The Dominican masters who taught at Rome or in other cities
where the sovereign pontiffs took up their residence, were known as lectores
curiae. However, when the popes, once settled at Avignon, began to
require from the archbishops the execution of the decree of Lateran,
they instituted a theological school in their own papal palace; the
initiative was taken by Clement V (1305-1314). At the request of the
Dominican, Cardinal Nicolas Alberti de Prato (d. 1321), this work was
permanently entrusted to a Preacher, bearing the name of Magister
Sacri Palatii. The first to hold the position was Pierre Godin,
who later became cardinal (1312). The office of Master of the Sacred
Palace, whose functions were successively increased, remains to the
present day the special privilege of the Order of Preachers (Catalani,
"De Magistro Sacri Palatii Apostolici", Rome, p. 175).
Finally, when towards the middle of the
thirteenth century the old monastic orders began to take up the
scholastic and doctrinal movement, the Cistercians, in particular,
applied to the Preachers for masters of theology in their abbeys
("Chart. Univ Paris", I, p. 184). During the last portion of
the Middle Ages, the Dominicans furnished, at intervals, professors to
the different orders, not themselves consecrated to study (Denifle,
" Quellen zur Gelehrtengeschichte des Predigerordens im 13. und
14. Jahrhundert" in "Archiv." II, p.165; Mandonnet,
"Les Chanoines Prêcheurs de Bologne" Fribourg 1903;
Douais, "Essai sur l'organisation des études dans l'Ordre des Frères-Prêcheurs",
Paris: 1884; Mandonnet, "De l'incorporation des Dominicains dans
l'ancienne Université de Paris" in "Revue Thomiste",
IV 1896, p. 139; Denifle, "Die Universitäten des
Mittelalters", Berlin, 1885; I, passim; Denifle-Chatelain,
"Chart. Univ., Paris" 1889, passim; Bernard,
"Les Dominicains dans l'Université de Paris", Paris, 183;
Mandonnet, "Siger de Brabant et l'averroisme Latin au XIIIe siècle",
Louvain, 1911, I, n. 30-95). The legislation regarding studies occurs
here and there in the constitutions, and principally in the "Acta
Capitularium Generalium', Rome, 1898, sq. and Douais, "Acta
Capitulorum Provincialium" (Toulouse, 1894).
The teaching activity of the order and
its scholastic organization placed the Preachers in the forefront of
the intellectual life of the Middle Ages. They were the pioneers in
all directions as one may see from a subsequent paragraph relative to
their literary productions. We speak only of the school of philosophy
and of theology created by them in the thirteenth century which has
been the most influential in the history of the Church. At the
beginning of the thirteenth century philosophical teaching was
confined practically to the logic of Aristotle and theology, and was
under the influence of St. Augustine; hence the name Augustinism
generally given to the theological doctrines of that age. The first
Dominican doctors, who came from the universities into the order, or
who taught in the universities, adhered for a long time to the
Augustinian doctrine. Among the most celebrated were Roland of
Cremona, Hugh of Saint Cher, Richard Fitzacre, Moneta of Cremona,
Peter of Tarentaise, and Robert of Kilwardby. It was the introduction
into the Latin world of the great works of Aristotle, and their
assimilation, through the action of Albertus Magnus, that opened up in
the Order of Preachers a new line of philosophical and theological
investigation. The work begun by Albertus Magnus (1240-1250) was
carried to completion by his disciple, Thomas Aquinas (q. v.), whose
teaching activity occupied the last twenty years of his life
(1245-1274). The system of theology and philosophy constructed by
Aquinas is the most complete, the most original, and the most
profound, which Christian thought has elaborated, and the master who
designed it surpasses all his contemporaries and his successors in the
grandeur of his creative genius. The Thomist School developed rapidly
both within the order and without. The fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries witnessed the struggles of the Thomist School on various
points of doctrine. The Council of Vienne (1311) declared in favour of
the Thomistic teaching, according to which there is but one form in
the human composition, and condemned as heretical any one who should
deny that "the rational or intellective soul is per se and
essentially the form of the human body". This is also the
teaching of the Fifth Lateran Council (1515). See Zigliara, "De
Mente Concilii Viennensis", Rome, 1878, pp. 88-89.
The discussions between the Preachers
and the Friars on the poverty of Christ and the Apostles was also
settled by John XXII in the Thomistic sense [(12 Nov., 1323), Ehrle,
"Archiv. f. Litt. u Kirchengesch.", III, p. 517; Tocco,
"La Questione della povertà nel Secolo XIV", Naples,
1910]. The question regarding the Divinity of the Blood of Christ
separated from His Body during His Passion, raised for the first time
in 1351, at Barcelona, and taken up again in Italy in 1463, was the
subject of a formal debate before Pius II. The Dominican opinion
prevailed; although the pope refused a sentence properly so called
(Mortier, "Hist. des Maîtres Généraux", III, p. 287, IV,
p. 413; G. degli Agostini, "Notizie istorico-critiche intorno la
vita e le opere degli scrittori Viniziani", Venice, 1752, I, p.
401. During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the Thomist School
had to make a stand against Nominalism, of which a Preacher had been
one of the protagonists. The repeated sentences of the universities
and of princes slowly combatted this doctrine (De Wulf, "Histoire
de la philosophic médiévale", Louvain-Paris, 1905, p. 453).
The Averroism against which Albert the
Great and especially Aquinas had fought so energetically did not
disappear entirely with the condemnation of Paris (1277), but survived
under a more or less attenuated form. At the beginning of the
sixteenth century the debates were renewed, and the Preachers found
themselves actively engaged therein in Italy where the Averroist
doctrine had reappeared. The General of the Dominicans, Thomas de Vio
(Cajetan) had published his commentaries on the "De Anima"
of Aristotle (Florence, 1509), in which, abandoning the position of
St. Thomas, he contended that Aristotle had not taught the individual
immortality of the soul, but affirming at the same time that this
doctrine was philosophically erroneous. The Council of Lateran, by its
Decree, 19 Dec., 1513, not only condemned the Averroistic teaching,
but exacted still further that professors of philosophy should answer
the opposing arguments advanced by philosophers -- a measure which
Cajetan did not approve (Mansi, "Councils", I, 32, col.
842). Pietro Pomponazzi, having published at Bologna (1516) his
treatise on the immortality of the soul in the Averroistic sense,
while making an open profession of faith in the Christian doctrine,
raised numerous polemics, and was held as a suspect. Chrysostom
Javelli, regent of theology at the Convent of St. Dominic, in
agreement with the ecclesiastical authority, and at the request of
Pomponazzi, sought to extricate him from this difficulty by drawing up
a short theological exposé of the question which was to be added in
the future to the work of Pomponazzi. But this discussion did not
cease all at once. Several Dominicans entered the lists. Girolamo de
Fornariis subjected to examination the polemic of Pomponazzi with
Augustin Nifi (Bologna, 1519); Bartolommeo de Spina attacked Cajetan
on one article, and Pomponazzi in two others (Venice, 1519); Isidore
of Isolanis also wrote on the immortality of the soul (Milan, 1520);
Lucas Bettini took up the same theme, and Pico della Mirandola
published his treatise (Bologna, 1523); finally Chrysostom Javelli
himself, in 1523, composed a treatise on immortality in which he
refuted the point of view of Cajetan and of Pomponazzi (Chrysostomi
Javelli, "Opera", Venice, 1577, I-III, p. 52). Cajetan,
becoming cardinal, not only held his position regarding the idea of
Aristotle, but further declared that the immortality of the soul was
an article of faith, for which philosophy could offer only probable
reasons ("In Ecclesiasten", 1534, cap. iv; Fiorentino,
"Pietro Pomponazzi", Florence, 1868).
(f) Literary and Scientific
Productions
During the Middle Ages the order had an
enormous literary output, its activity extending to all spheres. The
works of its writers are epoch-making in the various branches of human
knowledge.
(i) Works on the Bible. -- The study
and teaching of the Bible were foremost among the occupations of the
Preachers, and their studies included everything pertaining to it.
They first undertook correctories (correctoria) of the Vulgate
text (1230-36), under the direction of Hugh of Saint Cher, professor
at the University of Paris. The collation with the Hebrew text was
accomplished under the sub-prior of St-Jacques, Theobald of Sexania, a
converted Jew. Two other correctories were made prior to 1267, the
first called the correctory of Sens. Again under the direction of Hugh
of Saint Cher the Preachers made the first concordances of the Bible
which were called the Concordances of St. Jacques or Great
Concordances because of their development. The English Dominicans of
Oxford, apparently under the direction of John of Darlington, made
more simplified concordances in the third quarter of the thirteenth
century. At the beginning of the fourteenth century a German
Dominican, Conrad of Halberstadt simplified the English concordances
still more; and John Fojkowich of Ragusa, at the time of the Council
of Basle, caused the insertion in the concordances of elements which
had not hitherto been incorporated in them. The Dominicans, moreover,
composed numerous commentaries on the books of the Bible. That of Hugh
of Saint Cher was the first complete commentary on the Scriptures
(last ed., Venice, 1754, 8 vols. in fol.). The commentaries of Bl.
Albertus Magnus and especially those of St. Thomas Aquinas are still
famous. With St. Thomas the interpretation of the text is more direct,
simply literal, and theological. These great Scriptural commentaries
represent theological teaching in the studia generalia. The lecturae
on the text of Scripture, also composed to a large extent by
Dominicans, represent scriptural teaching in the other studia of
theology. St. Thomas undertook an "Expositio continua" of
the four Gospels now called the "Catena aurea", composed of
extracts from the Fathers with a view to its use by clerics. At the
beginning of the fourteenth century Nicholas of Trevet did the same
for all the books of the Bible. The Preachers were also engaged in
translating the Bible into the vernacular. In all probability they
were the translators of the French Parisian Bible during the first
half of the thirteenth century, and in the fourteenth century they
took a very active share in the translation of the celebrated Bible of
King John. The name of a Catalonian Dominican, Romeu of Sabruguera, is
attached to the first translation of the Scriptures into Catalonian.
The names of Preachers are also connected with the Valencian and
Castilian translations, and still more with the Italian (F. L.
Mannoci, "Intorno a un volgarizzamento della Biblia attribuita al
B. Jacopo da Voragine" in "Giornale storico e letterario
della Liguria", V, 1904, p. 96). The first pre-Lutheran German
translation of the Bible, except the Psalms, is due to John Rellach,
shortly after the middle of the fifteenth century. Finally the Bible
was translated from Latin into Armenian about 1330 by B. Bartolommeo
Parvi of Bologna, missionary and bishop in Armenia. These works
enabled Vercellone to write: "To the Dominican Order belongs the
glory of having first renewed in the Church the illustrious example of
Origen and St. Augustine by the ardent cultivation of sacred criticism
" (P. Mandonnet "Tràvaux des Dominicains sur les
Saintes Ecritures" in "Dict. de la Bible", II, col.
1463; Saul, "Des Bibelstudium im Predigerorden" in "Der
Katholik", 82 Jahrg, 3 f., XXVII, 1902, a repetition of the
foregoing article).
(ii) Philosophical works. -- The most
celebrated philosophical works of the thirteenth century were those of
Albertus Magnus and St. Thomas Aquinas. The former compiled on the
model of Aristotle a vast scientific encyclopedia which exercised
great influence on the last centuries of the Middle Ages
("Alberti Magni Opera", Lyons, 1651, 20 vols. in fol.;
Paris, 1890, 38 vols. in 40; Mandonnet, "Siger de Brabant",
I, 37, n. 3). Thomas Aquinas, apart from special treatises and
numerous philosophical sections in his other works, commentated in
whole or in part thirteen of Aristotle's treatises, these being the
most important of the Stagyrite's works (Mandonnet, "Des écrits
authentiques de St. Thomas d'Aquin", 2nd ed., p. 104, Opera,
Paris, 1889, XXII-XVI). Robert of Kilwardby (d. 1279) a holder of the
old Augustinian direction, produced numerous philosophical writings.
His "De ortu et divisione philosophiae" is regarded as
"the most important introduction to Philosophy of the Middle
Ages" (Baur "Dominicus Gundissalinus De divisione
philosophiae", Münster, 1903, 368). At the end of the thirteenth
and the beginning of the fourteenth century, Dietrich of Vriberg left
an important philosophical and scientific work (Krebs, "Meister
Dietrich, sein Leben, seine Werke, seine Wissenschaft", Münster,
1906). At the end of the thirteenth and the beginning of the
fourteenth century the Dominicans composed numerous philosophical
treatises, many of them bearing on the special points whereon the
Thomistic School was attacked by its adversaries ("Archiv f.
Litt. und Kirchengesch.", II, 226 sqq.).
(iii) Theological works. -- In
importance and number theological works occupy the foreground in the
literary activity of the order. Most of the theologians composed
commentaries on the "Sentences" of Peter Lombard, which was
the classical text in theological schools. Besides the
"Sentences" the usual work of bachelors in the Universities
included Disputationes and Quodlibeta, which were always
the writings of masters. The theological summae set forth the
theological matter according to a more complete and well-ordered plan
than that of Peter Lombard and especially with solid philosophical
principles in which the books of the "Sentences" were
wanting. Manuals of theology and more especially manuals, or summae,
on penance for the use of confessors were composed in great
numbers. The oldest Dominican commentaries on the
"Sentences" are those of Roland of Cremona, Hugh of Saint
Cher, Richard Fitzacre, Robert of Kilwardby and Albertus Magnus. The
series begins with the year 1230 if not earlier and the last are prior
to the middle of the thirteenth century (Mandonnet, "Siger de
Brabant", I, 53). The "Summa" of St. Thomas (1265-75)
is still the masterpiece of theology. The monumental work of Albertus
Magnus is unfinished. The "Summa de bono" of Ulrich of
Strasburg (d. 1277), a disciple of Albert is still unedited, but is of
paramount interest to the historian of the thought of the thirteenth
century (Grabmann, "Studien ueber Ulrich von Strassburg" in
"Zeitschrift für Kathol. Theol.", XXIX, 1905, 82). The
theological summa of St. Antoninus is highly esteemed by moralists and
economists (Ilgner, "Die Volkswirtschaftlichen Anschaungen
Antonins von Florenz", Paderborn, 1904). The "Compendium
theologicæ veritatis " of Hugh Ripelin of Strasburg (d.
1268) is the most widespread and famous manual of the Middle Ages
(Mandonnet, "Des écrits authentiques de St. Thomas",
Fribourg, 1910, p. 86). The chief manual of confessors is that of Paul
of Hungary composed for the Brothers of St. Nicholas of Bologna
(1220-21) and edited without mention of the author in the
"Bibliotheca Casinensis" (IV, 1880, 191) and with false
assignment of authorship by R. Duellius, "Miscellan. Lib."
(Augsburg, 1723, 59). The "Summa de Poenitentia" of Raymond
of Pennafort, composed in 1235, was a classic during the Middle Ages
and was one of the works of which the MSS. were most multiplied. The
"Summa Confessorum" of John of Freiburg (d. 1314) is,
according to F. von Schulte, the most perfect product of this class of
literature. The Pisan Bartolommeo of San Concordio has left us a
"Summa Casuum" composed in 1338, in which the matter is
arranged m alphabetical order. It was very successful in the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The manuals for confessors of
John Nieder (d. 1438), St. Antoninus, Archbishop of Florence (d.
1459), and Girolamo Savonarola (d. 1498) were much esteemed in their
time (Quétif-Echard, "Script. Ord. Praed.", I, passim;
Hurter, " Nomenclator literarius; aetas media", Innsbruck,
1906, passim; F. von Schulte, "Gesch. der Quellen und
Literatur des canonischen Rechts", Stuttgart, II, 1877, p. 410
sqq.; Dietterle, "Die Summæ confessorum . . . von ihren Anfängen
an bis zu Silvester Prierias" in "Zeitschrift für
Kirchengesch.", XXIV, 1903; XXVIII, 1907).
(iv) Apologetic works. -- The
Preachers, born amid the Albigensian heresy and founded especially for
the defense of the Faith, bent their literary efforts to reach all
classes of dissenters from the Catholic Church. They produced by far
the most powerful works in the sphere of apologetics. The "Summa
contra Catharos et Valdenses" (Rome, 1743) of Moneta of Cremona,
in course of composition in 1244, is the most complete and solid work
produced in the Middle Ages against the Cathari and Waldenses. The
"Summa contra Gentiles" of St. Thomas Aquinas is one of that
master's strongest creations. It is the defense of the Christian Faith
against Arabian philosophy. Raymond Marti in his "Pugio
fidei", in course of composition in 1278 (Paris, 1642; 1651:
Leipzig, 1687), measures arms with Judaism. This work, to a large
extent based on Rabbinic literature, is the most important medieval
monument of Orientalism (Neubauer, "Jewish Controversy and the
Pugio Fidei" in "The Expositor", 1888, p. 81 sqq.;
Loeb, "La controverse religieuse entre les chrétiens et les
Juifs au moyen-âge en France et en Espagne" in "Revue de
l'histoire des religions", XVIII, 136). The Florentine, Riccoldo
di Monte Croce, a missionary in the East (d. 1320), composed his
"Propugnaculum Fidei" against the doctrine of the Koran. It
is a rare medieval Latin work based directly on Arabian literature.
Demetrius Cydonius translated the "Propugnaculum" into Greek
in the fourteenth century and Luther translated it into German in the
sixteenth (Mandonnet, "Fra Riccoldo di Monte Croce, pélerin en
Terre Sainte et missionnaire en Orient" in "Revue
Biblique", I, 1893, 44; Grabmann, "Die Missionsidee bei den
Dominikanertheologien des 13. Jahrhunderts" in "Zeitschrift
für Missionswissenschaft", I, 1911, 137).
(v) Educational literature. -- Besides
manuals of theology the Dominicans furnished a considerable literary
output with a view to meeting the various needs of all social classes
and which may be called educational or practical literature. They
composed treatises on preaching, models or materials for sermons, and
collections of discourses. Among the oldest of these are the
"Distinctiones" and the "Dictionarius pauperum" of
Nicholas of Biard (d. 1261), the "Tractatus de diversis materiis
prædicabilibus" of Stephen of Bourbon (d. 1261), the
"De eruditione prædicatorum " of Humbert of Romans (d.
1277), the "Distinctiones" of Nicholas of Goran (d. 1295),
and of Maurice of England [d. circa 1300; (Quétif-Echard,
"Script. Ord. Præd.", II, 968; 970; Lecoy de la
Marche, "La chaire française au moyen âge", Paris, 1886;
Crane, "The exempla or illustrative stories from the
'Sermones vulgares' of Jacques de Vitry", London, 1890)]. The
Preachers led the way in the composition of comprehensive collections
of the lives of the saints or legendaries, writings at once for the
use and edification of the faithful. Bartholomew of Trent compiled his
"Liber epilogorum in Gesta Sanctorum " in 1240. After the
middle of the thirteenth century Roderick of Cerrate composed a
collection of "Vitæ Sanctorum" (Madrid University
Library, cod. 146). The "Abbreviatio in gestis et miraculis
sanctorum", composed in 1243 according to the "Speculum
historiale" of Vincent of Beauvais, is the work of Jean de
Mailly. The "Legenda Sanctorum" of Jacopo de Voragine
(Vorazze) called also the "Golden Legend", written about
1260, is universally known. "The success of the book,"
writes the Bollandist, A. Poncelet, "was prodigious; it far
exceeded that of all similar compilations." It was besides
translated into all the vernaculars of Europe. The "Speculum
Sanctorale" of Bernard Guidonis is a work of a much more
scholarly character. The first three parts were finished in 1324 and
the fourth in 1329. About the same time Peter Calo (d. 1348) undertook
under the title of "Legenda sanctorum" an "immense
compilation" which aimed at being more complete than its
predecessors (A. Poncelet, "Le légendier de Pierre Calo" in
"Analecta Bollandiana", XXIX, 1910, 5-116).
Catechetical literature was also early
taken in hand. In 1256-7 Raymond Marti composed his "Explanatio
symboli ad institutionem fidelium" ("Revue des Bibliothèques",
VI, 1846, 32; March, "La 'Explanatio Symboli', obra inedita de
Ramon Marti, autor del 'Pugio Fidei"', in "Anuari des
Institut d'Estudis Catalans", 1908, and Bareclona, 1910). Thomas
Aquinas wrote four small treatises which represent the contents of a
catechism as it was in the Middle Ages: "De articulis fidei et
Ecclesiae Sacramentis"; "Expositio symboli
Apostolorum"; "De decem præceptis et lege
amoris"; "Expositio orationis dominicae". Several of
these writings have been collected and called the catechism of St.
Thomas. (Portmann-Kunz, "Katechismus des hl. Thomas von
Aquin", Lucerne, 1900.) In 1277 Laurent d'Orléans composed at
the request of Philip the Bold, whose confessor he was, a real
catechism in the vernacular known as the "Somme le Roi"
(Mandonnet, "Laurent d'Orléans l'auteur de la Somme le Roi"
in "Revue des langues romanes", 1911; "Dict. de théol.
cath.", II, 1900). At the beginning of the fourteenth century
Bernard Guidonis composed an abridgment of Christian doctrine which he
revised later when he had become Bishop of Lodève (1324-31)
into a sort of catechism for the use of his priests in the instruction
of the faithful ("Notices et extraits de la Bib. Nat.",
XXVII, Paris, 1879, 2nd part, p. 362, C. Douais, "Un nouvel écrit
de Bernard Gui. Le synodal de Lodève, "Paris, 1944 p.
vii). The "Discipulus" of John Hérolt was much esteemed in
its day (Paulus, "Johann Hérolt und seine Lehre. Ein Beitrag zur
Gesch. des religiosen Volksunterichte am Ausgang des
Mittelalters" in "Zeitsch. für kath. Theol.", XXVI,
1902, 417).
The order also produced pedagogical
works. William of Tournai composed a treatise "De Modo docendi
pueros" (Paris, Bib. Nat. lat. 16435) which the General Chapter
of 1264 recommended, as well as one on preaching and confession for
school children. ("Act. Cap. Gen." I, 125; "Script.
Ord. Præd.", I, 345). Vincent of Beauvais wrote especially
for the education of princes. He first composed his "De
eruditione filiorum regalium" (Basle, 1481), then the "De
eruditione principum", published with the works of St. Thomas, to
whom as well as to Guillaume Perrault it has been incorrectly
ascribed; finally (c. 1260) the "Tractatus de morali principis
institutione", which is a general treatise and is still unedited
("Script. Ord. Præd.", I, 239; R. Friedrich,
"Vincentius von Beauvais als Pädagog nach seiner Schrift De
eruditione filiorum regalium", Leipzig, 1883). Early in the
fifteenth century (1405) John Dominici composed his famous
"Lucula noctis", in which he deals with the study of pagan
authors in the education of Christian youth. This is a most important
work, written against the dangers of Humanism ("B. Johannis
Dominici Cardinalis S. Sixti Lucula Noctis", ed. R. Coulon,
Paris, 1908). Dominici is also the author of a much esteemed work on
the government of the family ("Regola del governo di cure
familiare dal Beato Giovanni Dominici", ed. D. Salve, Florence,
1860). St. Antoninus composed a "Regola a ben vivere" (ed.
Palermo, Florence, 1858). Works on the government of countries were
also produced by members of the order; among them are the treatises of
St. Thomas "De rege et regno", addressed to the King of
Cyprus (finished by Bartolommeo of Lucca), and the "De regimine
subditorum", composed for the Countess of Flanders. At the
request of the Florentine Government Girolamo Savonarola drew up
(1493) his " Trattati circa il reggimento e governo della cittá
di Firenze" (ed. Audin de Rians, Florence, 1847) in which he
shows great political insight.
(vi) Canon law. -- St. Raymond of
Pennafort was chosen by Gregory IX to compile the Decretals (1230-34);
to his credit also belong opinions and other works on canon law.
Martin of Troppau, Bishop of Gnesen, composed (1278) a "Tabula
decreti" commonly called "Margarita Martiniana", which
received wide circulation. Martin of Fano, professor of canon law at
Arezzo and Modena and podeatà of Genoa in 1260-2, prior to
entering the order, wrote valuable canonical works. Nicholas of
Ennezat at the beginning of the fourteenth century composed tables on
various parts of canon law. During the pontificate of Gregory XII John
Dominici wrote copious memoranda in defense of the rights of the
legitimate pope, the two most important being still unedited (Vienna,
Hof-bibliothek, lat. 5102, fol. 1-24). About the middle of the
fifteenth century John of Torquemada wrote extensive works on the
Decretals of Gratian which were very influential in defense of the
pontifical rights. Important works on inquisitorial law also emanated
from the order, the first directories for trial of heresy being
composed by Dominicans. The oldest is the opinion of St. Raymond of
Pennafort [1235 (ed. in Bzovius, "Annal. eccles." ad ann.
1235 "Monum. Ord. Præd. Hist.", IV, fasc. II, 41;
"Le Moyen Age", 2nd series III, 305)]. The same canonist
wrote (1242) a directory for the inquisitions of Aragon (C. Douais,
"L'Inquisition", Paris, I, 1906, p. 275). About 1244 another
directory was composed by the inquisitors of Provence ("Nouvelle
revue historique du droit français et étranger", Paris, 1883,
670; E. Vacandard, "L'Inquisition", Paris, 1907, p. 314).
But the two classical works of the Middle Ages on inquisitorial law
are that of Bernard Guidonis composed in 1321 under the title of
"Directorium Inquisitionis hereticae pravitatis" (ed. C.
Douais Paris, 1886) and the "Directorium Inquisitorum" of
Nicholas Eymerich [(1399) "Archiv für Literatur und
Kirchengeschechte"; Grahit, "El inquisidor F. Nicholas
Eymerich", Girona, 1878; Schulte, "Die Gesch. der Quellen
und Literatur des Canonischen Rechts", II, passim].
(vii) Historical Writings. -- The
activity of the Preachers in the domain of history was considerable
during the Middle Ages. Some of their chief works incline to be real
general histories which assured them great success in their day. The
"Speculum Historiale" of Vincent of Beauvais (d. circa 1264)
is chiefly, like the other parts of the work, of the nature of a
documentary compilation, but he has preserved for us sources which we
could never otherwise reach (E. Boutarie, "Examen des sources du
Speculum historiale de Vincent de Beauvais", Paris, 1863). Martin
the Pole, called Martin of Troppau (d. 1279), in the third quarter of
the thirteenth century composed his chronicles of the popes and
emperors which were widely circulated and had many continuators
("Mon. Germ. Hist.: Script.", XXII). The anonymous
chronicles of Colmar in the second half of the thirteenth century have
left us valuable historical materials which constitute a sort of
history of contemporary civilization (Mon. Germ. Hist.: Script.,
XVII). The chronicle of Jacopo da Voragine, Archbishop of Genoa (d.
1298) is much esteemed ("Rer. Ital. Script."; Mannucci,
"La Cronaca di Jacopo da Voragine", Genoa, 1904). Ptolemy of
Lucca and Bernard Guidonis are the two great ecclesiastical historians
of the early fourteenth century. The "Historia ecclesiastica
nova" of the former and the "Flores cronicorum seu
cathalogus pontificum romanorum" of the latter contain valuable
historical information.
But the historical activity of Bernard
Guidonis far exceeded that of Ptolemy and his contemporaries; he is
the author of twenty historical publications, several of which, such
as his historical compilation on the Order of Preachers, are very
important in value and extent. Bernard Guidonis is the first medieval
historian who had a wide sense of historical documentation ("Rer.
Ital. Script.", XI K. Krüger, "Des Ptolemäus Lucensis
Leben und Werke", Göttingen, 1874; D. König, "Ptolemaus
von Lucca und die Flores Chronicorum des B. Guidonis", Würzburg,
1875, Idem, "Tolomeo von Lucca", Harburg, 1878; Delisle,
"Notice sur les manuscrits de Bernard Gui" in "Notices
et manuscrits de la Bib. Nat.", XVII, pt. II, 169-455; Douais,
"Un nouveau manuscrit de Bernard Gui et de ses chroniques des
papes d'Avignon" in "Mém. soc. Archéol. Midi", XIV,
1889, p. 417, Paris, 1889; Arbellot, "Etude biographique et
bibliographique sur Bernard Guidonis", Paris-Limoges, 1896). The
fourteenth century beheld a galaxy of Dominican historians, the chief
of whom were: Francesco Pipini of Bologna (d. 1320), the Latin
translator of Marco Polo and the author of a "Chronicon"
which began with the history of the Franks (L. Manzoni, "Di frate
Francesco Pipini da Bologna, storico, geografo, viaggiatore del sec.
XIV", Bologna, 1896); Nicholas of Butrinto (1313), author of the
"Relatio de Henrici VII imperatoris itinere italico" (ed.
Heyck, Innsbruck, 1888); Nicholas Trevet, compiler of the
"Annales sex regum Angliæ" (ed. T. Hog, London, 1845);
Jacopo of Acqui and his "Chronicon imaginis mundi" [(1330);
Monumenta historiæ patriæ, script." III, Turin,
1848]; Galvano Fiamma (d. circal 1340) composed various works on the
history of Milan (Ferrari, "Le cronache di Galvano Flamma e le
fonti della Galvagnana" in "Bulletino dell' Istituto Storico
Italiano", Rome, 1891); John of Colonna (c. 1336) is the author
of a "De viris illustribus" and a "Mare
Historiarum" (Mandonnet, "Des écrits authentiques de St.
Thomas d'Aquin", Fribourg, 2nd ed., 1910, p. 97). In the second
half of the fourteenth century Conrad of Halberstadt wrote a
"Chronographia summorum Pontificum et Imperatorum romanorum
(Merck, "Die Chronographia Konrads von Halberstadt" etc. in
"Forsch. deutsch. Gesch." XX, 1880, 279); Henry of Hervordia
(d. 1370) wrote a " Liber de rebus memorabilibus" (ed.
Potthast, Göttingen, 1859); Stefanardo de Vicomercato is the author
of the rhythmical poem "De gestis in civitate Mediolani" (in
"Script. Rer. Ital.", IX; G. Calligaris, "Alcune
osservazioni sopra un passo del poema 'De gestis in civitate
Mediolani' di Stefanardo" in "Misc. Ceriani", Milan,
1910). At the end of the fifteenth century Hermann of Lerbeke composed
a "Chronicon comitum Schauenburgensium" and a
"Chronicon episcoporum Mindensium" (Eckmann, "Hermann
von Lerbeke mit besonderer Berücksichtigung seines Lebens und der
Abfassungszeit seiner Schriften" (Hamm, 1879); Hermann Korner
left an important "Chronica novella" (ed. J. Schwalm, Göttingen
1895; cf. Waitz, "Ueber Hermann Korner und die Lübecker
Chronikon", Göttingen, 1851). The "Chronicon" or
"Summa Historialis" of St. Antoninus, Archbishop of
Florence, composed about the middle of the fifteenth century is a
useful compilation with original data for the author's own times
(Schaube, "Die Quellen der Weltchronik des heil. Antonin
Erzbischofs von Florenz" Hirschberg, 1880). Felix Fabri (Schmid,
d. 1502) left valuable historical works; his "Evagatorium in Terræ
Sanctæ, Arabiæ et Aegypti peregrinationem " (ed.,
Hassler, Stuttgart, 1843) is the most instructive and important work
of this kind during the fourteenth century. He is also the author of a
"Descriptio Sueviæ" ("Quellen zer Schweizer
Gesch.", Basle, 1884) and a "Tractatus de civitate
Ulmensi" (Litterarischesverein in Stuttgart, no. 186, Tübingen,
1889, ed. G. Veesenmeyer; cf., under the names of these writers, Quétif-Echard,
"Script. Ord. Præd", Chevalier, "Répertoire . .
. du moyen-âge; Bio-Bibl.", Paris, 1907, Potthast "Bib.
Hist. Medii Ævi", Berlin, 1896; Hurter, "Nomenclator
Lit.", II, 1906).
(viii) Miscellaneous works. -- Being
unable to devote a section to each of the different spheres wherein
the Preachers exercised their activity, we shall mention here some
works which obtained considerable influence or are particularly worthy
of attention The "Specula" ("Naturale",
"doctrinale", "historiale"; the "Speculum
morale" is apocryphal) of Vincent of Beauvais constitute the
largest encyclopedia of the Middle Ages and furnished materials for
many subsequent writers (Vogel, "Literar-historischen Notizen über
den mittelalterlichen Gelehrten Vincenz von Beauvais", Freiburg,
1843; Bourgeat, "Etudes sur Vincent de Beauvais", Paris,
1856). The work of Humbert of Romans, "De tractandis in concilio
generali", composed in 1273 at the request of Gregory X and which
served as a programme to the General Council of Lyons in 1274,
contains the most remarkable views on the condition of Christian
society and the reforms to be undertaken (Mortier, "Hist. des Maîtres
généraux de l'ordre des Frères Prêcheurs", I, 88).
The treatise is edited in full only in Brown "Appendix ad fasc.
rerum expectandarum et fugendarum" (London, 1690, p. 185).
Burchard of Mount Sion with his "Descriptio Terræ
Sanctae" written about 1283, became the classic geographer of
Palestine during the Middle Ages (J. C. M. Laurent,
"Peregrinatores medii ævi quatuor", Leipsig, 1873).
William of Moerbeke, who died as Archbishop of Corinth about 1286, was
the revisor of translations of Aristotle from the Greek and the
translator of portions not hitherto translated. To him are also due
translations of numerous philosophical and scientific works of ancient
Greek authors (Mandonnet "Siger de Brabant", I, 40). The
"Catholicon" of the Genoese John Balbus, completed in 1285,
is a vast treatise on the Latin tongue, accompanied by an etymological
vocabulary. It is the first work on profane sciences ever printed. It
is also famous because in the Mainz edition (1460) John Guttenberg
first made use of movable type ("Incunabula xylographica et
typographica", 1455-1500, Joseph Baer Frankfort, 1900, p. 11).
The "Philobiblion" edited under the name of Richard of Bury,
but composed by Robert Holcot (d. 1349), is the first medieval
treatise on the love of books (ed. Cocheris, Paris, 1856; tr. Thomas,
London, 1888). John of Tambach (d. 1372), first professor of theology
at the newly-founded University of Prague (1347), is the author of a
valuable work, the "Consolatio Theologiæ" (Denifle,
"Magister Johann von Dambach" in "Archiv für Litt. u.
Kirchengesch" III, 640). Towards the end of the fifteenth century
Frederico Frezzi, who died as Bishop of Foligno (1416), composed in
Italian a poem in the spirit of the "Divine Commedia" and
entitled "Il Quadriregio" (Foligno, 1725); (cf. Canetti,
"Il Quadriregio", Venice, 1889; Filippini, "Le edizioni
del Quadriregio" in "Bibliofilia", VIII, Florence,
1907). The Florentine Thomas Sardi (d. 1517) wrote a long and valued
poem, "L'anima peregrina", the composition of which dates
from the end of the fifteenth century (Romagnoli "Frate Tommaso
Sardi e il suo poema inedito dell' anima peregrine" in "Il
propugnatore", XVIII, 1885, pt. II, 289).
(ix) Liturgy. -- Towards the middle of
the thirteenth century the Dominicans had definitely established the
liturgy which they still retain. The final correction (1256) was the
work of Humbert of Romans. It was divided into fourteen sections or
volumes. The prototype of this monumental work is preserved at Rome in
the general archives of the order ("Script. Ord. Præd."
I, 143; "Zeitschr. f. Kathol. Theol.", VII, 10). A portable
copy for the use of the master general, a beautiful specimen of
thirteenth-century book-making, is preserved in the British Museum,
no. 23,935 (J. W. Legg, "Tracts on the Mass", Bradshaw
Society, 1904; Barge, "Le Chant liturgique dans 1'Ordre de
Saint-Dominique" in "L'Année Dominicaine", Paris,
1908, 27; Gagin, "Un manuscrit liturgique des Frères Prêcheurs
antérieur aux réglements d Humbert de Romans" in "Revue
des Bibliothèques", 1899, p. 163; Idem, "Dominicains
et Teutoniques, conflit d'attribution du 'Liber Choralis'" no.
182 du catalogue 120 de M. Ludwig Rosenthal" in "Revue des
Bibliothèques", 1908). Jerome of Moravia, about 1250,
composed a "Tractatus de Musica" (Paris, Bib. Nat. lat.
16,663), the most important theoretical work of the thirteenth century
on liturgical chant, some fragments of which were placed as preface to
the Dominican liturgy of Humbert of Romans. It was edited by
Coussemaker in his "Scriptores de musica medii ævi", I
(Paris, 1864). (Cf. Kornmüller "Die alten Musiktheoretiker XX.
Hieronymus von Mären" in "Kirchenmusikalisehes
Jahrbueh", IV, 1889, 14.) The Preachers also left numerous
liturgical compositions, among the most renowned being the Office of
the Blessed Sacrament by St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the masterpieces
of Catholic liturgy (Mandonnet, "Des écrits authentiques de S.
Thomas d'Aquin", 2nd ed. p. 127). Armand du Prat (d. 1306) is the
author of the beautiful Office of St. Louis, King of France. His work,
selected by the Court of Philip the Bold, came into universal use in
France ("Script. Ord. Præd." I, 499; "Notices et
extraits des manuscrits de la Bib. Nat.", XXVII, 11th pt., 369,
n. 6). The "Dies Iræ" has been attributed to Cardinal
Latino Malabranca who was in his time a famous composer of
ecclesiastical chants and offices ("Scritti vari di
Filologia", Rome, 1901, p. 488).
(x) Humanistic works. -- The order felt
more than is commonly thought the influence of Humanism and furnished
it with noteworthy contributions. This influence was continued during
the following period in the sixteenth century and reacted on its
Biblical and theological compositions. Leonardo Giustiniani,
Archbishop of Mytilene, in 1449, composed against the celebrated
Poggio a treatise "De vera nobilitate", edited with Poggio's
"De nobilitate" (Avellino, 1657). The Sicilian Thomas
Schifaldo wrote commentaries on Perseus about 1461 and on Horace in
1476. He is the author of a "De viris illustribus Ordinis Prædicatorum",
written in humanistic style, and of the Office of St. Catherine of
Siena, usually but incorrectly ascribed to Pius II (Cozzuli
"Tommaso Schifaldo umanista siciliano del sec. XV", Palermo,
1897, in "Documenti per servire alla storia di Sicilia",
VI). The Venetian Francesco Colonna is the author of the celebrated
work "The Dream of Poliphilus" ("Poliphili
Hypnerotomachia, ubi humane omnia non nisi somnium esse docet",
Aldus, Venice, 1499; cf. Popelin, "Le songe de Poliphile ou
hypnerotomachia de Frère Francesco Colonna", Paris, 1880).
Colonna's work aims to condense in the form of a romance all the
knowledge of antiquity. It gives evidence of its author's profound
classical learning and impassioned love for Græco-Roman culture.
The work, which is accompanied by the most perfect illustrations of
the time, has been called "the most beautiful book of the
Renaissance" (Ilg, "Ueber den kunsthistorisches werth der
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili", Vienna, 1872; Ephrusi, "Etudes
sur le songe de Poliphile" in "Bulletin de Bibliophile"
1887, Paris, 1888; Dorez, "Des origines et de la diffusion du
songe de Poliphile" in "Revue des Bibliothèques",
VI, 1896, 239; Gnoli "Il sogno di Polifilo, in
"Bibliofila", 1900, 190; Fabrini, "Indagini sul
Polifilo" in "Giorn. Storico della letteratura
Italiana", XXXV, 1900, I; Poppelreuter, "Der anonyme Meister
des Polifilo" in "Zur Kunstgesch. des Auslandes", XX,
Strassburg, 1904; Molmenti, "Alcuni documenti concernenti
l'autore della (Hypnerotomachia Poliphili)" in "Archivio
storico italiano", Ser. V, XXXVIII (906, 291). Tommaso Radini
Todeschi (Radinus Todischus) composed under the title
"Callipsychia" (Milan, 1511) an allegorical romance in the
manner of Apuleius and inspired by the Dream of Poliphilus. The
Dalmatian, John Polycarpus Severitanus of Sebenico, commentated the
eight parts of the discourse of Donatus and the Ethics of Seneca the
Younger (Perugia, 1517; Milan, 1520; Venice, 1522) and composed
"Gramatices historicæ, methodicæ et exegeticæ"
(Perugia, 1518). The Bolognese Leandro Alberti (d. 1550) was an
elegant Latinist and his "De viris illustribus ordinis
praedicatorum" (Bologna, 1517), written in the humanistic manner,
is a beautiful specimen of Bolognese publishing ("Script. Ord. Præd.",
II, 137; Campori, "Sei lettere inedite di Fra Leandro
Alberti" in "Atti e memorie della Deput. di Storia patria
per le prov. Modenesi e Parmensi", I, 1864, p. 413). Finally
Matteo Bandello (d. 1555), who was called the "Dominican
Boccacio", is regarded as the first novelist of the Italian
Cinquecento and his work shows what an evil influence the Renaissance
could exert on churchmen (Masi "Matteo Bandello o vita italiana
in un novelliere del cinquecento", Bologna, 1900).
(g) The Preachers and Art |
