A Biography of Vincent of Beauvais

The life of the Dominican friar Vincent of Beauvais, one of the greatest encyclopaedists of the Middle Ages, is shrouded in mystery. His place of birth is unknown; his date of birth remains a matter of speculation, despite the fact that it has variously been listed as 1180 or 1190. In his works he calls himself brother Vincentius Belvacensis, of the Dominican order (Ordo Predicatorum). Several scholars conjectured that Vincent was a student at Paris during the reign of the French King Philip Augustus (1180-1223) and that he joined the Dominican order at Paris, but this has not been established with certitude.

During the years 1244-1245, Vincent entered into contact with King Louis IX (1226-1270) through the intermediary Radulphus, who was acting as the abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Royaumont. That monastery, situated in the Vallée de l’Oise, was founded by Louis IX in 1228. Radulphus told Vincent that King Louis had heard about the compendium of all theological knowledge available that Vincent had just completed. Radulphus also reported that the king ordered and funded a copy of the historical part of that work. This is the first reference known to the multi-volume Speculum Maius, the encyclopaedic work for which Vincent became famous.

It is tempting to identify him as the sub-prior Vincentius of the Dominicans at Beauvais, who is mentioned in a cartulary dating from 1246, but this, too, has not been established with certainty.

By the end of 1246 or early 1247, Vincent was at Royaumont where, as he recounted himself, he worked as a lector in theology. The fact that he should have worked in this capacity for Cistercian monks is puzzling since, at the time, the Dominican brothers themselves were short of lectores in theology. Perhaps his personal contacts with the king and the royal family account for this. For them he wrote a political compendium; he completed the fourth part (De eruditione filiorum nobilium) at the request of Queen Marguerite before the end of 1250. Much later, sometime after January 1260, he completed the first part (De morali principis institutione) at the urging of Thibaut V, count of Champagne and king of Navarra, who was married to Louis’ and Marguerite’s daughter Isabelle. Following the death of the crown prince in January 1260, Vincent wrote a letter of consolation (Liber consolatorius) for King Louis. From this letter it is clear that Vincent, at that time, no longer lived at Royaumont.

It is unknown where Vincent of Beauvais lived during the last years of his life. It is assumed that he died in 1264, but this, again, has not been established with certitude.

 

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