Jacobus de Voragine | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Jacobus de Voragine with theGolden Legend in his hand, fresco byOttaviano Nelli, chapel ofTrinci Palace,Foligno, Italy | |
| Born | c. 1230 Varagine,Republic of Genoa (present-dayVarazze, Italy) |
| Died | 13 or 16 July 1298 or 1299 Genoa,Republic of Genoa (present-day Italy) |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 11 May 1816, Genoa byPope Pius VII |
| Feast | 13 July |
Jacobus de Voragine,[a]OP (c. 1230 – 13/16 July 1298) was an Italian chronicler andarchbishop of Genoa. He was the author, or more accurately the compiler, of theGolden Legend, a collection of the legendary lives of the greatersaints of the medieval church that was one of the most popular religious works of theMiddle Ages.[3]
Jacobus was born either inVarazze[4] or inGenoa, where a family originally from Varazze and bearing that name is attested at the time.[2] He entered theDominican order in 1244, and became the prior atComo,Bologna andAsti in succession.[5] Besides preaching with success in many parts of Italy, he also taught in the schools of his own fraternity. He wasprovincial ofLombardy from 1267 till 1286, when he was removed at the meeting of the order in Paris. He also represented his own province at the councils ofLucca (1288) andFerrara (1290). On the last occasion he was one of the four delegates charged with signifyingPope Nicholas IV's desire for the deposition ofMunio de Zamora – who had been master of the Dominican order from 1285 and was eventually deprived of his office by apapal bull dated 12 April 1291.[3]
In 1288 Nicholas empowered him to absolve the people of Genoa for their offence in aiding the Sicilians againstCharles II. Early in 1292 the same pope, himself aFranciscan, summoned Jacobus to Rome, intending to consecrate him archbishop of Genoa. Jacobus reached Rome onPalm Sunday (30 March), only to find his patron ill of a deadly sickness, from which he died onGood Friday (4 April). The cardinals, however,propter honorem Communis Januae ("for the honor of the commune of Genoa"), determined to carry out this consecration on the Sunday after Easter. He was a good bishop, and especially distinguished himself by his efforts to appease the civil discords of Genoa amongGuelfs andGhibellines.[6] A story, mentioned by Échard as unworthy of credit, makesPope Boniface VIII, on the first day ofLent, cast the ashes in the archbishop's eyes instead of on his head, with the words, "Remember that thou art a Ghibelline, and with thy fellow Ghibellines wilt return to naught."[3]
He died in 1298 or 1299, and was buried in the Dominican church at Genoa.[3] He was beatified byPius VII in 1816.[6]
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Jacobus de Voragine left a list of his own works. Speaking of himself in hisChronicon januense, he says: "While he was in his order, and after he had been made archbishop, he wrote many works. For he compiled the legends of the saints (Legenda sanctorum) in one volume, adding many things from theHistoria tripartita et scholastica, and from the chronicles of many writers."[3]
The other writings he claims are two anonymous volumes ofSermons concerning all the Saints whose yearly feasts the church celebrates. Of these volumes, he adds, one is very diffuse, but the other short and concise. Then followSermones de omnibus evangeliis dominicalibus for every Sunday in the year;Sermones de omnibus evangeliis, i.e., a book of discourses on all theGospels, fromAsh Wednesday to the Tuesday afterEaster; and a treatise calledMarialis, qui totus est de B. Maria compositus, consisting of about 160 discourses on the attributes, titles, etc., of theVirgin Mary. In the same work the archbishop claims to have written hisChronicon januense in the second year of his episcopate (1293), but it extends to 1296 or 1297.[3]
To Jacobus' own list his biographer Giovanni Monleone[8] adds several other works, such as a defence of the Dominicans, printed at Venice in 1504, and aSumma virtutum et vitiorumGuillelmi Peraldi, a Dominican who died in 1271. Jacobus is also said bySixtus of Siena (Biblioth. Sacra, lib. ix) to have translated theOld andNew Testaments into his own tongue. "But," adds the historian of the Dominican orderJacques Échard, "if he did so, the version lies so closely hid that there is no recollection of it," and it may be added that it is highly improbable that the man who compiled theGolden Legend ever conceived the necessity of having the Scriptures in the vernacular.[3]
TheGolden Legend, one of the most popular religious works of theMiddle Ages,[9] is a collection of the legendary lives of the greatersaints of the medievalCatholic Church. The preface divides the ecclesiastical year into four periods corresponding to the variousepochs of the world'shistory, a time of deviation, of renovation, of reconciliation and of pilgrimage. The book itself, however, falls into five sections: (a) fromAdvent toChristmas (cc. 1–5); (b) from Christmas toSeptuagesima (6–30); (c) from Septuagesima toEaster (31–53); (d) from Easter Day to theoctave ofPentecost (54–76); (e) from the octave of Pentecost to Advent (77–180). The saints' lives are full of fancifullegend, and in not a few cases contain accounts of 13th centurymiracles wrought at special places, particularly with reference to the Dominicans. The penultimate chapter (181), "De Sancto Pelagio Papa", contains a universal history from the point of view ofLombardy, orHistoria Lombardica (History of Lombardy"), from the middle of the 6th century.[6] The last (182) is a somewhat allegorical disquisition on the dedication of churches, "De dedicatione ecclesiae".[3]
TheGolden Legend was translated intoCatalan in the 13th century and a first dated version was published inBarcelona in 1494. AFrench version was made byJean Belet de Vigny in the 14th century. ALatin edition is assigned to about 1469; and a dated one was published atLyon in 1473. Many other Latin editions were printed before the end of the century. A French translation by Master John Bataillier is dated 1476; Jean de Vigny's appeared atParis, 1488; an Italian one by Nic. Manerbi (?Venice, 1475); aCzech one atPlzeň, 1475–1479, and atPrague, 1495;Caxton'sEnglish versions, 1483, 1487, and 1493; and aGerman one in 1489.[3] Overall, during the first five decades of printing in Europe, editions of theLegenda Aurea appeared at a rate of about two per year.
Almost as popular as theLegenda Aurea were Jacobus' collected sermons, also termedAurei. Several 15th-century editions of theSermons are also known; while hisMariale was printed at Venice in 1497 and at Paris in 1503.[3]
Jacobus' other chief work is hisChronicon januense, a history of Genoa.[10] It is divided into twelve parts. The first four deal with the mythical history of the city from the time of its founder,Janus, called the first king of Italy, and its enlarger, a second Janus, "citizen ofTroy", till its conversion toChristianity "about twenty-five years after the passion ofChrist". The fifth part professes to treat of the beginning, growth and perfection of the city; but of the first period the writer candidly confesses he knows nothing except by hearsay. The second period includes the Genoese crusading exploits in the East, and extends to their victory over thePisans (c. 1130), while the third reaches down to the author's days asarchbishop. The sixth part deals with theconstitution of the city, the seventh and eighth with theduties ofrulers andcitizens, the ninth with those of domestic life. The tenth gives the ecclesiastical history of Genoa from the time of its first knownbishop,Saint Valentine, "whom we believe to have lived about 530A.D.", until 1133, when the city was raised to archiepiscopal rank. The eleventh contains the lives of all the bishops in order, and includes the chief events during their episcopates; the twelfth deals in the same way with the archbishops, not forgetting the writer himself.[3]
Jacobus is relevant tomariology in light of his numerous Marian sermons,Sermones de sanctis per circulum anni feliciter and hisLaudes Beatae Mariae Virginis. He describes the miracles of Mary and explains specific local customs and usages on Marian feast days. Since most of these usages do not exist anymore, Jacobus de Varagine serves as a valuable source for the study of medieval Marian customs. Theologically Jacobus is one of the first of several Christian writers, who view Mary asmediatrix or mediator between God and humanity. In his view of the mystical body of Christ, she is theneck through whichall graces flow from Christ to his body.[11] This view was later shared by others such asBernardino of Siena, and, most recently, by one of the noted mariologists of the 20th century,Gabriel Roschini.
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Jacobus de Voragine".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 121.
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