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Jacques de Vitry

Jacques de Vitry (b. 1160 - d.1240) was among the most prolific preachers of the crusading movement. He began his preaching career in 1213 in France against the Albigensian heretics and shortly later preached in favor of the Fifth Crusade. In 1216 he went to Italy in an attempt to secure a position as Papal Legate for the Italian Crusades, but Pope Honorius III appointed him Bishop of Acre and Jacob left Europe for his eastern see. While in the Holy Land he traveled and preached throughout the areas still held by Christians and even joined with the Fifth Crusaders as an eyewitness of the failed attack on Damietta in 1218. The Pope allowed Jacques to return to Europe in 1226 to preach the Sixth Crusade. A short time later Pope Gregory IX made him Cardinal Bishop of Tusculum. First and foremost, Jacques was a preacher, primarily producing literary works only so much as they would assist his preaching and that of his students. Jacques surviving works include several of his popular sermons, which he collected late in his life, as well as his historical works Liber de Mulieribus Loediensibu, Vitae S. Mariae Oigniacensis, and Historia Orientalis. Additionally, some of his letters to Pope Honorius III survive which are important sources for the crusade to Egypt.

Jacques de Vitry- Selections from Sermons 37 and 38- DeReMilitari.Org

Albigensian Crusade- Crusades-Encyclopedia

Fifth Crusade- Crusades-Encyclopedia

Italian Crusades- Crusades-Encyclopedia

Sixth Crusade- Crusades-Encyclopedia

Crusades Preaching and Propaganda- Crusades-Encyclopedia

Crusades Chroniclers and Authors of Primary Source Texts- Crusades-Encyclopedia

Jacques de Vitry- CCEL.Org

Jacques de Vitry- Catholic Encyclopedia

Honorius III, Pope- Crusades-Encyclopedia

(c) Andrew Holt- May 2005- Permission is granted for electronic copying and distribution in print for educational and personal use. No permission is granted for commercial use.