SOURCE: Muessig, Carolyn A. “Audience and Sources in Jacques de Vitry's Sermones Feriales et Communes.” In Medieval Sermons and Society: Cloister, City, University, edited by Jacqueline Hamesse, Beverly Mayne Kienzle, Debra L. Stoudt, and Anne T. Thayer, pp. 183-202. Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium: Fédération Internationale des Instituts d'Études Médiévales, 1998.

[In the following essay, Muessig discusses the themes of Jacques's sermons, explaining that they were originally intended for clerics.]

Jacques de Vitry's (c. 1160-1240) dedication to preaching, reform, and pastoral care attracted him to various places. He studied in Paris and was a product of Peter the Chanter's circle¹. His post-Parisian activities took him to Liège where, as an Augustinian canon, he became involved with the lay spiritual movement represented by Marie d'Oignies. In 1213, he was commissioned to preach against the Albigensians and subsequently he preached the Fifth Crusade. His episcopal appointment to the see of Acre with its varied pastoral duties was extremely demanding which may have led to his withdrawal from Jerusalem in 1225². Between 1225 and 1229 he was auxiliary to the bishop of Liège and carried out many ecclesiastical functions at Cologne, Oignies, and Louvain. From 1229 until his death he was cardinal-bishop of Tusculum during which time he composed most of his sermons³.

Jacques de Vitry perhaps is best known for his vast corpus of sermons. He wrote over 400 sermons which are contained in four separate collections⁴. He perceived the Sermones feriales et communes⁵ as the epilogue to his pastoral compositions. He writes in the prologue to these sermons:

After the Sermones dominicales, festiuales and uulgares⁶, for the completion of such a large work, we have undertaken to add the Sermones feriales et communes so that those who are not able or do not wish to have the multitude of the aforementioned sermons, with these last and few are contented to have at hand, as it were, daily bread to refresh the soul every day⁷.

The aim of this article is to analyze Jacques' use and choice of themes and sources in these sermons so as to ascertain the author's intended audience. Notable research has been carried out concerning the exempla found in the Sermones feriales et communes; in fact, there are two scholarly editions of these exempla⁸. In these studies the exempla and their sources have been treated; however, there exists no systematic analysis of the sources and themes employed in the body of this homiletic collection. Thus I will dwell on the terra incognita of these sermons rather than reiterate earlier studies concerning the exempla.

The themes of the twenty-five Sermones feriales et communes are based on the first three chapters of Genesis. It is not surprising that the author of the Historia Hierosolimitana Abbreviata chose to write sermons whose themes treat a biblical historia, that of Creation to the Fall of Man. The first fourteen sermons address Genesis 1:1-31 and 2:1-7. These sermons discuss the seven days of the week and their cosmological significance in the Creation story. The second group of eleven sermons, the communes, cover Genesis 2:8-24 and 3:1-24. These sermons could be used on any day of the week and their content considers in detail the creation of Adam and Eve, their expulsion from Paradise, and the role of sacraments in redemption.

In another of his sermon collections, the Sermones uulgares or ad status, Jacques identifies the specific social group to which each sermon was directed. Unfortunately, the audience for whom the Sermones feriales et communes were intended is not as clearly defined⁹. The Sermones feriales et communes at times appear to be directed to clerics, since they emphasize the fruits of the contemplative and active lives, analyze the differences between contemplation and meditation, and discuss the sapiens predicator¹⁰. Such content leads to the assumption that the sermons were directed toward clerics who would be involved in pastoral care.

On the other hand, the sermons provide a storehouse of pastoral themes appropriate for many audiences. For example there is a colorful depiction of the Last Judgment, frightening enough to have an effect on any listener¹¹. The sermons reveal a practical concern to relay the rules of Christian behavior and ritual. In Sermon 1 it is stated that on Sundays:

[n]ot only handiwork and agricultural duties ought to be abstained from, but other worldly activities, namely that there be no trade, nor legal proceedings, nor may anyone be sentenced to death or to punishment, nor may oaths be sworn except for the purpose of making peace, nor do people kneel publicly in church except for the consecration of a bishop or the ordination of clerics or out of devotion when the host is elevated in church¹².

In Sermon 14, Jacques considers the number seven in relation to the days of the week. This number becomes a mnemonic device to present seven articles of faith and the seven virtues—fundamentals for all Christians¹³. Elsewhere, he sings the praises of nature by displaying how animals, trees and herbs all have a practical use and teach a moral lesson¹⁴. The tone of these passages is reminiscent of the well-diffused literature of bestiaries, herbals, and lapidaria with which he was apparently familiar.

Judging from the variety of themes, these sermons are best classified as model sermons, i.e., sermons that a preacher could consult when constructing his own sermons. The content of these sermons could be used for a number of audiences, lay as well as clerical. In regard to model sermons, David d'Avray has stated: «It may be better to think of them as a cultural phenomenon in which both clergy and laity participated in different ways and degrees.»¹⁵ The difficulty in studying model sermons is to determine how the laity and clergy alike «participated» in the content of the actual sermon. While this is often impossible to ascertain, model sermons at least provide an indication of what the author of the collection perceived as important and urgent to transmit.

Jacques' Parisian formation is reflected in his sermon style. His text contains hallmarks that are found in the sermons emanating from Paris in the early thirteenth century: one finds a statement of the theme, a protheme, and a reintroduction of the theme and its development¹⁶. Showing the influence of the Victorine school of exegesis, the sermons alternate between an historical-literal interpretation of the theme and a spiritual interpretation¹⁷. This alternation underlines Beryl Smalley's observation that at the University of Paris at the beginning of the thirteenth century, «exegesis had married homiletics.»¹⁸ All the sermons conclude with exempla which touch upon some of the moral themes which have been addressed in the body of the sermon. He is fond of exempla, as he uses just over one hundred in these twenty-five sermons. His penchant for these colorful stories prefigures the mendicants' reliance on this literary device to teach Christian doctrine¹⁹.

The sermons' literal and spiritual interpretations of Genesis are expanded upon by the use of various biblical and patristic authorities. The Sermones feriales et communes contain thousands of citations²⁰. More than three quarters of the citations are biblical, the majority from the Old Testament²¹. There are 106 Augustine citations which come from a variety of works such as De civitate dei, De libero arbitrio, and De disciplina christiana. There are 139 references to Gregory the Great, the majority of which are taken from his Moralia in Iob. Bernard of Clairvaux is cited 143 times; many of these quotations come from his Sermones super Cantica Canticorum. Ambrose is quoted 23 times, Jerome is used 13 times, while Basil of Caesarea, Bede, and Boethius and are cited once each. There are also 15 references to Seneca; 5 of these citations come from his epistles to Lucilius. There is 1 line from Ovid's Metamorphoses and 1 from Horace's Epistles.

The literal analysis of Genesis follows very much in the tradition of patristic writings on the hexaemeron. There is no indication that Jacques relied on innovative hexaemeral writings such as the twelfth-century Tractatus de operibus sex dierum by Thierry of Chartres²². Often, the Sermones feriales et communes resemble an abbreviated paraphrase of the writings of Basil of Caesarea, Ambrose, Augustine, and Bede²³. Most of the patristic citations are preceded by signposts such as «Gregorius ait», or «teste Augustino». Nevertheless, sections of the literal analysis are taken verbatim from an influential work which is never identified; this source is Peter Comestor's Historia scholastica²⁴. Thus we find that the basic sources used in these sermons are: the biblical-patristic sources; a few citations of some classical authors; and the twelfth-century writers Bernard of Clairvaux and Peter Comestor. Let us first examine Jacques' use of Peter Comestor.

The Historia was widely used from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century; during this time it was translated into the main western European vernaculars and served as a medium by which biblical learning was transmitted²⁵. Its success lay in its function as a text that offered both the laity and the clergy a digested and orthodox account of Sacred Scripture. Although Jacques primarily uses brief quotes from the Historia, it is, nevertheless, significant that he uses them to introduce many of the literal themes.

In regard to Christian cosmology, the Historia provided the reader with an acceptable treatment of Creation. Comestor's presentation of the hexaemeron, much influenced by the Victorine school of exegesis²⁶, was easy to understand and orthodox. Such a treatment was welcomed in the early thirteenth century, since cosmology was an important and potentially dangerous topic that could lead to heresy as witnessed by the connection between the pantheistic heresies of David of Dinant and his readings of Aristotle's Physics and Metaphysics. This issue resulted in the 1210 decree that commanded that Aristotle's books on natural philosophy and their commentaries should be neither publicly taught nor privately read in Paris²⁷. In 1215 the papal legate Robert de Courçon, who had also belonged to Peter the Chanter's circle, set forth statutes for the guidance of the masters of Paris which forbade lectures on the physical and metaphysical books of Aristotle²⁸. This prohibition was renewed by Pope Gregory IX in 1231²⁹. In light of this circumstance, it is interesting to note that although there were many hexaemeral studies produced throughout the twelfth century, commentaries on the hexaemeron were scarcely produced during the early thirteenth century at the University of Paris³⁰. Moreover, according to Johannes Baptist Schneyer's inventory of medieval Latin sermons, there are strikingly few examples of hexaemeral sermons produced between 1150 and 1350³¹. Nevertheless, Jacques saw a need to create a collection of hexaemeral sermons, and one must ask why this was the case.

Before composing the Sermones feriales et communes, Jacques had already indicated his great apprehension concerning the use of natural and metaphysical writings in the realm of exegesis and, by extension, that of sermon literature. In his Sermo ad scholares in the Sermones uulgares, he states that some pagan philosophers said many false and vain things: for example, Plato asserted that the planets were gods, and Aristotle dogmatized the eternity of the world. Therefore, those books called naturales were to be avoided lest students err by excessive investigation. Such investigation might lead them to reject the simplicity of the Christian faith and to believe nothing unless it rested upon the principles of natural philosophy³². John Baldwin has pointed out that:

If the observations of Jacques de Vitry contain any substance, the theologians not only objected to specific doctrines in the natural and metaphysical writings, but they also feared a pervasive naturalistic methodology which would threaten the supernatural character of Christian revelation³³.

I would submit that Jacques felt compelled to offer preachers a clear literal-historical treatment of the days of Creation in response to this perceived threat. The tone of the Sermones feriales et communes indicates a discomfort with a purely naturalistic treatment of cosmological questions. In Sermon 3, he points out that although many philosophers may put forward various cosmological theories, he and his colleagues will not stray from the opinions of theologians and holy expositors³⁴. He makes it clear that patristic sources suffice for such discussions:

Sacred Scripture, therefore, because of its firmness is called the firmament … and it is like an impermeable boundary since within Sacred Scripture no one, through excessive inquiry, ought to pass over the ancient boundaries which our Fathers have fixed

[Prov 22:28]³⁵.

Jacques outlined the parameters for cosmological investigation by creating, in part, a homiletic version of Comestor's Historia scholastica.

Jacques' employment of Comestor's work and his use of other sources, which will be examined below, indicate a deep concern with educating the preacher. It must be remembered that he belonged to the first generation of educators influenced by the canons of the Fourth Lateran Council. This Council underlined the need to provide the laity with learned teachers of sacred doctrine³⁶. Those most likely to educate the preachers were clerics such as Jacques who had studied in Paris. Model sermons like the Sermones feriales et communes could be used as tools to help educate the ranks of preachers that were sorely needed by the Church in the first half of the thirteenth century.

In some cases a preacher had no more learning than his audience. Jacques was no doubt aware of this situation; his experience in Liège with educated spiritual lay movements and his observations of educated lay communities such as the Humiliati showed him that the clergy needed to have more spiritual learning than the people they were to instruct³⁷. Moreover, an educated laity was not always an orthodox laity. In Sermon 8, he reveals this apprehension: «Indeed the clerics ought to be the book of the laity, the laity who today remain in error because their books are corrupt»³⁸.

Perhaps Jacques had in mind the high level of biblical education among the Cathars: his involvement in the Albigensian Crusade must have made him sensitive to the beliefs held by his opponents. Surely he wanted to arm preachers with material that would intelligently refute heretical views that they might encounter. The theme of the nature of Creation was a favorite of the Cathars who believed that there were two worlds, a good one and a bad one. The notion that there was a struggle between the Creator of Light and the Creator of Darkness was one of their fundamental theses. To argue for this and many of their other beliefs, the Cathars relied heavily on New Testament writings. Furthermore, they rejected many of the Old Testament books and looked upon Moses as the voice of Satan³⁹. In direct opposition to this, the Sermones feriales et communes favor Old Testament themes in the account of the Creation story⁴⁰. This may partly explain Jacques' use of Genesis at a time when this particular biblical book was not often used in the construction of sermon collections. It is also significant that the surge in the production of pocket Bibles, used by mendicant preachers to preach against the Cathars, was coeval with the appearance of the Sermones feriales et communes; some of these Bibles contained a separate list of biblical passages that could be used specifically to combat dualist heresies⁴¹.

The possibility that the sermons were written to combat a dualist heresy is confirmed in the last sermon of the Sermones feriales et communes. In Sermon 25 one finds an explicit condemnation of the Cathars and their beliefs. Jacques lists their doctrinal errors and argues why the Cathars should be destroyed. In this sermon he also discusses the plight of humanity and how Christians are saved through Christ⁴².

The theme of Sermon 25 is Genesis 3:24: «And he cast out Adam; and placed before the paradise of pleasure Cherubims, and a flaming sword, turning every way to keep, the way of the tree of life». The protheme, like many of the other prothemes in the collection, discusses the importance of the preacher's message⁴³. After the protheme, a discussion of the significance of the Old and New Testaments is presented in which the two books are described as the two doors of Paradise⁴⁴. The sermon then treats the suffering that humanity has endured as a result of the Fall. In this description the tone of the Sermones feriales et communes changes completely from a exegeticallike text to that of a spoken exposition where the sympathetic voice of the preacher shines through:

We enter miserable into this life, we proceed blameworthy, we depart damned. We are conceived in sin. We are nurtured in the mother's uterus in menstrual and fetid blood. We are born without wisdom, without speech, weak and feeble, powerless to help ourselves get up, or to walk. We are born wretched and wailing. The mother is anxious and cries out. The little baby is distressed and wails. And often the mother dies in childbirth⁴⁵.

Reminiscent of Innocent III's treatise De contemptu mundi, the sermon contains a list of infirmities that all humanity must confront in old age, such as: blindness, baldness, deafness, tremoring head, and forgetfulness⁴⁶. Jacques discusses how difficult, wretched, and changeable life is⁴⁷. But humanity is not only adversely affected with physical afflictions and bodily discomforts, the soul and free will are corrupted because of original sin⁴⁸.

Up to this point Jacques de Vitry has presented the sorrows that have befallen humanity, relying on Old Testament citations. In juxtaposition to this bleak presentation, he introduces the role of Christ as savior to the human condition after the Fall. Humanity collapsed first in soul and then in body, accordingly Christ at first repaired the soul in his first coming, and afterwards he will come to repair the body in the second coming⁴⁹. Thus through Christ's taking on of humanity, all infirmities resulting from the Fall have the possibility to be cured⁵⁰. The function of Christ as savior is understood through dichotomous reasoning, a binary in which all of Adam's detrimental actions find their counterpoint in Christ's healing actions. The role of the stories of the Old Testament as foreshadowings of the salvific role of Christ in the New Testament is at the core of Jacques de Vitry's understanding of Scripture:

There was so much pride in Adam that although he was a man, he wished to be just as God; and there was such humility in Christ that although he was God, he wanted to be made a man. Adam through obedience sinned, and Christ being obedient all the way to death satisfied. Through the forbidden food the world was lost, through the granted food it was repaired⁵¹.

Indeed, the need to educate the Christian community in an orthodox and effective manner dictated the themes Jacques employed, but what also colored the complexion of these sermons were the tools available for sermon construction. The text of the Sermones feriales et communes is woven with patristic quotes; this was common in twelfth- and thirteenth-century pastoral literature since the Fathers themselves were preachers of the Bible, and their auctoritas was highly valued⁵². Moreover, patristic florilegia, compilations of various citations of the Latin Fathers, were available and could serve as preaching tools, making it relatively simple to have an abundance of patristic citations at one's fingertips. There were also distinctiones collections, that is, collections of nouns found in the Bible that were expounded with the use of biblical and patristic sources. There is evidence that Jacques utilized some sort of patristic florilegia or distinctiones collection instead of direct sources to construct his sermons⁵³. For example, in Sermon 6 he glosses the words ingratitudo/ingratus. After citing two biblical passages to define the meaning of ingratitudo/ingratus, he cites passages from Bernard and Gregory which employ these words⁵⁴. Such a presentation of material resembles the structure that would be found in a distinctiones collection. There also existed florilegia of classical authors, thus partly explaining the use of Seneca more than a dozen times⁵⁵.

The availability of such tools may also explain the frequent use of Bernardine citations; these passages embroider the Sermones feriales et communes with a rich tradition of Cistercian spirituality. Jacques cited Bernard more readily than did his older contemporaries such as Stephen Langton⁵⁶. Jacques viewed Cistercians as effective popular preachers and this may partly explain why he readily provided a deeply rooted Bernardine tradition in his sermons⁵⁷. But his respect for Bernard may not be the only reason why he used this Cistercian thinker so readily. Around the time the Sermones feriales et communes were being written, the Cistercians were constructing sophisticated tools that could be used for preaching; one of these tools was the Flores Bernardi, a compilation of various Bernardine citations⁵⁸. Perhaps Jacques had access to this sort of work which both enabled and encouraged him to use Bernardine passages. At any rate, it is clear that his own illustrious and well-travelled preaching career provided him with an eclectic preaching repertoire from which he could extract a diversity of illustrative material.

Jacques, like all medieval preachers, employed Scripture as his principal source⁵⁹. In the prologue to the Sermones feriales et communes, he uses an image that both the Chanter and Langton had employed: the analogy of Ruth as the student of the Bible in the field of Sacred Scripture⁶⁰. Here was found the basis of Christian behavior and belief:

Let the field of Sacred Scripture suffice for you; it is not appropriate for you to wander through other fields. Indeed the field of Sacred Scripture … suffices most completely for the understanding of faith and the formation of morals⁶¹.

But rather than practice what he preaches, Jacques has himself «wandered through other fields» in going well beyond Scripture in order to teach it. He has educated preachers through the use of an arsenal of authorities. His endeavor to present exegesis through the use of a wide variety of sources underlines one of his aims: to produce preachers who could adequately teach sacred doctrine in diverse milieus. At Paris, he had been instilled with a thorough theological training and, in his personal experience as a popular preacher, he witnessed the import of what such an education could offer to all members of society. His implicit rejection of his own advice to remain in «the field of scripture» reveals his two motivations. The first is to preserve and transmit orthodox doctrine within the clerical sector of the Church, thus conserving the authoritative legacy of the Fathers. His second aim is to provide the laity with proper «books» of study, that is, learned preachers. The sources and content of these sermons form a complete circle that embraces all members of the Christian community. The wall between the clerical and lay audience disintegrates and a fluid exchange of ideas and beliefs is found at the core of the Sermones feriales et communes. Indeed, Jacques perceived a common thread running through lay and clerical life. He wrote in his Historia occidentalis:

Not only those who renounce the worldly life and cross over to the religious life do we judge as regulares, but also all Christ's faithful, serving the Lord under the evangelical rule and living in an orderly manner under one highest and supreme abbot, we can call regulares⁶².

The Sermones feriales et communes address a direct audience of clerics, but one must not forget that the work's indirect audience was the Christian community which also was wandering in the fields of Sacred Scripture and beyond⁶³.

Notes

1. See J. W. Baldwin, Masters, Princes, and Merchants. The Social Views of Peter the Chanter & His Circle. Volume 1—Text, Princeton, 1970, p. 38.

2. For an overview of Jacques' life, see J. F. Hinnebusch, The Historia Occidentalis of Jacques de Vitry. A Critical Edition, Fribourg, 1972, pp. 3-7 (Spicilegium Friburgense 17).

3. See C. A. Muessig, The Sermones Feriales of Jacques de Vitry. A Critical Edition, Ph.D. Diss., Montréal, 1994, pp. 8-10.

4. This chronology has been confirmed by J. Longère, Quatre sermons ad religiosas de Jacques de Vitry, in M. Parisse, ed., Les Religieuses en France au XIII^e siècle. Table ronde organisée par l'Institut d'Études Médiévales de l'Université de Nancy II et le CERCOM, 25-26 juin 1983, Nancy, 1989, pp. 215-300 (see p. 217).

5. The Sermones feriales et communes are found in five manuscripts: Brugge, Stedelijke Openbare Bibliotheek, 268 (XIII); Liège, Université de Liège, Bibliothèque Générale, Centre d'Information et de Conservation des Bibliothèques, 347 (XV); Brussel/Bruxelles, Koninklijke Bibliotheek Albert I/Bibliothèque Royale Albert I^er, 1122-1124 (1450); Brussel/Bruxelles, Koninklijke Bibliotheek Albert I/Bibliothèque Royale Albert I^er, 9682-9699 (1457); and Köln, Stadtarchiv GB f° 146 (XV). These sermons contain exempla which have been published in two separate editions: G. Frenken, ed., Die Exempla des Jacob von Vitry. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Erzählungsliteratur des Mittelalters, Munich, 1914 (Quellen und Untersuchungen zur lateinischen Philologie des Mittelalters, 5); J. Greven, ed., Die Exempla aus den Sermones feriales et communes des Jakob von Vitry, Heidelberg, 1914 (Sammlung mittellateinischer Texte, 9). A critical edition of the Sermones feriales et communes is being prepared by C. A. Muessig for the Corpus Christianorum, Continuatio Medievalis (Turnhout, Brepols).

6. These sermon collections are also known respectively as the Sermones de tempore, Sermones festiuales, and the Sermones ad status. See J. B. Schneyer, Repertorium der lateinischen Sermones des Mittelalters. Für die Zeit von 1150-1350, volume 3, Münster, 1971, pp. 179-210, 212-221.

7. All manuscript citations are taken from Liège, Université de Liège, Bibliothèque Générale, Centre d'Information et de Conservation des Bibliothèques, 347. «Post sermones dominicales, festiuales et uolgares, ad tanti operis consummacionem subiungere temptauimus feriales et communes, ut qui predictorum sermonum multitudinem non potuerint uel noluerint habere, hiis ultimis et paucis, contenti in promptu habeant quasi panem cotidianum ad reficiendas animas omni die» (f. 1va).

8. See G. Frenken, op. cit., and J. Greven, op. cit.

9. Ad status sermon collections are quite rare. The vast majority of sermon collections, as presented in Schneyer's Repertorium, are liturgical and do not always indicate the audience for whom they were intended.

10. For example, in Sermon 9 Jacques presents a string of patristic quotes which encourage the active and contemplative lives (f. 48ra-48va). In Sermon 13, he succinctly distinguishes between meditation and contemplation: «Meditacio est occulte ueritatis studiosa inuestigacio, contemplacio uero est perspicue ueritatis iocunda ammiracio» (f. 72va). In Sermon 9, he lists the ways that the predicator ought to preach: «Sapiens enim predicator dicitur Beselehel, id est umbra Dei, quia imitari debet summum doctorem et propter refrigerium gracie diuine qui repletur sapiencia ut sciat loqui de diuinis, et intelligencia ut sciat loqui de inuisibilibus sub Deo, et sciencia ut sciat de composicione morum et actibus hominum» (f. 46ra-46rb).

11. «Mouebitur terra uolens a se excutere peccatores uelut aggrauata ponderibus peccatorum. Ventilabit eos aer in turbine, mare contra eos consurget fluctibus et tempestate. Superius erit Iudex iratus, subtus horrendum chaos, a dextris uidebunt sanctos qui stabunt in magna constancia aduersus eos qui se angustiauerunt, et abstulerunt labores eorum [Sap 5,11]; a sinistris peccata, accusancia et infinita demonia, foris mundus ardens, intus urens consciencia. Non erit eis locus nisi ut corruant in abyssum inferni, quo trahet eos ignis undique inuoluens et flamma ignis deuorantis» (f. 24ra).

12. «Non solum autem a mechanicis uel agricultura abstinendum est, sed ab aliis secularibus, uidelicet ut mercatum non fiat, nec placitum, nec aliquis ad mortem uel ad penam iudicetur, nec sacramenta iurentur nisi pro pace facienda, nec genua publice in ecclesia solent flecti, nisi in consecracione episcopi, uel ordinacione clericorum uel ex deuocione quando Corpus Christi in ecclesia eleuatur» (f. 2va).

13. «Primo die dictum est: Fiat lux. Et facta est lux [Gen 1,3]; ecce primus articulus, uidelicet Christi natiuitas; tunc enim uerbum caro factum [Ioh 1,14] mundum illuminauit. Secunda die dixit Deus: Fiat firmamentum in medio aquarum et diuidat aquas ab aquis [Gen 1,6]; ecce secundus articulus, id est babtismus diuidens aquas superiores ab inferioribus, fideles ab infidelibus. Tercia die dixit Deus: Germinet terra herbam uirentem [Gen 1,11] et cetera; ecce tercius articulus, id est passio Christi, in qua terra corporis eius in cruce attrita fuit, et clauis atque lancea fossa et exarata ut daret fructum salutis. Herbam quidem uirentem in tenera fide ecclesie germinauit et sanctorum predicacione semen facit, lignum uero pomiferum in sancta operacione. Quarta die dixit Deus: Fiant luminaria in firmamento celi [Gen 1,14]; et quartus articulus est resurrectio, in qua Christus tamquam sol incorruptibilis factus est et refulsit et lunam, id est Ecclesiam, illuminauit. Quinta die fecit uolatilia in aere [cf. Gen 1,22], et quintus articulus est ascensio, in qua Christus tamquam auis ad Patrem uolauit. Vnde Ysaias: Vocans ab oriente auem [Is 46,11]. Sexta die dixit Dominus: Faciamus hominem ad ymaginem et similitudinem nostram [Gen 1,26], et spirauit in faciem eius spiraculum uite, et sextus articulus est Spiritus Sancti missio per quam reformatus est homo. Septimus articulus aduentus ad iudicium, in quo ab omnibus operibus et laboribus nostris quiescimus, sicut Dominus ab omni opere quod patrarat requieuit [Gen 2,1]» (f. 75rb-75va). Jacques lists the three theological virtues: fides, spes, caritas, and the four cardinal virtues; fortitudo, iusticia, temperancia, prudencia (f. 75va).

14. An example of this aspect of the Sermones feriales et communes is found in Sermon 9 where Jacques describes fish and birds: «Quanta igitur beneficia quinta feria nobis Deus exhibuit. Manifestum est diligenter intuentibus quot et quanta commoda proueniant ex diuersis piscium generibus maioribus et minoribus, preciosis et uilibus, ut haberent homines tam pauperes quam diuites ydoneam refectionem. Et non solum ex carnibus, sed ex ossibus et pellibus maiorum piscium qui in mari capiuntur et ex sanguine eorum multe proueniunt commoditates. Ex sanguine eciam quorundam piscium purpura tingitur preciosa; et insuper quidam pisces, dum in aquis ludunt et saltus faciunt, imminentem nunciant tempestatem ut naute premuniantur, sicut ludus ceti signum est future tempestatis. Sed ex auibus quantas percepimus utilitates, non solum ex carnibus, sed ex plumis, pennis et ouis, et eciam pellibus aliquarum quibus utimur in forraturis uestium. Ex ossibus insuper maiorum satis per experienciam pluribus est manifestum, non solum minoribus qui gallinas et pullos gallinarum, altiliones et anseres nutriunt, sed maioribus delicatis et infirmis qui perdices, fasianos, et cetera huiusmodi habent non solum in refectionem sed plerumque in medicinam. Non ergo ingrati esse debemus tantorum beneficiorum, que licet usu uiluerint in oculis insipiencium, sapientes tamen ea attente considerant et gracias agunt munifico largitori» (f. 47ra-47rb).

15. D. L. d'Avray, The Preaching of the Friars. Sermons diffused from Paris before 1300, Oxford, 1985, p. 64.

16. P. B. Roberts, Stephanus De Lingua-Tonante. Studies in the Sermons of Stephen Langton, Toronto, 1968, pp. 76-79 (Studies and Texts, 16); For a discussion of the sermon form prevalent during Jacques' time, see R. H. Rouse and M. A. Rouse, Preachers, Florilegia, and Sermons: Studies on the Manipulus florum of Thomas of Ireland, Toronto, 1979, pp. 65-76 (Studies and Texts, 47).

17. The literal interpretation usually takes up about one fourth of each sermon discussion, while the remaining portions are dedicated to the spiritual treatment and the exempla.

18. B. Smalley, The Bible in the Medieval Schools, in The Cambridge History of the Bible. Volume 2: The West from the Fathers to the Reformation, ed. G. W. H. Lampe, Cambridge, 1969, pp. 197-220; (see p. 212).

19. For a discussion of the mendicants' use of exempla, see J.-C. Schmitt, «Recueils franciscains d'Exempla et perfectionnement des techniques», in Bibliothèque de l'École des Chartes, 135 (1977), pp. 5-21.

20. This is an estimate of the statistics. As work on the edition progresses, other sources and citations will surely be noted.

21. Jacques has shown a penchant for Old Testament sources in his other sermon collections. For example, Jacques employs 196 Old Testament citations and only 31 New Testament citations in 4 sermons to nuns contained in the Sermones uulgares collection; see J. Longère, op. cit., p. 229.

22. For a discussion of hexaemeral commentaries produced at the School of Chartres during the twelfth century, see R. S. Avi-Yonah, The Aristotelian Revolution. A Study of the Transformation of Medieval Cosmology, 1150-1250, Ph.D. Diss., Harvard University, 1986, pp. 31-33.

23. For a concise presentation of the hexaemeral writings of these writers, see R. S. Avi-Yonah,, op. cit., pp. 27-28.

24. To illustrate Jacques' use of Comestor, I am providing a passage from the Sermones feriales et communes, Sermon 1 (f. 4rb) and a discussion of Genesis in the Historia scholastica (PL 198, c. 1056C-1057A).

    Sermones feriales: Et Spiritus Domini ferebatur super aquas [Gen 1,2], «id est Spiritus Sanctus uel uoluntas Domini, sicut uoluntas artificis habentis pre oculis materiam domus fabricande fertur super illam, dum quid de quo facturus est disponit. Hebreus habet “incubabat”, uel Sira lingua “fouebat”, sicut auis oua. Vnde Spiritus Sanctus uiuificator dicitur. Predictam autem materiam aquas uocat quasi ductilem materiam ad operandum ex ea. Bona igitur uoluntas creatoris, cui subiacebat quod formandum erat, sicut sapiencia artificis superfertur fabricando operi, super aquas, id est informem sed ductilem materiam, ferebatur, que aliquando nomine terre, aliquando nomine abyssi, aliquando nomine aque uocatur. Nam si uno tantum significaretur uocabulo, hoc putaretur esse quod homines illo uocabulo intelligere consueuerunt.»

    Historia scholastica: «Et Spiritus Domini, id est Spiritus Sanctus Dominus, vel Domini voluntas, ferebatur auper aquas, sicut voluntas artificis habentis prae oculis omnem materiam domus faciendae, super illam fertur, dum quid de quo facturus est disponit. Praedictam machinam aquas vocat, quasi ductilem materiam ad operandum ex ea. Ideo vero sic variantur ejus nomina, ne si unius elementi nomine tantum censeretur, illi magis putaretur accommoda. Hebraeus habet pro super ferebatur, incubabat, vel Syra lingua, fovebat, sicut avis ova.»

    Jacques' contemporary Anthony of Padua also relied on the Historia scholastica in the construction of his sermons; see P. Balduinus ab Amsterdam, «”Historia Scholastica” Petri Comestoris in ”Sermonibus” s. Antonii Patavini», in Collectanea Franciscana, 24 (1954), pp. 83-109.

25. R. P. McGerr, «Guyart Desmoulins, The Vernacular Master Of Histories, And His Bible Historiale», in Viator, 14 (1983), pp. 211-244; J. H. Morey, «Peter Comestor, Biblical Paraphrase, and the Medieval Popular Bible», in Speculum, 68 (1993), pp. 6-35.

26. For instance, the Historia scholastica represents a synthesis of twelfth-century Victorine thought, particularly in its exegetical concern to produce literal-historical expositions of the Bible and to put the biblical text in chronological order. (See the review of S. R. Karp, Peter Comestor's «Historia scholastica»: A Study in the Development of Literal Scriptural Exegesis, [Ann Arbor, University Microfilms International, 1982] by H. Silvestre in Bulletin de théologie ancienne et médiévale, 13 [1984], pp. 641-642.) The Historia scholastica was read by clerics in the schools, and Stephen Langton, who had also belonged to the Chanter's circle (P. B. Roberts, op. cit., p. 2), glossed the work in 1193. In 1228 at the University of Paris, the Historia scholastica became required reading, along with the glossed Bible and Lombard's Sentences, for the study of theology. See S. R. Daly, «Petrus Comestor: Master of Histories», in Speculum, 32 (1957), pp. 62-73 (see p. 71); and R. P. McGerr, op. cit., p. 212.

27. H. Rashdall, The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages, ed. F. M. Powicke and A. B. Emden, Oxford, 1936, vol. 1, pp. 355-356; cf. J. W. Baldwin, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 105.

28. J. W. Baldwin, op. cit., vol. 1, pp. 17-25.

29. H. Rashdall, op. cit., vol. 1, pp. 357.

30. From the years 1200-1215 only one such commentary survives and it treats the Creation of Man but omits any discussion concerning the creation of the world. The tense atmosphere at Paris may account for the lack of hexaemeral studies. For a discussion of this scarcity of hexaemeral commentaries, see R. S. Avi-Yonah, op. cit., p. 81.

31. To illustrate this assertion I have isolated all sermon collections in Schneyer's Repertorium that deal either with the days of Creation or the first few chapters of Genesis. See J. B. Schneyer, op. cit., vol. 1 (1969), p. 624-625: Collationes in Hexaëmeron by Bonaventure (†1274); vol. 2 (1970), p. 437-440: Collationes super Genesim by Guillelmus Bernardi (†1336); vol. 3 (1971), p. 757-758: De operibus sex dierum by Johannes a S. Geminiano (†1333); vol. 7 (1976), p. 200-202: Incipiunt themata de Genesi, author and date unknown; ibid., p. 546: Sermones super Genesim, author and date unknown.

32. «Alii autem multa falsa et vana dixerunt, sicut Plato qui planetas deos asseruit, et Aristoteles qui mundum aeternum fuisse dogmatizavit. Unde in libris, quos naturales appellant, valde cavendum est, ne ex nimia inquisitione erremus. Fides enim Christiana multa habet quae supra naturam sunt, vel contra naturam. Unde de quibusdam audivimus quod ex libris naturalium ita infecti erant, et a simplicitate fidei christiana adeo aversi, quod nihil poterant [credere], nisi quatenus naturalibus rationibus constaret: unde et animum applicare non poterant, ut crederent quod primum et simplex principium, sive Filius Dei caro fieri potuisset.» Jacques de Vitry, Sermo XVI ad scholares, in J.-B. Pitra, ed., Analecta novissima spicilegii Solesmensis altera continuatio, vol. 2, Paris, 1888; reprint, Farnborough, England, 1967, pp. 367-368.

33. J. W. Baldwin, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 106-107.

34. «Et huic opinioni fere omnes naturalium doctores huius temporis assenciunt. Nos autem, ab opinione doctorum theologorum et sanctorum expositorum non recedentes, et aquas supra firmamentum esse credimus, et firmamentum ex aquis in modum cristalli solidatum» (f. 13va).

35. «Sacra igitur Scriptura propter firmitatem suam dicitur firmamentum … et est quasi terminus intransgressibilis quia in ea nemo debet per nimiam inquisicionem transgredi terminos antiquos quos posuerunt patres nostri [Prov 22:28]» (f. 14rb-14va).

36. «Vnde precipimus tam in cathedralibus quam in aliis conuentualibus ecclesiis uiros idoneos ordinari, quos episcopi possint coadiutores et cooperatores habere, non solum in predicationis officio, uerum etiam in audiendis confessionibus et penitentiis iniungendis ac ceteris que ad salutem pertinent animarum. Si quis autem hoc adimplere neglexerit, districte subiaceat ultioni.» (A. Garciía y Garciía, ed., Constitutiones Concilii quarti Lateranensis una cum Commentariis glossatorum [Vatican: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1981], pp. 58-59; constitutio 10, 15/20). «Cum sit ars artium regimen animarum, districte precipimus ut episcopi promouendos in sacerdotes diligenter instruant et informent uel per se ipsos uel per alios uiros idoneos super diuinis officiis et ecclesiasticis sacramentis, qualiter ea rite ualeant celebrare; quoniam si de cetero ignaros et rudes ordinare presumpserint, quod quidem facile poterit deprehendi, et ordinatores et ordinatos graui subiacere decreuimus ultioni. Sanius est enim, maxime in ordine sacerdotii, paucos bonos quam multos malos habere ministros, quia si ‘caecus caecum’ duxerit, ‘ambo in foueam’ dilabuntur.» (See ibid., pp. 72-73; constitutio 27, 1/9).

37. See J. F. Hinnebusch, ed., op. cit, pp. 144-145 for Jacques' comments concerning the Humiliati.

38. «Clerici siquidem debent esse liber laicorum, qui laici hodie in errore permanent quia corrupti sunt libri eorum» (f. 41vb).

39. See F. L. Cheyette, «Cathars», in The Dictionary of the Middle Ages, vol. 3, pp. 181b-191a, (see. p. 184a).

40. See C. Thouzellier, La Bible des Cathares languedociens et son usage dans la controverse au début du XIII^e siècle, in Cathares en Languedoc, Toulouse, 1968, p. 42-48 (Cahiers de Fanjeaux, 3).

41. L. Light, «The New Thirteenth-Century Bible and the Challenge of Heresy», in Viator, 18 (1987), pp. 275-288 (see p. 280).

42. For a more detailed analysis of Sermon 25, see C.A. Muessig, Les sermons de Jacques de Vitry sur les cathares, in La prédication en Pays d' Oc (XII^e—début XV^e siècle), Fanjeaux, 1997, pp. 69-83 (Cahiers de Fanjeaux, 32).

43. «Nichilominus tamen clamare debet predicator et non cessare fauore aliquorum uel timore. Orate igitur Dominum ut sicut ad uocem tube fiet generalis resurrectio in fine, ita hodie ad tubam predicationis resurgant anime mortue in peccatis» (f. 138vb-139rb).

44. «Flammeus gladius ut incendatur affectus per caritatem, ut scilicet igne Spiritus Sancti concupiscencie huius uite exurantur, et gladio uerbi Dei omnia noxia precindantur. Gladius quidem flammeus pungit ad timorem, ardet ad amorem. Hii sunt ostiarii Paradisi. Primo enim mala nobis desipiunt per timorem, et postmodum bona nobis sapiunt per amorem. Gladius enim uersatilis dicitur uerbum Dei, quia secat ex utraque, Veteris scilicet et Noui Testamenti» (f. 139vb).

45. «Ingressus in hanc uitam miserabilis, progressus culpabilis, egressus dampnabilis. Concipimur in peccato. Nutrimur in utero materno sanguine menstruo et fetido. Nascimur sine sciencia, sine loquela, imbecilles et debiles, impotentes nobis subuenire erigi, uel ambulare. Nascimur flebiles et eiulantes. Mater anxiatur et clamat. Paruulus angustiatur et-eiulat. Et plerumque in partu matrem necat» (f. 140vb-141ra).

46. Jacques de Vitry lists a number of infirmities: «Caligant oculi. Fluunt nares. Putrescunt dentes. Defluunt crines. Surdescunt aures. Tremit caput. Languet gustus. Statura curuatur. Memoria obliuione turbatur» (f. 141ra).

47. «Homo natus de muliere, breui uiuens tempore, repletur multis miseriis qui quasi flos egreditur et conteritur et nunquam in eodem statu permanet» (f. 141rb).

48. «Non solum autem percussus est homo in corpore, sed et percussus est in anima et uulneratus in corde. Corrupta est igitur anima per originale, corruptum est liberum arbitrium et sub peccato captiuatum. Corrupte sunt omnes anime uires, corrupta est ratio et obscurata» (f. 141vb-142ra).

49. «Et quia principio corruit homo in anima et postea in corpore, Dominus primo reparauit animam in primo aduentu, et postmodum ueniet reparare corpora in secundo» (f. 144va).

50. «Porro contra uaria humani generis detrimenta diuersa attulit remedia. Eius conceptio nostram mendauit, eius uita nostram instruxit, eius mors nostram destruxit, eius resurrectio nostram precessit, eius ascensio nostram preparauit» (f. 145ra).

51. «Tanta enim fuit superbia in Adam quod cum esset homo, uoluit esse sicut Deus; et tanta fuit in Christo humilitas quod cum esset Deus, uoluit fieri homo. Adam per inobedienciam peccauit, et Christus factus obediens usque ad mortem satisfecit. Per cibum uetitum perditus est mundus, per cibum concessum est reparatus» (f. 145rb).

52. P. B. Roberts, op. cit., p. 100.

53. For a discussion of distinctiones collections, see R. H. Rouse and M. A. Rouse, op. cit., pp. 7-8.

54. «De ingratis enim dicitur in Iob: Habundant tabernacula predonum, et audacter prouocant Deum, cum ipse dederit omnia in manus eorum [Iob 26,8]. Predones dicuntur qui Deo auferunt grates seu graciarum actiones. Ingratitudo enim ualde contra nos prouocat Deum, et ideo attente pensare debemus que a Deo accipimus. Vnde in Ecclesiastico dicitur: Datum et acceptum omne describe [Eccli. 42,7]. Ingratus quidem dicitur qui beneficium se accepisse negat quod accepit, ingratus qui dissimulat, ingracior qui non reddit, ingratissimus qui obliuiscitur. Teste utique Bernardo: Ingratitudo inimica est anime, exinancio meritorum, uirtutum dispersio, beneficiorum perdicio. Ventus urens, siccans sibi fontem pietatis, rorem misericordie, fluenta gracie [Sermones Super Cantica Canticorum, 51,6]. Et Gregorius ait: Sicut bonis necesse est ut meliores eciam per contumelias existant, ita semper reprobi de beneficio peiores fiunt [Gregorius, Homiliae in Evangelia, 1,18,2]» (f. 29ra).

55. Jacques' choice to intersperse Seneca among patristic and biblical sources can be easily explained despite his supposed scorn of pagan authors. Seneca is quoted over a dozen times while Basil is directly cited only once. Referring back to the Sermo ad scholares, we see that Jacques states that there are many positive things to be learned from pagan works relating to grammar, history and poetry. Concerning pagan writers he states that: «Quidam enim ex ipsis casti fuerunt et sobrii; quidam temporalia contempserunt; alii naturalem pietatem habuerunt … ». (J.-B. Pitra, op. cit., p. 367). It is well known that during the Middle Ages, Seneca's writings were well received because his moralistic teachings complemented Christian beliefs; see L. D. Reynolds, The Medieval Tradition of Seneca's Letters, Oxford, 1965, p. 83. Peter the Chanter in his Verbum abbreviatum often used Seneca to underline the vanity of pursuing useless questions (J. W. Baldwin, op. cit., vol. 1, p. 98.), and Peter Comestor cited several classical sources in his sermons (P. B. Roberts, op. cit., p. 101). For a discussion of the use of classical florilegia, see R. H. Rouse, «Florilegia and Latin Classical Authors in Twelfth- and Thirteenth-Century Orléans», in Viator, 10 (1979), pp. 131-160.

56. P. B. Roberts, op. cit., p. 101.

57. In the Historia Occidentalis (J. W. Hinnebusch, op. cit., pp. 102-103), Jacques mentions the Cistercian, Adam of Perseigne, as one of the most influential preachers of his day. In regard to Jacques de Vitry's overall view of monastic preaching, see J. Bird, The Religious's role in a post-Fourth Lateran World: Jacques de Vitry 's ‘Sermones ad status’ and ‘Historia occidentialis’, in C. A. Muessig, ed., Medieval Monastic Preaching, Leiden, forthcoming.

58. R. H. Rouse, Cistercian Aids to Study in the Thirteenth Century, in J.R. Sommerfeldt, ed., Studies in Medieval Cistercian History II, Kalamazoo, 1976, pp. 123-134. (Cistercian Studies Series, 24).

59. As of yet I have not made an extensive comparison between Jacques' Sermones feriales and the Glossa Ordinaria. I have looked at the first three chapters of Genesis in the Glossa and there are some sentences that appear in Jacques' sermons. See Biblia Latina cum Glossa Ordinaria. Facsimile Reprint of the Editio Princeps. Adolph Rusch of Strassburg 1480/1481, Turnhout, 1992, vol. 1, pp. 1-30.

60. J. W. Baldwin, op. cit., vol. 1, pp. 88-89.

61. «Sufficiat tibi ager Sacre Scripture, non te oportet per alios agros euagari. Ager enim Sacre Scripture … plenissime sufficit ad fidei cognicionem et morum informacionem» (f. 1ra).

62. «Non solum hos qui seculo renunciant et transeunt ad religionem regulares iudicamus, sed et omnes Christi fideles, sub euangelica regula domino famulantes et ordinate sub uno summo et supremo abbate uiuentes, possumus dicere regulares» (J. W. Hinnebusch, op. cit., p. 165, 17/20).

63. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Twenty-Sixth International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, May 1991. I am grateful to the Newman Fellowships Trust, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, le Fonds pour la formation des chercheurs et l'aide à la recherche (Québec) for their support of this research. I would like to thank Jacques Ménard, Phyllis Roberts, and George Ferzoco for their advice and suggestions.