Jacques de Vitry

He was elected bishop of Acre in 1214 and made cardinal in 1229. His Historia Orientalis (also known as Historia Hierosolymitana) is an important source for the historiography of the Crusades.

Jacques de Vitry studied at University of Paris. The recorded working language is medieval Latin and Old French. The field of work recorded is theology. Positions recorded include Dean of the College of Cardinals and Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati. Works named in the authority record are Historia Orientalis et Occidentalis, Vita Mariae Oigniacensis, Sermons and Letters.

• Illustration — Manuscript of Sermones Vulgares, 13th century, by Jacques de Vitry Jacques was born in central France (perhaps Reims). He was born in 1170 at the latest. He studied at the University of Paris, becoming a canon regular in 1210 at the Priory of Saint-Nicolas d'Oignies in the Diocese of Liège, a post he maintained until his consecration as bishop in 1216. From 1211 to 1213 he preached the Albigensian Crusade, touring France and Germany with William, the archdeacon of Paris, and recruiting many Crusaders. In 1214 Jacques was elected Bishop of Acre. He received episcopal consecration and arrived at his see in 1216. He was subsequently heavily involved in the Fifth Crusade, participating in the siege of Damietta from 1218 to 1220. In 1219 he began to write the Historia Hierosolymitana, a history of the Holy Land from the advent of Islam until the crusades of his own day, but only two parts were completed. He returned to Europe in 1225. Between 16 April and 29 July 1229, Pope Gregory IX elevated Jacques to the College of Cardinals and transferred him to the suburbicarian see of Frascati. With the exception of a short legation to Emperor Frederick II in 1232, he spent his last years working in the papal court. He subscribed the papal bulls between 29 July 1229 and 23 June 1239. He died at Rome as Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals. His remains were transferred to Oignies and buried there in 1241. After the death of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Gerold of Lausanne in 1238 or 1239, the canons of the church in Jerusalem asked Gregory IX to send Jacques back to the east as the new patriarch. According to Gregory's response, dated 14 May 1240, Jacques had already died, and instead the pope appointed Robert of Nantes as the new patriarch. Aside from the Historia, his works include hundreds of sermons, and letters to Pope Honorius III. He also wrote about the immoral life of the students at the University of Paris and the holy life of the Beguines of Liège, in particular his Life of Marie d'Oignies, whose advice inspired him to become a canon regular. Jacques de Vitry was fascinated by the powers held by the beguines, such that they were paralleled with the priests of the time, yet functioned outside the church proper. Although this movement was unrecognized in the church, Jacques made appeal to Pope Honorius III to legitimize the work of their community, as well as the Liège diocese, all France and throughout the Holy Roman Empire.

• Illustration — Jacques's reliquart In 2015, the CROMIOSS project, led by the Archaeological Society of Namur (SAN) in partnership with several Belgian universities and research institutes, undertook an interdisciplinary scientific study around the reliquary of Jacques de Vitry, located in the church of Saint Marie d'Oigines in Belgium. Anthropological, isotopic and genetic analyses indicated a high likelihood that the remains were in fact those of Jacques de Vitry. His unique parchment mitre was also analysed. Forensic work on the skull, supplemented with DNA evidence, also allowed for the creation of a visual reconstruction of what the bishop might have looked like. The remains were reinterred at Oignies in 2019.