Vincent Ferrer, saint

Posted on By Oriol Catalán

(Valencia, 1350 – Vannes, 1419) Dominican friar. He studied in Valencia, Barcelona and Toulouse. During the Western Schism, Vincent supported the faction of Clement VII (and later Benedict XIII, of whom he was the confessor).

In 1398, during a severe illness, he had a vision of Christ that commanded him to preach penance to prepare for the end of times. He left Avignon and preached around Aragon, Castille, France and Switzerland until his death.

Several of his sermons were noted down by listeners who reported (transcribed) them in Catalan, Castilian or Latin. Vicente Ferres’s sermons are remarkable texts in Catalan and Castilian medieval literature.

The main topics in his preaching are:

  • The reform of customs of the faithful and the clergy.
  • The announcement of the inminent arrival of Doomday.
  • The segregation of the Jews and a very strong pressure for the conversion of the Jews to Christianity.

Vicent Ferrer preached to Christians as well as to Jews and Muslims. He is said to have achieved the conversion of thousands of Jews and Muslims. His preaching activities did not prevent him from taking part in some important political discussions in the meantime. In 1412, after King Martin I of Aragon died without heirs, Vincent was one of the nine electors to choose a new king for the Kingdom of Aragon. Vincent led the debate, and finally managed to elect Ferdinand of Trastamara (not the favourite candidate at the beginning) as king.

Since the Council of Constance, Vincent accepted the election of Martin V as Pope and finally withdrew his obedience to Benedict XIII (1416). After the Council of Constance, he continued his activity in Britain. He died and was buried at Vannes. He was canonized in 1455.

Published Sermons in Catalan and Spanish:

  • CÁTEDRA, Pedro, Sermón, sociedad y literatura en la Edad Media. San Vicente Ferrer en Castilla: 1411-1412. Salamanca, Junta de Castilla y León, 1994.
  • FERRER, Vicent, Sermons. Josep Sanchis Sivera, ed. Barcelona, 1932-1934. Vols. 1-2.
  • FERRER, Vicent, Sermons. Gret Schib, ed. Barcelona, 1975-1988. Vols 3-6.
  • ROBLES SIERRA, A. (ed.), O.P., San Vicente Ferrer: Colección de sermones de Cuaresma y otros según el manuscrito de Ayora, València, 1995.
  • GIMENO BLAY, Francisco, MANDINGORRA LLAVATA, Mª Luz  (eds.), San Vicente Ferrer. Sermones de Cuaresma en Suiza, 1404 (couvent des cordeliers, ms. 62). València, Ajuntament, 2009.
  • GIMENO BLAY, Francisco, MANDINGORRA LLAVATA, Mª Luz(eds.), Sermonario de Perugia: (Convento dei Domenicani, ms. 477). València, Ajuntament, 2006.
  • GIMENO BLAY, Francisco, MANDINGORRA LLAVATA, Mª Luz (eds.), Sermonario de san Vicente Ferrer del Real colegio del Corpus Christi de Valencia. València, Ajuntament, 2002.
  • PERARNAU, Josep, «Els quatre sermons catalans de Vicent Ferrer en el manuscrit 476 de la Biblioteca de Catalunya», ATCA, XV (1996), p. 109-340.
  • PERARNAU, Josep, «La (darrera?) quaresma transmesa de sant Vicent Ferrer: Clarmont-Ferrand, BMI, ms. 45», ATCA, XXII (2003), p. 343-550
  • SANCHIS GUARNER, Manuel (ed.), Sermons de Quaresma. València, Albatros, 1973, 2 vols. (previously published in SANCHIS SIVERA, J. (ed.), Quaresma predicada a València l’any 1413. Barcelona, Institució Patxot, 1927).

Sermons in Latin:

  • Sermones sancti Vincentii, Ordinis Predicatorum, De Sanctis. Item, super Oratione Dominica eiusdem, VII. sermones. Item, eiusdem, quidam alii sermones valde solennes, Lió, Laurentius Hillaire 1516.
  • Beati VINCENTII… Sermones Hyemales…, eisdem denuo… per D. Damianum DÍAZ… recognitis, luculentae adnotationes in margine acesserunt, Lugduni, apud haeredes Iacobi Junctae 1558
  • Sermones sancti Vincentii FERRARII, Hispani, Patria Valentini, Ordinis Praedicatorum, Sacri Palatii Magistri et Apostolici Concionatoris celeberrimi. Editio caeteris emendatior, …F. Thomae de Rocabertí, archiepiscopi Valentini, Valentiae, in Aedibus Archiepiscopalibus, typis lacobi de Bordazar et Artazu, 1693-95.

Bibliography (English):

  • DAILEADER, Philip, Saint Vincent Ferrer, His World and Life: Religion and Society in Late Medieval Europe. Springer, 2016.
  • FERREIRO, Alberto, «Vincent Ferrer’s Catalan Sermon Beati Petri Apostoli: Canonical and apocryphal sources in popular vernacular preaching», Harvard Theological Review 91/1 (1998), pp. 41-57.
    • «Simon Magus in Patristic, Medieval, and Early Modern Traditions», Studies in the History of Christian Traditions, vol. 125. Leiden, 2005, pp. 241-260.
  • PRADEL, Andrew, St. Vincent Ferrer: The Angel of the Judgment, TAN Books, 2001.
  • ROLLO-KOSTER, Joelle, «Vincent Ferrer, saint», in Dress, Clayton J. The Late Medieval Age of Crisis and Renewal, 1300-1500: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Press, 2001, p. 490-1.
  • SMOLLER, Laura A., The Saint and the Chopped-Up Baby: The Cult of Saint Vincent Ferrer in Medieval and Early Modern Europe. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2014).

 

Manuscripts:

Christian preachers, preacher / author