Vincent of Beauvais

Vincent of Beauvais , c.1190-c.1264, French Dominican friar. He was the author of three of the four parts of the Speculum majus, of great value as a summary of the knowledge of his time. The part entitled "Morals" is of unknown authorship, but is not by him. The three parts written by him are entitled "Nature," "Instruction," and "History." In "Nature," the order followed is that of the six days of creation described in Genesis. "Instruction" ranges from the liberal arts to the mechanical arts. The "History" epitomizes the story of man since Adam as it was understood by 13th-century scholars.

Bibliography: See A. Gabriel, The Educational Ideas of Vincent of Beauvais (2d ed. 1962).

Vincent of Beauvais (c.1194–1264), author of the vast popular encyclopaedia, the Speculum Maius. A Dominican, he may have been associated with the foundation of the Order's house at Beauvais in 1225; he was subprior there in 1246. Later in 1246 he was appointed lector to the Cistercian abbey of Royaumont, near Paris, where he came into close contact with Louis IX. The Speculum Maius, conceived and partly written by c.1244, was envisaged as a two-part compendium. It developed as Vincent collected material, and was completed c.1259 in three sections, the Speculum Naturale, the Speculum Doctrinale, and the Speculum Historiale. A supposed fourth part, the Speculum Morale, is not authentic.