William Perault, (c. 1190 – 1271), also spelled Perauld; Latinized Peraldus or Peraltus, was a Dominican writer and preacher.

Life

He was born at Peyraud,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He studied at the Sorbonne University of Paris, and there, being drawn to the religious life by the preaching perhaps of

Jordan of Saxony Jordan of Saxony, OP (referred to in Latin as Jordanis, also known as de Alamania; c. 1190 – 1237), was a German Catholic priest and one of the first leaders of the Dominican Order. His feast day is February 13. Life Jordan belonged to ...

, he was received into the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

. It is thought that Perault was somewhat advanced in years when he embraced the religious state, although the precise date of his entrance into it is also unknown. He entered the order at

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, but was destined, according to a custom then existing, for the convent at

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

s. At Lyons, where he passed his life, at once contemplative and active, he rendered service to the Church by the brilliancy of his writings and preaching and by the charm and splendour of his virtues. His part in ecclesiastical affairs was for a time also very important. For fully ten years he performed all the episcopal functions of the Church of Lyons, having been chosen for this work during the vacancy of the see by Philip I, Count of Savoy who, although not in Holy orders, bore the title of

Archbishop of Lyon The Archdiocese of Lyon (; ), formerly the Archdiocese of Lyon–Vienne–Embrun, is a Latin Church metropolis (religious jurisdiction), metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The archbishops of Lyon are also called Primate o ...

from 1245 to 1267. Because of Perault's long labours in ministering to the needs of the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

, he himself came to be known as the Bishop or Archbishop of Lyon. This error was further emphasized by the title of bishop which a later hand added to many of his writings. Authors such as Gerson, Noël Alexandre, Jacques Échard, and Hurter say that William Perault was never Archbishop of Lyons, as the asserts, Louis Ellies du Pin is not justified in saying that he was never more than a religious of the Order of Preachers (cf. Antoine Touron, 1, l.2, 184). He died at Lyons.

Writings

His works include: * (Cologne, 1497, 1618, 1629; Venice, 1492, 1497; Rome, 1557; Lyons, 1668) *, which appeared under the name of William III of Paris (Paris, 1494; Cologne, 1629) * (Paris, 1512; Louvain, 1575; Lyons, 1585) * which, as in the Roman edition of 1570, was attributed to

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

and of which, in fact, Aquinas wrote a part: , which appeared under the name of Humbert de Romans, Master-General of the Order of Preachers.

References

External links

Guillelmus Peraldus
in Bibliotheca Augustana
Lewis E 166 Summa de virtutibus (Treatise on the virtues); Summa vitiorum (Treatise on the vices) at OPenn
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perault, William French Dominicans University of Paris alumni 1190 births 1271 deaths 13th-century writers in Latin 13th-century French writers