Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint B ...
monk of
Vaux-de-Cernay Abbey
Vaux-de-Cernay Abbey (french: Abbaye des Vaux-de-Cernay) was a Cistercian monastery in northern France ( Ile-de-France), situated in Cernay-la-Ville, in the Diocese of Versailles, Yvelines.
History
The abbey was founded in 1118
, in what is now
Yvelines
Yvelines () is a Departments of France, department in the western part of the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.Albigensian Crusade. His ''Historia Albigensis'' is one of the primary sources for the events of that crusade.
The chronicle is thought to have been written from 1212 to 1218, recounting events which were principally those of 1203 to 1208, but also later events, at some of which Peter himself was present as eyewitness.Peter of les Vaux de Cernay and the ''History of the Albigensian Crusade'' (''Historia Albigensis'') anonymous article from a ''pro-Cathar'' website. Retrieved 2010-12-19. His uncle
Guy of Vaux-de-Cernay Guy (died 21 March 1223) was the sixth Cistercian abbot of Vaux-de-Cernay from 1181 until 1210 and then the bishop of Carcassonne from 1212 until his death. The crusades dominated his life. He was a preacher, organizer and spiritual leader of the ...
was his abbot,
bishop of Carcassonne
The Diocese of Carcassonne and Narbonne (Latin: ''Dioecesis Carcassonensis et Narbonensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Carcassonne et Narbonne'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese co ...
for some years from 1212, and a preacher brought in earlier to preach against Catharism by
Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester
{{Infobox noble
, name = Simon de Montfort
, title = 5th Earl of Leicester
, image = File:Simon4demontfort.gif
, caption = Seal of Simon de Montfort, depicting him riding a horse and blowing a h ...
.
Peter had also followed the early Fourth Crusade, with Guy, as far as Zara, Dalmatia. They joined Simon perhaps in 1210, and Peter likely knew Simon personally.
His writing is generally considered partisan, taking the Catholic side, but also to be more objective in reporting Cathar beliefs and actions than some of the hunters of heresy. Steven Runciman gives examples in which Peter's discussion of Cathar theology is presumably accurate, or, exaggerated for propaganda effect.Runciman, ''The Medieval Manichee'' p. 177. The chronicle was not written after 1218, and it is suggested that Peter’s death shortly after that year may be the reason.
References
*Pascal Guébin and Ernest Lyon (1939), ''Petri Vallium Sarnaii monachi Hystoria albigensis''
*Pascal Guébin and Henri Maisonneuve (1951), ''Histoire albigeoise'' (three volumes)
*W. A. Sibly and M. D. Sibly, ''History of the Albigensian Crusade: Peter of les Vaux-de-Cernay's 'Historia Albigensis (1998)
*C. M. Kurpiewski, ''Writing beneath the shadow of heresy: the Historia Albigensis of Brother Pierre des Vaux-de-Cernay'', Journal of Medieval History 31 (2005), 1, pp. 1–27,
Migne
Jacques Paul Migne (; 25 October 1800 – 24 October 1875) was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias, and the texts of the Church Fathers, with the goal of providing a ...
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...