The Blessed Benedict of Alignan (died 1268) was

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

of Nôtre Dame de la Grasse (1224) and Bishop of Marseille (1229).

Biography

Benedict twice visited

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

(1239–1242 and 1260–1262), where he helped the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

build the great castle of

Safed Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...

. Benedict founded a short-lived order, the Brothers of the Virgin, which was suppressed by the Council of Lyon (1274), and died a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

. His writings include a letter to

Pope Innocent IV Pope Innocent IV (; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254. Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universities of Parma and Bolo ...

and ''De Summa Trinitate et Fide Catholica in Decretalibus'' (circa 1260). Someone in his following wrote '' De constructione castri Saphet''.

Notes

References

* *Jonathan Rubin,
Benoit d’Alignan and Thomas Agni: Two Western Intellectuals and the Study of Oriental Christianity in 13th-century Kingdom of Jerusalem,"
Viator 44.1 (Spring, 2013), pp. 189–199. Attribution: * 1268 deaths Bishops of Marseille French abbots French Friars Minor French Benedictines 13th-century French Roman Catholic bishops Year of birth unknown Christians of the Barons' Crusade {{france-bishop-stub