''The Lives of the Brethren'' () is an early account of the first members of the Order of Preachers, also known as the
Dominicans
Dominicans () also known as Quisqueyans () are an ethnic group, ethno-nationality, national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic.
The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusio ...
. is potentially confusing as there are several works which are often abbreviated to that name. The book that records the early history of the Dominican order is the ''Vitae Fratrum Ordinis Praedicatorum''. This is to be distinguished from other works such as the ''Vitae fratrum eremitarum Ordinis Sancti Pauli Primi Eremitae'', which is a fifteenth-century account of the
Pauline Hermits in Hungary, or the ''Liber vitasfratrum'' of
Jordan of Quedlinburg, which recounts the early history of the
Order of Saint Augustine
The Order of Saint Augustine (), abbreviated OSA, is a mendicant order, mendicant catholic religious order, religious order of the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1244 by bringing together several eremitical groups in the Tuscany region who ...
.
History of the text
''The Lives of the Brethren'' was written between about 1255 to 1260 by Gerard de Frachet. Gerard (also known as Gerald) was born in Chalons (Haute Vienne) in Aquitaine, joined the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) in around 1225, and died at Limoges sometime between 1271 and 1281.
The book was written as a result of a request from the General Chapter in 1256 which was anxious to collect eyewitness accounts of the doings and sayings of the early friars before the first generation of the order died.
ibid - Bede Jarrett, Lives of the Brethren of the Order of Preachers 1206-1259, (Blackfriars 1955)
The text of the ''Vitae Fratrum'' is based largely on the submissions made by friars as well as separate writings from Bartholomew of Trent and 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 ...
, covering in all the period from about 1206 to 1260.
The Latin text was edited and published as ''Vitae fratrum ordinis praedicatorum'', ed. B. M. Reichert, MOPH., Louvain, 1896. Placid Conway, O.P. translated a version from later manuscripts than were used for the critical edition, which was published as ''Lives of the Brethren of the Order of Preachers 1206–1259'', translated by Placid Conway, O.P. and edited with notes and introduction by Bede Jarrett, O.P., Blackfriars Publications, London, 1955. Recently, Joseph Kenny, O.P. has translated the work directly from the critical edition.
References
External links
Joseph Kenny's translation of the Lives of the BrethrenLatin version of Vitae Fratrum Ordinis Praedicatorum
* ttps://the-orb.arlima.net/encyclop/religion/hagiography/bfriars.htm Thomas Head, The Mendicant Orders and Sanctity in the Thirteenth Century: A Bibliography{{DEFAULTSORT:Lives of the Brethren, The
Dominican Order