Bernard of Besse
Encyclopedia
Bernard of Besse was a French Friar Minor and chronicler.
He was a native of Aquitaine
, with date of birth uncertain; he belonged to the custody of Cahors
and was secretary to St. Bonaventure. He took up the pen after the Seraphic Doctor, he tells us, to gather the ears the latter had dropped from his sheaf, lest anything of so great a memory as that of St. Francis
might perish.
About 1297-1300 he compiled a catalogue of the ministers general up to his time, which is also a source of importance for the study of Franciscan history.
Critical editions of both these works have been published by the Friars Minor of Quaracchi [in Analecta Franciscana, III (1897), 666-707] and by Father Hilarin Felder of Lucerne, O. M. Cap. "Liber de Laudibus" etc. (Rome, 1897).
Bernard also wrote the life of Blessed Christopher of Cahors inserted in the Chronica XXIV Generalium
(ed. Quaracchi, 1897, 161-173) and is very probably the author of the Speculum Disciplinae and of the Epistola ad Quendam Novitium erroneously attributed to St. Bonaventure
(See Bonav. Opera Omnia ed. Quaracchi, 1898, VIII, 583 sqq. and 663 sqq.).
He was a native of Aquitaine
Aquitaine
Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...
, with date of birth uncertain; he belonged to the custody of Cahors
Cahors
Cahors is the capital of the Lot department in south-western France.Its site is dramatic being contained on three sides within an udder shaped twist in the river Lot known as a 'presqu'île' or peninsula...
and was secretary to St. Bonaventure. He took up the pen after the Seraphic Doctor, he tells us, to gather the ears the latter had dropped from his sheaf, lest anything of so great a memory as that of St. Francis
Francis of Assisi
Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...
might perish.
Works
His Liber de Laudibus Beati Francisci, composed about 1280, besides a resume of some of the earlier legends, contains brief and valuable information about the companions of St. Francis and the foundation of the three Franciscan Orders, and is the only thirteenth-century document which specifies the first biographies of St. Francis.About 1297-1300 he compiled a catalogue of the ministers general up to his time, which is also a source of importance for the study of Franciscan history.
Critical editions of both these works have been published by the Friars Minor of Quaracchi [in Analecta Franciscana, III (1897), 666-707] and by Father Hilarin Felder of Lucerne, O. M. Cap. "Liber de Laudibus" etc. (Rome, 1897).
Bernard also wrote the life of Blessed Christopher of Cahors inserted in the Chronica XXIV Generalium
Chronica XXIV Generalium
The Chronica XXIV Generalium Ordinis Fratrum Minorum is a medieval chronicle written in Latin around 1370, possibly by the Franciscan monk Arnaud de Sarrant, though Lützelschwab doubts this attribution...
(ed. Quaracchi, 1897, 161-173) and is very probably the author of the Speculum Disciplinae and of the Epistola ad Quendam Novitium erroneously attributed to St. Bonaventure
Pseudo-Bonaventura
The Pseudo-Bonaventura, or Pseudo-Bonaventure is the name given to the authors of a number of medieval devotional works which were believed at the time to be the work of Saint Bonaventure: "It would almost seem as if 'Bonaventura' came to be regarded as a convenient label for a certain type of...
(See Bonav. Opera Omnia ed. Quaracchi, 1898, VIII, 583 sqq. and 663 sqq.).