Eiximenis (1327-1409) and his works

Eiximenis (1327-1409) and his works.

From 26 November 2009 to 2 February 2010

Duc de Calàbria exhibition room – La Nau

From Tuesday to Saturday, from 10 to 13.30 and from 16 to 20 h.

Sunday, from 10 to 14 h.

Llibret de ma [+]

Project and production by Academia Valenciana de la Llengua

In cooperation with Universitat de València

Curator: Ramón Ferrer

Biography

Francesc Eiximenis (Girona, 1327 - Perpignan, 1409) was a Franciscan friar and a writer. He wrote his works in Catalan. He studied in a Franciscan School and graduated in Theology at the University of Toulouse. He travelled in Europe (Oxford and Paris) to complete his academic education. He returned to Catalonia, where he taught, preached and carried out political projects commissioned by the Councils of Barcelona and Valencia, where he lived between 1383 and 1408 and wrote most of his works. Eiximenis’ success in Valencia was immediate. He carried out relevant political activities in the city. He was a regular advisor to the city counsellors and the city in general, for which he was paid in cash and with religious habits. Although only a short excerpt of one of his sermons has been preserved, his preaching activity in Valencia was intense. He was one of the three priests commissioned by the councilmen to prepare the words of praise for the funeral of King Peter IV of Aragon in 1387. Brother Francesc also sought to placate the ongoing disputes between the civil and ecclesiastical powers of Valencia. He was also an advisor to the kings. He was indeed a man of prestige. He was awarded the honorific title of Patriarch of Jerusalem by Pope Benedict XIII and was appointed Bishop of Elna, in Roussillon. He died in Perpignan shortly after, in 1409.

His works

His works, of a religious and moralist nature, were written in Latin and mainly in Catalan. His Latin works were addressed to university and ecclesiastical readers while what he wrote in vulgar language was avidly read by an urban, non-specialised audience. His purpose was to provide lay people with religious and civil education, offering clever syntheses of scholastic thinking in a simple and plain style full of examples that made the understanding of the doctrine easier.

''Lo crestià'' (The Christian) is his most important work in Catalan. It was initially conceived in 13 volumes as a “summary of the foundations of Christianity” in his own words. Eiximenis sought to encourage the study of theology among laymen. However, only four volumes are known. He then wrote ''Llibre dels àngels'' (Book of Angels) (1392), ''Vita Christi'' his most successful and translated book (written before 1403 and initially planned in Latin but finally written in Catalan); ''Scala Dei'' or ''Tractat de Contemplació'' (1406), following a requirement by María de Luna, the wife of King Martin I of Aragon.

His works were circulated extensively –first as manuscripts and later on as books- and were translated into numerous languages. They are a valuable reference for the study of Calatan society and culture in the 14^th and 15^th centuries and, especially, of the influence of scholastic concepts on Catalan literature at the time. Their value in Catalan literature lies in the quality of the prose, the recreation of popular language, and the position of the author as a narrator of popular examples and scenes..