Jacobus de Voragine

Carrie Beneš (New College of Florida)

Ed. by Jo Ann Cavallo, Columbia University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.6.1: Italian Writing and Culture, 453-present.
Vol. editors: Carla Bregman (Independent Scholar - North America), Jo Ann Cavallo (Columbia University)

Dates

Born c. 1228
Died 14 Jul 1298
Activity 1244-1298

Places

Born in Italy
Active in Italy

Activities

Primary

Archbishop
Preacher
Theologian
Writer / Author

Resources

de Voragine's Works

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Jacobus de Voragine (1228/9–1298) was a Dominican friar, author, and archbishop of Genoa (1292–8). Best known for the collection of saints’ lives known as the

Golden Legend

(Latin

Legenda aurea

), which he compiled in the 1260s, he also wrote hundreds of model sermons, a chronicle of Genoa, and a number of short hagiographical treatises. While he is usually referred to in English-language scholarship by the Latinate form of his name,

Jacobus de Voragine

, Jacobus refers to himself as

Jacobus de Varagine

—that is, James from Varazze, a small coastal town west of Genoa. Modern Italian forms of his name such as

Jacopo da Varazze

reflect those origins (depending on context, Jacobus’s first name can appear as Jacobus/Iacobus, Jacopo/Iacopo, or Giacomo and his toponym as Varazze,…

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2694 words

Citation: Beneš, Carrie. "Jacobus de Voragine". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 August 2018 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5550, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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