RICHARD OF SAINT-VICTOR
(d. 1173). A major writer on mysticism in the second half of the 12th century, Richard
joined the regular canons of the abbey of Saint-Victor at Paris sometime near the middle
of the century (certainly by the early 1150s but perhaps before the death of Hugh of
Saint-Victor in 1141). He may have been born in Scotland. He served as subprior and
was elected prior in 1161. His writings on the contemplative life were widely known and
influenced Bonaventure’s treatise Itinerarium mentis in Deum.
Richard followed the tradition of Victorine spirituality established by Hugh, but he
concentrated more on the stages of development in the mystical life and on what today
would be called the psychological aspects of that development. Two of his major
mystical writings are symbolic interpretations of biblical persons, objects, and narratives.
De duodecim patriarchiis (also called Benjamin minor) interprets the births and lives of
the twelve sons and one daughter of Jacob, recorded in Genesis, as representing the
stages of ascetic practice, mental discipline, and spiritual guidance that lead to
contemplative ecstasy. De arca mystica (also called Benjamin major) presents the Ark of
the Covenant and the two cherubim that stood on either side of it, described in Exodus, as
symbolic of the six kinds or levels of contemplation. Books 4 and 5 of De arca give a
subtle and influential analysis of types of visionary and ecstatic experience. Richard’s De
IV gradibus violentae caritatis analyzes the stages of the love of God and the
transformation of the self by love in the mystical quest. Richard also wrote a commentary
on the Book of Revelation, a treatise on the Trinity, mystical comments on various
Psalms, a handbook for the Liberal Arts and the study of history (Liber exceptionum;
digested primarily from works by Hugh of Saint-Victor), a collection of allegorical
sermons, and treatises on biblical and mystical topics.
Grover A.Zinn
[See also: BONAVENTURE; HUGH OF SAINT-VICTOR; MYSTICISM;
REGULAR CANONS; SAINT-VICTOR, ABBEY AND SCHOOL OF]
Richard of Saint-Victor. Opera omnia. PL 196.
——. De Trinitate, ed. Jean Ribaillier. Paris: Vrin, 1958.
——. Liber exceptionum, ed. Jean Châtillon. Paris: Vrin, 1958.
——. Selected Writings on Contemplation, trans. Claire Kirchberger. London: Faber, 1957.
——. The Twelve Patriarchs, The Mystical Ark, and Book Three on the Trinity, trans. Grover
A.Zinn. New York: Paulist, 1979.
——. Les quatre degrés de la violente charité, ed. Gervais Dumeige. Paris: Vrin, 1955.
Dumeige, Gervais. Richard de Saint-Victor et l’idée chrétienne de l’amour. Paris: Presses
Universitaires de France, 1952.
Zinn, Grover A. “Personification Allegory and Visions of Light in Richard of St. Victor’s Teaching
on Contemplation.” University of Toronto Quarterly 46 (1977):190–214.
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