LULLY, RAYMOND.
I. Life. Scientific (§ 3).
II. Works. Polemic (§ 4).
Poetical (§ 1). Dogmatic (§ 5).
Methodical (§ 2). Ascetic (§ 6).
III. Posthumous Fortunes.
Raymond Lully (Ramon Lull, Raymundus Lullus) was born on Majorca (Balearic Islands) c. 1232; d. at sea near Cabrera, another of the Balearic Islands, June 30, 1315. As poet, philosopher, theologian, missionary, and martyr, he was one of the most remarkable personages of the Middle Ages for a combination of the most varied mental qualities, for adventurous and many-sided activity, and for the influence which he exercised not only on his own countrymen and contemporaries but on distant generations. His importance in the history of theology is due to the fact that, like his contemporary and fellow Franciscan Roger Bacon, he followed the path pointed out by St. Francis, that leading to the knowledge of God by study of the life of his creatures, in the direction of a scientifically organized natural theology; and also to the manner in which his fiery propagandist zeal anticipated the work done by his countryman Ignatius of Loyola 250 years later.
I. Life: Singularly little, however, is known with certainty about his life. Outside of the scanty biographical indications found in his works, the best source is the life by an anonymous disciple written in 1312. He came of a rich and noble family, and lived until he was thirty at the court of King James of Aragon, where he was grand seneschal. This period of his life was careless and worldly; he spent his time in the pursuit of pleasure and knightly exercises, including the practise of poetry in the manner of the courtly troubadours of the time. Suddenly convinced of the vanity of earthly pleasures, he turned to heavenly things and resolved to devote his life to the cause of Christ. He distributed most of his property among the poor, made pilgrimages to Compostela and other shrines, and returned to his native island with the intention of missionary labors among the mainly Mohammedan population of that and the neighboring lands. He learned Arabic from a Moorish slave, who made an attempt on his life. About the same time, certainly before 1275, he met the aged Dominican scholar Raymond of Pennaforte (q.v.), to whom he unfolded his plan of seeking knowledge at the University of Paris, but was dissuaded. He then withdrew to a hermitage he made for him-
Lully
THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
self on his property in Majorca, broke off intercourse with his family, and gave himself up to meditation and study. He seems to have entered the third order of St. Francis; at least he brought thirteen young Franciscans as the first students to the college opened at Miramar in Majorca (Nov., 1276) for the study of the Arabic and Chaldean tongues, the direction of which he undertook with the sanction of Pope John XXI. He was also occupied at this time with the composition of his ambitious Ars magna. About 1285 he thought the time had come to carry out his extensive missionary plans, and went to Rome to obtain the sanction of Honorius IV. for his project of erecting missionary institutes in all countries of Christendom. But Honorius was dead when he reached Rome, and Nicholas IV. seemed little inclined to favor his views. He went to Paris, where he is said to have lectured on his philosophic method (1287-89), then to Montpellier, where he continued his lectures and studies. After about two years there and one at Genoa, he set sail from the latter port in the autumn of 1291 to attempt a missionary campaign in Africa, landed at Bugia in Tunis, preached against Islam, and challenged the fanatical Mohammedan scholars to a public disputation. His words made some impression, and the king, feeling that the Mohammedan supremacy was threatened, condemned him to death, which was commuted to banishment by the intercession of a learned man. He remained in concealment on a ship in the harbor for some time, seeking an opportunity to penetrate once more into the country, but finally lost hope and returned to Italy. He spent about a year (1292-93) in Naples, completing his Tabula generalis and writing his Disputatio quinque sapientum. His hopes revived with the election of Pope Celestine V., whose pontificate, however, was too short to accomplish anything, while his successor Boniface VIII. had other things to think about. After a sojourn of two years in Rome, during which he composed his poem Desconort and his treatise Arbor sciential, he went back to Genoa (1296), and then, after a short visit in Majorca, to Paris (1298-99). About 1300-01 is the most probable date for his visit to the Levant in pursuance of his plans for the conversion of the Mohammedans. The years 1302-05, full of literary activity, were spent between Genoa, Majorca, Montpellier, and Paris. In 1305 or 1306 he made a second attempt on North Africa, this time with the special design of opposing the Averroists. He ventured to appear once more in Bugia, passing through many perils and spending six months in rigorous captivity, only to be banished once more. On the return journey he was shipwrecked near Pisa and lost all his possessions, including his books. He now went to Avignon to see the new pope, Clement V., but again met with discouragement, and lectured once more in Paris (1309-11). In the latter year he appeared at the Synod of Vienne and addressed the assembled bishops several times, urging the condemnation of Averroism, the union of the spiritual orders of knighthood into one, the conquest of the Holy Land, and especially the erection of missionary colleges and chairs for instruc-
tion in the oriental languages. The last proposal was the only one adopted; professorships of oriental languages were created at Avignon, Paris, Bologna, Oxford, and Salamanca. From Vienne he seems to have gone first to Majorca, then to have been in Paris and Montpellier again, and to have sailed in the winter of 1314 from Messina for his last African missionary journey. After a short stay in Tunis, he returned to Bugia, where he lay concealed for a time with Christian merchants. Presently, however, he emerged into public notice with fresh fiery attacks on Islam. The Mohammedan population rose against him, drove him out of the city with sticks and stones, and left him half dead on the shore, where he was picked up by two Christian ship captains, but died the next day on the way to Majorca.
The dominant thought of all his later life and literary remains is the idea of Christian missionary enterprise, of which, in the modern sense, he may almost be called the pioneer. To proclaim in the very home of Islam, in the speech of the oriental peoples, the Gospel of Christ; to provide a new and simple scientific method, adapted to all subjects and capacities, for meeting both non-Christian and heretical opponents of the truth; to set before Christian people in the vernacular and in popular form the ideal of the Christian life, the fervor of mystical love of God, and finally to seal this testimony by the sacrifice of his life — such was the purpose and the achievement of nearly fifty years of his life.
II. Works: Of several hundred works left by him only a comparatively small part is printed; many manuscripts are extant in Spanish, French, and German libraries. It may be sufficient here, without going into the minute classification sometimes attempted, to give some account of the more important divisions of his work.
Among his fellow countrymen he is still considdered primarily as a poet. His Obras rimadas (ed. Rosello, Palma, 1859) count among the most valuable products of the medieval nai. Poetical, tional literature of Spain, belonging to the Catalan-Provencal branch. The best known is El Desconort, composed of sixty-nine twelve-line stanzas in the form of a dialogue between the author and a pious hermit who tries to console him for the discouragement described above.
Outside of Spain, he owes his fame principally to his scientific method (Ars magna or generalis or universalis), which has been as much overestimated by a distinct Lullist school as
2. Meth- underestimated by others. Its esodical. sence consists in the arrangement of a number of partly formal, partly material concepts, which are designated by letters, in various circles or other mathematical figures, in such a way that by turning the circles or drawing connecting lines all possible combinations may readily be perceived. The concepts are not explained or made the basis of deductions, but are merely schematized. Mechanical as the whole process seems, it met a want of the age; and there were not only a number of enthusiastic Lullists in