Vincent De Paul
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
ST., a French philanthropist; born in Ranquines, France, April 24, 1577. After studying in a convent of the Cordeliers, he went to the University of Toulouse, and in 1600 was ordained priest. On a voyage from Marseilles to Narbonne, he was captured by pirates, and sent to Tunis, where he was kept in slavery for two years under three masters, the last of whom he converted to Christianity, and escaped with him to France, in 1607. He soon after settled in Paris, devoting himself to works of charity. He was named almoner to Margaret of Valois, held for a short time the cure of Clichy, and in 1613 became tutor to the sons of Philippe de Gondi, one of whom became afterward celebrated as the Cardinal de Retz. In 1616 he began those labors as missionary which occupied so large a part of his life, and the next year he founded the "Brotherhood of Charity," the model of so many others afterward established. His next great task was the reform of the condition of criminals condemned to the galleys; for which great service he was appointed almoner-general of the galleys. This unwearied philanthropist founded, in 1623, the Congregation of the Mission, which was constituted by royal letters patent, and approved by the Pope. In 1634 he instituted the order of "Sisters of Charity," the most widely known, perhaps, of all his foundations. He attended Louis XIII. on his death bed; was named by the Queen Regent Anne of Austria president of the Council of Conscience, took part in the controversy between the Jesuits and the Jansenists, against the latter; and died in the convent of the Lazarists, Sept. 27, 1660. He was canonized by Pope Clement XII., in 1737.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The life Collier's set out in 1921 is still the standard one, but two details have shifted. Most scholars now date Vincent's birth to 1581 rather than the 1577 given here, which would make him only nineteen at his ordination in 1600; and the celebrated two years of slavery in Tunis, known only from two letters he wrote in 1607-08, has been questioned by historians who doubt the letters or suspect the story was embroidered. His foundations outlived him on a scale the entry only hints at: the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians) and the Daughters of Charity both remain active worldwide, and the lay Society of St Vincent de Paul, founded in his name by Frederic Ozanam in Paris in 1833, now operates in some 150 countries. Leo XIII named him patron of all works of charity in 1885, a title he still holds.
Written for this edition, 2026.