Francesc Eiximenis

Francesc Eiximenis
Francesc Eiximenis
Native name	Francesc Eiximenis
Born	between 1330 and 1335 Girona
Died	1409 Perpignan
Education	Oxford University
Occupation	writer

Francesc Eiximenis (Catalan pronunciation: [fɾənˈsɛsk əʃiˈmɛnis]) (OFM) was a Franciscan Catalan writer who lived in the 14th-century Crown of Aragon. He was possibly one of the more successful medieval Catalan writers, since his works were widely read, copied, published and translated. Therefore, it can be said that both in the literary and in the political sphere he had a lot of influence. Among his readers were numbered important people of his time, such as the kings of the Crown of Aragon Peter IV, John I and Martin I, the queen Maria de Luna (wife of Martin I), and the Pope of Avignon Benedict XIII.

Francesc Eiximenis was born around 1330, possibly in Girona. When he was very young, he became a Franciscan and his education began in the Franciscan schools of Catalonia. Later, he attended the most important universities of Europe: the University of Oxford and the University of Paris. The University of Oxford influenced him notably, since the Franciscans had there an important school. Thus, several English Franciscans (and British authors in general) are the thinkers who most influenced Eiximenis, such as Robert Grosseteste (whom Eiximenis calls Linconiensis, since he was bishop of Lincoln), John of Wales, Richard Kilvington, Alexander of Hales, Richard of Middleton, Thomas Bradwardine, William of Ockham, John Duns Scotus.