Hugh of Vaucemain

Who was Hugh of Vaucemain?

Hugh of Vaucemain was a French Dominican, who became head of his order in 1333. He was a Burgundian.

His time as Master-General was marked by a conflict with Pope Benedict XII. Benedict, a Cistercian, was attempting a reform of the monastic orders. Hugh's position as the head of a mendicant order was apparently not against the reform as such, but derived from the feeling that the mendicants' position would then be threatened.

The Order numbered around 12,000 at this time, according to a census of 1337. This was a decade before the Black Death, which caused a general fall in population.