Lull, Ramón

(c. 1232–c. 1316)

   Missionary, Mystic and Philosopher.

   Lull was born in Majorca and was educated as a knight. At the age of thirty he had a religious experience and was determined to dedicate the rest of his life to the conversion of the Muslims and Jews. To this end he learnt Arabic. In 1276 he organised the setting up of a Franciscan monastery in which the friars could study Arabic and prepare for missionary work. Then, from 1287, he travelled constantly around Europe raising support for his projects and he also made three missionary journeys to North Africa. He wrote a huge number of books including his Ars Generalis Ultima which showed strong neo-Platonist leanings. As a mystic, he defended the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception and he is today appreciated as a forerunner of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross.

   E.A. Peers, Ramón Lull: A Biography (1929);

   J.N. Hillgarth, Ramón Lull and Lullism in Fourteenth Century France (1971).