History had many obligations toward society and one of the most important is that of reminding people about the victories and glories as well! as the mistakes and absurdities which humanity has brought about over the centuries. Ideally, we will learn to minimize repeating our past stupidities; one way of doing this is to resurrect occasionally those movements, events, or persons that exemplified us at our best. One exceptional example which can serve as such an optimistic reminder ts the thirteenth-century Dominican historian, Vincent de Beauvais, whose three-part Speculum Majus still stands as a monument to humanity’s sense of dedication and industry. - [Author]

Language: English