MAILLARD, OLIVIER. - Franciscan, born at Juigné, in Brittany, ca. 1430; died at Toulouse on 22 July 1502. He took the habit in the Observant vicariate of Aquitaine, where he held the office of provincial superior five times. He was also, on three occasions, vicar general of the Transalpine Observance (1487, 1493, 1499).
During his last three-year term of government, the first Franciscan missionaries departed for the recently discovered America. He was a great orator and carried out his activity especially in southern France and also in Germany; a man of blunt frankness, he also left many writings, particularly oratorical and ascetical ones, which went through many editions. Among the oratorical writings to be noted are: Sermones de adventu, quadragesimales et dominicales (3 vols., Paris 1497-1498), the Sermones dominicales (2 vols., Paris 1515-16), and the Quadragesimale preached at Bruges. Among the ascetical writings are various treatises on the Passion of N. S. Gesù Cristo and a method for Confession (Paris 1481). He also wrote works in French, collected by A. de la Barderie (Nantes 1877).