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Ockham: Avignon, Before and After

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2016

Francis E. Kelley*
Affiliation:
The Franciscan Institute, St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure, New York
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Extract

In this paper I shall ask and try to respond to two questions. The first question is: why did William of Ockham go to Avignon?; the second is: what effect did his visit there have on him?

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Ecclesiastical History Society 1987 

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References

1 Hoffmann, F., Die erste Kritik des Ockhamismus durch den Oxforder Kanzler Johannes Lutterell (Breslau 1941) pp. 18Google Scholar, and Die Schriften des Oxforder Kanzlers Iohannes Lutterell (Leipzig 1959) pp. 123-6; Guelluy, R. Philosophie et Theologie chez Guillaume d’Ockham (Louvain and Paris 1947) pp. 5Google Scholar seq; J. Miethke, , Ockhams Weg Zur Sozialphilosophie (Berlin 1969) pp. 4958.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

2 This work was edited by Hoffmann, , Die Schriften, pp. 3102Google Scholar. The edition is based on the single known copy, found in MS Prague Metropolitan Chapter C CV (537) fols. 126-ra-144va. The editor’s work was made very difficult, for as he says: ‘Der Schreiber verstand nicht viel vom Inhalt der Abhandlung… Er schrieb völlig univerständliche Worte oder liess ein Stück der Zeile frei; so entstanden Lücken’, p. 129. It is worth noting that the Libellus reads very much like a typical Quaestio disputata, see Hoffmann, , Die Schriften, pp. 125–0Google Scholar and Koch, J., ‘Neue Aktensrücke zu dem gegen Wilhelm Ockham in Avignon geführten Prozess’, RTAM 8 (1935) p. 361.Google Scholar

3 There were in fact two lists of articles. The second of these lists was first published by Pelzer, A. in ‘Les 51 articles de Guillaume Occam censurés, en Avignon, en 1326’, RHE 18 (1922) pp. 241270Google Scholar. His edition is based on MS Vat lat 3075 fols 1r-5r. Later, Koch gave us his edition of the first list (based on the two extant copies found in MS Prague Metropolitan Chapter C CV (537) fols. 144va-148va and MS Basel F II 25 fols. 10ra-12rb) along with a reprint, with some improvements, of Pelzer’s previously published second list: ‘Neue Aktensrücke’, RTAM 8 (1936) pp. 81-93; 168-194.

4 Koch, ‘Neue Aktensrücke’, RTAM 7 (1935) p. 363 seq and Hoffmann, , Die Schriften, p. 126.Google Scholar

5 ‘Das zweite Gutachten wurde anscheinend durch den Einwand Ockhams veranlasst, die von der Kommission verurteilten Artikel seien nicht von ihm gelehrt worden’, Hoffmann, Die Schriften, p. 126.

6 That is, not formally. Hoffmann offers good reasons why this is probably not the case, Die erste Kritik, pp. 7-8.

7 Bull Franc 5 ed. C. Eubel, (Rome 1898) n. 711, pp. 345-6.

8 These words occur in a letter written in Sept. 1325 by John XXII to Edward II, reassuring the king that Lutterell’s extended stay in Avignon is no cause for alarm; indeed, quite to the contrary Lutterell’s present work at die Curia is of the greatest benefit to all: ‘Volentes regalem excellentiam non latere quod ex hiis quae dictus Joannes proposuit coram nobis, nec tibi nec regno tuo praeiudicium aliquod vel scandalum contingere poterit, sed potius honor et utilitas provenire sperantur verisimiliter Ecclesiae Anglicanae’, Registra Vaticana, 113 fol. 24 (my transcription). See also, Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland: Papal Letters, 1198-1484, ed. W. H. Bliss and C. Johnson 13 vols. (London 1895) 2 p. 472.

9 For the letter confirming Lutterell as Chancellor, see Snappe’sFormulary, ed. H. E. Salter OHS 80 (1924) pp. 70-1; for the letter referring to his recent removal from office, see Mediaeval Archives of the University of Oxford 2 vols. 1 ed. H. E. Salter OHS 70 (1917) pp. 105-6.

10 Formularies which bear on the History of Oxford, c. 1204-1420 2 vols. ed. H. E. Salter, W. A. Pantin, H. G. Richardson 1 OHS (1939) pp. 3-5.

11 The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages, new edition by F. M. Powicke and A. B. Emden (Oxford 1936) p. 74.

12 Formularies 1 p. 4.

13 Ibid.

14 Wood, A., The History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford 2 vols, translated by Gutch, J. 1 (Oxford 1792) p. 400.Google Scholar

15 Formularies 1 pp. 72-4.

16 Mediaeval Archives, pp. 105-6.

17 The History and Antiquities, p. 404.

18 See above, p. I.

19 Pantin, W. A., The English Church in the Fourteenth Century (Notre Dame 1962) p. 134.Google Scholar

20 See above, note 16.

21 Foedera,2, pt. 1 ed. T. Rymer (London 1818) pp. 494-5.

22 Calendar of Patent Rolls of Edward II, ed. G. Handcock and J. Black 5 vols. (London 1904) 4 P. 336.

23 Pelzer says that Lutterell ‘… avait voulu se rendre dès cette année, à Avignon pour y poursuivre sa cause contre l’Université…’, ‘Les 51 articles’, p. 246. Hoffmann says, quite correctly, this was most unlikely his purpose. Die Schriften, p. 124.

24 These condemned propositions are found in Cod. Merton 284 fol. 116. For a discussion of this manuscript and the condemned propositions see G. Etzkorn ‘Codex Merton 284: Evidence of Ockham’s Early influence at Oxford’, here pp. 32-4.

25 Ockham rejects the validity of the distinctions found in the condemned propositions, Opera Theologica, ed. G. Etzkorn 9 vols (New York 1977) 3 pp. 292-317; on p. 295 he calls them simpliciterfalsus vel nimis abusivus.

26 De statu huius curie vobis significo per presentes quod dominus noster summus pontifex magnam et specialem affectionem, quam pre hiis temporibus pretexfu sapiencie civilis erga iuristas conceperat, modo de novo ad theologos et maxime ad magistros in sacra pagina transtulit integre et perfecte; adeo quod quiscumque magister expertus re et nomine in theologia, dignus habere nomen magisterie dignitatis, hie ad sedem apostolicam veniens, a curia non recedit. In primis dominus papa de dignitatibus magnis et prebendis eis libenter providet et secundum varias condiciones personarum quosdam ad culmen episcopalis dignitatis et alios ad sedes archiepiscopales transfert, conferens ut convenu unicuique secundum exigenciam meritorum… Eapropter, si placeret vesrre discretioni immense fatuitati mei capitis consentire, vobis pro honore vestro et profectu non modico consilium do, et ut firmiter credo consilium salutare, quod tamquam nuncius alicuius magni regis, comitis, seu episcopi hic ad curiam post Natale Domini iter caperetis, moram tantum per unius anni quarterium facientes, nisi ex tunc vobis daretur maior spes et fiducia uberior moram hic ulterius faciendi. Pro constanti scio quod cum hue venissetis et disputaciones duas de aliqua bona materia theologica per vos bene previsa et precogitata hie inter theologos huius curie fecissetis, quod plus in brevi reportaretis comodi et honoris, quam umquam de omnibus scolasticis actibus habuistis. Cum igitur in vobis (benedictus sit altissimus) vigeant vigor et iuventus et ad laborandum potentia corporalis, et una cum hiis in persona vestra prefulgeant plenitudo omnis sapientie, subrilitas opponendi, et maxima gracia bene et solempniter disputandi, nolite vos dare adhuc ocio et quieti set ad vestri et vestrorum omnium comodum et profectum agendi, ut premisi, modicum laborem suscipite in presenti…’ Snappe’s Formulary, pp. 304-5. In a review of Hoffmann’s Die Schriften, P. Servus (Gieben) a St. Anthonis, after referring to Stephen’s letter as a ‘… documentum historicum hucusque neglectum, quo nova aliqua lux irradiare potest originem et occasionem Libelli’, concludes his review with the very shrewd remarle ‘Tantummodo innuere volumus quod plura forsan erant movenria eaque humana (my italics) ex quibus processus contra Ockham originem sumpsit, quam A. aliique viri studiosi generatim credunt’, Coll. Franc. 30 (1960) p. 343.

27 Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers 2 passim

28 Miethke also, in Ockhams Weg, acknowledges the possibility of the motivating force of Stephen’s letter: ‘Wir wissen nicht, wie weit diese verheissungsvolle Aufforderung (that is, Stephen’s letter) Lutterell, dem an einem weiteren Aufenthalt in Oxford kaum noch gelegen sein konte, in seinen Reiseplänen bestimmt oder bestärkt hat’, p. 58.

29 It is possible, even perhaps likely, that in accordance with Stephen de Kettleburg’s proposal, Lutterell arrived in Avignon with his quaestio de bona materia in theologia (that is, the Libellus) already prepared before leaving England, and presented it before the theologians at the Curia. This hypothesis is strengthened by the fact that the Libellus reads very much like a typical Quaestio disputata, see above, note 2.

30 Guillaume d’Occam sa vie, ses oeuvres, ses idées sociales et politiques (Paris 1950) pp. 96-116. While Ockham as he lectured in Oxford doubtless already knew much about the opposition between the Pope and certain Franciscans over how one ought to understand evangelical poverty, his four year sojourn in Avignon and his close association there with some of the leading Franciscan critics such as Bonagratia de Bergamo and Michael of Cesena, led him gradually to the conviction that John XXII had fallen into heresy. See Opus Nonaginta Dierum, Guillelmi de Ockham Opera Politica 3 vols. ed. R. F. Bennett and J. G. Sikes 1 (Manchester 1940) Introduction pp. 289 seq.

31 We should not however imagine that Ockham’s polemical writings amounted to no more than a defensive apologetic. His concerns had a wide range, including for example evangelical poverty, the problem of an heretical Pope and the correct understanding of the Beatific vision. Two relatively recent fine works on Ockham’s political thought are: McGrade, A. S., The Political thought of William of Ockham (Cambridge 1974)CrossRefGoogle Scholar and Miethke Ockhams Weg, especially cap. 3-4. For a good summary of the editorial status of Ockham’s political writings, along with proposed dates for their composition, see Junghans, H. Ockham im Lichte der neueren Forschung (Berlin and Hamburg 1968) pp. 91104.Google Scholar

32 Wadding, L., Annales Minorum seu trium ordinum a S. Francisco Institutorum, ed. Minor, Friars 25 vols. (Quarrachi 1932) 8 p. 12.Google Scholar

33 Gál, G., ‘William of Ockham died “impenitent” in April 1347’, in press.Google Scholar

34 I must emphasize here that what follows is not intended to be in any sense an overview of Ockham’s political thought.

35 ‘Ockham’s Political Ideas’in Collected Articles on Ockham, ed. E. M. Buytaert (New York 1958) p. 444. (This article first appeared in The Review of Politics 3 (1943) pp. 462-487).

36 Junghans, , Ockham im Lichte, p. 91 seq.Google Scholar

37 Breviloquium de Potestate Papae, ed. L. Baudry (Paris 1937) p. 42.

38 Romanus, Aegidius, De Ecclesiastica Potestate, ed. Scholz, R. (Weimar 1929) p. 206.Google Scholar

39 The best edition of this work, and the one referred to subsequently is by Scholz, R. in Unbekannte kirchenpolitische Streitschriften aus der Zeit Ludwigs des Bayem (1327-1354), 2 vols. (Rome 1914) 2 pp. 453480Google Scholar. A later edition was done by Brampton, C. K.: The De Imperatorum el Pontificum Potestate of William of Ockham (Oxford 1927).Google Scholar

40 De Imperatorum, p. 455.

41 Ibid. p. 459, 467.

42 Ibid. p. 456.

43 The Political thought, p. 141 note 179. In this note, McGrade refers to a number of places in other political works of Ockham where the notion of gospel liberty is put to work.

44 PL 33 221-2. (De Imperatorum, p. 457-8).

45 Summa Theol 12 107 art. 4 corp.

46 De Imperatorum, pp. 457-8.

47 De Imperatorum, p. 458. These exact words are not in Saint Ambrose, but see PL 17 530.

48 De Imperatorum, pp. 460 seq.

49 pp. 467-8.

50 p. 465.

51 Brevioloquium de Potatale Papae, ed. Baudry (Paris 1937); R. Scholz edited this work again in Wilhelm von Okham ab politischer Denker undsein Breviloquium de principato tirannico (Stuttgart 1944).

52 De Imperatorum, p. 470.

53 For what follows see my Richard Knapwell Quaestio disputata de Unitale Formae (Paris and New York 1982) pp. 9-44.