Antonio de Córdoba on the relationship between council and pope

Abstract

Most studies of the intellectual history of Spain’s Golden Age focus on Dominicans or Jesuits. Antonio de Córdoba, a sixteenth-century Franciscan, deserves attention. Antonio served as guardian of the Franciscan Observants of Alcalá and provincial minister for Castile. His thought on the Church and the papacy was presented in Arma fidei and its related distinctions, published in Quaestionarium theologicum libris quinque distinctum (1569; 1570). Arma fidei rejected Protestant errors and embraced the roles of pope and council in the Church. In opposition to Protestantism, he embraced tradition alongside Scripture. At the time of the Council of Trent, Antonio invoked conciliar authority to support orthodoxy, while avoiding conciliarism. Antonio criticized the councils of Constance and Basel for exceeding their remit: the pope too could speak authoritatively about doctrine and was superior in jurisdiction. Either might err in practical matters. Dealing with the potential for disagreements between pope and council on doctrine, Antonio resorted to the concept of “due diligence.” The pope had to do “what was in him,” inquiring diligently into any matter and invoking divine aid. A general council was also required to do “what was in it,” saying that it required divine aid in the pursuit of the truth.