Two Views Of John XXII As A Heretical Pope

Abstract

Pope John XXII was both a lover and a critic of the Order of Friars Minor, and medieval Franciscan views of him were similarly ambivalent. A systematic consideration of the circulation of texts attributed to John XXII in Franciscan manuscripts might off set the negative impression derived from the sources surrounding the poverty controversies of his reign which tend to cast him in the role of an erring pope. Such sources can be divided, grosso modo , into two groups which correspond to the two poverty controversies of the pontificate: the Spirituals and the Michaelists. This chapter presents a brief survey of the treatment of John XXII by each group and a consideration of their historical significance in light of recent scholarship. Among the sources emanating from the ambit of the Franciscan Spirituals, the most important is surely Angelo Clareno's History of the Seven Tribulations of the Franciscan Order . Keywords: Franciscan manuscripts; Franciscan Spirituals; John XXII; medieval Franciscan views; Michaelists