Secular Masters Research Articles

Apogee and Decline of Chilean Cathedral Music in the Nineteenth Century: Revisiting the Historiographical Canon

Samuel Claro Valdés established the idea of the nineteenth-century apogee and decline of cathedral music in Chile. From his point of view, performances by religious musicians represented the decline of music staged at the Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral, whereas secular masters represented a period of apogee there. This article draws on evidence-based research to show that his historical narrative is not built on hard facts related to musical performance. The basis for our critique is an in-depth study of the historical context and professional life of choirmaster Manuel Arrieta—a figure allegedly responsible, in Claro Valdés’s interpretations, for the cathedral’s musical decline.

Conhecimento e mendicância como epicentro do embate entre Boaventura de Bagnoregio e Guilherme de Santo Amor no século XIII

O objetivo desse artigo é refletir sobre o embate travado na Universidade de Paris entre os mestres seculares e os mestres mendicantes. Essa querela ocorreu porque os seculares sentiramse ameaçados com a entrada dos mendicantes na Universidade. Para realizar essa reflexão, elegemos como fontes para o estudo o escrito de Guillherme de Santo Amor intitulado Tractatus brevis de periculis novissimorum temporum (Breve tratado sobre os perigos dos últimos tempos) como representante dos mestres seculares e três escritos de Boaventura de Bagnoregio: Cuestiones disputadas sobre la Perfeccion Evangélica, A perfeição da vida e Itenerário da Mente para Deus. No epicentro dessa disputa estavam a mendicância e o conhecimento. A partir dessas duas questões, os contentadores escolheram como arma de combate a pena e a Universidade tornou-se a liça. Procuraremos explicitar que, por meio desses escritos, poderemos compreender as mudanças sociais e teóricas que ocorriam no Ocidente medieval, colocando na ordem do dia uma nova visão de mundo, da qual os mendicantes eram seus expositores. Observamos, também, que nossas reflexões consideram os escritos da perspectiva da história social e teremos a memória como nosso fio condutor.

Spencer E. Young, Scholarly Community at the Early University of Paris: Theologians, Education and Society, 1215–1248. (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series 94.) Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014. Pp. x, 260. $95. ISBN: 978-1-107-03104-3.

Spencer E. Young, <i>Scholarly Community at the Early University of Paris: Theologians, Education and Society, 1215–1248</i>. (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series 94.) Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014. Pp. x, 260. $95. ISBN: 978-1-107-03104-3.

The Place of the Money Bag in the Secular-Mendicant Controversy at Paris

The Place of the Money Bag in the Secular-Mendicant Controversy at Paris Robert J. Karris O.F.M. (bio) Money bag, money bag. So many Bible-reading Christians don't know of your existence. In their defense I note that you are only mentioned twice in the entire New Testament: John 12:6 and 13:29. If faithful Bible-reading Christians don't know of your existence, what is your fate among the faithful who are less than faithful?! Is ignorance truly bliss? New Testament Scholars Money bag, money bag. Perhaps, New Testament scholars are the reason why you are almost unknown among Christians.1 Commentators on John's Gospel give you a passing notice, if that.2 Even when they make mention of you, they [End Page 21] generally don't integrate your existence with other features of John's theology or life situation.3 As for the Jesus Seminar, its members sweep you into the dustbin of history along with 99.9% of John's Gospel.4 You see, you are deemed unhistorical. A couple of scholars involved in the quest for the historical Jesus say "Hi!" to you, but then go on with more important matters.5 Other scholars involved in the application [End Page 22] of social science methodology to the study of the New Testament opine that you were kept as a security measure and contained money to pay for the annual temple tax and such like obligations, but then they hold their peace.6 Money bag, money bag. Scholars who have investigated the theme of rich and poor in the New Testament hardly give [End Page 23] you a second glance. You do not play a leading role in their general conclusions.7 So, money bag, we have to take leave of New Testament scholarship if we are going to make your acquaintance on a serious level. The Middle Ages Francis of Assisi As we move into the Middle Ages, we ask: Did St. Francis of Assisi provide us with guidance on how to treat you with the respect that you, O money bag, so richly deserve? You see, some scholars maintain that John's Gospel was most important to Francis's worldview.8 However, Francis doesn't seem to see the problem you created for his all-consuming embrace of Jesus' missionary command of traveling with no money.9 [End Page 24] Surely Francis knows of your existence, for he refers to you in his Fourth Admonition n. 3: And the more they (superiors) are perturbed about their superiorship being taken from them than they would be over the loss of the office of washing feet, so much the more do they collect for themselves a money bag (John 12:6; 13:29) to the peril of their souls.10 Francis is heir to a Benedictine spiritualization of the money bag. See how Roger the Abbot in his Sermo in ultima cena employs the money bag: Woe, how many money bags, woe, how many purses are in the monasteries of St. Benedict! Woe, how many cowls, which cover the ears of the tonsured, enclose private supplies of the mind, the money bag of one's own will, the purse of murmuring, detraction, idleness, pride, envy, jealousy, and bad will! But remember, most beloved brothers, that those who do such things follow Judas the traitor. And therefore, unless you amend your lives, you will not possess the kingdom of God.11 O money bag, so Francis goes his merry way, apparently ignorant of your true meaning and leaves the problems created by your existence to his learned followers such as Bonaventure of Bagnoregio. To Bonaventure we now turn, but do so through his responses to his secular opponents, William of Saint-Amour and Gerard of Abbeville. First let's hear from the secular masters. [End Page 25] William of Saint-Amour and Gerard of Abbeville William of Saint-Amour comments on John 12:6 and argues that it does not permit begging and is the basis for the normative view that the apostles and their successors should have a money bag. He writes: Augustine, 'the Lord had a purse to keep the offerings...

Of Angels and Pinheads: The Contributions of the Early Oxford Masters to the Doctrine of Spiritual Matter

Of Angels and Pinheads: The Contributions of the Early Oxford Masters to the Doctrine of Spiritual Matter Surely one of the strangest doctrines to emerge from the intense theological debates of the thirteenth century was the concept of spiritual matter} Traceable to the Fons vitae of Ibn Gabirol, spriritual matter (or "universal hylomorphism") in tandem with the doctrine of the plurality of forms became one of the pillars of what used to be called with such confidence the "Franciscan School."2 In fact, as I shall argue, this terminologically gauche teaching exemplifies the occasional ill fit between the newly discovered natural philosophy of Aristotle and traditional Christian teaching. The metaphysical testing ground par excellence for the compatibility of these two world views was the doctrine of the angels, spiritual substances that were at the same time limited and mutable. How, in philosophically coherent language, was one to account for their composition (or lack thereof) and their distinctiveness both from the incarnate spirits below them in the chain of being and the infinite Spirit above them? Indeed, how account for their distinction from one another? In the three or four decades before positions hardened into the Wegenstreit between the Dominicans [read "Thomists"] and the Franciscans, masters belonging to both orders, as well as secular masters, debated the issue without the constraints of following a party line. I intend in this paper to focus on the contributions to 1On the face of it an oxymoron, spiritual matter is more generally referred to by historians of philosophy by the less obtrusive label, "universal hylomorphism." The most complete treatment of the issue is still the dissertation of Erich Kleineidam, Das Problem der hylomorphen Zusammensetzung der geistigen Substanzen im 13. Jahrhundert, behandelt bis Thomas von Aqmn (Breslau, 1930). For corrections and additions to the latter see O. Lottin, "La composition hylémorphique des substances spirituelles; les débuts de la controverse," RNSP 34 (1932) 21-41. 2See e.g. Etienne Gilson, History of Christian Philosophy m the Middle Ages (New York, 1954), pp. 327-53, and David Knowles, The Evolution of Medieval Thought (London, 1962), pp. 235-48. The Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy (ed. Norman Kretzmann et al. [Cambridge, 1982]) talks of "Franciscan thinkers" and even "Franciscan thought" but avoids mention of a "Franciscan School." 239 Franciscan Studies, Vol. 56 (1998) 240R.James Long this debate of the earliest Oxford theologians who wrote on the subject, Grosseteste, Fishacre, and Rufus—a secular, a Dominican, and a Franciscan respectively.3 The Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 had set the parameters for Christian belief concerning the angelic nature, that it was, namely, spiritual: . . . creator omnium visibilium et invisibilium, spiritualium et corporalium: qui sua omnipotenti virtute simul ab initio temporis utramque de nihilo condidit creaturam, spiritualem et corporalem, angelicam videlicet et mundanam.4 But "spiritual" was philosophically imprecise (as imprecise as mundanam "earthly" in the same formula) and needed to be translated into Aristotelian terms. And herein lay the difficulty. Did "spiritual" mean pure form, as were the separate substances in Aristotle's cosmos? If so, how account for their finitude on the one hand and for their individuation on the other hand? It was to respond to these metaphysical exigencies that the notion of "spiritual matter" was born. Although Grosseteste's influence on speculative theology at the Oxford Studium, especially on the Franciscans, is difficult to exaggerate, it seems that he was not responsible for the doctrine of spiritual matter. On a number of occasions, in fact, Grosseteste insists that the angels are immaterial both in their nature and their activity.5 The sole statement of his to the contrary—namely, that in comparison with the absolute simplicity of God all creatures are material—can be explained away by the context.6 'Although one cannot ignore the influence of Parisian theologians (among them William of Auvergne, William of Auxerre, Alexander of Hales, and Philip the Chancellor) on their English counterparts, what one finds on investigation is that the distinctively empirical orientation of Oxford infuses even their angelology. 4Conc. Lateranense G?" (1215); Denzinger, Enchiridion symbolorum no. 428. 5E.g. De cessatione legahum: "Igitur simpliciter universitatem reducere ad completam unitatem non est, ut videtur, alio modo possibile...

Conrad of Megenberg: The Parisian Years

Conrad of Megenberg was one of the most important and productive German scholars in the generation before Henry of Langenstein, Henry Totting of Oyta, and Marsilius of Inghen, and like the latter three secular masters, he received much of his higher education at Paris. Conrad’s Parisian period began with his appointment as lector in philosophy at the Cistercian house of studies, the College St. Bernard. If Conrad moved out of the College St. Bernard when he became regent master in arts, his departure ironically would coincide approximately with the completion of philosophical studies and the beginning of theological studies of a young and later controversial Cistercian monk, Jean de Mirecourt. The peculiar thing is that Conrad never refers to himself as a bachelor in theology, and that title is never accorded to him when he is mentioned in papal documents, as was customary.Keywords: Conrad of Megenberg; Parisian period; theology

Usus and usura : Poverty and Usury in the Franciscans' Responses to John XXII's Quia vir reprobus

USUS AND USURA: POVERTY AND USURY IN THE FRANCISCANS' RESPONSES TO JOHN XXII'S QUIA VIR REPROBUS l INTRODUCTION: CONSUMPTIBILITY, USURY AND POVERTY In his fundamental treatment of economic issues in Ordinatio IV, dist. 15, John Duns Scotus discusses also the problem of usury. What he has to say is probably not so relevant for the originality of his conclusions as much as for one ratio against lending money at usury which he dismisses. One doctor, he says, maintains that usury is unjust because the use of money consists in its consumption, and giving it to another as a loan means consuming it.2 Such an argument is well known to historians of medieval economic thought and is often called the Thomistic argument, although its "paternity " is not ascertained beyond any doubt.3 In his most recent and brilliant monograph, Economics in the Medieval Schools, Odd Langholm names it "the argument from the consumptibility of money", because it rests on the assumption that the use of money 'The present paper rests on some results of a more comprehensive research on Francis of Ascoli originally made possible by a grant from the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung. I should like to express my gratitude not only to the Foundation, but also to Prof. C. Dolcini, to Prof. O. Capitani, and to Prof. Dr. J. Miethke for their valuable advice. For her improvements to my English I am particularly indebted to Annalisa Lambertini. Footnotes are limited to the essentials; further information can be found in the secondary sources cited. Johannes Duns Scotus, Ordinatio IV, d. IS, q. 2, n. 17 (ed.Vivés 18, 292-94), now edited in Duns Scotus' Political and Economic Philosophy, Latin Edition and English Translation by Allan B. Wolter (Santa Barbara CA: Old Mission Santa Barbara, 1989), 58-60. 3See now Odd Langholm, Economics in the Medieval Schools. Wealth, Exchange, Value, Money and Usury according to the Paris Theological Tradition, 1200-1350 (Leiden-New York-Köln: Brill, 1992), 166-167, 196-197, 241-244; cf. the almost "classic" analysis by John T. Noonan Jr., The Scholastic Analysis of Usury (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1957), 53-57. Noonan, however, should be read together with Ovidio Capitani's review article "Sulla questione dell'usura nel Medioevo," Bulkttino dell'Istituto storico italiano per U Medio Evo 70 (1958), 539-566, now in L'etica económica médiévale, ed. O. Capitani (Bologna: Patron, 1974), 23-46. 185 Franciscan Studies (54) 1994-1997 186ROBERTO LAMBERTINI (like that of other fungibles) coincides with the consumption of its substance. For this reason, money can not have any separate use value.4 According to Scotus, however, an objection can be raised against this ratio. The surprising fact is not that Duns Scotus disagreed with Aquinas on one point (according to Fr. Allan Wolter, he might actually be addressing directly Richard of Mediavilla, who sided with the Doctor communis on this issue5), but the reason for his rejection of the consumptibility argument. He does not in fact criticize it on rational grounds, but refers to the papal Bull Exiit qui seminat issued in 1279 by Nicholas III to defend the Minorites against the criticism raised from outside the Order with regard to the way Franciscans interpreted and claimed to follow the idea of evangelical poverty.6 According to Scotus, this papal declaration, included by Boniface VIII in Liber Sextus of the Decretals, states that "quarundarum rerum usus perpetuo separatur a dominio."7 The connection underlying Scotus' rather succinct counter-argument can be explained by recalling an aspect of the controversy which flared up in Paris, opposing secular clerics and mendicant friars.8 At about the same time at which Aquinas began to insert the consumptibility argument into his case against usury, the impossibility of distinguishing use and ownership in goods whose use involved their consumption was exploited by secular masters like Gerard 4Langholm, Economics in the Medieval Schools, 166, 241ff. sAllan B. Wolter, Introduction to Duns Scotus' Political and Economic Philosophy, 11; cf. Richardus de Mediavilla, Quaestiones super quartum Sententiarum, IV, d. 15, a. 5, q. 5 (Brixiae, 1591; reprint Frankfurt a.M.: Minerva, 1967), 223; there is, however, no literal agreement between...

Homily on the Occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Franciscan Institute: July 15, 1990

HOMILY ON THE OCCASION OF THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FRANCISCAN INSTITUTE JULY 15, 1990 Members of the Franciscan Institute faculty and research staff, students, officials of St. Bonaventure University, friars, and friends—I am honored to be with you this evening to celebrate the feast of St. Bonaventure and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Franciscan Institute. In the name of the minister general and in my own name, I bring our deep gratitude, our best wishes, and the hope for many more fruitful years at the service of the entire Franciscan family. Tonight's first reading from the Book of Wisdom [8.2-7, 16-18] reminds us that wisdom instructs women and men in the ways of the Lord, teaching them the virtues of moderation, prudence, justice, and fortitude and offering immortality to all those willing to learn from her. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Mary, Magdalene, Martha and her sister Mary wants us to grow in divine wisdom, and to reflect the divine image in which we have all been created, to spread the Good News of God's self-revelation in the Scriptures and in the person of Jesus Christ. Such was the challenge which faced Bonaventure of Bagnoregio when, inspired by the holiness and teaching of Alexander of Hales, he asked admission into the Franciscan Order so that he might grow in the divine wisdom, live the Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and announce the Good News in the middle of the thirteenth century. Although in the time of Francis of Assisi the Church was willing to authorize holy preachers with little formal education, by the time Bonaventure was elected minister general, the Church was asking for more educated preachers and better-trained confessors. The mission of the Order was being redefined, and Bonaventure saw that many friars would have to give themselves to humble, dedicated study in order to fulfill the mission entrusted to them by the Church. Soon the Order had studio generalia all 2 ROMAIN MAILLEUX, O.F.M. over Europe, and the secular masters began complaining that the Friars Minor and the Friars Preacher were attracting some of the best university students and making it difficult for non-friars to obtain the latest scholarly works. The Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University is part of a long tradition of scholarly research and teaching. The Franciscan pursuit of divine wisdom has spread from Paris, Oxford, and Cambridge, to Rome, Grottaferrata, Olean, and to Berkeley. What we celebrate here today is the Institute's 50 years as a laboratory of Franciscan thought and spirituality, enabling friars, Poor Clares, Franciscan sisters, and members of the Secular Franciscan Order to know the basic documents of our common heritage and to appreciate the richness of that thought from the days of Anthony of Padua and Bonaventure down to our own day. Bonaventure realized that the Church's need for wise and humble preachers meant studies. Two centuries later, Bernardine of Siena and John Capistran emphasized the role of studies in the reform of the Friars Minor. Early in the seventeenth century, apostolic colleges were begun to prepare Franciscans for the evangelization of the Americas and other areas. Today In 23 colleges and universities in the United States alone, Franciscan men and women work to bridge the gap between faith and culture, which Pope Paul VI called an unhappy circumstance of our time (Evangelii nuntiandi 20). All these initiatives reflect a Franciscan educational tradition which has known its ups and downs but has always been blessed with wise and prayerful teachers who never forgot the advice Francis gave Anthony of Padua about the relation of study, prayer, and readiness for apostolic mission. In its 50 years of existence, the Franciscan Institute has been enriched by the scholarly research and the rich teaching of giants such as Philotheus Boehner, Ignatius Brady, Eligius Buytaert, whom I knew at Louvain after his return to Europe in the 1960s, Innocent Dam, Damien Van den Eynde, Gedeon GaT, Kilian Lynch, Gaudens Mohan and Allan Wolter. The present Franciscan Institute staff is both following in their footsteps and breaking new ground by means...

John Duns Scotus on Henry of Ghent's Arguments for Divine Illumination: The Statement of the Case

For (P-I293) some time, was it one has of been the generally more significant conceded influences that Henry in of the Ghent in(P-I293) was one of the more significant influences in the ntellectual development of John Duns Scotus (c. 1266-1308). 1 Henry, also known as Doctor Solemnis,2 was secular master in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Paris from 1276 to 1292, except for a brief period when he was suspended from his teaching duties because of his participation in the quarrel between the regular and secular masters over the confessional privileges.3 A member of

The Foundation of Fountains Abbey and the State of St. Mary's York in 1132

The recent publication of Mr. Nicholl's ‘Life’ of Thurstan, archbishop of York (1114–1140), has made this subject once more topical: and, indeed, for twelfth-century historians at least it will always be interesting. One of the constant themes of the century, and of the 1120s and 1130s in particular, was the question of the state, position and purpose of monks. The ‘monastic centuries’ were ending and the age of the secular masters had begun. The social purposes that the monasteries had served in the tenth and eleventh centuries were becoming less obvious and outdated. It was necessary that the position of the whole monastic order in society should be reconsidered and this roused strong feelings and bitter controversy. This controversy took place not only outside the monasteries but inside them as well and the great abbey of St. Mary's York is one of the houses where such controversy can be seen and studied.