John of Paris

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John of Paris , also called John the Dove or Johannes Quidort or Jean Quidort (* around 1255/60 in Paris ; † September 22, 1306 in Bordeaux ) was a philosopher and theologian of the late scholastic and the Paris Thomist School. He lived at the Paris University and was called Jean Le Sourd in French , Johannes De Soardis in medieval Latin and also Surdus or Monoculus .

He was particularly well known for his clear advocacy of the independence of secular power against the papal claim to supremacy when a conflict arose between King Philip IV (France) and Pope Boniface VIII . The development of his dualistic concept of rule made him a forerunner of Marsilius of Padua and Wilhelm von Ockham .

Life

To 1255/1260 born in Paris, John had since at least 1290, he entered the Dominican Order , Master of Arts (roughly equivalent to today's Assistant -Professor). After he was "damned" for some of his theological positions in 1286, he was later able to explain himself and was rehabilitated. In the 1290s he wrote a number of theological works and sermons in which, among other things, he defended the teaching of his friar Thomas Aquinas against Wilhelm de la Mare from the Bonaventura School , and opposed the teachings of Arnold von Villanova . Even in his committed writings in defense of the doctrine of Thomas Aquinas against Franciscan critics, Quidort shows himself to be a contentious man. During this time, some philosophical and scientific treatises ( Quodlibetum ) were written. After 1300 Quidort lived in the famous Dominican convent of St. Jacques in Paris.

His main political writing De potestate regia et papali ('On royal and papal power') was probably created at the end of 1302 / beginning of 1303, at least apparently before the bull Unam sanctam became known in Paris. In this work he determines the relationship between spiritual and worldly power by using the two swords of the New Testament (cf. Lk 22:38) as both of God , and thus understanding them as equal powers. With this negation of the papal claim to sovereignty over the French king, and his signature under the demand of the royal court for a council to settle the dispute, Quidort comes into particular opposition to the curia and to Henry of Cremona , Jacob of Viterbo and Aegidius Romanus . The latter was Archbishop of Bourges and later became Quidort's opponent in the dispute over the doctrine of transubstantiation .

In 1304 Quidort also became a master of theology . Because of his idiosyncratic doctrine of the Lord's Supper , which he had expressed in Determinatio 1304, he was censored by the Bishop of Paris and a theological commission in 1305 and expelled from the university. He explains his doctrine of impanation (explanatory model for the presence of Christ in the Eucharist ) in the text De transsubstantiatione panis et vini in sacramento altaris . In it he does not deny the valid transubstantiation doctrine of the church, but does not want to see it as a truth of faith either . Quidort wanted to defend his position against Pope Clement V (1305-1314) and traveled to Bordeaux, where the curia was just staying. But before the final decision was made, Quidort died.

Dualistic doctrine of two powers

With the turn of Boniface VIII to Clement V , the excessive papal claims to power ended and the pope's dependence on the French king, who now resided in Avignon , began. This dispute was accompanied by a literary-theological debate, which was partly polemical. Two types of two-force doctrine faced each other: the hierocratic , in which the secular power is practically merged with the spiritual and kingship has to be subordinate to the Pope, and the dualistic, which Quidort also represented.

Using the Aristotelianism of Thomas Aquinas , Quidort emphasizes the independence of state power, mostly in the words of Thomas himself, from whose prince mirror he has taken entire sections. Based on the fact that the two powers, ecclesiastical (Pope) and secular (King), are of equal origin, Quidort concludes that they are fundamentally equal. Both are derived from a force majeure (God), and because of this same origin, both spheres could each have their own structure.

He includes the priesthood in salvation history and in the sphere of spiritualia . The rule of kings, the regnum , on the other hand, is rooted in the ontological presuppositions of human existence . The priesthood , which mediates between God and men, advocates Quidort only through the appearance of Christ in his real law. On the other hand, the natural right of kings, i.e. political rule, has existed since the first appearance of man. The necessity of political organization is, according to Aristotle, a consequence of the natural human disposition as a social and political living being ( animal sociale et politicum ). Quidort also made a barely refutable historical argument that France, as a mission country , was also politically constituted before Christianization. The kingship is therefore 'older' than the papal power. The legitimacy of the secular power can not derive from the priesthood so.

Since the two powers have different structures, Quidort can think of the universal church as a unity, but grant the then emerging nation- states (France) their own right to exist, also beyond world empire . God apparently wanted a world church, so Quidort, but not a world state. The people also felt no natural instinct and no "obligation from divine right to be ordered to a supreme world ruler." The diversity with simultaneous unity results from the Aristotelian philosophy. The souls are connected to one another through the human form of being and have the same quality of being , which thus also establishes the unity of people. The obvious physical differences (e.g. due to different climatic zones ) lead to social differences, which also explain different political systems.

The church property is Quidort as common property that must be administered by a single authority. But everyone is his own master of the property of the laity , since it was acquired through his own effort. Each person is therefore his own administrator, neither the prince nor the pope are allowed to intervene in this property right. The secular power is especially there to settle the inevitable conflicts between private owners in the sense of a just decision. This distinction between property and rule is one of the most important achievements of Quidort's theory.

The person who has rulership over other people is established through the consent of the people ( per consensum hominum ): with the king, as with the pope, through an act of election ( electio ). Since both are determined by humans, these can also be removed for Quidort in the event of misconduct. In addition, both spheres have the right to intervene in the other if the “normal” correction options do not take effect and good society ( bonum commune ) is at stake. Quidort formulates consistently: "The prince is allowed to reject the abuse of the spiritual sword as he is able to, also with his material sword, [...] because otherwise he would carry his sword for no reason." The threat against Boniface VIII . can be clearly heard here, or, as Jürgen Miethke writes, Quidort has not only approved an act of violence - like the Anagni assassination (1303) - not only in advance, but also theoretically justified, and even apparently demanded. "

Quidort's conclusions show that even a moderate theory ( via media ) such as the one he strove for was able to justify radical political measures.

Editions and translations

  • Fritz Bleienstein: Johannes Quidort of Paris on royal and papal power (De regia potestate et papali) . Stuttgart 1969.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Miethke 1993, p. 105.
  2. ↑ Quidort, cit. after Miethke 1993, p. 106.
  3. ↑ Miethke 1993, p. 106.
personal data
SURNAME John of Paris
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Quidort
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Late Scholastic theologian
DATE OF BIRTH around 1255
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH September 22, 1306
Place of death Bordeaux