The Greyfriars Society

Hamo of Faversham (d.1244)

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Alexander of Hales, Doctor Irrefragabilis (c. 1170-1245)

Alexander Hales was a scholastic theologian. He was born at Hales, Gloucestershire, England, and died in Paris on August 21, 1245. He was educated in the monastery at Hales, studied and lectured at Paris, acquired great fame as a teacher in theology, and entered the Franciscan order in 1222. His Summa universae theologiae (first printed at Venice, 1475) was undertaken at the request of Pope Innocent IV.

Adam of Marsh, MA (d. 1258)

An English Franciscan, scholar and theologian, Adam was born about 1200 in the diocese of Bath, and educated at Oxford under the famous Grosseteste. About 1238 he became the lecturer of the Franciscan house at Oxford, and within a few years was regarded as an intellectual and spiritual leader. Roger Bacon, his pupil, spoke highly of his attainments in theology and mathematics. His fame, however, rests upon the influence which he exercised over the statesmen of his day. Consulted as a friend by Grosseteste, as a spiritual director by Simon de Montfort, the countess of Leicester and the Queen, and as an expert lawyer and theologian by the primate, Boniface of Savoy, he did much to guide policy in all matters affecting the interests of the Church. Henry III and Archbishop Boniface unsuccessfully endeavoured to secure for him the see of Ely in 1256. He sympathized with Montfort, but on the eve of the baronial revolution he supported the king.

Robert Grosseteste (c.1175-1253)

Robert Grosseteste was an English statesman, theologian and bishop of Lincoln. Receiving his education at Oxford, he finally settled there as a teacher, as head of Greyfriars, and then as Chancellor of the University. In ecclesiastical politics the bishop belonged to the school of Becket. Twice incurring a rebuke from Henry III, Robert's zeal for reform led him to advance Christian ideas which the secular power could not accpet. Grosseteste numbered among his most intimate friends the Franciscan teacher, Adam Marsh. Through Adam he came into close relations with the rebellious Simon de Montfort. Grosseteste failed, however, to bring about a reconciliation between the king and the earl.

Roger Bacon, DD, Doctor Mirabilis (c. 1214-1292)

Bacon spent many years at Oxford, initially studying the trivium of grammar, logic, and rhetoric. He then progressed to the quadrivium, studying geometry, arithmetic, music and astronomy. He received a Master's Degree from the University of Oxford and remained there teaching until around 1241. At the University of Paris the teachings of Aristotle had been banned; however, in the early 1240s the university reintroduced the teachings of Aristotle into their courses and looked to Bacon, who had become an expert on Aristotle at Oxford, to lecture at the university. An interest in mathematics and natural philosophy took over Bacon's life once he returned to Oxford in 1247. In 1251, Bacon entered the Order of Friars Minor, the Franciscan Friary in Oxford. In 1256 Richard of Cornwell became head of the academic side of the Franciscan Order in England and Bacon, forced by Cornwall to end his academic studies at Oxford, contacted Cardinal de Foulques proposing to write a book on science for the Church. In 1265, Cardinal de Foulques became Pope Clement IV and Bacon had his support. Bacon was aiming to show the Pope that sciences were important to the Church, and wrote down in Opus maius an astounding collection of ideas including a proposal for a telescope. Bacon returned to England where he started to write the Communia naturalium (General Principles of Natural Philosophy) and the Communia mathematica (General Principles of Mathematical Science). In around 1278 he was imprisoned in Ancona by fellow Franciscans for suspected novelties in his teaching.

John of Peckham, DD (University of Paris), (c.1225-1292)

Archbishop of Canterbury in the years 1279-1292, Peckham received his early education from the Cluniac monks of Lewes. About 1250, he joined the Franciscan order in Oxford. Shortly afterwards he proceeded to the University of Paris, where he took his degree under St Bonaventura and became regent in theology. For years Peckham taught at Paris, coming into contact with the greatest scholars of the day, among others St Thomas Aquinas. In about 1270, he returned to Oxford, being elected in 1275 provincial minister of the Franciscans in England, and was soon afterwards called to Rome as lector sacri palatii, or theological lecturer in the schools of the papal palace. In 1279 he returned to England as Archbishop of Canterbury, being appointed by the pope on the rejection of Edward I's preferred candidate. Peckham ate common foods and dressed in the poorest clothes. Even as Archbishop of Canterbury he insisted on following the strictest Franciscan rules, such as walking rather than riding a horse. Peckham, inspired by the newly translated Arabic writings of Alhazen, was a science popularizer. Later, Leonardo da Vinci would turn to Peckham's works on science.

Thomas Docking (d.1270)

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John Duns Scotus, BD, DD (University of Paris), Doctor Subtilis (c. 1264-1308)

Scotus began his formal studies at Oxford in October 1288 and concluded them in June 1301. In June 1303 Scotus was expelled from France along with eighty other friars for taking the Pope's side in a dispute with the King. Scotus was one of the most important and influential philosopher-theologians of the High Middle Ages. His complex thought, which earned him the nickname "the Subtle Doctor," left a mark on discussions about religious language, divine illumination, and the nature of human freedom. He put Aristotelian thought to the service of Christian theology and was the founder of a school of scholasticism called Scotism, which was often opposed to the beliefs of the followers of St. Thomas Aquinas. Unfortunately, the stand Duns Scotus' followers took against the classicism of the Renaissance gave rise to the use of his name in the form of "dunce" to mean ignoramus!

William of Occam, DD (University of Paris), Doctor Invincibilis (c.1300-1394)

William of Ockham was the most influential philosopher of the 14th Century and a controversial theologian. He entered the Franciscan order at an early age, taking the traditional course of theological studies at Oxford. Yet strong opposition to his opinions from members of the theological faculty prevented him from obtaining his Master's degree. His teaching also aroused the attention of Pope John XXII, who summoned him to the papal court in Avignion where he was the charges against him were presented by Lutterell, the former chancellor of the University of Oxford. Ockham was never condemned, but in 1327, while residing in Avignion, he became involved in the dispute over apostolic poverty. When this controversy reached a critical stage in 1328, and the Pope was about to issue a condemnation of the position held by the Franciscans, Ockham and two other Franciscans fled from Avignion to seek the protection of Emperor Louis IV of Bavaria. Ockham wrote fervently against the papacy in a series of treatises on papal power and civil sovereignty. His 'principle of economy' came to be known as 'Ockham's razor'. The rule, in modern English "keep it simple, stupid", was used to refute pseudo-explanatory theories. It is believed that he died in a convent in Munich in 1349, a victim of the Black Death.

Please note that much of the above information has been obtained from http://en.wikipedia.org.