In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

PETER OF CANDÍA ON BELIEVING AND KNOWING Peter of Candia, born on the island of Crete around 1340, was a Franciscan who lectured on the Sentences of Peter Lombard at Paris in 1378-80.1 He himself tells us that his method in theology follows the middle path carved out by John Duns Scotus and William of Ockham, a way that avoids the one-sided approaches of Peter Aureoli's declarative theology and Gregory of Rimini's deductive theology.2 Peter combines both the latter approaches in describing the proper activities of a theologian. His style of Latin in his academic works ordinarily follows the medieval classroom technique that followed a logical rather than a rhetorical model. The academic sermons he delivered at the beginning of each semester, however, forcefully demonstrate that his eloquence could attain grander rhetorical scales. As he praises the virtues of Peter Lombard in each collatio, he even courts the poetic muse.3 Although he quite likely lectured on theology at Pavia during 1384-1385 and was a member of Duke Giangaleazzo Visconti's learned circle, his abilities were not only academic and literary. He also had great administrative talents: he is the founder of the University of Pavia, whose academic roots might well go back to the time of Lanfranc. He was bishop of Piacenza in 1386, of Vicenza in 1388, of Novara in 1389, and of Milan in 1392, where he later 1On the life and works of Peter of Candia, see Franz Ehrle, Der Sentenzenkommentar Peters von Candia—des Pisaner Papstes Alexanders V, Franziskanische Studien, Beiheft 9 (Münster in Westf.: Aschendorff Verlag, 1925); as well as L. Salembier, "Alexandre V," Dictionnaire de théologie catholique 1 (1923): cols. 722-724; and A. Emmen, "Petrus de Candia, O.F.M., De Immaculata Deiparae conceptione," in Tractatus quatuor de Immaculata conceptione B. Mariae Virgmis, Bibliotheca Franciscana Scholastica 16 (Quaracchi: Collegium S. Bonaventurae, 1954): 235-59. 2On the nature of theology according to Peter, see my "Peter of Candia's Hundred-Year 'History' of the Theologian's Role" in Medieval Philosophy and Theology T (1991): 156-90. 3Cf. S. F. Brown, "Peter of Candia's Sermons in Praise of Peter Lombard," in Studies Honoring Ignatius Charles Brady, Friar Minor, ed. Romano S. Almagno and Conrad L. Harkins (St. Bonaventure, N.Y.: The Franciscan Institute, 1976): 141-76. 251 Franciscan Studies (54) 1994-1997 252STEPHEN F. BROWN became cardinal. He was elected Pope Alexander V by the Council of Pisa in 1409. His protege, Uberto Decembrio, became a leading figure in the establishment of Petrarchan humanism in Milan, and Uberto's more famous humanist son, Pier Candido Decembrio, was named after Peter, who baptized him.4 The only parts of Peter's Sewienrej-commentary edited so far are the convocation sermons that he delivered each term on the four books of Lombard, the first article of his prologue to Book I of the Sentences, and the De immaculata Deiparae conceptione, which is an excerpt from Book III of the Sentences.5 In the present study we will examine the second article of his prologue to Book I of the Sentences, where he asks the question: "Whether faith and evident knowledge, in the same intellect in regard to the same object, can exist subjectively at the same time."6 Introduction to the Question This question, formulated in various ways and developed in differing contexts, has had a long history.7 In the early part of the 13th century authors focused on the role of arguments in regard to the truths of faith. Generally speaking, they answered the question about whether the same thing could be both an object of faith and an object of knowledge with a confident 'yes'. Bonaventure explains:8 4On the role of Uberto and Pier Candido Decembrio in the Milanese revival of Plato, see James Hankins, Plato in the Italian Renaissance (Leiden: Brill, 1991): I, 103160 . 5The location of these text editions are indicated above, in notes 1-3. 6Cf. the Appendix, n. 1. 7On the early scholastic history of this question, see M. Grabmann, "De quaestione 'Utrum aliquid possit esse simul creditum et scitum' inter scholas Augustinismi et Aristotelico-Thomismi medii...

pdf

Share