Duns Scotus, Juan de Segovia, and Their Common Devil

DUNS SCOTUS, JUAN DE SEGOVIA, AND THEIR COMMON DEVILi Of realty the rarest-veinèd unraveller; a not Rivalled insight, be rival Italy or Greece; Who fired France for Mary without spot. Gerard Manley Hopkins Scholars have long recognized a connection between the fifteenth-century Spanish theologian Juan de Segovia and the renowned Franciscan scholastic Duns Scotus.2 In a 1952 article, for example, the late Rudolf Haubst argued that Segovia's doctrine of the Trinity relied heavily, though tacitly, on Scotus and the Scotist school.3 According to Haubst, Segovia first encountered the teachings of the Scotist school during his student days at the 1THe author wishes to thank Professor Bernard McGinn of the University of Chicago for his comments on an earlier draft of this article. 2On Juan de Segovia (ca. 1393-1458), see Johannes Haller et. al., eds., Concilium Basiliense, 8 vols. (Basel, 1896-1936; reprint ed., Nendeln, 1971) 1:20-53; Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique [hereafter DTC], s.v. "Jean de Ségovie," by E. Amann; Uta Fromherz, Johannes von Segovia als Geschichtsschreiber des Konzils von Basel, Basler Beiträge zur Geschichtswissenschaft, 81 (Basel, 1960); Hermann Diener, "Zur Persönlichkeit des Johannes von Segovia. Ein Beitrag zur Methode der Auswertung päpstlicher Register des späten Mittelalters," Quellen und Forschungen aus italienischen Archiven und Bibliotheken 44 (1964): 289-365; and Diccionario de Historia Eclesiástica de España, s.v. "Segovia, Juan Alfonso de," by Benigno Hernández Montes. The literature on Duns Scotus (ca. 1265-1308) is extensive. A useful starring point is Odulfus Schäfer, Bibliographia de vita, operibus et doctrina Iohannis Duns Scott doctoris subtilis ac mariant saec. XIX-XX (Rome, 1955). For more recent literature, see S. Gieben, "Bibliographia scotistica recentior (1953-1965)," Laurentianum 6 (1965): 492-522. An important collection of essays on diverse aspects of Scotus's thought is found in Congressus Scotisticus Internationalis, De doctrina Ioannis Duns Scott. Acta Congressus Scotistici Internationalis Oxonii et Edimburgi 11-17 September 1966 celebrati, Studia Scolastico-Scotistica, 4 vols. (Rome, 1968). Finally, a recent issue of the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 67, no. 1 (1993), edited by Allan B. Wolter, deals exclusively with the Subtle Doctor. 3Rudolf Haubst, "Johannes von Segovia im Gespräch mit Nikolaus von Kues und Jean Germain über die göttliche Dreieinigkeit und ihre Verkündigung vor den Mohammedanern," Münchener Theologische Zeitschrift 2 (1951): 124, 128. However, as Haubst 128 notes, Segovia was not a slavish follower of Scotus; on some significant points he rejected the Scotist position: "In zwei Punkten setzt er sich jedoch in bewussten Gegensatz zu Skorus, in der Frage nämlich, ob der Hl. Geist auch ohne den Ausgang vom Sohne von diesem unterschieden wäre . . . und zweitens durch den versuchten 'zwingenden Beweis der Trinität'." Franciscan Studies 52 (1992) 136 JESSE D. MANN University of Salamanca, and his Scotism extended beyond his doctrine of the Trinity to include his views on the Immaculate Conception of Mary as well.4 Indeed, few doctrines are as closely associated with Scotus as the Immaculate Conception;5 for Duns was without doubt the most important and influential immaculatist of the Middle Ages. Juan de Segovia was thus mainly repeating Scotus's views when, in 1439, he spearheaded the Council of Basel's decision to define the Immaculate Conception as dogma6— a 4Ibid., 128. 5For a brief treatment of Scotus's position on the Immaculate Conception, see Heiko A. Oberman, The Harvest ofMedieval Theology, 3rd. ed. (Durham, NC, 1983) 28390 ; and Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradition, vol. 4: Reformation ofChurch and Dogma (1300-1700) (Chicago, 1984) 47. For a more detailed discussion, see Jean François Bonnefoy, he vén. fean Duns Scot, docteur de l'Immaculée Conception; son milieu, sa doctrine, son influence (Rome, 1960); and the numerous works cited in Schäfer, index analyticus, s.v. "Maria Virgo—immaculate conceptio." On the Immaculate Conception in general, see Edward O'Connor, ed., The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception: History and Significance (Notre Dame, G?, 1958). For the 14th-century background, see Ignatius Brady, "The Development of the Doctrine on the Immaculate Conception in the Fourteenth Century After Aureoli," Franciscan Studies 15 (1955): 175-202. 6The...