Some Points of Contention in Medieval Trinitarian Theology: The Case of Durandus of Saint-Pourçain in the Early Fourteenth Century

SOME POINTS OF CONTENTION IN MEDIEVAL TRINITARIAN THEOLOGY: THE CASE OF DURANDUS OF SAINT-POURÇAIN IN THE EARLY FOURTEENTH CENTURY By ISABEL IRIBARREN In this article I propose to examine the Trinitarian controversy that developed in the years 1308 to 1325 between the Dominican Durandus of St Pourçain (ca. 1275-1334) and his order, especially in the connection between this controversy and the growth of a Dominican sense of corporate identity. The connection is not at first obvious, but we shall see how the evolution of Durandus's theological thought reflects to a great degree the doctrinal transformation of his order, a transformation which is also illustrative of the doctrinal preoccupations of fourteenth-century Scholasticism . In the years following the condemnation of 1277, the doctrinal profile of the Dominican Order was undergoing a transformation through its increasing identification with the teaching of Thomas Aquinas.1 Precisely at that time, Durandus of Saint-Pourçain,2 a Dominican, was propounding statements not entirely concordant with Aquinas's teaching. This earned him persistent criticism from a leading Dominican, Hervaeus Natalis (d. 1323), who finally led the compilation of two censure lists, in 1314 and 1316, gathering Durandus's problematic tenets.3 This compelled Durandus to revise his work, 1 B. M. Reichert, ed., Acta Capilulorum Generalium Ordinis Fratrum Praedicatorum, 2 vols., in Monumento Ordinis Fratrum Praedicatorum, vols. 3-4 (Rome, 1889-99). See particularly the years 1278, 1279, and 1286. As for the capitular legislation concerning Aquinas during Durandus's time, see the 1309 General Chapter at Saragossa (Acta, 2:38), the 1313 Metz General Chapter (Ada, 2:64-65), the 1315 Bologna General Chapter (Acta, 2:81), and the 1316 Montpellier General Chapter (Acta, 2:93). See also A. Walz, ed., Ordinaliones capilulorum generalium de sancio Thome eiusque cultu et doctrina, Annales sacri ordinis fratrum Praedicatorum, 16 (Rome, 1923-24). For a fundamental study on Durandus's life and career, see J. Koch, Durandus de S. Porciano O. P. Forschungen zum Streit um Thomas von Aquin zu Beginn des 14. Jahrhunderts , Beiträge zur Geschichte der Philosophie des Mittelalters, 26 (Munster, 1927). See also P. Fournier, "Durand de Saint-Pourçain, théologien," Histoire littéraire de la France 37 (1938): 1-38. 3 Both censure lists have been edited by J. Koch, Articuli nonaginta tres extracti ex Durando S.-Porciano O. P. primo scriplo super Sententias et examinati per magistros et baccalarios Ordinis, and Articulis in quibus magister Durandi deviat a doctrina venerabilis doctoris nostri fralris Thomae, Kleine Schriften, 2 (Rome, 1973). See also J. Koch, Philosophische 290traditio of which we have three versions.4 Despite his own eclectic use of sources,0 Hervaeus was a good representative of second-generation Thomists, not only in the considerable knowledge he revealed of Aquinas's writings, but also in the way he regarded them as material to be expounded rather than criticized. The doctrinal quarrel between Durandus and the Dominican Order can be perceived not simply as a matter of Thomistic zeal, but also as illustrative of fourteenth-century doctrinal tensions. On the one hand, church authorities show concern for greater doctrinal uniformity, promoting it as a safeguard against suspect teaching, as the investigations into the orthodoxy of Peter John Olivi, Meister Eckhart, William of Ockham, and John of Pouilly testify. In this light, the Dominican promotion of Aquinas's teaching was not only a means of competing for theological superiority with other orders, but also a way of preserving the orthodoxy of its leading theologians. On the other hand, the close agreement between the schools in Paris and the papacy's understanding of orthodoxy begins to show signs of fracture, away from the Lateran Council's momentous endorsement of Peter Lombard in 1215.6 Durandus's significance, therefore, becomes both doctrinal and historiund theologische Irrtumslisten von 1270-1329. Ein Beitrag zur Entwicklung der theologischen Zensuren, Kleine Schriften, 2 (Rome, 1973). 4 Durandus first read the Sentences around 1307-8, probably at a Dominican Studium in Paris. This work (henceforth A In Sent.), was allegedly taken from him at a premature state and disseminated outside the order against his own will. Book 1 is in Paris, BNF1 MS Lat. 14454...