Ockham at Avignon: His Response to Critics

OCKHAM AT AVIGNON: HIS RESPONSE TO CRITICS Ockham scholars have generally held that the Venerable Inceptor held no philosophico—theological disputations once he left England for Avignon. This is the first hypothesis for which no evidence is offered. The problem with this hypothesis may be stated as follows: How did Ockham come into possession of the very wording of certain articles of his Avignon examiners while still in England - criticisms to which he responds in his sixth and seventh Quodlibet? This in turn gives rise to a second bifurcated hypothesis, namely 2a): Lutterell, who had been the university Chancellor at Oxford, composed his Libellus contra Ockbam while still in England and Ockham was able to see it and respond in his Quodlibets VI and VII. Again there is no evidence for this scenario.1This gives rise to hypothesis 2b): namely, Ockham made additions and revisions to his Quodlibets VI and VII after he had been summoned to Avignon in 1324. However, there is no manuscript evidence in support of this hypothesis, i. e. clearly marked “additiones” or “extras” such as we find in Ockham’s Scriptum in I Sent.2 The purpose of this article is to offer an alternative to this view by attempting to show that it is more reasonable to hold that Ockham’s Quodlibets VI and VII were debated in Avignon. There are two dates which are crucial in support of this claim: A provincial chapter held in Cambridge in 13233wherein Ockham was asked to explain his views on the philosophical category of ‘relation’4; the second date of importance 'See F. Kelley, “Ockham: Avignon, Before and After,” in From Ockham to Wyclif ed. A. Hudson and M. Wilks (Oxford: Blackwell 1987, pp. 1-18). Here Kelley shows rather convincingly that Lutterell’s preoccupations while Chancellor at Oxford were with anything but theological problems. He had his hands full with his battles against the Dominicans. He became interested in theological matters after having received a letter from Stephen de Kettelburg, indicating that the Pope was very favorable to theologians and that Lutterell might receive “great honours and prebends” if he were to come to Avignon. 2Cf. for example: Ockham, Scriptum in / Sent., prol. q. 1(Oth I, 47). 3The documentation for this historical event is found at the end of manuscript 3092 in the Vaticanus Latinus collection; cf. G. Etzkorn, Iter Vaticanum Franciscanum. A Description ofSome One HundredManuscripts ofthe VaticanusLatinus Collection, (Leiden: E.J. Brill 1996, p. 31-32). 4Cf. G. Etzkorn, “Ockham at a Provincial Chapter: 1323. A Prelude to Avignon,” in Archivum Franciscanum Historicum, 83 (1990) 557-567. There are numerous typographical errors in this article because it was not returned to me prior to printing. The important Franciscan Studies, 59 (2001) 9 10 G irard J. Et z k o r n is Ockham’s departure for Avignon in 1324.5Additional support for our claim may be found in the doctrinal exchanges between Ockham and Chatton. There is ample evidence that Chatton and Ockham, together with Adam Wodeham Chatton’s reportator, were in the same Franciscan Studium (possibly London) around the years 1322-1324. There is likewise clear documentation that Chatton frequently singled out Ockham’s opinions as found in the Venerable Inceptor’s Quodlibets I-V.6 There is no evidence, however, that Chatton criticized any of Ockham’s statements specifically found in Quodlibets VI and VII. In documenting our conclusion, we first turn to an examination of the questions of Ockham’s Quodlibet VI. In the very first question entitled “Whether man could be saved without created charity,” the first article of this question is dedicated to a clarification of what he means by God’s absolute power. This can be viewed as a ‘lecture’ to the examiners in the Avignon process who, at one point claimed, that Ockham’s argument is the same with or without the phrase ‘depotentia absoluta.’1In the first article of question one Ockham sets himself to clarify his position: Some things God can do by his ordained power, some by his absolute power. This distinction must not be understood to mean that there are really two powers in God, one of which is ordained, the...