Alvarus Pelagius ( es, Álvaro Pelayo; c. 1280 – 25 January 1352) was a celebrated Galician canonist.

Life

Alvarus was born at Salnés, Galicia. He studied

Canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, but in 1304 resigned his

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

s, and entered the

Franciscan Order , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

. He is said to have been a pupil of

Duns Scotus John Duns Scotus ( – 8 November 1308), commonly called Duns Scotus ( ; ; "Duns the Scot"), was a Scottish Catholic priest and Franciscan friar, university professor, philosopher, and theologian. He is one of the four most important ...

and to have been tutor to the children of

Pedro Afonso, Count of Barcelos Pedro Afonso, Count of Barcelos (before 1289 – May 1350), was an illegitimate son of King Denis of Portugal and Grácia Frois. He was made the 3rd Count of Barcelos on 1 May 1314. Biography Much like the other illegitimate children of King De ...

. Certain it is that he became penitentiary to

Pope John XXII Pope John XXII ( la, Ioannes PP. XXII; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death in December 1334. He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Pope, elected by ...

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

, that he enjoyed much favour with this pontiff, and was employed by him to refute the claims of the

antipope An antipope ( la, antipapa) is a person who makes a significant and substantial attempt to occupy the position of Bishop of Rome and leader of the Catholic Church in opposition to the legitimately elected pope. At times between the 3rd and mid- ...

Pietro Rainalducci Nicholas V, born Pietro Rainalducci (c. 125816 October 1333) was an antipope in Italy from 12 May 1328 to 25 July 1330 during the pontificate of Pope John XXII (1316–1334) at Avignon. He was the last antipope set up by a Holy Roman Emperor. ...

of Corbario. In 1333 Alvarus became titular Bishop of Coron in Achaia, and two years later was appointed to the See of Silves in Portugal. He also served as Apostolic nuncio in Portugal, but was not created

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

, as some writers have asserted. He died in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

, where he was buried in the Monastery of St. Clare.

Works

Alvarus is chiefly remarkable for his work ''De planctu ecclesiae libri duo''. This work, begun at Avignon in 1330, completed in 1332, corrected in 1335 and again in 1340 at Compostela, is notable not only for its extreme defence of ecclesiastical rights but still more, perhaps, for the freedom and force with which the author assails and rebukes the ecclesiastical abuses of his time. Alvarus has been reproached by St. Antoninus and others with having too far favoured the error of the

Fraticelli The Fraticelli (Italian for "Little Brethren") or Spiritual Franciscans opposed changes to the rule of Saint Francis of Assisi, especially with regard to poverty, and regarded the wealth of the Church as scandalous, and that of individual church ...

about poverty, but, as

Sbaralea Giovanni or Gian Giacinto Sbaraglia (1687–1764), otherwise Joannes Hyacinthus Sbaralea, was a historian of the Franciscan Order , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Ch ...

shows, it is not difficult to justify him against this charge. On the then agitated question of poverty in the Franciscan Order he wrote with less passion and with more weight than

Ubertino da Casale Ubertino of Casale (1259 – c. 1329) was an Italian Franciscan and one of the leaders (together with Michael of Cesena) of the Spirituals, the stricter branch of the Franciscan order. Life Ubertino was born in Casale Monferrato. He assumed the ...

, although he addressed almost the same reproaches as the latter to the relaxed friars within the order. The ''De planctu'' was first published at Ulm in 1474. This edition is very rare, and is not free from error. Later editions appeared at Venice (1500) and at Lyons (1517). Besides the "De planctu", Wadding attributed to Alvarus the following: "Collyrium adversus haereses"; "

Speculum regum Mirrors for princes ( la, specula principum) or mirrors of princes, are an educational literary genre, in a loose sense of the word, of political writings during the Early Middle Ages, the High Middle Ages, the late middle ages and the Renaissance. ...

" (one book); "Super sentent. libros 4"; "Apologia contra Marsilum Patav. et Guliel. Ocham"; and other unedited works.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pelagius, Alvarus 1280 births 1352 deaths Canon law jurists Scotism 14th-century jurists