Richard of Middleton (

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...

: Richardus de Mediavilla; c. 1249 – c. 1308) was a member of 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 = , ...

, a

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, and scholastic

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

Life

Richard's origins are unclear: he was either

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

French (from Menneville or Moyenneville) or English (from Middletown). As a Bachelor of the ''

Sentences ''The Four Books of Sentences'' (''Libri Quattuor Sententiarum'') is a book of theology written by Peter Lombard in the 12th century. It is a systematic compilation of theology, written around 1150; it derives its name from the ''sententiae'' o ...

'' of

Peter Lombard Peter Lombard (also Peter the Lombard, Pierre Lombard or Petrus Lombardus; 1096, Novara – 21/22 July 1160, Paris), was a scholastic theologian, Bishop of Paris, and author of '' Four Books of Sentences'' which became the standard textbook of ...

at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

in 1283, he played a part in the Franciscan commission examining

Peter Olivi Peter John Olivi, also Pierre de Jean Olivi or Petrus Joannis Olivi (1248 – 14 March 1298), was a French Franciscan theologian and philosopher who, although he died professing the faith of the Roman Catholic Church, remained a controversial figure ...

. He was

regent master Regent master (''Magister regens'') was a title conferred in the medieval universities upon a student who had acquired a master's degree. The degree meant simply the right to teach, the ''Licentia docendi'', a right which could be granted, in the ...

of the Franciscan studium in Paris from 1284 to 1287, and, on 20 September 1295 in

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

, he was elected Franciscan minister provincial of France. He was also subsequently tutor to

Louis of Toulouse Saint Louis of Toulouse (9 February 1274 – 19 August 1297), also known as Louis of Anjou, was a Neapolitan prince of the Capetian House of Anjou and a Catholic bishop. Life Louis was born in Brignoles, Provence (or in Italy, at Nocera, where ...

, son of

Charles II of Anjou Charles II, also known as Charles the Lame (french: Charles le Boiteux; it, Carlo lo Zoppo; 1254 – 5 May 1309), was King of Naples, Count of Provence and Forcalquier (1285–1309), Prince of Achaea (1285–1289), and Count of Anjou and Maine ( ...

. He died sometime between 1300 and 1308.

Theology and philosophy

His extant theological output is mainly contained in his two commentaries on the ''

'' of

, which he edited between 1285 and 1295, three sets of Quodlibetal

Disputations In the scholastic system of education of the Middle Ages, disputations (in Latin: ''disputationes'', singular: ''disputatio'') offered a formalized method of debate designed to uncover and establish truths in theology and in sciences. Fixed ru ...

and some 45 disputed questions. His work is heavily influenced by his predecessors at Paris, including

Bonaventure Bonaventure ( ; it, Bonaventura ; la, Bonaventura de Balneoregio; 1221 – 15 July 1274), born Giovanni di Fidanza, was an Italian Catholic Franciscan, bishop, cardinal, scholastic theologian and philosopher. The seventh Minister G ...

Henry of Ghent Henry of Ghent (c. 1217 – 29 June 1293) was a scholastic philosopher, known as '' Doctor Solemnis'' (the "Solemn Doctor"), and also as Henricus de Gandavo and Henricus Gandavensis. Life Henry was born in the district of Mude, near Ghent. He ...

and

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wi ...

. Although his philosophy owes much to the Franciscan school of thought, with regard to the plurality of forms in a single substance, for example, he also affirmed universal

hylomorphism Hylomorphism (also hylemorphism) is a philosophical theory developed by Aristotle, which conceives every physical entity or being (''ousia'') as a compound of matter (potency) and immaterial form (act), with the generic form as immanently real w ...

, thus following

Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...

. In this regard, he did not shy away from synthesizing Aristotelian thought into his own philosophical reasoning, in spite of the hostility surrounding the

Averroist Averroism refers to a school of medieval philosophy based on the application of the works of 12th-century Andalusian philosopher Averroes, (known in his time in Arabic as ابن رشد, ibn Rushd, 1126–1198) a commentator on Aristotle, in 13th ...

doctrines that were

condemned Condemned or The Condemned may refer to: Legal * Persons awaiting execution * A condemned property, or condemned building, by a local authority, usually for public health or safety reasons * A condemned property seized by power of eminent domain ...

at the University of Paris in 1270 and 1277. Along with other masters of theology, his quodlibetal disputations had resonance beyond the immediate milieu of the University. For example, in 1285, he was one of the masters who debated whether

annuities In investment, an annuity is a series of payments made at equal intervals.Kellison, Stephen G. (1970). ''The Theory of Interest''. Homewood, Illinois: Richard D. Irwin, Inc. p. 45 Examples of annuities are regular deposits to a savings account, mo ...

were licit or illicit as a form of contract.Wei (2012)

Works

* Richard of Middleton, ''Quodlibeta doctoris eximii Ricardi de Mediavilla ordinis minorum'' (Brescia, 1591; repr. Frankfurt am Main, 1963). * Richard of Middleton, ''Super Quatuor Libros Sententiarum,'' 4 vols. (Brescia, 1591, repr. Frankfurt am Main, 1963).

References

Sources

F. Maurice Powicke Sir Frederick Maurice Powicke (1879–1963) was an English medieval historian. He was a fellow of Merton College, Oxford and was a professor at Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University, Belfast and the Victoria University of Manchester ...

and E. B. Fryde. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' 2nd. ed. London: Royal Historical Society 1961. *

Étienne Gilson Étienne Henri Gilson (; 13 June 1884 – 19 September 1978) was a French philosopher and historian of philosophy. A scholar of medieval philosophy, he originally specialised in the thought of Descartes; he also philosophized in the tradition o ...

, ''History of Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages'', New York: Random House, 1955, p. 347. * Édouard-Henri Wéber, RICHARD DE MEDIAVILLA ou DE MIDDLETON (1249 env.-entre 1300 et 1308), ''

Encyclopædia Universalis The ''Encyclopædia Universalis'' is a French-language general encyclopedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., a privately held company. The articles of the ''Encyclopædia Universalis'' are aimed at educated adult readers, and writt ...

n ligne N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

- http://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/richard-de-mediavilla-de-middleton/ * E. Amann, 'Richard de Mediavilla', ''Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique'', xiii.2 (1937), pp. 2669–75. * Richard Cross, 'Richard of Middleton', ''A Companion to Philosophy in the Middle Ages'', Edited by: JORGE J. E. GRACIA and TIMOTHY B. NOONE (2005). * Richard Cross, 'Richard of Middleton', ''Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy'' (2011), pp 1132–1134 * Ian P. Wei, 'The masters of theology at the University of Paris in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries: an authority beyond the schools', ''Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester'' 75, (1993) p. 37 - 63. * Ian P. Wei, ''Intellectual Culture in Medieval Paris. Theologians and the University, c. 1100-1330'', (Cambridge University Press, 2012), p. 332.

External links

Franciscan schools of thoughtHis argument against the ordination of women
* {{Authority control 1249 births 1300s deaths Norman Franciscans Scholastic philosophers category:Franciscan theologians 13th-century French Catholic theologians 14th-century French Catholic theologians 13th-century Latin writers 14th-century Latin writers 1308 deaths