John the Canon (Johannes Canonicus in Latin, born Francesc Marbres, first half of the fourteenth century), was a Catalan philosopher, theologian and

Augustinian Canon Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both Secular clergy, secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, ...

Life

John hailed from Barcelona and later became an Augustinian Canon at

Tortosa cathedral The Catedral of Saint Mary of Tortosa is a cathedral located in Tortosa, Catalonia, Spain and seat of the Diocese of Tortosa. The present structure is located in the center of the city's old town. Design Its construction began in 1347 on the rem ...

. Later in life he became a Master of Arts at the

University of Toulouse The University of Toulouse (french: Université de Toulouse) was a university in the French city of Toulouse that was established by papal bull in 1229, making it one of the earliest universities to emerge in Europe. Suppressed during the Frenc ...

. It is unclear whether or not John himself studied there. He seems to have had advanced knowledge of philosophy of theology, but again it is unclear where he might have completed his studies. It seems John never held any degree in theology.

Works

Only John the Canon's extensive commentary on Aristotle's ''

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

'' has survived (''Quaestiones libri Physicorum''). John's commentary seems to have been inspired by

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 ...

, who himself never seems to have written an independent treatise on physics. Recent research has shown that John extensively cites other authors in his questions, which makes him a privileged source for the study of fourteenth century philosophy and theology. Among the authors cited are

Gerardus Odonis Geraldus Odonis, Guiral Ot in Occitan, (1285, Camboulit, department of Lot – 1349, Catania, Sicily) was a French theologian and Minister General of the Franciscan Order. Life His name appears in medieval manuscripts as Geraldus slightly more ...

Thomas Wilton Thomas Wilton (active from 1288 to 1322) was an English theologian and scholastic philosopher, a pupil of Duns Scotus,Harjeet Singh Gill, ''Signification in language and culture'', Indian Institute of Advanced Study, 2002, p. 109. a teacher at the ...

Walter Burley Walter Burley (or Burleigh; 1275 – 1344/45) was an English scholastic philosopher and logician with at least 50 works attributed to him. He studied under Thomas WiltonHarjeet Singh Gill, ''Signification in language and culture'', Indian Inst ...

and Petrus Thomae. In many of these cases, John's treatise, which was moderately famous in his own time, was better known than these author's own works.

References

{{Authority control Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 14th-century Roman Catholic theologians Philosophers from Catalonia Clergy from Barcelona