Johannes Klenkok (or Klenke) (c. 1310 – 15 June 1374) was a German

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

friar, known as a theologian and disciple of

Gregory of Rimini Gregory of Rimini (c. 1300 – November 1358), also called Gregorius de Arimino or Ariminensis, was one of the great scholastic philosophers and theologians of the Middle Ages. He was the first scholastic writer to unite the Oxonian and Parisian ...

Life

Klenkok was born in the

County of Hoya The County of Hoya (German: ''Grafschaft Hoya'') was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present German state of Lower Saxony. It was centered on the town of Hoya on the middle Weser river, between Bremen and Nienburg; the area now ...

, part of what is now

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

, son of a

castellan A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant o ...

Thedinghausen Thedinghausen is a municipality in the district of Verden, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Weser, approx. 15 km west of Verden, and 20 km southeast of Bremen. Thedinghausen is also the seat of the ''Sa ...

. He studied philosophy and theology in Germany with the Augustinians, then took a bachelor's degree 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 ...

. He was in

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 ...

from 1342 to 1346. At the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

for about four years, from the first half of 1357, Klenkok transmitted the views of Gregory of Rimini. His intention was to oppose the positions of Uthred of Bolton. He was incepted in theology there, in 1359.

Views and background

Klenkok is now known as a critic of aspects of the

feudal law Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...

and

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...

traditions. He opposed the ''

Sachsenspiegel The (; gml, Sassen Speyghel; modern nds, Sassenspegel; all literally "Saxon Mirror") is one of the most important law books and custumals compiled during the Holy Roman Empire. Originating between 1220 and 1235 as a record of existing loc ...

'', a civil law code applied in parts of Germany in his time. He debated it with Rudolf Block. His work the ''Decadicon'' from 1368–9 was an attack on it. Later Klenkok looked for support from the French canonist

Pierre de la Vergne Pierre de la Vergne, aka ''Pierre de Veruche, Pierre Verneyo, Pierre Veruco, Pierre Verrujo'' or ''Pierre Veroche'', Latin ''Petrus de Vernio'' (died 6 October 1403 in Avignon was a French cardinal. Life Pierre de la Vergne studied Canon law at ...

, who became a cardinal in 1371. In 1374

Pope Gregory XI Pope Gregory XI ( la, Gregorius, born Pierre Roger de Beaufort; c. 1329 – 27 March 1378) was head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1370 to his death in March 1378. He was the seventh and last Avignon pope and the most recent French pope ...

issued a bull and condemned 14 articles of the ''Sachsenspiegel''. Others like Klenkok who put forth a revised version of the views of Gregory of Rimini included Hugolin of Orvieto,

Johann Hiltalinger Johann Hiltalinger (known also as John of Basel, Johannes Angelus) (1315?–1392) was a Swiss Augustinian theologian who became Bishop of Lombez. Life Born at Basel, he entered the Augustinian order and received the degree of master of theol ...

, Angelinus Dobelinus, and Johannes Zacharie. Of these, Dobelinus considered Klenkok his personal teacher. As a commentator at Paris he was in the company of John of Ripa, Facinus de Ast, Michael Aiguani and Andrew of Neufchateau. These writers stood rather apart from the trend of the ''moderni''.

Editions

As of 1999, a modern scholarly edition of his works was lacking.

References

Sources

*Christopher Ocker, ''Johannes Klenkok: A Friar's Life, c. 1310-1374'', Transactions, American Philosophical Society (vol. 83, Part 5, 1993). Online a
Google Books

External links