Matthew of Aquasparta ( it, Matteo di Aquasparta; 1240 – 29 October 1302) was an Italian

Friar Minor , 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 = , ...

and scholastic philosopher. He was elected

Minister General Minister General is the term used for the leader or Superior General of the different branches of the Order of Friars Minor. It is a term exclusive to them, and comes directly from its founder, St. Francis of Assisi. He chose this word over "Super ...

of the Order.

Life

Born in

Acquasparta Acquasparta is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Terni (Umbria, central Italy). It is located on a hill above the Naia Valley and the river of the same name, facing the Monti Martani mountain range. It also sits between two hot springs, th ...

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

, he was a member of the Bentivenghi family, to which belonged his fellow Franciscan, Cardinal Bentivenga de' Bentivenghi, bishop of Albano (died 1290). Matthew entered the Franciscan Order at

Todi Todi () is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) of the province of Perugia (region of Umbria) in central Italy. It is perched on a tall two-crested hill overlooking the east bank of the river Tiber, commanding distant views in every direction. I ...

, took the degree of Master of Theology at Paris, and taught also for a time at Bologna. Friar

John Peckham John Peckham (c. 1230 – 8 December 1292) was Archbishop of Canterbury in the years 1279–1292. He was a native of Sussex who was educated at Lewes Priory and became a Friar Minor about 1250. He studied at the University of Paris under B ...

having become

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

in 1279, Matteo was in 1280 made Peckham's successor as ''Lector sacri Palatii apostolici'', i.e. he was appointed reader (teacher) of theology to the papal Curia. In 1287 the

General Chapter A chapter ( la, capitulum or ') is one of several bodies of clergy in Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, Anglican, and Nordic Lutheran churches or their gatherings. Name The name derives from the habit of convening monks or canons for the read ...

of the Order held at

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

elected him Minister General in succession to

Arlotto of Prato Arlotto of Prato (died 1286) was an Italian Franciscan theologian. He became Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor at the end of his life. Arlotto is known also for the ''Quaestio de Aeternitate Mundi,'' and as a Biblical scholar. He comp ...

. When Girolamo Masci of Ascoli, who had previously been Minister General of the Franciscan Order, became pope as Nicholas IV, 15 February 1288, he created Matthew cardinal with the '' titulus'' of

San Lorenzo in Damaso The Minor Basilica of St. Lawrence in Damaso (Basilica Minore di San Lorenzo in Damaso) or simply San Lorenzo in Damaso is a parish and titular church in central Rome, Italy that is dedicated to St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr. It is incorporated ...

that May. After this Matteo was made

Cardinal Bishop of Porto 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, t ...

, and '' penitentiarius major'' (Grand Penitentiary). He still, however, retained the direction of the Order until the chapter of 1289. Matthew had summoned this chapter to meet at

Assisi Assisi (, also , ; from la, Asisium) is a town and ''comune'' of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio. It is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Latin poet Propertius, born aroun ...

, but Nicholas IV caused it to be held in his presence at

Rieti Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina re ...

; here

Raymond Gaufredi Raymond Gaufredi (died 1310), sometimes anglicized as Raymond Godefroy, was Minister General of the Franciscan Order from 1289 to 1295. Life Raymond Gaufredi was born in Marseille. A sympathizer with the Franciscan Spirituals, he became Minister Ge ...

, a native of Provence, was elected Minister General. As Minister General of the Order, Matthew maintained a moderate, middle course; among other things he reorganized the studies pursued in the order. In the quarrel between

Pope Boniface VIII Pope Boniface VIII ( la, Bonifatius PP. VIII; born Benedetto Caetani, c. 1230 – 11 October 1303) was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 to his death in 1303. The Caetani, Caetani family was of b ...

and the

Colonna The House of Colonna, also known as ''Sciarrillo'' or ''Sciarra'', is an Italian noble family, forming part of the papal nobility. It was powerful in medieval and Renaissance Rome, supplying one pope (Martin V) and many other church and politica ...

family, from 1297 onwards, he strongly supported the pope, both in official memorials and in public sermons. Pope Boniface appointed him, both in 1297 and 1300, to important embassies to Lombardy, the Romagna, and to

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

Florence, where the Neri and Bianchi Guelph factions were violently at issue with each other. In 1301 Matthew returned to Florence, following Charles of Valois, but neither peace nor reconciliation was brought about. The Blacks finally obtained the upper hand, and the chief Whites were obliged to go into exile; among these was the poet

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

. In a famous passage of the ''Divina Commedia'' (Paradiso, XII, 124-26), Dante certainly speaks as a partisan of the Bianchi against Matthew of Aquasparta, calling Cardinal Matthew a sodomite. Matthew, however, had died before this, on 28 October, 1302. He was buried in Rome, in the Franciscan church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, where his monument is still to be seen.Lorenzo Cardella, ''Memorie de' Cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa'' (Rome 1793), p. 30.

Works

Matteo was a learned philosopher and theologian and a personal pupil of St. Bonaventure, whose teaching, in general, he followed, or rather developed. In this respect he was one of what is known as the older Franciscan school, who preferred

Augustinianism Augustinianism is the philosophical and theological system of Augustine of Hippo and its subsequent development by other thinkers, notably Boethius, Anselm of Canterbury and Bonaventure. Among Augustine's most important works are ''The City of Go ...

to the more pronounced

Aristoteleanism Aristotelianism ( ) is a philosophical tradition inspired by the work of Aristotle, usually characterized by deductive logic and an analytic inductive method in the study of natural philosophy and metaphysics. It covers the treatment of the socia ...

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 ...

. His principal work is the acute ''Quæstiones disputatæ'', which treats of various subjects. Of this one book appeared at Quaracchi in 1903, namely: "Quæstiones disputatæ selectæ", in "Bibliotheca Franciscana scholastica medii ævi", I; the "Quæstiones" are preceded by a "Tractatus de excellentia S. Scripturæ" (pp. 1–22), also by a "Sermo de studio S. Scripturæ" (pp. 22–36); it is followed by "De processione Spiritus Sancti" (pp. 429–53). Five "Quæstiones de Cognitione" had already been edited in the collection called "De humanæ cognitionis ratione anecdota quædam" (Quaracchi, 1883), 87-182. The rest of his works, still unedited, are to be found at Assisi and Todi. Among them are: "Commentarius in 4 libros Sententiarum" ( autograph); "Concordantiæ super 4 ll. Sententiarum"; "Postilla super librum Job"; "Postilla super Psalterium" (autograph); "In 12 Prophetas Minores"; "In Danielem"; "In Ev. Matthæi"; "In Apocalypsim" (autograph); "In Epist. ad Romanos"; "Sermones dominicales et feriales" (autograph).

References

Bibliography

*The editions referred to the ''Quæstiones disputatæ'' (1903), pp. v-xvi, and De Hum. Cognit., pp. xiv-xv *Chronica XXIV Ministr. General O. Min. in Analecta Franciscana, III (Quaracchi, 1897), 406-19, 699, 703 *

Luke Wadding Luke Wadding, O.F.M. (16 October 158818 November 1657), was an Irish Franciscan friar and historian. Life Early life Wadding was born on 16 October 1588 in Waterford to Walter Wadding of Waterford, a wealthy merchant, and his wife, Anastasia ...

, Scriptores Ord. Min. (Rome, 1650), 252, (1806), 172, (1906), 269-70 *

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 ...

, Suppl. ad Script. O. M. (Rome, 1806), 525 *Denifle-Chatelain, Chartular. Univ. Paris., II (Paris, 1891), 59 * Ehrle in Zeitschrift für kathol. Theologie, VII (Innsbruck, 1883), 46 *Grabmann, Die philosophische und theologische Erkenntnislehre des Kardinals Matthäus von Aquasparta (Vienna, 1906) *Theologische Studien der Leo Gesellschaft, Pt. XIV. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Matthew Of Aquasparta 1302 deaths People from the Province of Terni Italian Friars Minor Ministers General of the Order of Friars Minor Franciscan bishops Franciscan cardinals Franciscan theologians 13th-century Italian cardinals Cardinal-bishops of Porto Scholastic philosophers 13th-century Italian Roman Catholic theologians 1240 births 14th-century Italian cardinals 13th-century Italian philosophers