Nicolas d'Orbellis was a French

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

theologian and philosopher, of the Scotist school.

Biography

He was born about 1400. He seems to have entered the monastery of the Observantines, founded in 1407, one of the first in France. He appears to have been professor of theology and philosophy in the

University of Angers The University of Angers (french: Université d'Angers; UA) is a public university in western France, with campuses in Angers, Cholet, and Saumur. It forms part of thAngers-Le Mans University Community History The University of Angers was init ...

, where he enjoyed great reputation as an expounder of the teaching of

John 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 ...

. After 1465 he wrote his chief work, a commentary on the Four Books of

Sententiae ''Sententiae'', the nominative plural of the Latin word ''sententia'', are brief moral sayings, such as proverbs, adages, aphorisms, maxims, or apophthegms taken from ancient or popular or other sources, often quoted without context. ''Sententia' ...

'Sentences'. He died at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1475 and was interred in the church of the

Ara Coeli The Basilica of St. Mary of the Altar of Heaven ( la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae de Ara coeli in Capitolio, it, Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara coeli al Campidoglio) is a titular basilica in Rome, located on the highest summit of the Campidoglio. I ...

on the

Capitoline The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. Th ...

. Under the entry for the word Dorbel, the Oxford English Dictionary gives the date of his death as 1455. The meaning of Dorbel (based on the name of Nicholas de Orbellis) is given as: a scholastical pedant, a dull-witted person, dolt.

Writings

His chief works are: *"Expositio in IV Sententiarum Libros", a compilation based on the teachings of John Duns Scotus, published first at Rouen without date or place (s.l. et a.) and then at Rouen without the year (s. a.); at Paris, twice in 1488, again in 1499, 1511 and 1517; at Lyons, 1503; at Hagenau, 1503; Venice, 1507; *"Expositio in XII Libros Metaphysicae Aristotelis secundum viam Scoti" (Bologna, 1485; Paris, 1505) on Aristotelian

Metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

; *"Expositio Logicae secundum Doctrinam Doctoris Subtilis Scoti" (Parma, 1482; Basle, 1494; Venice, 1507) on

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...

, as the following work; *"Logicae Summula", with passages from Francis of Mayron, Antonio Andrea, Bonetus and Scotus (Venice, 1489 and 1500). *"Compendium Mathematicum", appeared without place or date (about 1485) (Bologna, 1485), on

Mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

like the following; *"De Scientia Mathematica, Physica" etc. (Basle, 1494 and 1503).

References

{{Authority control French Friars Minor 15th-century French Catholic theologians Academic staff of the University of Angers (pre-1793) Scotism Franciscan theologians