John Capreolus, in French Jean Capréolus and in Latin Johannes Capreolus (c. 1380 – 6 April 1444), was a French Dominican theologian and

Thomist Thomism is the philosophical and theological school that arose as a legacy of the work and thought of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), the Dominican philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In philosophy, Aquinas' disputed questions a ...

. He is sometimes known as the ''Prince of the Thomists''. His ''Four Books of Defenses of the Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas'' can be said to have sparked a revival in Thomism.

Life

Only scant details of his personal history are known. He was born and died in the diocese of Rodez. He was a Dominican affiliated with the province of

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

, and a general chapter of his order at Poitiers in 1407 assigned him to lecture on '' The Sentences'' 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 began in 1408 and achieved success. The following year he finished the first part of his celebrated defensive on commentary on the theology of

St. 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 ...

. He passed examinations for degrees at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

in 1411 and in 1415. After serving for some time as regent of studies at Toulouse, he repaired to Rodez where he laboured at his commentaries completing the three remaining parts in 1426, 1428 and 1433.

Works

In the preface of a compendium of Capreolus's work by Isidore de Isolanis, it is stated that these manuscripts once narrowly escaped destruction by fire, a lay brother having saved them, to the joy of the author, who was then advanced in years. The same authority describes the erudite commentator as having a devotion to the Blessed Virgin. Though following the order of ''The Sentences'', the commentaries of Capreolus are a calm, learned, and penetrating exposition of the teaching of St. Thomas, as well as a comprehensive defence against sundry opponents and critics, including Scotus,

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 ...

, John of Ripa, Guido the Carmelite, Aureolus, Durandus,

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 Parisia ...

William of Ockham William of Ockham, OFM (; also Occam, from la, Gulielmus Occamus; 1287 – 10 April 1347) was an English Franciscan friar, scholastic philosopher, apologist, and Catholic theologian, who is believed to have been born in Ockham, a small vil ...

, and other

Nominalist In metaphysics, nominalism is the view that universals and abstract objects do not actually exist other than being merely names or labels. There are at least two main versions of nominalism. One version denies the existence of universalsthings th ...

s. Copious and apt citations show that the author mastered

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...

and his Arabic commentator,

Averroes Ibn Rushd ( ar, ; full name in ; 14 April 112611 December 1198), often Latinized as Averroes ( ), was an Andalusian polymath and jurist who wrote about many subjects, including philosophy, theology, medicine, astronomy, physics, psy ...

; but a scrupulous fidelity to the Angelical Doctor, that earned for him the extraordinary appellation of "Soul of St. Thomas", is his chief characteristic. There is nothing in the wide field of the doctrinal discussions of his time that Capreolus did not study and elucidate, in a style terse and vigorous. His work is one of the enduring achievements of Scholasticism. The commentaries, bearing slightly variant titles, were published in four folio volumes at Venice, 1483, 1514, 1519, 1589. In 1881, Bishop Borret of Rodez, who had made the life and works of Capreolus, the object of considerable research, suggested a critically revised edition of the commentaries, which was at length undertaken by the Dominicans. Its publication was begun at Tours in 1900 under the title: ''Johannis Capreoli Tholosani, Ordinis Praedicatorum, Thomistarum principis, Defensiones Theologiae Divi Thomae Aq.de novo editae cura et studio RR. PP. Ceslai Paban et Thomae Pegues''. Early compendiums of the work by Paul Soncinas and by Sylvester Prierias were much used in their day.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Capreolus, Jean 1380 births 1444 deaths French Dominicans Medieval French theologians Scholastic philosophers 15th-century French philosophers