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 In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. He was the first scholastic writer to unite the Oxonian and Parisian traditions in 14th-century philosophy, and his work had a lasting influence in the

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Ren ...

and

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. His

scholastic nickname It was customary in the European Middle Ages, more precisely in the period of scholasticism which extended into early modern times, to designate the more celebrated among the doctors of theology and law by epithets or surnames which were suppos ...

s were ''Doctor acutus'' and ''Doctor authenticus''. His views strongly influenced some of the

Protestant Reformers Protestant Reformers were those theologians whose careers, works and actions brought about the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. In the context of the Reformation, Martin Luther was the first reformer (sharing his views publicly in 15 ...

Life

Gregory was born in

Rimini Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...

around 1300. He joined the Order of the Hermits of Saint Augustine before studying

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

in the 1320s 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 ...

, where he encountered the ideas of the late

Franciscan , 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 = , ...

Peter Auriol Petrus AureolusAlso known as: Petrus Aureoli, Peter Auriol, and Pierre Auriol; also Aureol, Aureole or Oriol. ( – 10 January 1322) was a scholasticism, scholastic philosopher and theologian. Little of his life before 1312 is known. After this ...

. In the 1330s he taught at Augustinian schools 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 na ...

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

and

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part ...

, where he became familiar with the recent work of Oxford thinkers such as

Adam Wodeham Adam of Wodeham, Franciscan, OFM (1298–1358) was a philosopher and theologian. Currently, Wodeham is best known for having been a secretary of William Ockham and for his interpretations of John Duns Scotus. Despite this associational fame, Wodeham ...

William 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 vill ...

, and Walter Chatton. He returned to Paris in 1342 to prepare his lectures on Peter Lombard's

Sentences ''The Four Books of Sentences'' (''Libri Quattuor Sententiarum'') is a book of theology written by Peter Lombard in the 12th century. It is a systematic compilation of theology, written around 1150; it derives its name from the '' sententiae'' ...

, which he delivered in 1342–1344. Because of his familiarity with English philosophy during this time, he effectively transmitted contemporary Oxford ideas—with an Augustinian tinge—to Paris. He became a Master of Theology in 1345 and subsequently taught at schools in

and

. Gregory died in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1358 shortly after being named General of his Order.

Philosophy

In his lifetime, Gregory composed a number of philosophical works including analytical tables to accompany his own lectures, tables on Saint Augustine's works, and a few governmental letters. Yet, his most important works are the lectures on Books I and II of Peter Lombard's ''Sentences''. (This should have been on the four books, but books III and IV seem to have been lost, or were never written). Many later scholastics copied long passages from his works. Those who borrowed from him or were influenced by him include the

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint B ...

James of Eltville James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

, Pierre d'Ailly, and Henry of Langenstein.

Augustinianism

The most important influence in Gregory's thought was

St Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...

. Gregory read Augustine more carefully and extensively than his predecessors, and so was able to attack Auriol for his faulty citations and quotations of Augustine, as well as for his

Semipelagianism Semi-Pelagianism (or Semipelagianism) is a Christian theological and soteriological school of thought on salvation. Semipelagian thought stands in contrast to the earlier Pelagian teaching about salvation, Pelagianism (in which people are born un ...

. Gregory adhered to Augustine's

predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby ...

and famously condemned unbaptised infants to

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

, for which he gained the nickname ''Infantium Tortor'' (torturer, or tormentor, of infants). Gregory taught the doctrines of

double predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby ...

and limited atonoment.

Theory of sentences

Initially, with the intention of defining theology and natural sciences, Rimini developed a theory of sentences to describe scientific knowledge. He believed sentences neither to be extra-mental nor propositional; in this theory, sentences signify something exclusively by the make-up of their terms, but are neither reducible to individual terms nor are "mental sentences" identifiable. Defenders of this view claim that beliefs about the world are too complicated to correspond to specific language structures and thus, cannot serve as objects of scientific knowledge.

Nominalism

Gregory Rimini had a unique take on traditional

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 ...

views. He thought that to contrive understanding in physical reality by incorporating abstract objects was nonsensical, due to his belief that mental objects are used strictly for convenient social conventions and nothing else. With this divide between complex thought and physical reality, Rimini also believed statements describing infinitely many points, infinitely many lines, infinitely many planes, etc. are all false. Since these are all mental, abstract objects, they only exist in the minds of people who think about them. Thus, the notion of physical infinity is not applicable. Furthermore, God was always in close relation to these abstract objects, too. Rimini's nominalist view claims that God has the ability to distinguish abstract objects but has no need to manipulate them. To Rimini, God has no need to manipulate mathematical propositions because he exists outside of time and thus, has no need to think deductively about the individual abstract objects anyway.

Works

Gregorio da Rimini – De imprestanciis venetorum, 1508 – BEIC 13700206

* ''Gregorii Ariminensis OESA Lectura super Primum et Secundum Sententiarum'' edited by A. Trapp et al., Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter. ** ''Tomus I: Super Primum (Dist. 1-6)'', 1981. ** ''Tomus II: Super Primum (Dist. 17-17)'', 1982. ** ''Tomus III: Super Primum (Dist. 19-48)'', 1984. ** ''Tomus IV: Super Secundum (Dist. 1-5)'', 1979. ** ''Tomus V: Super Secundum (Dist. 6-18)'', 1979. ** ''Tomus VI: Super Secundum (Dist. 24-44)'', 1980. ** ''Tomus VII: Indices'', 1987. **Old editions: *** ''Gregorii Ariminiensis...super Primum et Secundum Sententiarum'', Saint Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute, 1955 eprint of 1494 edition *** ''Gregorij Ariminiensis Ordonis Hermitaru Diui Augustini ac Sacri Pagine Magistri in Secundo Sententiar mAdmiranda Expositio'', Milan, 1494. * ''De usura'' ** * ''De quatuor virtutibus cardinalibus'' * ''De intentione et remissione formarum''

References

Sources

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory of Rimini 1300s births Year of birth uncertain 1358 deaths Augustinian philosophers Christian theologians University of Paris alumni Augustinian friars Scholastic philosophers 14th-century Latin writers 14th-century Italian philosophers Italian expatriates in France