Hervaeus Natalis (c. 1260, Nédellec, diocese of Tréguier,

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

-1323) was a Dominican theologian, the 14th Master of the Dominicans, and the author of a number of works on philosophy and theology. Among his many writings may be included the ''Summa Totius Logicae'', an ''opusculum'' once attributed to

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 wit ...

Life

Natalis joined the Dominicans in 1276. In 1303, he entered the convent of St. Jacques at the University of Paris. On his arrival to St. Jacques, he signed a petition supporting Philip the Fair's attempt to convoke a council in his war with Pope Boniface VIII on grounds of papal jurisdiction. He studied theology in Paris and became French provincial of the Dominicans in 1308. Later in 1318, he was appointed Master General of the Order. A resolute early

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 ...

, nicknamed ''Doctor rarus'', he was a tenacious opponent of the theology of

Durandus of Saint-Pourçain Durandus of Saint-Pourçain (also known as Durand of Saint-Pourçain; c. 1275 – 13 September 1332 / 10 September 1334) was a French Dominican, philosopher, theologian, and bishop. Life He was born at Saint-Pourçain, Auvergne. Little is kn ...

. He also opposed

Scotism Scotism is the philosophical school and theological system named after John Duns Scotus, a 13th-century Scottish philosopher-theologian. The word comes from the name of its originator, whose ''Opus Oxoniense'' was one of the most important ...

. He sought for and obtained the canonization of Aquinas. He became Master of the Order of Preachers in 1318, a post he held until he died in 1323 on the way to attend the canonization of Thomas Aquinas.

As Master of the Order

Natalis' tenure as master general of the Order was focused on removing the corruption prevalent in the Dominican Order. His ordered a series of acts that limited the privileges of the elites within the Order. These acts ordered high members of the Order to take part in choir and eat in the refectory along with abolishing the use of titles1. In addition to these acts, Natalis sought to reign in the studia generalia by abolishing the title magister. He also sought to centralize the curriculum and appointments of the studia generalia to the Master General.

Differences with Durandus of St. Pourçain

While Natalis was Durandus' mentor, the two scholars disputed on numerous theological ideas. In a commission investigating the works of Durandus, Natalis found 91 objectionable propositions. From 1309 to 1316, a polemical war ensued between Hervaeus Natalis and Durandus of St. Pourçain. Throughout those years, both Natalis and Durandus of St. Pourçain exchanged polemics and writings that sought to disprove the other. Near the end of this war, Hervaeus Natalis compiled two censure lists, one in 1314 and one in 1316. These lists gathered the problematic tenets of Durandus' works, and in turn, compelled Durandus to revise his work. Notable works concerning this polemical war include ''Reprobationes excusationum Durandi'', ''Quodlibet III'', and ''Correctiones super dicta Durandi in Quodlibet Avenonense I''. These works either reprimanded Durandus or responded to Durandus' counterattacks to Natalis' arguments. One of Natalis' most significant counters to Durandus was in his ''Evidentiae contra Durandum super IVum Sent.'', in which Natalis examines 38 articles where Durandus deviated from the teachings of Aquinas regarding the sacraments.

References

*Grabmann, M. ''Beitrage Zur Geschichte der Phil. des Mittelalters'', XXII, 1, 2, 1920, pp. 168–71. *

Pierre Mandonnet Pierre Mandonnet (26 February 1858 – 4 January 1936) was a French-born, Belgian Dominican historian, important in the neo-Thomist trend of historiography and the recovery of medieval philosophy. He made his reputation with a study of Sige ...

, ''Revue Thomiste X'', 1927, pp. 146–157. * Tavuzzi M. Hervaeus Natalis and the philosophical logic of the Thomism of the Renaissance, ''Doctor Communis'' 45: 132-152 (1992) * Piccari P., La prima scuola tomistica. Erveo di Nédellec e l'epistemologia teologica, "Sapienza", 50, 1997, pp. 147-162. * Doyle J. P. Hervaeus Natalis, O.P., (d. 1323) on intentionality: its direction, context, and some aftermath, ''Modern Schoolman'' 83: 85-124 (2006).

Notices

Works

*''Theologie und Wissenschaft nach der Lehre der Hochscholastik'': an der Hand der bisher ungedruckten Defensa doctrinae D.Thomae des Hervaeus Natalis / mit Beifügung gedruckter und ungedruckter Paralleltexte von Engelbert Krebs. Münster: Aschendorff, 1912 (per excerpta); La Opinio de difficultatibus contra doctrinam fratris Thome di Erveo di Nédellec, edizione critica a cura di Paolo Piccari, "Memorie Domenicane", Nuova Serie 26, 1995, pp. 5-198. *''Durandi de S. Porciano OP Quaestio de natura cognitionis: (2. Sent. D. 3 Q. 5) et Disputatio cum anonymo quodam nec non Determinatio Hervei Natalis OP (Quol. 3 Q. 8)'' ad fidem manuscriptorum edidit Josephus Koch. Monasterii: Aschendorff, 1929. *''De Iurisdictione'' ein unveröffentlichter Traktat des Herveus Natalis OP über die kirchengewalt von Ludwig Hödl. München: Max Hueber, 1959. *''Magistri D. Durandi a Sancto Porciano Ordinis praedicatorum Quolibeta avenionensia tria'' Durandus a Sancto Porciano; additis ''Correctionibus Hervei Natalis supra dicta Durandi in primo quodlibet''; cura P. T. Stella. Zürich: Pas, 1965. *''Hervei Natalis Britonis In quatuor Libros sententiarum Commentaria'' quibus adiectus est eiusdem auctoris Tractatus de potestate Papae. Farnborough Hants: Gregg Press, 1966 (Facsimile reprint of the edition: Parisiis, apud viduam Dyonisii Moreau & Dyonisium Moreau filium, 1647. *''Quodlibeta Hervei'' subtilissima Hervei Natalis Britonis theologi acutissimi quodlibeta undecim cum octo ipsius profundissimis tractatibus ... nunc primum impressa ... Ridgewood, NJ: Gregg, 1966 (Facsimile reprint of the edition: Venetiis, per Georgium Arrivabenum, 1513. *''Harvey of Nedellec's proofs for the existence of God: de cognitione primi principii, QQ.III-IV'' Edited by Joseph T. Mannath, Rome, Pontificium Athenaeus Salesianum, (Excerpt from a Ph. D. thesis) 1969. *''The poverty of Christ and the apostles'' Hervaeus Natalis; a translation, with introduction and notes, of the ''Liber de paupertate Christi et apostolorum'' by John D. Jones Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1999. *''A Treatise of Master Hervaeus Natalis (d.1323) The Doctor Perspicacissimus On Second Intentions'' Milwaukee: Marquette University Press 2008. Volume One - An English translation and Volume Two - A Latin edition by John P. Doyle. * ''Hervaeus Natalis. De Quattuor Materiis, Sive Determinationes Contra Magistrum Henricum De Gandavo''. Edited by L. M. de Rijk. Vol. I: ''De formis'' (together with his ''De unitate formae substantialis in eodem suppositio''), Turnhout: Brepols, 2011; Vol. II: ''De esse et essentia. De materia et forma''. A Critical Edition from Selected Manuscripts, Turnhout: Brepols, 2013; Vol. III: (in preparation).

External links

*
On equipollence
From the ''Summa totius logicae'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Natalis, Hervaeus Masters of the Order of Preachers Scholastic philosophers 1260s births 1323 deaths 14th-century Breton people Year of birth uncertain Place of birth missing 14th-century French Catholic theologians