Johannes Klenkok (or Klenke) (c. 1310 – 15 June 1374) was a German

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

friar, known as a theologian and disciple of

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 ...

Life

Klenkok was born in the

County of Hoya The County of Hoya (German: ''Grafschaft Hoya'') was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present German state of Lower Saxony. It was centered on the town of Hoya on the middle Weser river, between Bremen and Nienburg; the area no ...

, part of what is now

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

, son of a castellan in Thedinghausen. He studied philosophy and theology in Germany with the Augustinians, then took a bachelor's degree 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 was in

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from 1342 to 1346. At the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

for about four years, from the first half of 1357, Klenkok transmitted the views of Gregory of Rimini. His intention was to oppose the positions of Uthred of Bolton. He was incepted in theology there, in 1359.

Views and background

Klenkok is now known as a critic of aspects of the feudal law and

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...

traditions. He opposed the ''

Sachsenspiegel The (; gml, Sassen Speyghel; modern nds, Sassenspegel; all literally "Saxon Mirror") is one of the most important law books and custumals compiled during the Holy Roman Empire. Originating between 1220 and 1235 as a record of existing loc ...

'', a civil law code applied in parts of Germany in his time. He debated it with Rudolf Block. His work the ''Decadicon'' from 1368–9 was an attack on it. Later Klenkok looked for support from the French canonist Pierre de la Vergne, who became a cardinal in 1371. In 1374

Pope Gregory XI Pope Gregory XI ( la, Gregorius, born Pierre Roger de Beaufort; c. 1329 – 27 March 1378) was head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1370 to his death in March 1378. He was the seventh and last Avignon pope and the most recent French pop ...

issued a bull and condemned 14 articles of the ''Sachsenspiegel''. Others like Klenkok who put forth a revised version of the views of Gregory of Rimini included Hugolin of Orvieto, Johann Hiltalinger, Angelinus Dobelinus, and Johannes Zacharie. Of these, Dobelinus considered Klenkok his personal teacher. As a commentator at Paris he was in the company of John of Ripa, Facinus de Ast, Michael Aiguani and Andrew of Neufchateau. These writers stood rather apart from the trend of the ''moderni''.

Editions

As of 1999, a modern scholarly edition of his works was lacking.

References

Sources

*Christopher Ocker, ''Johannes Klenkok: A Friar's Life, c. 1310-1374'', Transactions, American Philosophical Society (vol. 83, Part 5, 1993). Online a
Google Books

External links