Nicholas Of Clémanges

▪ French theologian

original name  Nicolas Poillevilain  

born c. 1363, , Clémanges, Fr.

died 1437, Paris

      theologian, humanist, and educator who denounced the corruption of institutional Christianity, advocated general ecclesiastical reform, and attempted to mediate the Western Schism (rival claimants to the papacy) during the establishment of the papal residence in Avignon, Fr.

      Named rector of the University of Paris in 1393 after acquiring repute as a liberal humanist, Nicholas attempted to resolve the papal schism at the suggestion of his colleagues. In 1397 on the strength of his fame as a Latinist, he became secretary to the antipope Benedict XIII at Avignon, while Pope Boniface IX resided in Rome. Frustrated by the continuation of the schism, Nicholas withdrew his allegiance to Benedict in 1408, when the antipope lost the support of the French. After retiring to a Carthusian monastery near Avignon, he addressed a communication to the Council of Constance (Constance, Council of) in 1414, supporting the theory of conciliarism, or the subordination of the pope to a general council. At the Council of Chartres in 1421, he defended the freedom of the Gallican church, and in 1432 he returned to his teaching career at the College of Navarre.

      Reflecting an attitude of sober humanism, transcending the partisan church politics of his day, Nicholas preferred the equanimity of intellectual and moral suasion rather than combative means to influence the contending factions dividing Christendom. He aimed at expressing disputed philosophical and religious questions in pre-Christian classical literary form. His works De fructu rerum adversarum (“On the Fruit of Adversities”) and De fructu eremi (“On the Fruit of Seclusion”), written at the height of the papal crisis in 1408, proposed criteria for settling the schism. In addition to several biblical commentaries he composed the tract De studio theologico (“On Theological Study”), in which he criticized the abstractions of medieval scholastic philosophy and urged theologians to a more direct exposition of biblical doctrine.

      In his treatise De lapsu et reparatione justitiae (“On the Failure and Renewal of Justice”) and in companion works (c. 1415) discussing the decline of the church and the ravages of simoniacal practices (the selling of religious offices) by ecclesiastical authorities, Nicholas deplored clerical avarice and the abuse of power. The essay De corrupto ecclesiae statu (“On the Corrupt State of the Church”), formerly attributed to him, is of dubious authenticity, according to more recent scholarship. His works, including the collection of stylistic letters on controversial issues and several pieces of poetry, were edited by J.M. Lydius (2 vol., 1613) and by A. Coville (1936).

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