Petrus Aureoli

Commentarii in libros sententiarum

Petrus Aureoli (c. 1280 – 10 January 1322), often anglicized Peter Auriol, was a scholastic philosopher and theologian.

Life

Little of his life before 1312 is known. After this time, he taught at the Franciscan convent in Bologna, then at the convent in Toulouse, around 1314. He went to Paris in 1316 in order to qualify for his doctorate, where he read the Sentences. In 1318 he was appointed master of theology at the University of Paris. In 1321, he was appointed by his mentor, Pope John XXII, to the position of Archbishop of Aix-en-Provence, but died not long after in 1322.

Doctrine

Auriol's first work was on evangelical poverty, where he argued for a moderate position between those of the spirituals and conventuals. He is best known for the enormous Scriptum super primum Sententiarum, his commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard, which runs to more than 1100 folio pages and was eventually printed in Rome in 1596. He also wrote Tractatus de principiis, a non-theological work, while he was lector at the Franciscan convent in Bologna some time before 1312, and some treatises on the Immaculate Conception at the Franciscan convent in Toulouse.

Auriol was at first a Scotist. Later, he arrived at a position closer to that of the nominalist Durandus. He denied the reality of universals, the existence of species and of the active intellect, the distinction between essence and existence, and the distinction between the soul and its faculties. These doctrines are considered by some to have prepared the way for the conceptualism of Ockham. Ockham was certainly aware of Auriol's work.

His ability earned for him the titles of Doctor Facundus and Doctor Abundans.

Works

• Quodlibeta, Rome (1596-1605)
• Commentariorum in primum librum Sententiarum pars prima et secunda, Rome 1596
• Commentariorum in secundum, tertium et quartum Sententiarum et Quodlibeti tomus secundus, Rome 1605
• Scriptum super primum Sententiarum: Distinction I, ed. E.M. Buytaert Franciscan Institute publications, Text series number 3, St. Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute 1952.
• Scriptum super primum Sententiarum: Distinctions II - VIII, ed. E.M. Buytaert Franciscan Institute publications, Text series number 3, St. Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute 1956.
• De unitate conceptus entis, ed. Stephen F. Brown, in Petrus Aureoli': De unitate conceptus entis (Reportatio Parisiensis in I Sententiarum, dist. 2. p. 1, qq. 1-3 et p. 2 qq 1-2), Traditio 50, pp 199–248.

Notes

Attribution

• Pace, Edward Aloysius (1907). "Petrus Aureoli". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Petrus Aureoli — (Aureolus, D'auriol, Oriol).

A Franciscan philosopher and theologian, called on account of his eloquence Doctor facundus, born 1280 at Toulouse (or Verberie-sur-Oise); d. 10 January, I322 (Denifle; other dates assigned are 1330 and 1345). He entered the Orator of Friars Minor studied at Toulouse, taught theology there and at Paris and became (1319) provincial of his order (Province of Aquitaine). John XXII appointed him Archbishop of Aix (1321). He defended the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception in a public disputation at Toulouse (1314), in his "De Conceptione Mariae Virginis" and "Repercussorium" (reply to opponents of the doctrine), in his "Sermons" and in commentary on St. Bernard's teaching. His other principal works are the commentary on the "Sentences" of Peter Lombard (Rome, 1596-1605), "Quodlibeta", and "Breviarium Bibliorum", an introduction to the Scriptures with literal commentary, which appeared in numerous editions at Venice, Paris, and Louvain. A new edition by Seeboeck was published at Quaracchi in 1896. In philosophy Aureoti was a Conceptualist and a forerunner of Occam. He criticized the doctrine of St. Thomas and defended, though not in all points, the views of Scotus. His writings on the Immaculate Conception were published by Petrus de Alva in the "Monumenta Seraphica Imm. Concept".

External links

• The Peter Auriol Homepage
• Friedman, Russell L. "Peter Auriol". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. ISSN 1095-5054. OCLC 429049174.
• Peter Auriol in the Franciscan Authors catalogue Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
• Petrus Aureoli at the Catholic Encyclopedia