Ein kurialer Ketzerprozess in Avignon (1354)

Die Verurteilung der Franziskanerspiritualen Giovanni di Castiglione und Francesco d'Arquata

by Alexander Patschovsky

Book cover: Ein kurialer Ketzerprozess in Avignon (1354)

Extent: 136 pages

Publisher: Harrassowitz Verlag

Subjects: Medieval Studies, Religious Studies

Series: Monumenta Germaniae Historica - Studien und Texte

Series volume number: 64

Language: German

Hardback (Published)

(March 2018)

ISBN: 9783447109680

Price: $50.00

Out of stock

In 1354 the papal Curia in Avignon staged a trial for heresy, which was remarkable in many respects. The result alone obviously did not meet the Curia’s expectations that the accused would revoke their ideas and no longer question the curia before they were burned at the stake. The trial’s background was the conflict between a radical spiritualist branch of the Franciscan Order and the Popes after John XXII on the controversial theological question of how poor Christ and the apostles really were and how poor one must therefore be oneself if one wanted to follow their footsteps.


English summary: In 1354 the papal Curia in Avignon staged a trial for heresy, which was remarkable in many respects. The result alone obviously did not meet the Curia’s expectations that the accused would revoke their ideas and no longer question the curia before they were burned at the stake. The trial’s background was the conflict between a radical spiritualist branch of the Franciscan Order and the Popes after John XXII on the controversial theological question of how poor Christ and the apostles really were and how poor one must therefore be oneself if one wanted to follow their footsteps. The Franciscan spirituals followed a very radical course approved by the Franciscan Pope Nicholas III. When his successor John XXII revised the decision of his predecessor, the conflict escalated. The spirituals refused obedience and the Curia labeled them as heretics, which cost the lives of hundreds of Franciscans. We know their names to a large extent from the documents of the process proceedings critically edited here for the first time, which dealt with this issue in one of its last meetings. German description: Im Jahre 1354 fand an der papstlichen Kurie in Avignon ein Ketzerprozess statt, der in vieler Hinsicht bemerkenswert ist. Allein schon das Ergebnis entsprach offensichtlich nicht den Vorstellungen der Kurie, die erwartet hatte, dass die Angeklagten ihre von der Kurie als haretisch qualifizierten Vorstellungen widerrufen und die Kurie nicht mehr in Frage stellen wurden, bevor sie auf den Scheiterhaufen gebracht wurden. Hintergrund war der Konflikt zwischen einem radikal-spiritualistischen Zweig des Franziskanerordens und den Papsten in der Nachfolge Johannes’ XXII. um die kontroverstheologische Frage, wie arm Christus und die Apostel tatsachlich gewesen sind und wie arm man infolgedessen selbst sein musse, wollte man ihren Spuren folgen. Die Franziskanerspiritualen verfolgten einen sehr radikalen durch den Franziskanerpapst Nikolaus III. abgesegneten Kurs. Als dessen Nachfolger Johannes XXII. die Entscheidung seines Vorgangers revidierte, eskalierte der Konflikt. Die Spiritualen verweigerten den Gehorsam und die Kurie griff zur Waffe der Haretisierung, was Hunderte von Franziskanern das Leben kostete. Wir kennen ihre Namen zu einem Gutteil aus den Materialien der hier erstmals kritisch edierten Prozessmaterie, die sich in einem der letzten Verfahren mit diesem Punkt beschaftigte.

  • By (author) Alexander Patschovsky

"In 1353, two Franciscans planned to go on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. It was a journey that would prove fatal to both of them. The story of their fateful decision is available in this work, first in a German introduction and then in an edition of the inquisitorial record, both the work of Alexander Patschovsky, one of the finest historians working today. Patschovsky is heavily involved in the work of editing Joachim of Fiore's work, but has taken the time to finish editing this important document. He brings to it extensive background information that illuminates key elements in the Latin text." --David Burr, Virginia Tech, The Medieval Times Review