Nicole Oresme (; c. 1320–1325 – 11 July 1382), also known as Nicolas Oresme, Nicholas Oresme, or Nicolas d'Oresme, was a French philosopher of the later

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. He wrote influential works on

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

, mathematics,

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

astrology Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...

and

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

, philosophy, and

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

; was

Bishop of Lisieux A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, a

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

, a counselor of King

Charles V of France Charles V (21 January 1338 – 16 September 1380), called the Wise (french: le Sage; la, Sapiens), was King of France from 1364 to his death in 1380. His reign marked an early high point for France during the Hundred Years' War, with his armi ...

, and one of the most original thinkers of 14th-century Europe.

Life

Nicole Oresme was born c. 1320–1325 in the village of Allemagnes (today's

Fleury-sur-Orne Fleury-sur-Orne (, literally ''Fleury on Orne'') is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It is part of the Communauté urbaine Caen la Mer and of the agglomeration of Caen.Caen,

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, in the

diocese of Bayeux The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux (Latin: ''Dioecesis Baiocensis et Lexoviensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Bayeux et Lisieux'') is a diocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is coextensive with the Department of Calvados and is ...

. Practically nothing is known concerning his family. The fact that Oresme attended the royally sponsored and subsidised

College of Navarre The College of Navarre (french: Collège de Navarre) was one of the colleges of the historic University of Paris, rivaling the Sorbonne and renowned for its library. History It was founded by Queen Joan I of Navarre in 1305, who provided for th ...

, an institution for students too poor to pay their expenses while studying 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 ...

, makes it probable that he came from a peasant family. Oresme studied the "arts" in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, together with

Jean Buridan Jean Buridan (; Latin: ''Johannes Buridanus''; – ) was an influential 14th-century French philosopher. Buridan was a teacher in the faculty of arts at the University of Paris for his entire career who focused in particular on logic and the wor ...

(the so-called founder of the French school of natural philosophy),

Albert of Saxony en, Frederick Augustus Albert Anthony Ferdinand Joseph Charles Maria Baptist Nepomuk William Xavier George Fidelis , image = Albert of Saxony by Nicola Perscheid c1900.jpg , image_size = , caption = Photograph by Nicola Persch ...

and perhaps

Marsilius of Inghen Marsilius of Inghen (c. 1340 – 20 August 1396) was a medieval Dutch Scholastic philosopher who studied with Albert of Saxony and Nicole Oresme under Jean Buridan. He was Magister at the University of Paris as well as at the University of Hei ...

, and there received the

Magister Artium A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

. He was already a

regent master Regent master (''Magister regens'') was a title conferred in the medieval universities upon a student who had acquired a master's degree. The degree meant simply the right to teach, the ''Licentia docendi'', a right which could be granted, in the ...

in arts by 1342, during the crisis over

William of Ockham William of Ockham, OFM (; also Occam, from la, Gulielmus Occamus; 1287 – 10 April 1347) was an English Franciscan friar, scholastic philosopher, apologist, and Catholic theologian, who is believed to have been born in Ockham, a small vil ...

natural philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe. It was dominant before the development of modern science. From the ancient wo ...

. In 1348, he was a student of

in Paris. In 1356, he received his doctorate and in the same year he became grand master (''grand-maître'') of the

. In 1364, he was appointed dean of the

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

of Rouen. Around 1369, he began a series of translations of Aristotelian works at the request of

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

, who granted him a pension in 1371 and, with royal support, was appointed

bishop of Lisieux A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

in 1377. In 1382, he died in Lisieux.

Scientific work

Cosmology

In his ''Livre du ciel et du monde'' Oresme discussed a range of evidence for and against the daily rotation of the Earth on its axis. From astronomical considerations, he maintained that if the Earth were moving and not the

celestial spheres The celestial spheres, or celestial orbs, were the fundamental entities of the cosmological models developed by Plato, Eudoxus, Aristotle, Ptolemy, Copernicus, and others. In these celestial models, the apparent motions of the fixed stars ...

, all the movements that we see in the heavens that are computed by the astronomers would appear exactly the same as if the spheres were rotating around the Earth. He rejected the physical argument that if the Earth were moving the air would be left behind causing a great wind from east to west. In his view the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

Water Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...

, and

Air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

would all share the same motion. As to the scriptural passage that speaks of the motion of the Sun, he concludes that "this passage conforms to the customary usage of popular speech" and is not to be taken literally. He also noted that it would be more economical for the small Earth to rotate on its axis than the immense sphere of the stars. Nonetheless, he concluded that none of these arguments were conclusive and "everyone maintains, and I think myself, that the heavens do move and not the Earth."

Critiques of astrology

In his mathematical work, Oresme developed the notion of incommensurate fractions, fractions that could not be expressed as powers of one another, and made probabilistic, statistical arguments as to their relative frequency. From this, he argued that it was very probable that the length of the day and the year were incommensurate (

irrational Irrationality is cognition, thinking, talking, or acting without inclusion of rationality. It is more specifically described as an action or opinion given through inadequate use of reason, or through emotional distress or cognitive deficiency. T ...

), as indeed were the periods of the motions of the moon and the planets. From this, he noted that planetary conjunctions and oppositions would never recur in quite exactly the same way. Oresme maintained that this disproves the claims of astrologers who, thinking "they know with punctual exactness the motions, aspects, conjunctions and oppositions… udgerashly and erroneously about future events." Oresme's critique of

in his ''Livre de divinacions'' treats it as having six parts. The first, essentially astronomy, the movements of heavenly bodies, he considers good science but not precisely knowable. The second part deals with the influences of the heavenly bodies on earthly events at all scales. Oresme does not deny such influence, but states, in line with a commonly held opinion,Wood, 1970. p. 9 that it could either be that arrangements of heavenly bodies signify events, purely symbolically, or that they actually cause such events, deterministically. Mediaevalist Chauncey Wood remarks that this major elision "makes it very difficult to determine who believed what about astrology". The third part concerns predictiveness, covering events at three different scales: great events such as plagues, famines, floods and wars; weather, winds and storms; and medicine, with influences on the

humours Humorism, the humoral theory, or humoralism, was a system of medicine detailing a supposed makeup and workings of the human body, adopted by Ancient Greek and Roman physicians and philosophers. Humorism began to fall out of favor in the 1850s ...

, the four Aristotelian fluids of the body. Oresme criticizes all of these as misdirected, though he accepts that prediction is a legitimate area of study, and argues that the effect on the weather is less well known than the effect on great events. He observes that sailors and farmers are better at predicting weather than astrologers, and specifically attacks the astrological basis of prediction, noting correctly that the

zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The pat ...

has moved relative to the fixed stars (because of

precession of the equinoxes In astronomy, axial precession is a gravity-induced, slow, and continuous change in the orientation of an astronomical body's rotational axis. In the absence of precession, the astronomical body's orbit would show axial parallelism. In partic ...

) since the zodiac was first described in ancient times. These first three parts are what Oresme considers the physical influences of the stars and planets (including sun and moon) on the earth, and while he offers critiques of them, he accepts that effects exist. The last three parts are what Oresme considers to concern (good or bad) fortune. They are interrogations, meaning asking the stars when to do things such as business deals; elections, meaning choosing the best time to do things such as getting married or fighting a war; and nativities, meaning the natal astrology with birth charts that forms much of modern astrological practice. Oresme classifies interrogations and elections as "totally false" arts, but his critique of nativities is more measured. He denies that any path is predetermined by the heavenly bodies, because humans have

free will Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to ac ...

, but he accepts that the heavenly bodies can influence behaviour and habitual mood, via the combination of humours in each person. Overall, Oresme's skepticism is strongly shaped by his understanding of the scope of astrology. He accepts things a modern skeptic would reject, and rejects some things — such as the knowability of planetary movements, and effects on weather — that are accepted by modern science.Wood, 1970. pp. 8–11

Sense perception

In discussing the propagation of light and sound, Oresme adopted the common medieval doctrine of the multiplication of species, as it had been developed by optical writers such as Alhacen,

Robert Grosseteste Robert Grosseteste, ', ', or ') or the gallicised Robert Grosstête ( ; la, Robertus Grossetesta or '). Also known as Robert of Lincoln ( la, Robertus Lincolniensis, ', &c.) or Rupert of Lincoln ( la, Rubertus Lincolniensis, &c.). ( ; la, Rob ...

, Roger Bacon, John Pecham, and

Witelo Vitello ( pl, Witelon; german: Witelo; – 1280/1314) was a friar, theologian, natural philosopher and an important figure in the history of philosophy in Poland. Name Vitello's name varies with some sources. In earlier publications he was quo ...

. Oresme maintained that these species were immaterial, but corporeal (i.e., three-dimensional) entities.

Mathematics

Oresme's most important contributions to mathematics are contained in ''Tractatus de configurationibus qualitatum et motuum''. In a quality, or accidental form, such as heat, he distinguished the ''intensio'' (the degree of heat at each point) and the ''extensio'' (as the length of the heated rod). These two terms were often replaced by ''latitudo'' and ''longitudo''. For the sake of clarity, Oresme conceived the idea of visualizing these concepts by plane figures, approaching what we would now call rectangular coordinates. The intensity of the quality was represented by a length or ''latitudo'' proportional to the intensity erected perpendicular to the base at a given point on the base line, which represents the ''longitudo''. Oresme proposed that the geometrical form of such a figure could be regarded as corresponding to a characteristic of the quality itself. Oresme defined a uniform quality as that which is represented by a line parallel to the longitude, and any other quality as difform. Uniformly varying qualities are represented by a straight line inclined to the axis of the longitude, while he described many cases of nonuniformly varying qualities. Oresme extended this doctrine to figures of three dimensions. He considered this analysis applicable to many different qualities such as hotness, whiteness, and sweetness. Significantly for later developments, Oresme applied this concept to the analysis of local motion where the ''latitudo'' or intensity represented the speed, the ''longitudo'' represented the time, and the area of the figure represented the distance travelled. He shows that his method of figuring the latitude of forms is applicable to the movement of a point, on condition that the time is taken as longitude and the speed as latitude; quantity is, then, the space covered in a given time. In virtue of this transposition, the theorem of the ''latitudo uniformiter difformis'' became the law of the space traversed in case of uniformly varied motion; thus Oresme published what was taught over two centuries prior to Galileo's making it famous. Diagrams of the velocity of an accelerating object against time in ''On the Latitude of Forms'' by Oresme have been cited to credit Oresme with the discovery of "proto bar charts". In ''De configurationibus'' Oresme introduces the concept of curvature as a measure of departure from straightness, for

circle A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is con ...

s he has the curvature as being inversely proportional to radius and attempts to extend this to other curves as a continuously varying magnitude. Significantly, Oresme developed the first proof of the

divergence In vector calculus, divergence is a vector operator that operates on a vector field, producing a scalar field giving the quantity of the vector field's source at each point. More technically, the divergence represents the volume density of t ...

of the harmonic series. His proof, requiring less advanced mathematics than current "standard" tests for divergence (for example, the

integral test In mathematics, an integral assigns numbers to functions in a way that describes displacement, area, volume, and other concepts that arise by combining infinitesimal data. The process of finding integrals is called integration. Along with d ...

), begins by noting that for any ''n'' that is a

power of 2 A power of two is a number of the form where is an integer, that is, the result of exponentiation with number two as the base and integer as the exponent. In a context where only integers are considered, is restricted to non-negative ...

, there are ''n''/2 − 1 terms in the series between 1/(''n''/2) and 1/''n''. Each of these terms is at least 1/''n'', and since there are ''n''/2 of them they sum to at least 1/2. For instance, there is one term 1/2, then two terms 1/3 + 1/4 that together sum to at least 1/2, then four terms 1/5 + 1/6 + 1/7 + 1/8 that also sum to at least 1/2, and so on. Thus the series must be greater than the series 1 + 1/2 + 1/2 + 1/2 + ..., which does not have a finite limit. This proves that the harmonic series must be divergent. This argument shows that the sum of the first ''n'' terms grows at least as fast as

(1/2) \log_2 n

. (See also Harmonic series) Oresme was the first mathematician to prove this fact, and (after his proof was lost) it was not proven again until the 17th century by

Pietro Mengoli Pietro Mengoli (1626, Bologna – June 7, 1686, Bologna) was an Italian mathematician and clergyman from Bologna, where he studied with Bonaventura Cavalieri at the University of Bologna, and succeeded him in 1647. He remained as professor there ...

. He also worked on fractional powers, and the notion of probability over infinite sequences, ideas which would not be further developed for the next three and five centuries, respectively.

On local motion

Oresme, like many of his contemporaries such as John Buridan and Albert of Saxony, shaped and critiqued Aristotle's and Averroes's theories of motion to their own liking. Taking inspiration from the theories of ''forma fluens'' and ''fluxus formae'', Oresme would suggest his own descriptions for change and motion in his commentary of ''Physics''. ''Forma fluens'' is described by William of Ockham as "Every thing that is moved is moved by a mover," and ''fluxus formae'' as "Every motion is produced by a mover." Buridan and Albert of Saxony each subscribed to the classic interpretation of flux being an innate part of an object, but Oresme differs from his contemporaries in this aspect. Oresme agrees with ''fluxus formae'' in that motion is attributed to an object, but that an object is “set into” motion, rather than “given” motion, denying a distinction between a motionless object and an object in motion. To Oresme, an object moves, but it is not a moving object. Once an object begins movement through the three dimensions it has a new “modus rei” or “way of being,” which should only be described through the perspective of the moving object, rather than a distinct point. This line of thought coincides with Oresme's challenge to the structure of the universe. Oresme's description of motion was not popular, although it was thorough. A Richard Brinkley is thought to be an inspiration for the modus-rei description, but this is uncertain.

Political thought

Oresme provided the first modern vernacular translations of

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...

's moral works that are still extant today. Between 1371 and 1377 he translated Aristotle's ''

Ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...

'', ''

Politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

'' and ''

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

'' (the last of which is nowadays considered to be pseudo-Aristotelian) into

Middle French Middle French (french: moyen français) is a historical division of the French language that covers the period from the 14th to the 16th century. It is a period of transition during which: * the French language became clearly distinguished from ...

. He also extensively commented on these texts, thereby expressing some of his political views. Like his predecessors

Albert the Great Albertus Magnus (c. 1200 – 15 November 1280), also known as Saint Albert the Great or Albert of Cologne, was a German Dominican friar, philosopher, scientist, and bishop. Later canonised as a Catholic saint, he was known during his life ...

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 ...

and

Peter of Auvergne Peter of Auvergne (died 1304) was a French philosopher and theologian. Life He was a canon of Paris; some biographers have thought that he was Bishop of Clermont, because a Bull of Boniface VIII of the year 1296 names as canon of Paris a certain ...

(and quite unlike Aristotle), Oresme favours

monarchy A monarchy is a government#Forms, form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The legitimacy (political)#monarchy, political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restric ...

as the best form of

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

. His criterium for good government is the

common good In philosophy, economics, and political science, the common good (also commonwealth, general welfare, or public benefit) is either what is shared and beneficial for all or most members of a given community, or alternatively, what is achieved by c ...

. A

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

(by definition good) takes care of the common good, whereas a

tyrant A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to re ...

works for his own profit. A monarch can ensure the stability and durability of his reign by letting the

people A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

participate in government. This has rather confusingly and anachronistically been called

popular sovereignty Popular sovereignty is the principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people, who are the source of all political power. Popular sovereignty, being a principle, does not imply any ...

. Like Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, Peter of Auvergne and especially

Marsilius of Padua Marsilius of Padua (Italian: ''Marsilio'' or ''Marsiglio da Padova''; born ''Marsilio dei Mainardini'' or ''Marsilio Mainardini''; c. 1270 – c. 1342) was an Italian scholar, trained in medicine, who practiced a variety of professions. He ...

, whom he occasionally quotes, Oresme conceives of this popular participation as rather restrictive: only the multitude of reasonable, wise and virtuous men should be allowed political participation by electing and correcting the prince, changing the law and passing judgement. Oresme, however, categorically denies the

right of rebellion In political philosophy, the right of revolution (or right of rebellion) is the right or duty of a people to "alter or abolish" a government that acts against their common interests or threatens the safety of the people without cause. Stated throu ...

since it endangers the common good. Unlike earlier commentators, however, Oresme prescribes the

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

as superior to the king's will. It must only be changed in cases of extreme necessity. Oresme favours moderate kingship, thereby negating contemporary absolutist thought, usually promoted by adherents of

Roman law Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the '' Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Ju ...

. Furthermore, Oresme doesn't comply to contemporary conceptions of the

French king France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the firs ...

sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

, as promoted by Évrart de Trémaugon in his '' Songe du vergier'' or Jean Golein in his ''Traité du sacre''. Although he heavily criticises the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

as corrupt, tyrannical and oligarchical, he never fundamentally questions its necessity for the spiritual well-being of the faithful. It has traditionally been thought that Oresme's Aristotelian translations had a major influence on King Charles V's politics: Charles' laws concerning the

line of succession An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility.regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

for an underage king have been accredited to Oresme, as has the election of several high-ranking officials by the king's council in the early 1370s. Oresme may have conveyed Marsilian and conciliarist thought to

Jean Gerson Jean Charlier de Gerson (13 December 1363 – 12 July 1429) was a French scholar, educator, reformer, and poet, Chancellor of the University of Paris, a guiding light of the conciliar movement and one of the most prominent theologians at the Co ...

and Christine de Pizan.

Economics

With his ''Treatise on the origin, nature, law, and alterations of money'' (''De origine, natura, jure et mutationibus monetarum''), one of the earliest manuscripts devoted to an

economic An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

matter, Oresme brings an interesting insight on the medieval conception of money. Oresme's viewpoints of theoretical architecture are outlined in Part 3 and 4 of his work from ''De moneta,'' which he completed between 1356 and 1360. His belief is that humans have a natural right to own property; this property belongs to the individual and community. In Part 4, Oresme provides a solution to a political problem as to how a monarch can be held accountable to put the common good before any private affairs. Though the monarchy rightfully has claims on all money given an emergency, Oresme states that any ruler that goes through this is a “Tyrant dominating slaves”. Oresme was one of the first medieval theorists that did not accept the right of the monarch to have claims on all money as well as “his subjects’ right to own private property.”

Psychology

Oresme was known to be a well rounded psychologist. He practiced the technique of “inner senses” and studied the perception of the world. Oresme contributed to 19th and 20th century psychology in the fields of cognitive psychology, perception psychology, psychology of consciousness, and psychophysics. Oresme discovered the psychology of unconscious and came up with the theory of unconscious conclusion of perception. He developed many ideas beyond quality, quantity, categories and terms which were labeled “theory of cognition”.

Posthumous reputation

Oresme's economic thought remained well regarded centuries after his death. In a 1920 ''Essay on Medieval Economic Teaching'', Irish economist George O'Brien summed up the favorable academic consensus over Oresme's ''Treatise on the origin, nature, law, and alterations of money'':

The merits of this work have excited the unanimous admiration of all who have studied it.
Roscher Roscher is a German surname. People with the name include: * Wilhelm Georg Friedrich Roscher (1817–1894), German economist * His son Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (12 February 1845, in Göttingen – 9 March 1923, in Dresd ...
says that it contains 'a theory of money, elaborated in the fourteenth century, which remains perfectly correct to-day, under the test of the principles applied in the nineteenth century, and that with a brevity, a precision, a clarity, and a simplicity of language which is a striking proof of the superior genius of its author.' According to Brants, 'the treatise of Oresme is one of the first to be devoted ''ex professo'' to an economic subject, and it expresses many ideas which are very just, more just than those which held the field for a long period after him, under the name of mercantilism, and more just than those which allowed of the reduction of money as if it were nothing more than a counter of exchange.' 'Oresme's treatise on money,' says
Macleod MacLeod, McLeod and Macleod ( ) which cited: are surnames in the English language. Generally, the names are considered to be Anglicised forms of the Scottish Gaelic ', meaning "son of '". One of the earliest occurrences of the surname is of Gi ...
, 'may be justly said to stand at the head of modern economic literature. This treatise laid the foundations of monetary science, which are now accepted by all sound economists.' 'Oresme's completely secular and naturalistic method of treating one of the most important problems of political economy,' says Espinas, 'is a signal of the approaching end of the Middle Ages and the dawn of the Renaissance.' Dr. Cunningham adds his tribute of praise: 'The conceptions of national wealth and national power were ruling ideas in economic matters for several centuries, and Oresme appears to be the earliest of the economic writers by whom they were explicitly adopted as the very basis of his argument…. A large number of points of economic doctrine in regard to coinage are discussed with much judgment and clearness.' Endemann alone is inclined to quarrel with the pre-eminence of Oresme; but on this question, he is in a minority of one.O'Brien, George, ''An Essay on Medieval Economic Teaching'', pp.217-218.
/ref>

Selected works in English translation

*''Nicole Oresme's De visione stellarum (On seeing the stars): a critical edition of Oresme's treatise on optics and atmospheric refraction'', translated by Dan Burton, (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2007, ) *''Nicole Oresme and the marvels of nature: a study of his De causis mirabilium'', translated by Bert Hansen, (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1985, ) *''Questiones super quatuor libros meteororum'', in SC McCluskey, ed, ''Nicole Oresme on Light, Color and the Rainbow: An Edition and Translation, with introduction and critical notes, of Part of Book Three of his Questiones super quatuor libros meteororum'' (PhD dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1974
Google Books
*''Nicole Oresme and the kinematics of circular motion: Tractatus de commensurabilitate vel incommensurabilitate motuum celi'', translated by Edward Grant, (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1971) *''Nicole Oresme and the medieval geometry of qualities and motions: a treatise on the uniformity and difformity of intensities known as Tractatus de configurationibus qualitatum et motuum'', translated by Marshall Clagett, (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1971, ) *''Le Livre du ciel et du monde''. A. D. Menut and A. J. Denomy, ed. and trans. (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1968, ) *''De proportionibus proportionum'' and ''Ad pauca respicientes''. Edward Grant, ed. and trans. (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1966, ) *''The De moneta of N. Oresme, and English Mint documents'', translated by C. Johnson, (London, 1956)

Notes

References

* * * * * (covers Oresme's monetary theory). * *

External links

*
(SPC) MSS BH 100 COCH Volume of works by Nicole Oresme, Maffeo Vegio, and Jordanus von Osnabrück at OPenn
* . * .
Oresme biography

The De Moneta of Nicholas Oresme and English Mint Documents
(pdf)

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Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Oresme, Nicolas 1320s births 1382 deaths 14th-century Normans University of Paris alumni 14th-century French mathematicians 14th-century French philosophers 14th-century French Roman Catholic bishops Bishops of Lisieux Medieval French mathematicians 14th-century Latin writers 14th-century French writers Catholic clergy scientists Medieval physicists People from Calvados (department)