Crisostomo Javelli ( – ) was an Italian Dominican philosopher, professor and

inquisitor An inquisitor was an official (usually with judicial or investigative functions) in an inquisition – an organization or program intended to eliminate heresy and other things contrary to the doctrine or teachings of the Catholic faith. Literall ...

. He is best known for his involvement in the dispute over the

immortality of the soul Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some species possess " biological immortality" due to an apparent lack of the Hayflick limit. From at least the time of the ancient Mesopotamians, there has been a conviction that gods may be phy ...

in 1519.

Life

Javelli's exact place of birth is uncertain, but he was from the

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

. One tradition place his birth in the village of San Giorgio, usually identified with

San Giorgio Canavese San Giorgio Canavese is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the region of Piedmont, northern Italy. The main attraction is the castle, once a possession of the Novarese counts of Biandrate. Near San Giorgio in San Giusto ...

, but possibly

San Giorgio Monferrato San Giorgio Monferrato (in Piedmontese ''San Giòrs Monfrà'') is a ''comune'' of the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont. It is about east of the regional capital Turin and about northwest of Alessandria. The territory of t ...

. He joined the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

in 1488 at the convent of San Domenico in

Casale Monferrato Casale Monferrato () is a town in the Piedmont region of Northwest Italy, northwestern Italy, in the province of Alessandria. It is situated about east of Turin on the right bank of the Po River, Po, where the river runs at the foot of the Montfe ...

, which belonged to the observant congregation. After his notitiate, he was probably sent to the convent of in

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

for further education. He probably took

holy orders In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...

in the early 1490s. In 1495, Javelli entered the order's ''

studium generale is the old customary name for a medieval university in medieval Europe. Overview There is no official definition for the term . The term ' first appeared at the beginning of the 13th century out of customary usage, and meant a place where stud ...

'' at San Domenico in Bologna, which was attached to the faculty of theology of the university. Among his teachers were Giovanni Cagnazzo da Taggia and . After completing his studies, he worked as a priest until 1507, when he was appointed master of studies at Bologna under the

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 ...

Eustachio Piazzesi. In 1514–1516, he served as bachelor of the ''

Sentences The ''Sentences'' (. ) is a compendium of Christian theology written by Peter Lombard around 1150. It was the most important religious textbook of the Middle Ages. Background The sentence genre emerged from works like Prosper of Aquitaine's ...

'' at Bologna, succeeding

Agostino Giustiniani Agostino Giustiniani (born Pantaleone Giustiniani; 1470 - 1536) was an Italian Catholic bishop, linguist and geographer. Biography Giustiniani was born at Genoa into a noble Giustiniani family. His father had been ambassador of the Republic of ...

. He was granted the degree of master of sacred theology on 18 February 1516 at the same ceremony as Francesco Silvestri da Ferrara. From 1516 to 1518, Javelli was the inquisitor of Piacenza, Cremona and Crema, succeeding Cacatossici. From 1518 to 1521, he served as regent master of the Dominican ''studium'' in Bologna. In 1521, he returned to Piacenza to continue as inquisitor, residing in the convent of San Giovanni in Canale. In 1523, he became a professor of theology at the

University of Piacenza A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

, although he probably mostly taught at San Giovanni, "whose conventual school was open to the public". He continued to serve as inquisitor until his death. The inquisitorial archive covering Javelli's years is lost, so that a detailed account of his inquisitorial activities cannot be given. He is known to have regularly visited Cremona and Crema, although he also used vicars in those territories. There is no evidence of

witch hunts A witch hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. Practicing evil spells or incantations was proscribed and punishable in early human civilizations in the Middle East ...

during his tenure, so popular under his predecessor. Javelli was more concerned with the spread of

Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

. In 1530, Javelli was drawn into the debate over

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

's divorce. He wrote an initial tract in support of the divorce and another responding to criticisms. The colophon to Javelli's last work ''Philosophia economica divina atque christiana'', is dated 1 August 1538. He died sometime after that and before the end of 1540, since a letter of Andrea Arrivabene published that year refers to him in the past tense.

Works

Themes

Javelli's surviving writings are mostly philosophical. All the genres typical of a Dominican inquisitor are absent from his oeuvre. He wrote no biblical commentary, no handbook of inquisitorial procedure and no hagiography. He was a

Thomist Thomism is the philosophical and theological school which arose as a legacy of the work and thought of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), the Dominican philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church. In philosophy, Thomas's disputed questions ...

and an Aristotelian. Only four of Javelli's works were pieces written for a particular occasion. His first published work was a prologue () and index () to a 1519 edition of

Burchard of Mount Sion Burchard of Mount Sion (, also misnamed ''Brocard'' or ''Bocard''; fl. late 13th century), was a German priest, Dominican friar, pilgrim and author probably from Magdeburg in northern Germany, who travelled to the Middle East at the end of the 13 ...

's . That same year he was drawn into the controversy over the immortality of the soul when

Pietro Pomponazzi Pietro Pomponazzi (16 September 1462 – 18 May 1525) was an Italian philosopher. He is sometimes known by his Latin name, ''Petrus Pomponatius''. Biography Pietro Pomponazzi was born in Mantua and began his education there. He completed h ...

invited him to contribute "solutions" () to Pomponazzi's objections to the soul's immortality. Javelli's response as well as the authors' exchange of letters was publish as part of Pomponazzi's . Javelli's involvement was required to get the work published. In 1533, Javelli wrote his at the request of

Alessandro del Caccia Alessandro del Caccia (died 1649) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Pistoia (1600–1649). Biography On 3 Jul 1600, he was appointed during the papacy of Pope Clement VIII as Bishop of Pistoia. On 9 Jul 1600, he was consecrat ...

. Published in 1536, it is a history of the controversy and a more refined restatement of his own position in favour of the soul's immortality against Pomponazzi. Javelli's fourth occasional piece, his defence of Henry VIII's divorce, was never published.

List of works

Almost all of Javelli's writings were collected into a single edition first published at Lyon in 1568 and subsequently at Venice in 1577 and again at Lyon in 1580. The following works are found in the ''

opera omnia The complete works of an artist, writer, musician, group, etc., is a collection of all of their cultural works. For example, ''Complete Works of Shakespeare'' is an edition containing all the plays and poems of William Shakespeare. A ''Complete W ...

'' editions, with the initial date of publication (where applicable) followed by the date of completion (where known):, Appendix. *''Compendium logicae'' (1540) *''Preclarissimum epitoma super totam naturalem philosophiam et metaphysicam Aristotelis'' (1531) **''Epitome in III De anima''

526 __NOTOC__ Year 526 ( DXXVI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Olybrius without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1279 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomina ...

**''Tractatus de primo et ultimo istanti''

**''Epitome in III priores Meteorum''

527 __NOTOC__ Year 527 ( DXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Mavortius without Colleague (or, less frequently, year 1280 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomin ...

**''Commentarium in De Causis''

529 __NOTOC__ Year 529 ( DXXIX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Decius without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1282 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

**''Epitome in De bona fortuna''

**''Epitome in Parva naturalia''

**''Epitome in II De generatione et corruptione'' **''Epitome in IV De coelo'' **''Epitome in VIII Physicorum'' **''Epitome in XII Metaphysicorum'' **''Tractatus de transcendentibus'' *''Tractatus de Bona Fortuna'' (1531) *''Quaestiones in VIII Physicorum'' (1534

532 __NOTOC__ Year 532 ( DXXXII) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Second year after the Consulship of Lampadius and Probus (or, less frequently, year 1285 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denom ...

*''Quaestiones in XII Metaphysicorum'' (1534

*''Quaestiones in III De anima'' (1534

533 __NOTOC__ Year 533 ( DXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Iustinianus without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1286 ''Ab urbe condita''). The den ...

*''Tractatus de αnimae humanαe indeficientia'' (1536

*''Epitome in X Ethicorum'' (1536

534 __NOTOC__ Year 534 ( DXXXIV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Iustinianus and Paulinus (or, less frequently, year 1287 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominat ...

*''Epitome in Moralem Platonis philosophiam'' (1536

535 __NOTOC__ Year 535 (Roman numerals, DXXXV) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Belisarius without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1288 ''Ab urbe condita'') ...

*''Epitome in Oeconomicam'' (1536

*''Epitome in VIII Politicorum'' (1536

*''Epitome in Politicam Platonis'' (1536

*''De Christiana Philosophia I–II'' (1538

536 __NOTOC__ Year 536 (Roman numerals: DXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year after the Consulship of Belisarius. In 2018, medieval scholar Michael McCormick nominated 536 as "the ...

*''De Christiana Philosophia III–VIII'' (1539

537 __NOTOC__ Year 537 ( DXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Second year after the Consulship of Belisarius (or, less frequently, year 1290 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominatio ...

*''Oeconomica Christiana'' (1540

538 Year 538 ( DXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Iohannes without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1291 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 538 ...

*''Dispositio Politicae sive Christianae Philosophiae'' (1540) *''Epitome super Spheram'' *''Quaestio de conceptione B. Mariae V.'' *''Quaestio de Dei Praedestinatione et Reprobatione'' *''Quaestiones super Quartum Aristotelis Meteorum'' *''Quaestiones super De Sensu et Sensato'' *''Quaestiones super lib. De memoria et reminiscentia''

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * *{{DBI , first=Dagmar , last=Von Wille , title=Javelli, Giovanni Crisostomo , volume=62 , url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/giovanni-crisostomo-javelli_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ , year=2004 15th-century births 1530s deaths Writers from Piedmont University of Bologna alumni Dominican theologians Inquisitors