Martin Alnwick or of Alnwick (died 1336) was an English

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...

and

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

Biography

Little is known of Alnwick's early years. He certainly originated from

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, and a 'Martinus' is recorded in several

disputations Disputation is a genre of literature involving two contenders who seek to establish a resolution to a problem or establish the superiority of something. An example of the latter is in Sumerian disputation poems. In the scholastic system of e ...

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

at the end of the 13th-century, possibly Alnwick. The first definite record of Alnwick was in 1300, where he was one of the Oxford friars who unsuccessfully requested the licence to hear confessions from the

bishop of Lincoln The Bishop of Lincoln is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury. The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of Nort ...

John Dalderby John Dalderby (or Aldberry or d'Aldreby; died 1320) was a medieval Bishop of Lincoln. Life Dalderby was rector of Dalderby in LincolnshireGreenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 3: Lincoln: Bishops of Lincoln'' before holding ...

. At Oxford, Alnwick soon received a

Doctor of Theology Doctor of Theology (, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equivalent to the Doctor o ...

and, in 1304, became the 32nd regent master of the university's Franciscan schools. In 1311, Alnwick was summoned to

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

to participate in a controversy surrounding poverty among Franciscan friars, with the radical Spiritual Franciscans supporting absolute poverty among Franciscans, and the more orthodox

Conventual Franciscans The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (O.F.M. Conv.) is a male religious fraternity in the Catholic Church and a branch of the Franciscan Order. Conventual Franciscan Friars are identified by the affix O.F.M. Conv. after their names. They are ...

taking the side of wealth. He was made one of four advisors to the general minister, and spoke in favour of the Conventuals. The

Council of Vienne The Council of Vienne was the fifteenth ecumenical council of the Catholic Church and met between 1311 and 1312 in Vienne, France. This occurred during the Avignon Papacy and was the only ecumenical council to be held in the Kingdom of France ...

(1311-2) eventually declared in favour of this sect. On 1 October 1318, Alnwick's previous request was vindicated, as he obtained a license to hear confessions in the

diocese of York The Diocese of York is an administrative division of the Church of England, part of the Province of York. It covers the city of York, the eastern part of North Yorkshire, and most of the East Riding of Yorkshire. The diocese is headed by the ar ...

. A volume was composed, recording his ''Determinacio'' and disputations, and held in the library of the

Augustinian Friary, York Augustinian Friary, York was a friary in North Yorkshire, England. The friary lay in the city centre of York, between the River Ouse, Yorkshire, River Ouse and the street now known as Lendal. The friars were granted a writ of protection by Henry ...

, though it is now lost. According to

John Bale John Bale (21 November 1495 – November 1563) was an English churchman, historian controversialist, and Bishop of Ossory in Ireland. He wrote the oldest known historical verse drama in English (on the subject of King John), and developed and ...

, Alnwick died in 1336 and was buried at

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

Works

One work reliably attributed to Martin Alnwick, is nineteen questions at the end of

William of Ware William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

's commentary on

Peter Lombard Peter Lombard (also Peter the Lombard, Pierre Lombard or Petrus Lombardus; 1096 – 21/22 August 1160) was an Italian scholasticism, scholastic theologian, Bishop of Paris, and author of ''Sentences, Four Books of Sentences'' which became the s ...

's ''

The Four Books of 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 ...

''. This commentary, and Alnwick's questions, are scattered among five separate manuscripts (

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, Bibliothèque Municipale, MS 163;

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

, Bibliothèque Municipale, MS 501;

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana The Vatican Apostolic Library (, ), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, alth ...

, MS Vat. lat. 4871, MS Vat. Chigi B. VII. 114;

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Nationalbibliothek, MS 1424). These questions elucidate Alnwick's difficulties when contemplating God's nature. The majority of the questions are inspired by established Franciscan theology, but several follow in the less orthodox tradition of the secular philosopher,

Henry of Ghent Henry of Ghent ( 1217 – 29 June 1293), also known as Henricus de Gandavo and Henricus Gandavensis, was a scholastic philosopher who acquired the nickname of '' Doctor Solemnis'' (the "Solemn Doctor"). Life Henry was born in the district of ...

. Some questions accept Henry's idea of the division of god into his "speculative and practical ideas", though Alnwick opposes Henry on some other theological issues. Two other works have been falsely attributed to Alnwick: a commentary on books 1–2 of the ''Sentences'', now held at the library of San Antonio,

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

, which is now known to be by William Alnwick; and a ''

Universal Chronicle A universal history is a work aiming at the presentation of a history of all of humankind as a whole. Universal historians try to identify connections and patterns among individual historical events and phenomena, making them part of a general narr ...

'' printed in 1750, now known to be by

Martin of Opava Martin of Opava, Order of Preachers, O.P. (died 1278) also known as Martin of Poland, was a 13th-century Dominican Order, Dominican friar, bishop (Catholic Church), bishop and chronicler. Life Known in Latin language, Latin as ''Frater Martinu ...

Biography

Works

References

Further reading