Peter Paludanus (Petrus de Palude; c. 1275–1342) was a French theologian and archbishop.

Biography

Paludanus was born in the County of

Bresse Bresse () is a former French province. It is located in the regions of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté of eastern France. The geographical term ''Bresse'' has two meanings: ''Bresse bourguignonne'' (or ''louhannaise''), whic ...

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

, about 1275. He entered 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 ...

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, completed his theological studies at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

, and was made a Doctor and Master of Theology in 1314. Wishing to devote his life to teaching and writing, he avoided all offices of honour in the order, except those pertaining to the direction of studies. Twice, however, he was sent as

definitor {{Catholic Church hierarchy sidebar, Administrative and pastoral titles In the Catholic Church, a definitor (Latin for 'one who defines') is a title with different specific uses. There are secular definitors, who have a limited amount of oversight ...

from the Province of France to the

General Chapter A chapter ( or ') is one of several bodies of clergy in Catholic, Old Catholic, Anglican, and Nordic Lutheran churches or their gatherings. Name The name derives from the habit of convening monks or canons for the reading of a chapter o ...

John XXII Pope John XXII (, , ; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death, in December 1334. He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Pope, elected by the Conclave of ...

, wishing to organize a

Crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

, sent him in 1318 as

legate Legate may refer to: People * Bartholomew Legate (1575–1611), English martyr * Julie Anne Legate (born 1972), Canadian linguistics professor * William LeGate (born 1994), American entrepreneur Political and religious offices *Legatus, a hig ...

to the

Count of Flanders The count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders, beginning in the 9th century. Later, the title would be held for a time, by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. During the French Revolution, in 1790, the c ...

, in the hope of establishing peace between the prince and the

King of France 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, king of the Fra ...

. The mission was not successful, and his associates made charges to the pope against the legate, who, however, easily cleared himself. He was also a member of the commission appointed by John XXII to examine the writings of Petrus Olivi, whose books contained some errors of the

Fraticelli The ''Fraticelli'' (Italian language, Italian for “Little Brethren”) or Spiritual Franciscans opposed changes to the Monastic rule, rule of Saint Francis of Assisi, especially with regard to poverty, and regarded the wealth of the Catholic ...

. Th
Catholic Encyclopedia
states that 'About this time he wrote "De causa immediata ecclesiasticæ potestatis" (Paris, 1506) against John of Pouilly, whose errors were condemned 25 July 1321.' Modern scholarship, however, attributes the work to Guillaume de Pierre Godin (e.g. the 1982 edition of this work by William R. McCready). In 1329, the pope called him 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 ...

, and consecrated him

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem () is the Latin Catholic ecclesiastical patriarchate in Jerusalem, officially seated in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem is the archbishop of Latin Church Catholics of th ...

. The same year, he journeyed into

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, to negotiate with the

sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

for the deliverance of

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. The sultan was immovable. The accounts which the patriarch gave of the miserable condition of Palestine led to the announcement of another Crusade, but owing to apathy, and dissensions among the Christian princes, the project failed. Paludanus resumed his studies, composing at this time his commentaries on 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 ...

'' of

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 ...

, in which he combats

Durandus of Saint-Pourçain Durandus of Saint-Pourçain (also known as Durand of Saint-Pourçain; – 13 September 1332 / 10 September 1334) was a French Dominican, philosopher, theologian, and bishop. Life He was born at Saint-Pourçain, Auvergne. Little is known ...

. About 1332, he was appointed by the

to preside over the deliberations of a body of

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

s and theologians whom Philip had convoked at

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to discuss the charge made against John XXII, of asserting that the souls of the just will not be admitted to the

beatific vision In Christian theology, the beatific vision () refers to the ultimate state of happiness that believers will experience when they see God face to face in heaven. It is the ultimate direct self-communication of God to the angel and person. A perso ...

until after the

general judgment General judgment is the Christian theological concept of a judgment of the dead. When the individual dies, general judgment holds that the person's final dispensation will await the general judgment of the dead at the end of the world, rather than ...

. The patriarch and his associates manifested consummate prudence in dealing with this matter. In a letter to the king, they declared: * their entire submission to the pope's authority, and their filial devotion to his person; * their belief, based on the testimony of trustworthy witnesses, that John XXII had not held, much less taught, the opinion attributed to him, but at the most, had mentioned it (recitando) and examined it; * that since the death of Christ the souls of the just with no faults to expiate immediately after death, and the souls of other just persons after complete purgation, are admitted to the beatific vision, which will endure forever. This doctrine was defined by

Benedict XII Pope Benedict XII (, , ; 1285 – 25 April 1342), born Jacques Fournier, was a cardinal and inquisitor, and later, head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1334 to his death, in April 1342. He was the third Avignon pope and reformed monasti ...

on 29 January 1336.Denzinger, 530 Besides the works mentioned, Paludanus wrote commentaries on all the books of the Bible, and "Concordantiæ ad Summam S. Thomæ" (Salamanca, 1552).

Death

Peter Paludanus died at

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, in his late sixties and was buried at the Couvent des Jacobins.

Works

Notes

References

* Dunbabin, Jean, A ''Hound of God: Pierre de la Palud and the Fourteenth-Century Church'' (Oxford, 1991). *

César-Egasse du Boulay César-Egasse du Boulay (died 1678), known as Bulaeus, was a French historian. Life He was born at the beginning of the seventeenth century at Saint-Ellier, Maine (province). After teaching humanities in the College of Navarre he occupied import ...

, Cat. illustr. academ. Hist. Univ. Parisi, IV, 984 (Paris, 1673) *

Jacques Quétif Jacques Quétif (; 6 August 1618 – 2 March 1698) was a French Dominican and noted bibliographer. His major work ''Scriptores ordinis praedicatorum'' was completed by his fellow Dominican Jacques Échard. Quétif was born in Paris. He enter ...

Jacques Échard Jacques Échard (22 September 1644, in Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of Fr ...

, , I, 603 (Paris, 1719) * A. Touron, Hist. des hommes illustres de l'Ordre de S. Dom., II (Paris, 1745), 223 * Sixtus Senensis, Bibliot. Sancta, lib. IV (Venice, 1566, Lyons, 1591)

External links