Sylvester Maurus (31 December 1619 – 13 January 1687) was an Italian Scholastic theologian.

Life

Sylvester Maurus was born in Spoleto, Italy, on 31 December 1619 to a noble family. He entered the Society of Jesus, 21 April 1636. After his

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

, he spent three years (1639-1642) studying

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at the

Roman College The Roman College (, ) was a school established by St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1551, just 11 years after he founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). It quickly grew to include classes from elementary school through university level and moved to seve ...

, where his principal teacher was Sforza Pallavicino. Following a period in which he taught

grammar In linguistics, grammar is the set of rules for how a natural language is structured, as demonstrated by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rul ...

, Maurus studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

from 1644 to 1648, again at the Roman College. Having completed his theological program, he taught philosophy at the Jesuit college in

Macerata Macerata () is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy, the county seat of the province of Macerata in the Marche region. It has a population of about 41,564. History The historical city centre is on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza (ri ...

from 1649 to 1652. Recalled to Rome, he served a year as regent of studies for Jesuit seminarians. He took

final vows Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices, and views. In the Buddhist tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, many different kinds of r ...

in the Order in 1654, and five years later was promoted to the Chair of Theology, which he retained until his appointment in 1684 as Rector of the Roman College. Maurus died on 13 January 1687 in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. Besides numerous theological works, he wrote ''Quaestionum Philosophicarum L. Quinque'', and also a

paraphrase A paraphrase () or rephrase is the rendering of the same text in different words without losing the meaning of the text itself. More often than not, a paraphrased text can convey its meaning better than the original words. In other words, it is a ...

of all the works of

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

. This latter embodies the results of the great thirteenth-century commentaries and is considered a model of clearness and conciseness. Maurus worked on the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

text and the best

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

versions available in his time, namely those by Argyropoulos,

Bessarion Bessarion (; 2 January 1403 – 18 November 1472) was a Byzantine Greek Renaissance humanist, theologian, Catholic cardinal and one of the famed Greek scholars who contributed to the revival of letters in the 15th century. He was educated ...

Theodorus Gaza Theodorus Gaza (, ''Theodoros Gazis''; ; ), also called Theodore Gazis or by the epithet Thessalonicensis and Thessalonikeus (c. 1398 – c. 1475), was a Greek humanist and translator of Aristotle, one of the Greek scholars who were the leader ...

and Lambin.

Works

His works include: * ''Quæstionum philosophicarum Sylvestri Mauri, Soc. Jesu, in Collegio Romano Philosophiæ Professoris''. This work is divided into four books, and appeared at Rome in 1658. A second edition was issued in 1670. The latest edition, in three volumes, is prefaced by a letter of Father Matteo Liberatore, and appeared in Le Mans, 1875-76. * ''Aristotelis opera quæ extant omnia, brevi paraphrasi, ac litteræ perpetuo inhærente explanatione illustrata''. The work appeared in six volumes, Rome, 1668. The second volume, containing Aristotle's moral philosophy, was edited anew in 1696-98. The whole work was published again in Paris, 1885–87, by Ehrle, Felchlin, and Beringer; this edition formed part of the collection entitled ''Bibliotheca Theologiæ et Philosophiæ scholasticæ''. * ''Quæstionum theologicarum, libri sex'', published at Rome, 1676–79; this work contains all the principal theological treatises. * ''Opus theologicum'', published in three folio volumes at Rome, 1687, treats of all the main questions of theology concisely. The first volume contains some information concerning the author, and also his picture engraved by Louis Lenfant.

Notes

Bibliography

* * Amann, Émile, ''Dictionnaire de théologie catholique'' 10.1:447–448. * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maurus, Sylvester 1619 births 1687 deaths 17th-century Italian Jesuits 17th-century Italian Roman Catholic theologians People from Spoleto 17th-century Italian philosophers