The philosophy and theology of Saint Thomas Aquinas did not enjoy the privilege as we
see during and after the Holy General and Ecumenical Council of Trent. On the contrary, the
Common and Angelic Doctor and his system had been in controversies with adversaries
since the life of the Saint. After the death of the Saint, the work of defense of Thomism
was undertaken by a great number of theologians, and it was under their unceasing and
relentless labor, the Thomist system finally became recognized by the whole Church.
Among these theologians, however, there was one who was so shining and faithful as a follower, defender, and commentator of Saint Thomas Aquinas that he was honored as Thomistarum Principis, or Prince of the Thomists in English. This man was Ioannes Capreolus (Jean Capréolus in French).
The great Thomist was born in Rodez of France, in the modern-day Toulouse in around 1308. In 1409, he was already chosen to be a lecturer on Libri Quattuor Sententiarum of Peter Lombard in the University of Paris, the center of philosophical and theological studies at that time, also known as Sorbonne. In the two following years, he devoted his time to obtain his Master’s degree, and then used four years to further advance into a Doctor’s degree. He spent most of the rest of his life lecturing in the same university, until his death in 1444.
Contrary to several theologians like many Fathers and Doctors of the Church and the great editors and compilers like Franciscus Antoninus Zacarias (Francesco Antonio Zaccaria) and Iacobus Paulus Mignus (Jacques Paul Migne), Capreolus was the kind of author did not write a great amount of works. Instead, he spent his whole life for a single grand project, and such project became a classic and made Capreolus forever remembered as a luminous Thomist.
This project is In Libros Sententiarum Amplissimae Quaestiones. This work based its structure and order of questions on the aforementioned classic by Peter Lombard, but aimed to defend the system of Thomistic theology. The first edition was divided into four tomes, as the aforementioned classic is divided into four books. The first tome came out in 1409, and it immediately met universal acclaim from the Thomists at that time, mostly Dominicans and Carmelites. The second, third, and fourth tomes came out respectively in 1426, 1428, and 1433.
The four-tome masterpiece placed unprecedented emphasis and authority on Summa Theologiae, but draws its arguments from all other writings by Saint Thomas Aquinas, especially Scriptum Super Sententiarum and Quaestiones Disputatae. It dealt with all major opponents of Thomas Aquinas at that time, in and outside the Catholic Church. The list of the opponents includes Adamus Goddamus, Aegidus Romanus, Aureolus, Averroes, Gualterus Angelus, Godefridus Cornubiensis, Guidus de Pisa, Henricus de Gandavo, Ioannes de Ripa, Gulielmus Occamus, Ioannes Duns Scotus, Gulielmus de Ware, and Petrus Paludanus, as well as their followers. What is truly incredible is that
Among these theologians, however, there was one who was so shining and faithful as a follower, defender, and commentator of Saint Thomas Aquinas that he was honored as Thomistarum Principis, or Prince of the Thomists in English. This man was Ioannes Capreolus (Jean Capréolus in French).
The great Thomist was born in Rodez of France, in the modern-day Toulouse in around 1308. In 1409, he was already chosen to be a lecturer on Libri Quattuor Sententiarum of Peter Lombard in the University of Paris, the center of philosophical and theological studies at that time, also known as Sorbonne. In the two following years, he devoted his time to obtain his Master’s degree, and then used four years to further advance into a Doctor’s degree. He spent most of the rest of his life lecturing in the same university, until his death in 1444.
Contrary to several theologians like many Fathers and Doctors of the Church and the great editors and compilers like Franciscus Antoninus Zacarias (Francesco Antonio Zaccaria) and Iacobus Paulus Mignus (Jacques Paul Migne), Capreolus was the kind of author did not write a great amount of works. Instead, he spent his whole life for a single grand project, and such project became a classic and made Capreolus forever remembered as a luminous Thomist.
This project is In Libros Sententiarum Amplissimae Quaestiones. This work based its structure and order of questions on the aforementioned classic by Peter Lombard, but aimed to defend the system of Thomistic theology. The first edition was divided into four tomes, as the aforementioned classic is divided into four books. The first tome came out in 1409, and it immediately met universal acclaim from the Thomists at that time, mostly Dominicans and Carmelites. The second, third, and fourth tomes came out respectively in 1426, 1428, and 1433.
The four-tome masterpiece placed unprecedented emphasis and authority on Summa Theologiae, but draws its arguments from all other writings by Saint Thomas Aquinas, especially Scriptum Super Sententiarum and Quaestiones Disputatae. It dealt with all major opponents of Thomas Aquinas at that time, in and outside the Catholic Church. The list of the opponents includes Adamus Goddamus, Aegidus Romanus, Aureolus, Averroes, Gualterus Angelus, Godefridus Cornubiensis, Guidus de Pisa, Henricus de Gandavo, Ioannes de Ripa, Gulielmus Occamus, Ioannes Duns Scotus, Gulielmus de Ware, and Petrus Paludanus, as well as their followers. What is truly incredible is that
the author not only had a high level of familiarity of the thoughts and works of all these
opponents of Saint Thomas but also presented them in a fair and unbiased way when
offering refutation, while expositing the works of Saint Thomas faithfully with absolutely
no deviation.
After centuries of development of Dogmatic Theology, the questions and disputations in this work may seem nothing new, yet it excels as offer an in-depth reasoning which are only summarized or explained relatively briefly in standard Dogmatic Theology books and can only be seen in the works of the most brilliant theologians and an unparalleled interpretation of Saint Thomas Aquinas, which most theologians either unknowingly or knowingly deviate. The seemingly ordinary work enjoys a milestone status in the Thomist system because it was the first to synthesize and systematically represent the works of Saint Thomas, thus marking the opening of a systematized Thomist school and ending the period of defense and promotion of Saint Thomas Aquinas based on certain isolated questions. Following his methods and expositions, the new generation of Thomists, led by Thomas Cajetanus and Conradus Koelinus, began to write commentaries on Summa Theologiae and advocate the magnus opus of the Saint Thomas to replace Libri Quattuor Sententiarum, an effort which saw success during the Council of Trent. Today, all Thomists in the strict Dominican sense, both classical and humanist, attribute their achievement and understanding of Saint Thomas to the guidance of this great medieval Thomist.
This great work has undergone several editions, and Paulus Soncinas, Isidorus de Isolanis, and Silvesterus Prierias had offered different compendiums independently. The most widely used and commonly referred edition is the 1900 edition critically revised by Thomas Pègues, a French Dominican who wrote a 22-volume detailed commentary on Summa Theologiae titled Commentaire Français Littéral de la Somme théologique in French and a Catechism of the Summa Theologica, and Ceslai Paban, his assistant. The title of this edition is Defensiones Theologiae Divi Thomae Aquinatis.
After centuries of development of Dogmatic Theology, the questions and disputations in this work may seem nothing new, yet it excels as offer an in-depth reasoning which are only summarized or explained relatively briefly in standard Dogmatic Theology books and can only be seen in the works of the most brilliant theologians and an unparalleled interpretation of Saint Thomas Aquinas, which most theologians either unknowingly or knowingly deviate. The seemingly ordinary work enjoys a milestone status in the Thomist system because it was the first to synthesize and systematically represent the works of Saint Thomas, thus marking the opening of a systematized Thomist school and ending the period of defense and promotion of Saint Thomas Aquinas based on certain isolated questions. Following his methods and expositions, the new generation of Thomists, led by Thomas Cajetanus and Conradus Koelinus, began to write commentaries on Summa Theologiae and advocate the magnus opus of the Saint Thomas to replace Libri Quattuor Sententiarum, an effort which saw success during the Council of Trent. Today, all Thomists in the strict Dominican sense, both classical and humanist, attribute their achievement and understanding of Saint Thomas to the guidance of this great medieval Thomist.
This great work has undergone several editions, and Paulus Soncinas, Isidorus de Isolanis, and Silvesterus Prierias had offered different compendiums independently. The most widely used and commonly referred edition is the 1900 edition critically revised by Thomas Pègues, a French Dominican who wrote a 22-volume detailed commentary on Summa Theologiae titled Commentaire Français Littéral de la Somme théologique in French and a Catechism of the Summa Theologica, and Ceslai Paban, his assistant. The title of this edition is Defensiones Theologiae Divi Thomae Aquinatis.
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