The School of Heretics: Academic Condemnation at the University of Oxford, 1277-1409(40 Education and Society in the Middle Ages and Renaissance)

Academic condemnation has long been recognized as an important issue in the history of universities and the history of medieval thought. Yet few studies have examined the phenomenon in serious detail. This work is the first book-length study of academic condemnations at Oxford. It explores every known case in detail, including several never examined before, and then considers the practice of condemnation as a whole. As such, it provides a context to see John Wyclif and the Oxford Lollards not as unique figures, but as targets of a practice a century old by 1377. It argues that condemnation did not happen purely for reasons of theological purity, but reflected social and institutional pressures within the university.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements ...ix Abbreviations ...xi 1. Introduction ...1 The Purpose of This Book ... 1 Concepts of Heresy ... 5 Pertinacity and Condemnation ...10 The Problem of Terminology ...12 The Process of Academic Condemnation at Paris ...14 The Treatment of Heresy outside the University...18 2. The Condemnation of 1277 ...25 Robert Kilwardby and the Background to the Condemnation of 1277 ...26 Kilwardby’s Involvement ...31 The Condemnation Itself ...38 Conclusions ...40 3. The Condemnation of 1284 and the Condemnation of Richard Knapwell ...42 The Main Players ...42 The War of the Corrections ...45 The Condemnation of 1284 ...46 The Condemnation Itself ...48 The Case of Richard Knapwell ...57 4. The Condemnation of 1315 ...64 Oxford in the Early Fourteenth Century ...64 The Record of the Condemnation ...67 The Scholar Involved ...68 The Condemnation Process ...71 The Later History of the Propositions ...73 5. The Investigation into William of Ockham ...76 William of Ockham and John Lutterell ...76 Lutterell’s Removal from Offi ce ...78 Ockham at the Provincial Chapter ...83 Lutterell’s Denunciation of Ockham ...86 The Process at Avignon, in brief ...90 6. The Case of Friar John ...92 John Kedington ...92 Mendicant Privileges, Archbishop FitzRalph, and the Debate over Dominium ...94 The Events Leading to the Condemnation ...98 Kedington’s Appeal...100 The Punishment ...103 7. The Case of Uthred of Boldon and William Jordan ...109 Uthred of Boldon and William Jordan ...109 Uthred’s Th eology ...111 The Quarrel between Uthred and Jordan ...114 Archbishop Langham Intervenes ...118 The Condemnation ...120 Deeper Considerations ...124 8. John Wyclif ...127 Wyclif ’s History ...127 The Condemnation of a Franciscan ...129 The St Paul’s Trial ...131 The Attempted Condemnation of 1377 ...133 Barton’s Condemnation ...148 The Blackfriars Council ...164 Wyclif Goes Unpunished ...175 9. The Oxford Lollards ...177 The Main Figures ...177 The Emergence of Wyclif ’s Followers as a Group ...181 The Radical Sermons and the Controversy at Oxford ...182 The Second Session of the Blackfriars Council ...189 The Meeting at Totenhale ...193 The Third through Sixth Sessions of the Blackfriars Council ...195 The Seventh Session of the Blackfriars Council ...203 The Failed Condemnation of Crumpe and Stokes ...204 Causes of the Strife at Oxford ...207 10. The Condemnation of Henry Crumpe ...210 The First Condemnation of Henry Crumpe...210 Crumpe at Oxford ...212 The First Session at Stamford ...213 The Second Session at Stamford...217 11. The Condemnation of Richard Flemmyng ...222 Richard Flemmyng ...222 Arundel’s Constitutions ...223 The Condemnation of Flemmyng ...225 Flemmyng’s Appeals ...227 Conclusions ...230 12. The Authority of the University to Condemn Heresy ...232 The Chancellor’s Office and Powers ...234 Appeals from the Chancellor’s Court ...237 Punishments ...238 The Right of Condemnation for Heresy ...240 Formal Authority in the Individual Cases ...241 Archbishop Arundel and the University of Oxford ...250 13. Libertas inquirendi at Oxford ...254 The Debate over ‘Pelagiansim’ at Oxford ...256 Academic Freedom in Medieval Universities ...258 Responses to the Condemnations of 1277, 1284, and 1286 ...260 The Absence of Condemnation as Evidence for Libertas Inquirendi ...267 The Dynamics of Libertas Inquirendi ...268 Arundel’s Constitutions ...270 14. Non-Theological Factors in Academic Condemnation ...273 Inter-Order Tension as a Cause of Condemnation ...273 Other Political Issues ...280 The Dynamic of Condemnation ...282 Punishment ...284 The Role of Unanimity in Academic Condemnations ...287 15. A Closing Thought ...292 Appendix: Known Cases of Academic Condemnation at Oxford ...295 Bibliography ...301 Index ...313

About the Author :
Andrew E. Larsen, Ph.D. (1998) in Medieval History, University of Wisconsin-Madison, teaches history at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Marquette University. He has published numerous articles on heresy and academic condemnation in England.

Review :
"...Andrew E. Larsen’s study is an excellent historical and doctrinal analysis of accusations of heresy leveled against various academicians related to the University of Oxford during the period in question.The author has carefully designated the parameters of his study so as to limit its scope and purview..." Girard J. Etzkorn, The Catholic Historical Review, July 2013