Acta Mediaevalia. Series Nova, Vol. 1 (2024)

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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12153/8549

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    Deposing Popes and Kings: the Praxis of Tyranny during the Great Western Schism (1378–1417)
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2024) Rollo-Koster, Joëlle
    This essay summarises the evolution of the concept of tyranny from classical antiquity through late medieval Europe, examining its application to both secular and ecclesiastical figures. Beginning with Aristotle’s characterisation of tyranny as unconstitutional rule, the essay explores how classical definitions influenced early Christian thought, particularly through the writings of Isidore of Seville. Isidore’s adaptation of tyranny to ecclesiastical contexts paved the way for later medieval thinkers like John of Salisbury and Bartolus de Sassoferato to articulate theories of illegitimate power in both secular and religious spheres. The essay then delves into the Great Western Schism (1378–1417), during which the papacy was divided between rival claimants, leading to accusations of tyranny against popes and secular rulers alike. Through detailed analysis of historical sources and contemporary accounts, the essay demonstrates how charges of tyranny were leveraged to justify the deposition or elimination of political and religious figures, including Pope Urban VI, King Richard II of England, King Wenceslaus of Germany, and Pope Benedict XIII. I conclude with the case of King Władysław II Jagiełło of Poland. Drawing parallels between these cases, the article highlights common themes found in accusations of tyranny, such as abuse of power, financial mismanagement, refusal of counsel, and religious dissent. By examining the rhetoric and political dynamics surrounding these events, the essay argues that the concept of tyranny served as a powerful tool for legitimising political action and shaping public discourse.
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    Stanislav of Znojmo Explains Wyclif’s First Principles
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2024) Lahey, Stephen
    The reception of John Wyclif’s philosophical thought in late fourteenth-century Prague began as an embrace of his metaphysics and philosophy of language, known today as propositional realism. At the core of his philosophical approach is the identification of Truth and Being, which Wyclif describes in the first treatises of his Summa de ente. Stanislav of Znojmo was foremost among Wyclif’s expositors and he articulates this identification in the first several chapters of his treatise De vero et falso. This article describes this articulation and elements in which Stanislav departed from Wyclif.
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    An Aristotelean Argument for Unity of Regimes in Dominican and Jesuit Papalist Writings
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2024) Izbicki, Thomas
    Aristotle, arguing for the ‘Unmoved Mover’ in the Metaphysics, quoted Homer on the need for one leader. The Metaphysics, in Latin, included that quotation. Thomas Aquinas used examples from daily life in interpreting the Metaphysics. However, Dominicans, followed by the Jesuits, reversed this argument, saying Aristotle indicated the need for a single ruler in any polity. According to them, that ruler was the pope in the Church. In the sixteenth century this argument was attacked by John Calvin. Robert Bellarmine replied, rejecting Calvin’s interpretation of Aristotle’s text. However, in the seventeenth century, the entire argument from the Metaphysics ceased to have a place in political discourse.
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    Religiöse Transformationen im Spiegel der materiellen Überlieferung des langen 15. Jahrhunderts. Eine Annäherung an das Kopenhagener Oster-Orationale Ms GKS 3452-8°
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2024) Gluchowski, Carolin
    Das Oster-Orationale Ms GKS 3452-8° in der Koniglichen Danischen Bibliothek in Kopenhagen markiert den Beginn einer etwa 150 Jahre andauernden Produktion lateinischer und niederdeutscher Handschriften im Zisterzienserinnenkloster Medingen bei Luneburg. Die rund 65 derzeit bekannten Handschriften spiegeln das lange 15. Jahrhundert der Nonnen wider, das sich von den fruhen 1400er Jahren bis in die 1550er/1570er Jahre erstreckt. Das Kopenhagener Oster-Orationale, das 1408 von der Medinger Nonne und spateren Priorin Cecilia de Monte fertiggestellt wurde, gewahrt einen Einblick in die Anfänge dieser Tradition an der Zeitenwende 1400. Der vorliegende Artikel stellt die Handschrift sowie ihre Schreiberin genauer vor und pladiert fur eine intensivere Erforschung der sich um Cecilias Oster-Orationale gruppierenden Handschriften, um Kontinuitaten und Alteritaten in der Medinger Handschriftenproduktion im Verlauf des langen 15. Jahrhunderts zu konturieren. Ein solches Unterfangen verspricht, das Verstandnis vorreformatorischer religioser Texte von Frauen zu vertiefen und die Andachtskultur des fruhen 15. Jahrhunderts zu erhellen. The Easter prayerbook Ms GKS 3452-8° in the Royal Danish Library, Copenhagen, marks the beginning of a 150-year tradition of Latin and Low German manuscript production at the Cistercian convent of Medingen, reflecting the nuns’ long fifteenth century. This period, documented by the 65 manuscripts in the Medingen corpus, lasts more than a century, from the early 1400s to the 1550s/1570s. Completed in 1408 by Cecilia de Monte, the Copenhagen Easter prayerbook offers a rare glimpse into the origins of this remarkable tradition around 1400. This article suggests that the manuscript may have served as a model for subsequent works and alls for further research on this group of manuscripts to explore continuities and changes in Medingen manuscript production throughout the long fifteenth century. This enterprise will greatly enhance the understanding of Pre-Ref-ormation religious writing by women and shed light on the devotional culture of the early fifteenth century.
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    Les liens entre les questions sur le quatrième livre des Sentences de Pierre Lombard rédigées à Prague (par l’auteur de l’Utrum Deus gloriosus), Leipzig (par un élève de Jean de Monsterberg) et Cracovie (par Matthias de Sąspów) au XVe siècle
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2024) Baran, Wojciech
    Les recherches menees dans le cadre de cette etude montrent que le ms Krakow, AiBKKK, Ms 113 transmet des questions sur le IVe livre des Sentences de l’eleve de Jean de Monsterberg, redigees a Leipzig dans les annees 1409–1415 et conservees aussi au ms Krakow, BJ, 1721. Six des cinquante-sept questions contiennent des similitudes avec l’Utrum Deus gloriosus qui vient de Prague. Ce fait temoigne de la reception des idees theologiques pragoises au XVe siecle non seulement a Cracovie, mais aussi a Leipzig. En revanche, quarante-huit questions du commentaire de Leipzig ont ete reprises par Matthias de Sąspow sans retouches importantes, ce qui confirme le rapport de dependance entre ce dernier et les questions de Leipzig deja observe par Zofia Włodek. The research carried out in this article shows that the manuscript Kraków, AiBKKK, Ms 113 uses the questions to Book IV of the Sentences composed by the student John of Monsterberg in Leipzig in 1409–1415, also conserved in the manuscript Kraków, BJ, 1721. Six of the fifty–seven questions contain similarities with the Utrum Deus gloriosus. This fact testifies to the reception of theological ideas known in Prague in the fifteenth century, not only in Kraków but also in Leipzig. Forty questions from this commentary were used by Matthias of Sąspów, a scholar from Kraków, without major changes, which confirms Matthias’ dependence on the Leipzig questions, already noted by Zofia Włodek.