Thomas M. Izbicki - Böcker

Almost on the eve of the sixteenth-century Reformation, the long-running debate over the respective authority of popes and councils in the Catholic Church was vigorously resumed. In this collection the editors bring together the first English translation of four major contributions to that debate. In these texts, complex arguments derived from Scripture, theology, and canon law are deployed. The issues that emerge, however, prove to have a broader significance. What is foreshadowed here is the confrontation between 'absolutism' and 'constitutionalism' which was to be a dominant theme in the politics of early-modern Europe and beyond. Even on the threshold of the twenty-first century the concerns that underlie and animate the scholastic disputations in these pages retain their force. This 1997 volume includes introductory material which elucidates the context of the debate, as well as a comprehensive bibliography.

Philosophy was not an idle venture in the Renaissance. There were no clear-cut boundaries between theory and the practice. Theologians, jurists and humanists gave opinions on practical matters from within some larger intellectual context, and many held high office. Among the writers represented here are Pope Pius II (1458-1464), Nicholas of Cusa (d. 1464) and Juan de Torquemada OP (d. 1468). All of them, and the other writers dealt with, addressed the issues of their day creatively but from within different traditions, scholastic or humanistic. The present studies deal with issues of Reform, Ecclesiology [theories about the church and its mission] and the living of the Christian life. Among the specific issues covered are the canonization of Birgitta of Sweden, the status of converts from Judaism in Spain, acceptable forms of dress for clergy and laity, and the obedience due the pope. Also studied in this collection are the writings of Spanish theologians about the indigenous populations of the New World and the use of the name of Nicholas of Cusa by Elizabethan and Jacobean writers, both Catholic and Protestant, in polemics concerning right religious teaching and submission to the English crown, a paper hitherto unpublished.

The Church, the Councils, and Reform brings together leading authorities in the field of church history to reflect on the importance of the late medieval councils. This is the first book in English to consider the lasting significance of the period from Constance to Trent (1414-1563) when several councils met to heal the Great Schism (1378) and reform the church. The authors look afresh at this era and consider how its legacy of reform and conciliarism may remain relevant to today's contexts of challenge and change. Since the central convictions of the conciliar movement involved the relationship between authority and consent, collegiality and hierarchy, diversity and identity, the book reflects on the predicaments of modern community-building when communities are experimenting with broader participation in the decision-making process.The authors examine how theologians, jurists, humanists, and reformers articulated three essential tasks - to promote unity, defend the faith against heresy, and guarantee continuing reform. The Schism caused them to rethink accepted concepts of church government, and to balance their belief that a general council was informed by the Spirit and represented Christ with the need to reaffirm its legitimacy and yet preserve order in the visible institution.Written by noted specialists in generally non-technical language and in an ecumenical context, this volume will appeal to readers with an interest in issues of authority, consent and reform. It will have a special appeal to scholars looking for a provocative but balanced contribution to late medieval political theory, the history of conciliarism, and the coming of the Reformation.

The focus of this volume is on ministry to the sick and dying in the later Middle Ages, especially providing them with the sacraments. Medieval writers linked illness to sin and its forgiveness. The priest, as physician of souls, was expected to heal the soul, preparing it for the hereafter. His ministry might also effect healing of bodies, when that healing did not endanger the soul. This book treats how a priest prepared to visit sick persons and went to them in procession with the Eucharist and oil of the sick. The priest was to comfort the patient and, if death was imminent, prepare the soul for the hereafter. Canon law, theology, and ritual sources are employed. Three sacraments, penance, viaticum, (final communion) and extreme unction (anointing of the sick) are treated in detail. Sickbed confession was designed to forgive the ailing person's mortal sins. A priest could absolve a dying person of all sins, even those reserved to a bishop or the pope. Viaticum was to strengthen a suffering Christian for life's last conflict, that between angels and demons for the soul of the dying person. The deathbed thus was a spiritual battlefield. Extreme unction was reserved for those in danger of death, relieving the soul of venial sins or ""the remains of sin,"" even after confession and absolution. The commendatio animae (commendation of the soul) used with the dying was to usher the soul into the afterlife. Many works have been written about attitudes toward death, dying, and the afterlife in the Middle Ages. Likewise, there is a good deal of literature about individual sacraments. This study aims at bridging between these literatures, with a focus on the priest and parishioner in both theory and practice at the sickbed.

These nine essays, written by leading experts in the field, focus on the production and application of canon law at the local level. This broad themepermits many subjects to be explored: canonical collections produced in a particular locale by key figures in that area; local manuscript copies ofwidespread texts; administrative usages and canonical rules for churches within a certain area; specific synodal decrees important to regional ecclesiastical activity and governance; and the reception and adaptation of canonical norms and rules in a particular diocese or other venue. These studies collectively deepen our appreciation of the importance of canon law for people in their home churches and regions. They help us understand canon law in its decentralized, non-papally administered forms, across the full temporal range of the Middle Ages. The special value of these works lies in illuminating the pragmatic role of particular circumstances in adapting the church’s tradition in order to be relevant and to meet local needs.

This volume brings together Professor Cranz’s published studies on Nicholas of Cusa with a set of seven papers left unpublished at the time of his death. Their subjects are the speculative thought of Cusanus and his relationship with the broader themes of the Renaissance. Particular attention is given to patterns of development in Cusanus’ thought as he wrestled with problems of divine transcendence and the limits of human capacities. Overall, these studies also reveal Professor Cranz’s interest in the larger changes in Western modes of thought during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, which define our ways of thinking as different from those of Antiquity.

Nicholas of Cusa is known as one of the most original philosophers of the 15th century, but by training he was a canon lawyer who received his degree from the University of Padua in 1423. The essays in this book analyse his legal and political ideas against the background of medieval religious, legal and political thought and its development in the Renaissance. The first two pieces deal with the legal ideas and humanism that affected Cusanus and with some of the problems faced by 15th-century lawyers, including his friends. The central section of the book also discusses how he reacted to the religious, legal and political issues of his day; Cusanus as reformer of the Church is a theme that runs through many of the essays. The final studies look at some of Cusanus' contemporaries, with special emphasis on Gregor Heimburg, the sharpest critic of Cusanus.

Thomas Izbicki presents a new examination of the relationship between the adoration of the sacrament and canon law from the twelfth to fifteenth centuries. The medieval Church believed Christ's glorified body was present in the Eucharist, the most central of the seven sacraments, and the Real Presence became explained as transubstantiation by university-trained theologians. Expressions of this belief included the drama of the elevated host and chalice, as well as processions with a host in an elaborate monstrance on the Feast of Corpus Christi. These affirmations of doctrine were governed by canon law, promulgated by popes and councils; and liturgical regulations were enforced by popes, bishops, archdeacons and inquisitors. Drawing on canon law collections and commentaries, synodal enactments, legal manuals and books about ecclesiastical offices, Izbicki presents the first systematic analysis of the Church's teaching about the regulation of the practice of the Eucharist.

Thomas Izbicki presents a new examination of the relationship between the adoration of the sacrament and canon law from the twelfth to fifteenth centuries. The medieval Church believed Christ's glorified body was present in the Eucharist, the most central of the seven sacraments, and the Real Presence became explained as transubstantiation by university-trained theologians. Expressions of this belief included the drama of the elevated host and chalice, as well as processions with a host in an elaborate monstrance on the Feast of Corpus Christi. These affirmations of doctrine were governed by canon law, promulgated by popes and councils; and liturgical regulations were enforced by popes, bishops, archdeacons and inquisitors. Drawing on canon law collections and commentaries, synodal enactments, legal manuals and books about ecclesiastical offices, Izbicki presents the first systematic analysis of the Church's teaching about the regulation of the practice of the Eucharist.

Nicholas of Cusa is known as one of the most original philosophers of the 15th century, but by training he was a canon lawyer who received his degree from the University of Padua in 1423. The essays in this book analyse his legal and political ideas against the background of medieval religious, legal and political thought and its development in the Renaissance. The first two pieces deal with the legal ideas and humanism that affected Cusanus and with some of the problems faced by 15th-century lawyers, including his friends. The central section of the book also discusses how he reacted to the religious, legal and political issues of his day; Cusanus as reformer of the Church is a theme that runs through many of the essays. The final studies look at some of Cusanus' contemporaries, with special emphasis on Gregor Heimburg, the sharpest critic of Cusanus.

Philosophy was not an idle venture in the Renaissance. There were no clear-cut boundaries between theory and the practice. Theologians, jurists and humanists gave opinions on practical matters from within some larger intellectual context, and many held high office. Among the writers represented here are Pope Pius II (1458-1464), Nicholas of Cusa (d. 1464) and Juan de Torquemada OP (d. 1468). All of them, and the other writers dealt with, addressed the issues of their day creatively but from within different traditions, scholastic or humanistic. The present studies deal with issues of Reform, Ecclesiology [theories about the church and its mission] and the living of the Christian life. Among the specific issues covered are the canonization of Birgitta of Sweden, the status of converts from Judaism in Spain, acceptable forms of dress for clergy and laity, and the obedience due the pope. Also studied in this collection are the writings of Spanish theologians about the indigenous populations of the New World and the use of the name of Nicholas of Cusa by Elizabethan and Jacobean writers, both Catholic and Protestant, in polemics concerning right religious teaching and submission to the English crown, a paper hitherto unpublished.