John of Paris

Abstract

John of Paris (d. in 1306) was a Dominican theologian, deeply and personally involved in the theological and political debates of his time. He is well known as the most outstanding “ideological” supporter of Philip the Fair in his struggle against Boniface VIII. His treatise De regia potestate et papali played an important role in medieval political thought, also after the dramatic conclusion of the clash between papacy and the French crown. John counters, in fact, curial claims of plenitude of power in a way that found positive echo also in the Conciliar epoch. His philosophical and theological doctrines have been studied only partially. He was a convinced advocate of the unity of substantial form, against the doctrine of the plurality of forms, held by most Franciscan authors of the time. He also rejected William de la Mare’s criticism of Aquinas; this does not imply, however, that he always reproduces the thought of his great confrere. His most controversial theological opinion was his account of the Eucharistic miracle as “impanation” and not as “transubstantiation.” Although in a moderate way, he also criticized the Catalan physician and theologian Arnau de Villanova for his attempts at determining the exact time of coming of the Antichrist.