Alexander of Hales
Encyclopedia
Alexander Hales (also Halensis, Alensis, Halesius, Alesius;) also called Doctor Irrefragabilis (by Pope Alexander IV
in the Bull De Fontibus Paradisi) and Theologorum Monarcha was a notable thinker important in the history of scholasticism
and the Franciscan
School.
, West Midlands
), Shropshire
, England
between 1180 and 1186. He came from a rather wealthy country family. Alexander had gone to Paris in order to study the arts. After he had studied in Paris, he had become a master of arts sometime before 1210. He had been made a canon of St. Paul in London
later, and by 1231 was and Archdeacon of Coventry
. At the age of 50 (ca. 1236-37), he had made the most significant change of his life and entered the Franciscan
order. He had further become the first Franciscan
to hold a University chair. Alexander had died in Paris
, France
on August 21, 1245, but before passing he had resigned his chair in favour of Jean de la Rochelle.
In being the first Franciscan
to hold a choir at the University of Paris
, he had been the teacher of many significant disciples, most notably Bonaventure
. Bonaventure referred to Alexander as his "father and master" and wished to "follow in his footsteps". Other disciples of include, Richard Rufus of Cornwall
and Jean de la Rochelle.
, and Saint Augustine. He is also known to quote thinkers such as Saint Bernard, and Richard of Saint-Victor. He differs from those in his genre as he his known to reflect his own interests and those of his generation. When using the words of his authorities Alexander does not review their reasoning but also gives conclusions, expands on them, and offers his agreements and disagreement with them. He was also different in that his Pre-Lombardian figures, and use of Anselm of Canterbury
and Bernard of Clairvaux
works were not cited as frequently by other 12th century scholastics. Aristotle is also quite frequently quoted in Alexander's works. Alexander was fascinated by Pseudo-Dionysian hierarchy of angels and in how their nature can be understood, given Aristotelian metaphysics
.
Among the doctrines which were specially developed and, so to speak, fixed by Alexander of Hales, are the thesaurus supererogationis perfectorum (treasury of supererogatory merits) and the character indelibilis (sacramental character) of baptism
, confirmation, and ordination
. That doctrine had been written about much earlier by Augustine of Hippo
and was eventually defined a dogma
by the Council of Trent
. He also posed an important question about the cause of the Incarnation
: would Christ have been incarnated if humanity had never sinned? The question eventually became the focal point for a philosophical issue (the theory of possible worlds) and a theological topic on the distinction between God's absolute power (potentia absoluta) and His ordained power (potentia ordinata). John Gerson tells us “The doctrine of Alexander is of a wealth surpassing all expression. It is said that someone asked St. Thomas what was the best manner of studying theology; he replied that it was by attaching oneself to a Master. And to which Doctor? he was asked again. To Alexander of Hales, the Angelic Doctor
replied."
of Peter Lombard
, it is not quite accurate. There were a number of "commentaries" on the Sentences, but Alexander appears to have been the first magisterial commentary. Although it was Alexanders most significant writing, it had not been completed, therefore leaving historians left with many questions on the reliability and quality of the writing. This was taken into consideration when the Summa had been examined by Father Victorin Doucet for different editions of them. The sources has seem to be the resulting problem of the Summa, "counted there were 4814 explicit quotations and 1372 implicit quotations from Augustine, more than one quarter of texts were cited in the body of the Summa.
Alexander also influenced and sometimes is confused with Alexander Carpenter
, Latinized as Fabricius (fl. 1429), who was the author of the Destructorium viciorum, a religious work popular in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. Carpenter also authored other works, such as "Homiliae eruditae" ("Learned Sermons").
). This had been a very important to the ideals of scholastic thought. He had also steered scholasticism in a more systematic direction with him momentous decision to use the Sentences as the basic textbook for treating the whole of theology. He also appears to be the first theologian to use more than by mere chance of haphazardly concepts drawn from the Metaphysics of Aristole.
For his contemporaries, however, Alexander's fame was his inexhaustible interest in disputation. His disputations prior to his becoming a Franciscan cover over 1,600 pages in their modern edition. His disputed questions after 1236 remain unpublished. Alexander was also one of the first scholastics to participate in the Quodlibetal, a university event in which a master had to respond to any question posed by any student or master over a period of three days. Alexander's Quodlibet also remains unedited. It is because of this questioning that he became known as the 'Doctor irrefragabilis'.
and his attributes; in its second, those of creation and sin
; in its third, those of redemption
and atonement; and, in its fourth and last, those of the sacrament
s. This massive text, which Roger Bacon
would later sarcastically describe as weighing as much as a horse, was unfinished at his death; his students, William of Middleton and John of Rupella, were charged with its completion. It was certainly read by the Franciscans at Paris, including Bonaventure
. Bonaventure once referred to Alexander as "our father and master" (noster pater et magister), but it is unlikely that the Seraphic Doctor ever studied under Alexander.
Alexander was an innovative theologian. He was part of the generation that first grappled with the writings of Aristotle
. While there was a ban on using Aristotle's works as teaching texts, theologians like Alexander continued to exploit his ideas in their theology. Two other uncommon sources were promoted by Alexander: Anselm of Canterbury
, whose writings had been ignored for almost a century gained an important advocate in Alexander and he used Anselm's works extensively in his teaching on Christology
and soteriology
; and, Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite
, whom Alexander used in his examination of the theology of Orders and ecclesiastical structures.
Pope Alexander IV
Pope Alexander IV was Pope from 1254 until his death.Born as Rinaldo di Jenne, in Jenne , he was, on his mother's side, a member of the de' Conti di Segni family, the counts of Segni, like Pope Innocent III and Pope Gregory IX...
in the Bull De Fontibus Paradisi) and Theologorum Monarcha was a notable thinker important in the history of scholasticism
Scholasticism
Scholasticism is a method of critical thought which dominated teaching by the academics of medieval universities in Europe from about 1100–1500, and a program of employing that method in articulating and defending orthodoxy in an increasingly pluralistic context...
and the Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
School.
Life
Alexander was born at Hales (today HalesowenHalesowen
Halesowen is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands, England.The population, as measured by the United Kingdom Census 2001, was 55,273...
, West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
), Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
between 1180 and 1186. He came from a rather wealthy country family. Alexander had gone to Paris in order to study the arts. After he had studied in Paris, he had become a master of arts sometime before 1210. He had been made a canon of St. Paul in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
later, and by 1231 was and Archdeacon of Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
. At the age of 50 (ca. 1236-37), he had made the most significant change of his life and entered the Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
order. He had further become the first Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
to hold a University chair. Alexander had died in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
on August 21, 1245, but before passing he had resigned his chair in favour of Jean de la Rochelle.
In being the first Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
to hold a choir at the University of Paris
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
, he had been the teacher of many significant disciples, most notably Bonaventure
Bonaventure
Saint Bonaventure, O.F.M., , born John of Fidanza , was an Italian medieval scholastic theologian and philosopher. The seventh Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, he was also a Cardinal Bishop of Albano. He was canonized on 14 April 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV and declared a Doctor of the...
. Bonaventure referred to Alexander as his "father and master" and wished to "follow in his footsteps". Other disciples of include, Richard Rufus of Cornwall
Richard Rufus of Cornwall
Richard Rufus of Cornwall was an English Franciscan scholastic philosopher and theologian who studied at Paris and at Oxford....
and Jean de la Rochelle.
Works
Alexander is known for reflecting the works of several other Middle Age thinkers, especially that of Saint AnselmSaint Anselm
Saint Anselm may be* Saint Anselm College - a Benedictine, Catholic liberal arts college in Goffstown, New Hampshire.* Saint Anselm of Canterbury* Saint Anselm of Lucca the Younger* Saint Anselm, Duke of Friuli...
, and Saint Augustine. He is also known to quote thinkers such as Saint Bernard, and Richard of Saint-Victor. He differs from those in his genre as he his known to reflect his own interests and those of his generation. When using the words of his authorities Alexander does not review their reasoning but also gives conclusions, expands on them, and offers his agreements and disagreement with them. He was also different in that his Pre-Lombardian figures, and use of Anselm of Canterbury
Anselm of Canterbury
Anselm of Canterbury , also called of Aosta for his birthplace, and of Bec for his home monastery, was a Benedictine monk, a philosopher, and a prelate of the church who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109...
and Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order.After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. Three years later, he was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val...
works were not cited as frequently by other 12th century scholastics. Aristotle is also quite frequently quoted in Alexander's works. Alexander was fascinated by Pseudo-Dionysian hierarchy of angels and in how their nature can be understood, given Aristotelian metaphysics
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
.
Among the doctrines which were specially developed and, so to speak, fixed by Alexander of Hales, are the thesaurus supererogationis perfectorum (treasury of supererogatory merits) and the character indelibilis (sacramental character) of baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
, confirmation, and ordination
Holy Orders
The term Holy Orders is used by many Christian churches to refer to ordination or to those individuals ordained for a special role or ministry....
. That doctrine had been written about much earlier by Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
and was eventually defined a dogma
Dogma
Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers...
by the Council of Trent
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...
. He also posed an important question about the cause of the Incarnation
Incarnation
Incarnation literally means embodied in flesh or taking on flesh. It refers to the conception and birth of a sentient creature who is the material manifestation of an entity, god or force whose original nature is immaterial....
: would Christ have been incarnated if humanity had never sinned? The question eventually became the focal point for a philosophical issue (the theory of possible worlds) and a theological topic on the distinction between God's absolute power (potentia absoluta) and His ordained power (potentia ordinata). John Gerson tells us “The doctrine of Alexander is of a wealth surpassing all expression. It is said that someone asked St. Thomas what was the best manner of studying theology; he replied that it was by attaching oneself to a Master. And to which Doctor? he was asked again. To Alexander of Hales, the Angelic Doctor
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
replied."
Summa Universae Theologiae
He had written the summary/commentary of Peter Lombard's four books of the Sentences. It had exposed the trinitarian theology of the Greeks. This had been the most important writing that Alexander had claimed, and had been the earliest in genre. While it is common for scholars to state that Alexander was the first to write a commentary on the SentencesSentences
The Four Books of Sentences is a book of theology written by Peter Lombard in the twelfth century. It is a systematic compilation of theology, written around 1150; it derives its name from the sententiae or authoritative statements on biblical passages that it gathered together.-Origin and...
of Peter Lombard
Peter Lombard
Peter Lombard was a scholastic theologian and bishop and author of Four Books of Sentences, which became the standard textbook of theology, for which he is also known as Magister Sententiarum-Biography:Peter Lombard was born in Lumellogno , in...
, it is not quite accurate. There were a number of "commentaries" on the Sentences, but Alexander appears to have been the first magisterial commentary. Although it was Alexanders most significant writing, it had not been completed, therefore leaving historians left with many questions on the reliability and quality of the writing. This was taken into consideration when the Summa had been examined by Father Victorin Doucet for different editions of them. The sources has seem to be the resulting problem of the Summa, "counted there were 4814 explicit quotations and 1372 implicit quotations from Augustine, more than one quarter of texts were cited in the body of the Summa.
Other Historical Works
Among his own works Alexander also influenced Jean de la Rochelle to compose the Summa of Theologica.Alexander also influenced and sometimes is confused with Alexander Carpenter
Alexander Carpenter
Alexander Carpenter, Latinized as Fabricius , was the author of the Destructorium viciorum, a religious work popular in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries...
, Latinized as Fabricius (fl. 1429), who was the author of the Destructorium viciorum, a religious work popular in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. Carpenter also authored other works, such as "Homiliae eruditae" ("Learned Sermons").
Historiographical Contribution
Alexander was said to have been the earliest scholastics to engage in Aristotle's newly translated writings (MetaphysicsMetaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
). This had been a very important to the ideals of scholastic thought. He had also steered scholasticism in a more systematic direction with him momentous decision to use the Sentences as the basic textbook for treating the whole of theology. He also appears to be the first theologian to use more than by mere chance of haphazardly concepts drawn from the Metaphysics of Aristole.
A medieval scholastic
In doing so, he elevated Lombard's work from a major theological resource to an authoritative text from which masters could teach. The commentary (or more correctly titled a Gloss) survived in student reports from Alexander's teaching in the classroom and so it provides a major insight into the way theologians taught their discipline in the 1220s.For his contemporaries, however, Alexander's fame was his inexhaustible interest in disputation. His disputations prior to his becoming a Franciscan cover over 1,600 pages in their modern edition. His disputed questions after 1236 remain unpublished. Alexander was also one of the first scholastics to participate in the Quodlibetal, a university event in which a master had to respond to any question posed by any student or master over a period of three days. Alexander's Quodlibet also remains unedited. It is because of this questioning that he became known as the 'Doctor irrefragabilis'.
Theologian
When he became a Franciscan and thus created a formal Franciscan school of theology at Paris, it was soon clear that his students lacked some of the basic tools for the discipline. Alexander responded by beginning a Summa theologiae that is now known as the Summa fratris Alexandri. Alexander drew mainly from his own disputations, but also selected ideas, arguments and sources from his contemporaries. It treats in its first part the doctrines of GodGod
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
and his attributes; in its second, those of creation and sin
Sin
In religion, sin is the violation or deviation of an eternal divine law or standard. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Christians believe the moral code of conduct is decreed by God In religion, sin (also called peccancy) is the violation or deviation...
; in its third, those of redemption
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
and atonement; and, in its fourth and last, those of the sacrament
Sacrament
A sacrament is a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites.-General definitions and terms:...
s. This massive text, which Roger Bacon
Roger Bacon
Roger Bacon, O.F.M. , also known as Doctor Mirabilis , was an English philosopher and Franciscan friar who placed considerable emphasis on the study of nature through empirical methods...
would later sarcastically describe as weighing as much as a horse, was unfinished at his death; his students, William of Middleton and John of Rupella, were charged with its completion. It was certainly read by the Franciscans at Paris, including Bonaventure
Bonaventure
Saint Bonaventure, O.F.M., , born John of Fidanza , was an Italian medieval scholastic theologian and philosopher. The seventh Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, he was also a Cardinal Bishop of Albano. He was canonized on 14 April 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV and declared a Doctor of the...
. Bonaventure once referred to Alexander as "our father and master" (noster pater et magister), but it is unlikely that the Seraphic Doctor ever studied under Alexander.
Alexander was an innovative theologian. He was part of the generation that first grappled with the writings of Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
. While there was a ban on using Aristotle's works as teaching texts, theologians like Alexander continued to exploit his ideas in their theology. Two other uncommon sources were promoted by Alexander: Anselm of Canterbury
Anselm of Canterbury
Anselm of Canterbury , also called of Aosta for his birthplace, and of Bec for his home monastery, was a Benedictine monk, a philosopher, and a prelate of the church who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109...
, whose writings had been ignored for almost a century gained an important advocate in Alexander and he used Anselm's works extensively in his teaching on Christology
Christology
Christology is the field of study within Christian theology which is primarily concerned with the nature and person of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament. Primary considerations include the relationship of Jesus' nature and person with the nature...
and soteriology
Soteriology
The branch of Christian theology that deals with salvation and redemption is called Soteriology. It is derived from the Greek sōtērion + English -logy....
; and, Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite
Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite
Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, also known as Pseudo-Denys, was a Christian theologian and philosopher of the late 5th to early 6th century, the author of the Corpus Areopagiticum . The author is identified as "Dionysos" in the corpus, which later incorrectly came to be attributed to Dionysius...
, whom Alexander used in his examination of the theology of Orders and ecclesiastical structures.