BACONTHORP, John (Bacco, Bacho, Bakonius, Johannes de Bacone, etc.). - Philosopher and theologian, b. in the last decades of the 13th century in Baconthorp (Norfolk). As a young man he entered the Carmel of Blakeny. After obtaining his degree in theology in Paris, perhaps in 1321, he certainly taught at the University of Cambridge and probably at that of Oxford. In the years 1327-33 he held the office of prior of his Order for the province of England.

B. was a critical rather than a constructive mind. In theology, where his thought excels in particular subjects such as the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, he was a follower, as one would now say, of the positive method, thus opposing not only the Latin Averroists, but also the Thomist school. Nevertheless B. was called by L. Vanini (Amphitheatrum aeternae providentiae), "Princeps averroistarum", but more for his knowledge of Averroes and for having given a new interpretation of him than for having followed his theories. He wrote a commentary on the Sentences, Quodlibeta I-III; several commentaries on Scripture and on Aristotle, almost all lost (autograph ms. Paris, Naz. lat. 9540); on the Gospel, on St. Paul, on St. Augustine, on St. Anselm, as well as various opuscules, among them three on the history of his Order.

Bibliography

BIBL.: The most complete and most appreciated monograph on B. is that of Fr. B. Xiberta published in De scriptoribus scholastici aseculi XIV ex ord. Carm. (Bibliothèque de la Revue d'hist. ecclésiastique, 6), Louvain 1931. After Xiberta, a certain contribution to the knowledge of B.'s doctrines was made by the article of Fr. Chrysogone du S. Sacrement, Maître J. B. Les sources, la doctrine, les disciples, in Rev. néoscolastique de philos., 34 (1932), pp. 314-65.

@incollection{ec2_baconthorp_john_bacco_bacho_ba, author = {Bruni, Gerardo}, title = {Baconthorp, john (bacco, bacho, bakonius, johannes de bacone, ecc.)}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {II}, pages = {675}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/baconthorp-john-bacco-bacho-bakonius-johannes-de-bacone-ecc} }

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Baconthorp, John

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