JOHN of DAMBACH. — Dominican theologian, b. in 1288 (1289?) at Dambach in Alsace, d. on 3 Oct. (?), 1372 probably at Fribourg.
A Dominican from 1300, J. studied at Strasbourg and Cologne, where he had excellent teachers and faithful friends in Venturino of Bergamo and Tauler. He was a follower of Eckhart and Nicholas of Strasbourg in 1327. Driven out with his brethren from Strasbourg (1338), he took refuge in Basel, continued his studies at Bologna (1341), and obtained the mastership in theology at Montpellier (1347). Sent by the general chapter of Bologna (1347) to the general house of studies at Prague, where he taught for a short time, J. was dispatched by Charles IV to Avignon (1348), where he may have stayed for about two years. From 1350 to 1357 he was in Paris, and from 1357 he resided at Strasbourg, devoting himself to his literary labors.
Personally pious and gentle, a keen and acute observer of men and things, J. proposed a doctrine that was quite rigorous and of nominalist tendencies. As an author he was chiefly a compiler. His principal work, *De consolatione theologiae*, exerted great influence on the religious life of the later Middle Ages and was widely circulated in many copies as far as the North Sea and Spain; it also served as a model for the consolatory literature that reached its zenith during the Schism. With reasons for consolation drawn from theology, J. sought to overcome his own and others’ sorrow.
Works: *De consolatione theologiae* II. 15 (from 1340 to 1365); *De sensibilibus deliciis Paradisi*; *De culpa et Gratia*; *Exhortatio ad Carolum IV*. The following are also attributed to him: *De amore virtutum*, *De privilegio exemplorum*, *De simonia claustralium*, *De proprietate mendicantium*, *De quantitate indulgentiarum*, *De virtute indulgentiarum*, *Responsiones*, *De moderatione quartae*, *De redemptionibus*.