SCOTISM. — Since the Scotist synthesis is treated under the heading Duns Scotus (v.), here we deal with Scotism taken in the sense of the interpretation and dissemination of Scotus’s doctrine, that is, of the “Scotist school.”
I. ORIGIN
The Scotist school owes its origin to no imposition or prescription on the part of the Franciscan Order, which always left full freedom to follow one or another Doctor “secundum Deum et veritatem,” as is read in the acts of the General Chapter of 1337 (Chronologia historico-legalis Seraphici Ordinis, I, Naples 1650, p. 51).Therefore, while William of Ockham was founding his own school, Peter Auriol, Robert Cowton, William of Duns Scotus, and others were laying the foundations of the “Scotist school.”
(from M. Bulard, Le scorpion symbole du peuple juif..., Paris 1925, pl. 8) Scorpion — S. reproduced on the banners of the teaching Synagogue (left) and cursed by Jesus (center). Miniature from a Sienese Bible (early 14th century) — Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, ms. franc.