WENCK, JOHANNES. – Theologian, born at Herrenberg (Württemberg), died in 1460.
Mentioned as a priest in 1424, at the end of 1426 he came from Paris to Heidelberg as « magister artium », where, after completing his theological studies, he remained as « professor theologiae ». He is especially known for the work De ignota litteratura (1442–43) against Niccolò Cusano, and even more through the latter’s Apologia doctor ignorantia (1449). In his Commentarii on Aristotelian writings, and especially on the Liber de canis, and finally (1455) on Dionysius’s De caelesti hierarchia, W., as a determined representative of the via antiqua, strives to propagate the common foundation of scholastic ideology. Nevertheless, he often follows a Neoplatonic orientation, alongside the commentaries of Alberto Magno. His work as a preacher, Memoriale divinorum officiorum (1445), is consistently directed toward the liturgy. An exposition of W.’s works contained in the Palatine codices of the Vatican Library is in preparation.