Durandus of St Pourcain

A Dominican Theologian in the Shadow of Aquinas
Traces the medieval controversy between the Dominican order and its most notorious member, Durandus of St Pourcain (c1275-1336), as he openly challenged the order's promotion of Thomas Aquinas. This work reveals how the Dominican intellectual tradition was in fact constructed on the achievements of the rival mendicant order, the Franciscans.
The fourteenth-century controversy between the Dominican Durandus of St Pourçain and his order plays a central role in explaining the later success of Thomism. Durandus's independent approach earned him two censures from Dominican authorities, as he appeared to jeopardize the order's sense of doctrinal identity. Through a close examination of the relevant theological issues, this book follows the course of the controversy to reveal the significant role which Franciscan theology played in the Dominican interpretation of Aquinas. This challenges the commonplace portrayal of early Thomists as a homogenous group, as it reveals the Franciscan contribution to the shaping of a Dominican intellectual tradition.