[Blessed John Duns Scotus]November 7
Saints of the Day...and Events
 

Blessed John Duns Scotus, 1266-1308, the Subtle Doctor
The Franciscan from Scotland (Scotus),  the Subtle Doctor founder of the Scotism and the defender of the Immaculate Conception of Virgin Mary

    A humble man, John Duns Scotus has been one of the most influential Franciscans through the centuries.

     Son of a wealthy farmer. Friar Minor at Dumfries where his uncle Elias Duns was superior. Studied at Oxford and Paris. Ordained 17 March 1291 at Saint Andrew's Church, Northampton at age 25. Lectured at Oxford and Cambridge from 1297 to 1301 when he returned to Paris to teach and complete his doctorate.
   
    John pointed out the richness of the Augustinian-Franciscan tradition, appreciated the wisdom of Aquinas, Aristotle and the Muslim philosophers, and still managed to be an independent thinker. His ideas led to the founding of a school of Scholastic thought called Scotism.
     Father Charles Balic, O.F.M., the foremost 20th-century authority on Scotus, has written: "The whole of Scotus's theology is dominated by the notion of love. The characteristic note of this love is its absolute freedom. As love becomes more perfect and intense, freedom becomes more noble and integral both in God and in man" (New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 1105).

    In 1303 when King Philip the Fair tried to enlist the University of Paris on his side in a dispute with Pope Boniface VIII over the taxation of Church property, but John dissented and was given three days to leave France.

    He returned to Paris in 1305, and received his doctorate. He then taught there, and in 1307 so ably defended the Immaculate Conception of Mary that the university officially adopted his position. Drawing on this work, Pope Pius IX solemnly defined the Immaculate Conception of Mary in 1854.

    The Franciscan minister general assigned John to the Franciscan school in Cologne; he died there the next year.

Born 1266 at Duns, Berwick, Scotland
Died 8 November 1308 of natural causes at Cologne, Germany; buried in a Franciscan church near the Cologne cathedral
Beatified 20 March 1993 by John Paul II
More Information: John Duns Scotus

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