218 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1294-1517.
The chief principle for which Gerson contended, the supremacy of general councils, met with defeat soon after the great chancellor's death, jind was s^t, i\n\c]n hy popes H.iid later byjjj.f^ judgment of a general council. _ His writings, however, which were frequently published remain the chief literary monuments in the department of theology of the first half of the fourteenth century. 1 Separated from the Schoolmen in spirit and method, he stands almost in a class by himself, the most eminent theologian of his century. This judgment is an extension of the judgment ot the eminent German abbot and writer, Trithemius, at tlie close of the fifteenth century : " He was by far the chief divine of his age " ^ — Theologoi'um sui temporis longe princeps.
§ 24. Nicolas of Clamanges^ the Moralist.
The third of the great luminaries wlio gave fame to the University of Paris in this period, Nicolas Poillevillain de Clamanges, wus_born at Clamengi^.^ Chainj^agiifi^_jiliaut_lS^ and died^in Paris about 1437^ Shy by nature, he took a less prominent part in the settlement of the great questions of the age than his contemporaries, D'Ailly and Gerson. Like them, he was identified with the discussions called forth by the schism, and is distinguished for the high value he put on the study of the Scriptures and his sharp exposition of the corruption of the clergy. He entered the College of Navarre at twelve, and had_P'Ai11y and Gf^ri-^'^^ ^(^^ his_teacliers. In theology he did not go beyond the baccalaureate. It is probable he was chosen rector of the university 1393. With Peter of Monsterolio, he was the chief classical scholar of the university and was able to write that in Paris, Virgil, Terence and Cicero were often read in public and in private.*
In 1394, Clamanges took a prominent part in preparing the
^ The first complete edition of Gerson's writings appeared from the press of John Koelhoff. 4 vols. Cologne, 1483, 1484. The celebrated preacher, Geiler of Strassburg, edited a second edition 1488. - Schwab, p. 779, note.
>* The spelling given by Denifle in tlie Chartularium.
* Chartul. III. pp. 5, xi. In the C/ia?"<j</a?7M»i Clamanges always appears as a member of the faculty of the arts, III. 600, etc.
§ 24. NICOLAS OF CLAMANGES, THE MORALIST. 219
paper, setting forth the conclusions of the university in regard to the healing of the schism. ^ It was addressed to the " most Christian king, Charles VI., most zealous of religious orthodoxy by his daughter, the university. " This, the famous document suggesting the three ways of healing the schism, — by abdication, arbitration and by a general council, — is characterized by firmness and moderation, two of the elements prominent in Clamanges' character. It pronounced the schism pestiferous, and in answer to the question who would give the council its authority, it answered : " The communion of all the faithful will give it; Christ will give it, who said: ' Where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them.'"
The Paris professor was one of the men whom the keeneyed Peter de Luna picked out, and wdien he was elected pope, Clamanges supported him and wrote appealing to him, as the one who no longer occupied the position of one boatman among others, but stood at the rudder of the ship, to act in the interest of all Christendom. He was called as secretary to the Avignon court, but became weary of the commotion and the vices of the palace and the town.^ In 1406, he seems to have withdrawn from Benedict at Genoa and retired to Langres, where he held a canon's stall. He did not, however, break with the pope, and, when Benedict in 1408 issued the bull threatening the French court with excommunication, Clamanges was charged with being its author. He denied the charge, but the accusation of want of patriotism had made a strong impression, and he withdrew to the Carthusian convent, Valprofonds, and later to Fontaine du Bosc. His seclusion he employed in writing letters and treatises and in the study of the Bible which he now expressed regret for having neglected in former years for classical studies.
To D' Ailly he wrote on the advantages of a secluded life. — Defruetu eremi. In another tract — Defructu rerum adversarum — he presented the advantages of adversity. One of
1 CharUil., III. 617-624.
2 TcBdebat me vehementer airicB, tcedebat turboe, tcedehat tumultus, tcedebat ambitionisetmorum in plerisque vitiosorum, he wrote. Quoted by Knopfler.