John de Bassolis, O. Min. (†1333)

Life

There is much about John de Bassolis, O. Min., Doctor ornatissimus or ordinatissimus, that is uncertain: his nationality, to what degree he was a faithful disciple of Scotus, and when he died. On the other hand, it is fairly certain that he finished commenting the fourth book of the Sentences in 1313 at Reims, as is recorded in the explicit of the commentary.1 This explicit can be seen in the editio princeps. Wadding says it could be found in manuscripts of his works in France; there are no known manuscripts today. He also lists him first among Scotus’s disciples, and says that the Subtle Doctor esteemed him so much that he would say that if Bassolis alone were present, he would have a sufficient audience.2 Because of this, it has often been assumed that he is a faithful disciple of Scotus, but scholars have drawn attention to divergences, particularly in the area of theodicy and on certain philosophical questions. On the other hand, his Christology is faithful to Scotus.3 In any case, we should not expect to see strict adherence to Scotus in this early period, before he received centuries of approval and praise.

The date of Bassolis’s death would seem to be certain, since an old calendar of the Abbey of Tewkesbury, England records the death of a Franciscan theologian of this name on July 14, 1333.4 However, Wadding reports that there were manuscripts extant in his time which said that the “Basolii Opera” were delivered in lecture form at Reims in 1342.5 If this is not an error, then we must prefer the date of 1347 for Bassolis’s death, with Giovanni Giacinto Sbaraglia (†1764) and others,6 but 1333 seems better supported.

As to his nationality, the Tewkesbury calendar suggests a particular link with England, such as his origin or a place he taught. On the other hand, the French regard him as one of their countrymen, and many others agree. He could be from Reims, where he lectured and where the martyr St. Bassolius is especially venerated. Alternatively, “de Bassolis” could mean he is from Bassoles (today in the department of Aisne in northern France).7 Another, less likely, possibility is that he was from Catalonia, where Bassols was a common name.8

In 1326 some students completed their studies of medicine under “J. de Basoles” or “sub Johanne de Bassolis.”9 If this is the same person as our author, then he also knew medicine.

Works

His sole surviving work is a commentary on the Sentences (apparently an ordinatio).10 No surviving manuscripts are known, and past reports of a 1488 edition have been traced to a cataloging error.11

This leaves a 1480 edition of his commentary on IV Sentences and a complete 1516–1517 edition. The latter declares that it has been corrected with great labor. Since we lack any other text of books I–III to check his work, we can only hope he did it well, especially in book I, which was published last because the manuscript was in the worst condition. Each book is a separate volume, and both editions assume the reader is familiar with standard abbreviations used in manuscripts.

  • Book IV (1480): Google Books.
  • Book I (Paris: August 5, 1517): Google Books.
  • Book II (Paris: October 31, 1516): Google Books.
  • Book III (Paris: January 13, 1516): Google Books.
  • Book IV (Paris: April 7, 1517): Google Books.12
  • SIEPM has a PDF of all four volumes together (under “Ioannes de Bassolis (OFM)”). It looks like a high-quality scan of microfilm.

  1. Cf. Marcellus Pasiecznik, “John de Bassolis, OFM,” Franciscan Studies 13, no. 4 (1953): 65. This date is generally accepted, but the following authors say the commentary is later than that of Ockham (1317): (Ephrem Longpré, “Jean de Bassoles,” in Catholicisme: hier, aujourd’hui, demain, vol. 1 (Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1948), 1304; Alfonso Pompei, “Giovanni di Bassoles,” in Enciclopedia Filosofica, 2nd ed., vol. 3 (Firenze: Lucarini, 1982), 1038–39).↩︎

  2. Cf. Luke Wadding et al., Annales Minorum seu Trium Ordinum a S. Francisco institutorum, ed. José Maria Ribeiro Fonseca de Ébora, 3rd ed. (Quaracchi, 1931–1964), 6:153.↩︎

  3. Cf. Longpré, “Jean de Bassoles”; Pompei, “Giovanni di Bassoles.”↩︎

  4. Cf. Pasiecznik, “John de Bassolis, OFM,” 63.↩︎

  5. Cf. Pasiecznik, 67.↩︎

  6. Cf. Giovanni Giacinto Sbaraglia, Supplementum et castigatio ad Scriptores trium ordinum S. Francisci a Waddingo aliisve descriptos: cum adnotationibus ad syllabum martyrum eorumdem ordinum, ed. nova, variis additamentis et continuatione scriptorum locupletata (Romae, 1908–1936), 2:39; Werner Dettloff, “Johannes de Bassolis,” in Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon, vol. 3 (Hamm, Germany: Verlag Traugott Bautz, 1992), 280–81.↩︎

  7. Cf. Longpré, “Jean de Bassoles”; Pompei, “Giovanni di Bassoles”; Robert Aubert, ed., “Jean de Bassoles,” in Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. 27 (Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1997), 1275.↩︎

  8. Cf. Pasiecznik, “John de Bassolis, OFM,” 64.↩︎

  9. Cf. Pasiecznik, 67.↩︎

  10. Cf. Pasiecznik, 70.↩︎

  11. Cf. Rolf Schönberger et al., Repertorium edierter Texte des Mittelalters aus dem Bereich der Philosophie und angrenzender Gebiete, 2nd ed. (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2011), 2147.↩︎

  12. This date can only mean that the publisher was not following the old French custom of starting the year at Easter, since Easter was April 22 in 1517 (so April 7 would be “1516”) and April 4 in 1518 (so April 7 would be “1518”).↩︎