John of Mirecourt

John of Mirecourt, also known as *Monachus Albus* ('the White Monk'), was a Cistercian scholastic philosopher of the fourteenth century, from Mirecourt, Lorraine. He was a follower of William of Ockham and was censured by Pope Clement VI. Very little is known of his life, but it seems that he was born at Mirecourt in Lorraine between 1310 and 1315. He lectured at the Cistercian College of St. Bernard in Paris, and rose to the height of his philosophical and theological fame around the year 1345. He is credited with writing a commentary on Peter Lombard's Sentences, and two subsequent apologies which were responses to various criticisms of his commentary. He wrote two versions of his commentary; the first of which was attacked by a Benedictine called Johannes Normanus. Mirecourt replied by issuing a *Declaratio* in which he explained the meanings behind his propositions. Nevertheless, acting upon the recommendation of the faculty of theology at the University of Paris, Robert of Bardis, the University chancellor, condemned 41 propositions that were drawn from Mirecourt's writings on the Sentences. Mirecourt responded to this condemnation by writing a second apology to no avail: he was censured in Paris by Pope Clement VI in 1347. After this censure, nothing further is known of him, including any approximation as to the date of his death. There is some speculation that scholarly jealousy and academic politics made up a portion of the motivation behind Mirecourt's censure; and as Mirecourt was not radical in all of his philosophical views, it is not unsubstantiated that his censure was in part the result of some ill-will from various of the nominalist factions.