Gabala

 Gabbatha

 Vicariate Apostolic of Gaboon

 Gabriel

 Brothers of Saint Gabriel

 Bl. Gabriel Possenti

 Gabriel Sionita

 Gad

 Gadara

 Agnolo, Giovanni, and Taddeo Gaddi

 Archdiocese of Gaeta

 Ivan Sergejewitch Gagarin

 Achille Gagliardi

 William Gahan

 Claude Ferdinand Gaillard

 St. Gal

 Epistle to the Galatians

 Pietro Colonna Galatino

 Valerius Maximianus Galerius

 Joseph Galien

 Galilee

 Alessandro Galilei

 Galileo Galilei

 Elizabeth Galitzin

 St. Gall

 Abbey of St. Gall

 St. Galla

 Vicariate Apostolic of Galla

 Louis Gallait

 Antoine Galland

 Andrea Gallandi

 Diocese of Galle

 Juan Nicasio Gallego

 Pietro Luigi Galletti

 Gallia Christiana

 Gallicanism

 Gallican Rite

 Sts. Gallicanus

 Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus

 Joseph de Gallifet

 Diocese of Gallipoli

 Adele Amalie Gallitzin

 Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin

 Diocese of Galloway

 Pasquale Galluppi

 Peter Gallwey

 Diocese of Galtelli-Nuoro

 Bernhard Galura

 Luigi Galvani

 Diocese of Galveston

 Diocese of Galway and Kilmacduagh

 Vasco da Gama

 Gamaliel

 Jean Gamans

 Gambling

 Pius Bonifacius Gams

 Peter Gandolphy

 Gangra

 Diocese of Gap

 Anne García

 St. Gonsalo Garcia

 Gabriel García Moreno

 Garcilasso de la Vega

 Garcilasso de la Vega (the Inca)

 Aloisio Gardellini

 Stephen Gardiner

 Julius Peter Garesché

 Jean Garet

 Gargara

 André Garin

 Garland

 John Garland

 Ven. Nicholas Garlick

 François-Xavier Garneau

 Henry Garnet

 Ven. Thomas Garnet

 Charles Garnier

 Jean Garnier

 Julien Garnier

 Raffaele Garrucci

 Diocese of Garzon

 Bl. Gaspare del Bufalo

 Philippe-Aubert de Gaspe

 Pierre Gassendi

 Joseph Gasser von Valhorn

 Johann Joseph Gassner

 William Gaston

 St. Gatianus

 Franz Christian Gau

 Antoine Gaubil

 St. Gaudentius

 Gaudentius of Brescia

 Gaudete Sunday

 Antoine le Gaudier

 Gaudiosus

 Christian Gaul

 Giovanni Battista Gaulli

 Aloisius-Edouard-Camille Gaultier

 Jean-Joseph Gaume

 Bartolommeo Gavantus

 Charles Etienne Arthur Gayarré

 Gaza

 Pietro Maria Gazzaniga

 Gebhard (III) of Constance

 Emile Gebhart

 Gedeon

 Nicolas Gédoyn

 Josef Anton von Gegenbauer

 Johann Geiler von Kaysersberg

 Johannes von Geissel

 Pope St. Gelasius I

 Pope Gelasius II

 Gelasius of Cyzicus

 Gemblours

 Genealogy (in the Bible)

 Genealogy of Christ

 Gilbert Génebrard

 General Chapter

 Generation

 Genesareth

 Genesis

 Genesius

 St. Genevieve

 Land of Genezareth

 Girolamo Genga

 Edward Génicot

 St. Gennadius I

 Gennadius II

 Gennadius of Marseilles

 Edmund and John Gennings

 Archdiocese of Genoa

 Gentile da Fabriano

 Gentiles

 Aloysius Gentili

 Genuflexion

 Geoffrey of Clairvaux

 Geoffrey of Dunstable

 Geoffrey of Monmouth

 Geoffrey of Vendôme

 Biblical Geography

 Geography and the Church

 St. George

 George Hamartolus

 George of Trebizond

 George Pisides

 George the Bearded

 Georgetown University

 Georgia

 Georgius Syncellus

 Diocese of Gerace

 St. Gerald

 Diocese of Geraldton

 Baron Ferdinand de Géramb

 Joseph-Marie de Gérando

 St. Gérard, Abbot of Brogne

 St. Gerard, Bishop of Toul

 Gerard, Archbishop of York

 John Gerard

 Ven. Miles Gerard

 Richard Gerard

 St. Gerard Majella

 Gerard of Cremona

 Gerardus Odonis

 Gerasa

 Gabriel Gerberon

 Martin Gerbert

 Olympe-Philippe Gerbet

 Jean-François Gerbillon

 Hyacinthe Sigismond Gerdil

 Gerhard of Zütphen

 Gerhoh of Reichersberg

 St. Germain (1)

 St. Germain (2)

 St. Germaine Cousin

 Bl. German Gardiner

 Germanicia

 Germanicopolis

 Germans in the United States

 St. Germanus I

 Germany

 Vicariate Apostolic of Northern Germany

 Germia

 Diocese of Gerona

 Gerrha

 Jean le Charlier de Gerson

 Bl. Gertrude of Aldenberg

 Gertrude of Hackeborn

 St. Gertrude of Nivelles

 St. Gertrude the Great

 Ven. Gertrude van der Oosten

 Dom François Armand Gervaise

 George Gervase

 Gervase of Canterbury

 Gervase of Tilbury

 Sts. Gervasius and Protasius

 St. Géry

 Gesellenvereine

 Gesta Dei per Francos

 Gesta Romanorum

 Gethsemani

 Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani

 Gezireh

 August Friedrich Gfrörer

 Prefecture Apostolic of Ghardaia

 Diocese of Ghent

 Lorenzo di Cione Ghiberti

 Ghirlandajo

 St. Ghislain

 Ghost Dance

 Pietro Giannone

 Gibail and Batrun

 Pierre Gibault

 John Gibbons

 Richard Gibbons

 Jean-Pierre Gibert

 Gian Matteo Giberti

 Vicariate Apostolic of Gibraltar

 Bonaventure Giffard

 Godfrey Giffard

 William Giffard

 William Gifford

 Supernatural Gift

 Nicolas-Joseph-Laurent Gilbert

 Sir John Thomas Gilbert

 Gilbert de la Porrée

 Gilbert Foliot

 Order of Gilbertines

 Vicariate Apostolic of the Gilbert Islands

 St. Gilbert of Sempringham

 St. Gildas

 Alvarez Carillo Gil de Albornoz

 St. Giles

 Gillespie

 James Gillis

 Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore

 Bl. Gil of Santarem

 Gindarus

 Jacques-Marie-Achille Ginoulhiac

 Vincenzo Gioberti

 Fra Giovanni Giocondo

 Tommaso Giordani

 Luca Giordano

 Giorgione

 Giotto di Bondone

 Ruggiero Giovanelli

 Giovanni Battista Giraldi

 Ubaldo Giraldi

 Giraldus Cambrensis

 Jean-Baptiste Girard

 François Girardon

 Giraud de Borneil

 Girba

 Girgenti

 Blaise Gisbert

 Giulio Romano

 Bl. Giuseppe Maria Tommasi

 Giuseppe Giusti

 Raoul Glaber

 Manius Acilius Glabrio

 Glagolitic

 Jean-Baptiste Glaire

 Ranulf de Glanville

 Henry Glarean

 Archdiocese of Glasgow

 Glastonbury Abbey

 Glebe

 School of Glendalough

 Gloria in Excelsis Deo

 Glory

 Scriptural Glosses

 Glosses, Glossaries, Glossarists

 Episcopal Gloves

 Gluttony

 Archdiocese of Gnesen-Posen

 Gnosticism

 Archdiocese of Goa

 Vicariate Apostolic of Goajira

 St. Goar

 Jacques Goar

 George Gobat

 Gobban Saer

 Person Gobelinus

 God

 St. Godard

 Thomas Godden

 Antoine Godeau

 St. Godeberta

 St. Godelina

 Paul Godet des Marais

 Godfrey of Bouillon

 Godfrey of Fontaines

 Godfrey of Viterbo

 Godric

 Marie Josephine Goetz

 Stephen Goffe

 Leonard Goffine

 Gog and Magog

 Golden Calf

 Golden Rose

 Carlo Goldoni

 Thomas Goldwell

 Francisco Lopez de Gómara

 Francisco Gomes De Amorim

 Gondulphus

 Jean Baptiste Gonet

 Jérôme de Gonnelieu

 Ercole Gonzaga

 Scipione Gonzaga

 Thyrsus González de Santalla

 Gonzalo de Berceo

 Good

 Highest Good

 Good Faith

 Good Friday

 Eastern Vicariate of the Cape of Good Hope

 Western Vicariate of the Cape of Good Hope

 Godfrey Goodman

 Ven. John Goodman

 Sisters of the Good Samaritan

 Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd

 Pierre-Lambert Goossens

 Gordian

 Sts. Gordianus and Epimachus

 Andrew Gordon

 Gordon Riots

 Gordos

 St. Gorgonius

 Martyrs of Gorkum

 Guido Görres

 Johann Joseph Görres

 Gortyna

 Görz

 Goscelin

 Gospel and Gospels

 Gospel in the Liturgy

 Alexander Goss

 Jan Gossaert

 Jean-Edmé-Auguste Gosselin

 John Gother

 Gothic Architecture

 Gottfried von Strasburg

 St. Gottschalk

 Gottschalk of Orbais

 Abbey of Göttweig

 Diocese of Goulburn

 Charles-François Gounod

 René Goupil

 Thomas-Marie-Joseph Gousset

 John Gower

 Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes

 Diocese of Goyaz

 Diocese of Gozo

 Carlo Gozzi

 Gozzoli

 Grace

 Controversies on Grace

 William Russell Grace

 Grace at Meals

 Gradual

 Gradual Psalms

 Robert Gradwell

 Graffiti

 Patrick Graham

 Holy Grail

 Eugénie de Gramont

 Archdiocese of Gran

 Archdiocese of Granada

 University of Granada

 Jean Grancolas

 Theodor Granderath

 Philippe-André Grandidier

 Abbey and Order of Grandmont

 Diocese of Grand Rapids

 Thomas Grant

 Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle

 François-Joseph-Paul Grasse

 Lorenz Grässel

 Paris de Grassis

 Gratian

 Jerome Gratian

 Johannes Gratian

 Gratianopolis

 Ortwin Gratius

 Auguste-Joseph-Alphonse Gratry

 Peter Aloys Gratz

 Jacques Gravier

 Dominic Gravina

 Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina

 Diocese of Gravina and Montepeloso

 University of Graz

 Great Falls

 Greece

 Greek Catholics in America

 Greek Church

 Greek Orthodox Church in America

 Greek Rites

 Hugh Green

 Thomas Louis Green

 Diocese of Green Bay

 Greenland

 Gregorian Chant

 Pope St. Gregory I

 Pope St. Gregory II

 Pope St. Gregory III

 Pope Gregory IV

 Pope Gregory V

 Pope Gregory VI

 Gregory VI (Antipope)

 Pope St. Gregory VII

 Pope Gregory VIII

 Gregory VIII

 Pope Gregory IX

 Pope Gregory X

 Pope Gregory XI

 Volume 8

 Pope Gregory XII

 Pope Gregory XIII

 Pope Gregory XIV

 Pope Gregory XV

 Pope Gregory XVI

 Gregory Bæticus

 Gregory of Heimburg

 St. Gregory of Nazianzus

 St. Gregory of Neocaesarea

 St. Gregory of Nyssa

 Gregory of Rimini

 St. Gregory of Tours

 St. Gregory of Utrecht

 Gregory of Valencia

 Gregory the Illuminator

 University of Greifswald

 Karl Johann Greith

 Gremiale

 Diocese of Grenoble

 Dietrich Gresemund

 Adrien Greslon

 Jean Baptiste Gresset

 Jacob Gretser

 Jean-Baptiste Greuze

 Grey Nuns

 Grey Nuns of the Cross

 Gerald Griffin

 Thomas Griffiths

 Franz Grillparzer

 Francesco Maria Grimaldi

 Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi

 Johann Jacob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen

 Valentin Gröne

 Gerard Groote

 John Gropper

 Robert Grosseteste

 Diocese of Grosseto

 Diocese of Grosswardein

 Abbey of Grottaferrata

 Johann Grueber

 Anastasius Grün

 Archdiocese of Guadalajara (Guadalaxara)

 Shrine of Guadalupe

 Diocese of Guadeloupe

 Guaicuri Indians

 Guaraní Indians

 Law of Guarantees

 Diocese of Guarda

 Francesco Guardi

 Guardian Angel

 Feast of Guardian Angels

 Guardianship

 Battista Guarini

 Guarino da Verona

 Diocese of Guastalla

 Guastallines

 Archdiocese of Santiago de Guatemala

 Diocese of Guayaquil

 Diocese of Gubbio

 Moritz Gudenus

 St. Gudula

 Guelphs and Ghibellines

 Prosper Louis Pascal Guéranger

 Robert Guérard

 Anne-Thérèse Guérin

 Guérin

 Joseph Heinrich Aloysius Gügler

 Giovanni Battista Guglielmini

 Guiana

 Guibert of Ravenna

 Francesco Guicciardini

 Guido of Arezzo

 Guigues du Chastel

 André Guijon

 Guilds

 Patrick Robert Guiney

 Robert Guiscard

 House of Guise

 Guitmund

 Vicariate Apostolic of Gulf of St. Lawrence

 Gunpowder Plot

 Bl. Gunther

 Anton Günther

 Günther of Cologne

 Diocese of Gurk

 Jean-Pierre Gury

 Bartholomeu Lourenço de Gusmão

 Johann Gutenberg

 St. Guthlac

 Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de La Motte-Guyon

 Fernando Pérez de Guzmán

 Diocese of Györ

Jean le Charlier de Gerson


The surname being the name of his native place, b. in the hamlet of Gerson 14 December, 1363; d. at Lyons, 12 July, 1429. The hamlet of Gerson has disappeared, but it was then a dependency of the village of Barby not far from Bethel, in the Diocese of Reims, and now included in the department of Ardennes.

His father, Arnauld, and his mother, Elizabeth La Chardenière, were noted for their integrity and piety. They had twelve children, of whom Jean was the eldest. He attended the schools of Bethel and Reims and at the age of fourteen entered the famous Collège de Navarre at Paris, where he formed a life-long friendship with the rector, the illustrious Pierre d'Ailly of Compiègne. In 1381 Gerson obtained the degree of licentiate of arts under Maître Jean Loutrier; in 1388 he received that of Baccalarius Biblicus; in 1390 he lectured on the "Sententiæ", and in 1392 became a licentiate of theology. He was raised to the doctorate of theology in 1394, being then thirty-one years of age (cf. Denifle, Chartul. Univers. Paris, III). Before receiving the doctorate he had written several works. In 1387 he preached before Pope Clement VII of Avignon with a view to calling forth the condemnation of Jean de Monteson, a Dominican, who had denied the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin, and shortly afterwards he delivered a panegyric on St. Louis, King of France, thus making his debut in the oratorical career that was destined to become so brilliant.

Although Gerson had won the doctorate only a year before his former teacher, Pierre d'Ailly, was named Bishop of Puy (1395), Benedict XIII chose him to succeed d'Ailly in the important position of Chancellor of Notre-Dame and of the university (13 April). Thenceforth he was actively interested in the extirpation of the schism which, for seventeen years, had divided the Church into two hostile parties that were numerically almost equal. The friend of peace and union, he always expressed a sober and moderate opinion in regard to both the Pope of Rome and the Pope of Avignon, and on all occasions showed a strong repugnance to the violent proceedings extolled by certain members of the university (Noël Valois, III, 71, 180). Appointed dean of the church of Saint Donatien at Bruges, Gerson remained there four years (1397-1401). It was at this period that he wrote the treatise, strongly theological and sober in tone, entitled: "Sententia de mode se habendi tempore schismatis" (Schwab, Johannes Gerson, Professor der Theologie und Kanzler der Universität Paris, 97, 152). He had not voted to withdraw obedience from the Pope of Avignon, for whom, in the beginning, France had declared herself (1398). He was one of the first to show that Benedict should be considered neither a heretic nor a schismatic, and that it was in no wise proper to introduce, on this plea, an action against him (Opp. Gersonii, II, ed. 1706, passim). Accordingly, he energetically demanded the restoration of obedience, that is to say, the cessation of that abnormal state that constituted a schism within a schism, but this conciliatory attitude, so conformable to his character, incurred much hatred. On 18 November, 1403, he was made curé of Saint-Jean-en-Grève at Paris, accepting the charge in addition to the office of chancellor; this favour was granted by Pope Benedict in recognition of Gerson's fidelity to him during his four years of enforced sojourn in his fortress at Avignon. The chancellor freely and openly rejoiced at the pontiff's release and the university selected him to congratulate Benedict at Marseilles. But this harmony was not to last. The university, again dissatisfied with Benedict, wished to renew the withdrawal of obedience that had so poorly succeeded the first time. D'Ailly and Gerson tried to oppose the movement both before and during the Council of Paris in 1406, and strove to urge upon their colleagues the necessity of more moderate proceedings. After long and animated discussion, they partially succeeded in obtaining that the withdrawal of obedience adopted by the members of the assembly was brought within certain limits (cf. L. Salembier, "Le grand schisme d'Occident", 221).

D'Ailly and Gerson also formed a part of the solemn embassy sent to Benedict in 1407 and tried to prevail upon the pope to resign the papacy by a formal Bull; but the pontiff refused. Thereupon some of the delegates wished openly to break with him, but here again d'Ailly and Gerson caused more peaceable sentiments to triumph and laboured to retard the total rupture (L. Salembier, op. cit., 229). During the following year Gerson attended the Council of Reims and delivered the opening discourse. That same year, because of his efforts at reconciliation, d'Ailly aroused the indignation of the members of the university incensed against Benedict. The king espoused their quarrel and wished to have the bishop of Cambrai arrested; at this juncture Clémanges and Gerson, his ever-faithful pupils, wrote him touching letters of condolence [L. Salembier, "Petrus de Alliaco" (1887), 75; Opp. Gersonii, III, 429]. Gerson himself was soon to become acquainted with human vicissitudes and to be persecuted for another reason. On 23 November, 1407, the Duke of Orleans was assassinated in one of the streets of Paris by the cowardly hirelings of the Duke of Burgundy. With singular audacity, the Duke of Burgundy, John the Fearless (Jean sans Peur), assumed the responsibility of the deed, pleaded his own cause before King Charles VI and chose as his defending counsel, Jean Petit (8 March, 1408) who dared openly to profess the immoral theory of tyrannicide. The chancellor deemed it his duty to bring this doctrine before the Bishop of Paris and the professors of theology. The doctors first condemned seven, then nine of Jean Petit's propositions as erroneous and scandalous and these were thrown into the fire. Later, in the Council of Constance, Gerson again denounced the articles incriminated (June, 1415), and repeated the denunciation seven times within fifteen days. The Fathers passed sentence on this point (6 July), by condemning tyrannicide in a general way without, however, mentioning the name of the powerful Duke of Burgundy; this half-measure satisfied neither Gerson nor the Armagnacs who were at the council. The chancellor addressed the assemblage in the name of the King of France, 5 May, 1416, and eloquently protested against the too moderate and indefinite sentence aimed at John the Fearless ("Opp. Gersonii", II, 328; V, 353, 355, 362 sq.; Labbe and Mansi, XXVII, 728 sqq., Schwab, op. cit., 609). Gerson had attended neither the Council of Pisa (1409), nor the Council of Rome (1412-13), but he had highly approved of both. His part in the Council of Constance was, however, an important one. He arrived at Constance, 21 February, 1415, with a delegation from the University of Paris. It is not necessary to enter here into the details of the trial of John Hus (Schwab, op. cit., 540-609), of the condemnation of the Flagellants ("Opp. Gersonii", II, 658, 660), of Gerson's differences with the English, nor of his doctrinal strife (1418) with Matthew Grabon, that great enemy of new religious orders ("Opp. Gersonii", I, 467). Mention will be made later of his attitude towards the three popes who then disputed the tiara, and of the theories that he set forth in the council in order to bring about the suppression of the schism.

It was above all his struggles against John the Fearless that brought Gerson into unmerited disgrace. In Paris the Duke of Burgundy had before this provoked a riotous disturbance against him; his house had been plundered and he had only escaped assassination by taking refuge for two months up under the vaulted roofs of Notre-Dame. After the Council of Constance, whilst the pope, the emperor, and the fathers were returning with all due pomp to their respective countries (1418), Gerson learned that John the Fearless had sworn his destruction and that the "nation of Picardy" in the university had demanded that he be disclaimed, recalled, and punished atrociter ("Opp. Gersonii", V, 374; Denifle, "Chartul.", etc., IV, 300; Max Lenz, "Revue historique", IX, 470). To prevent his persecutor from having an opportunity to destroy him he left Constance, 15 May, 1418, and with André and Cresio, who had acted as his secretaries at the council, he took the road to exile. He retired to the Benedictine Abbey of Melk (Mölk) in Germany, the abbot of which he had known at Constance. The Archduke Frederick wished to gain him for the University of Vienna, and Gerson repaired thither but did not remain. Finally in November, 1419, the chancellor learned of the death of his sworn enemy, John the Fearless, who, by order of the Dauphin, had been slain on the bridge of the town of Montereau. Gerson at once set out for France but did not return to Pariis, which was torn by factions and was still in the hands of the Burgundians. He directed his steps towards Lyons, called thither by his brother who was prior of the Celestines and by the archbishop, Amédée de Talaru (Schwab, op. cit., 767 sqq.). Here he spent his last years in exercises of devotion and in performing his priestly functions. He also while at Lyons wrote various works, some of edification, some on mystical or pastoral theology, one especially being his well-known treatise: "De parvulis ad Christum trahendis". Combining example with precept, he loved to surround himself with little children in the church of Saint-Paul and delighted to teach them the elements of Christian doctrine. These ten years were the sweetest of his militant life, and the regrets of all good men followed him to the grave. Miracles were attributed to him and at least five martylrologies give him the title of Blessed. Over fifty particular councils and many ecclesiastical writers recommend to pastors "this great, pious and learned doctor, this ardent lover of souls, this incomparable director, this model of ministers of the Gospel". Statues have been raised to his memory at Paris and Lyons; in the church of the Sorbonne his picture is the companion to that of Bossuet.


VIEWS AS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH: COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE

It is well known that what the theologians of the early part of the fourteenth century lacked most, was a fixed doctrine on what theologians to-day call the Traité de l'Eglise. Gallicanism was born of the false principles, or rather of the temporary expedients believed to be a necessity amid the unfortunate events of the Great Schism. Extenuating circumstances can be pleaded in Gerson's favour. He had been instructed by men who were none too stable, and had made a close study of William of Occam, the most evil genius of the fourteenth century. As we have seen, Gerson was generally more sensible and moderate in practice than in theory. Besides, it is now proved that several treatises, sometimes made the basis of an attack on his theological doctrine, were not his at all ("De modis uniendi; octo conclusiones quarum dogmatizatio utilis videtur ad exterminationem moderni schismatis; Sermo factus in die Ascensionis", 1409, etc.). In fact his Protestant or Gallican editors, von der Hardt, Richer, and Ellies-Dupin, have done his memory poor service by exaggerating or envenoming some of his propositions. It is but too true that in regard to the pope and the council, the chancellor maintained erroneous theories which were censurable and later condemned. In his opinion the sovereign pontiff is not the universal bishop possessing immediate power over all the faithful; his power is only subjective and executive ("Opp. Gersonii", II, 259, 279). Far from being infallible, he can even sometimes fall into heresy, in which event, if he still remain pope, the faithful are empowered to bind him, imprison him and even throw him into the sea (Ibid., 221; Noël Valois, IV, 84). Gerson's doctrine concerning the general council is no sounder. He admits the superiority of the Church and the œcumenical council over the pope, as he sees no other means of emerging from schism and returning to unity. With him temporary expedients become principles. It is what might be called ecclesiastical opportunism. Gerson is exclusively rational and practical, and the object of all his argumentation is the justification of the most extraordinary methods of procedure in order to attain the final result desired by him and by all Christendom. Hence, according to him, the sovereign pontiff is amenable to the council which may correct and even depose him ("Opp. Gersonii", II, 201).

Regarding the convocation and composition of this assembly he declares, with d'Ailly, that the first four œcumenical councils were not convened by the authority of the pope and that not only cardinals, but princes, and in fact any Christian, can convoke a council for the election of a single and universally acknowledged pope ("De auferibilitate papæ", in Opp. Gersonii, II, 209 sqq.). He also maintains that pastors may be summoned to such an assembly and may have a deliberate voice as well as bishops ("De potestate ecclesiastica", in ibid., II, 249). None of the faithful should be excluded (ibid., II, 205). In all of these propositions is seen, as it were, a reflection of the extreme theses of the revolutionary Franciscan, William of Occam. Moreover, Gerson's attitude in the Council of Constance was in conformity with his principles. With the delegates from the University of Paris, he demanded that all three popes immediately tender their resignation (Feb., 1415). A convinced partisan of the superiority of doctors over bishops, he insisted, like d'Ailly, that the doctors of canon and even of civil law should have a voice in the deliberations of the council. This was in consequence of his democratic tendencies (cf. Salembier, Le grand schisme, 212, 299). He exalted to excess the omnipotence of the general council and pursued Pope John XXIII with unflagging energy (Schwab, op. cit., 507; von der Hardt, II, 265). He voted for the four famous articles of Constance (March 1415) which are the code of Gallicanism and pave the way for all the schismatic decisions of the assembly of 1682. Besides, he bodily maintained that these revolutionary principles were dogmas and wanted them carved on the stone of all the churches (Opp. Gersonii, II, 275). However in 1416 he was obliged to admit with sadness that voices were still raised in denial of the superiority of the council over the popes. Gerson attributed this "condemnable" obstinancy to the necessity of sycophancy, calling it "a deadly poison with which the organism of the Church is impregnated to the very marrow" (Ibid, II, 247). It is because of these openly erroneous principles that Gerson, like d'Ailly, his master, passed for a precursor of the Protestant Reformation. It is also for this reason that Protestant writers, such as A. Jepp and Winklemann, in Germany, and de Bonnechose, in France, compared him to Wyclif and John Hus. What has gone before, however, proves that these comparisons do Gerson injustice.


GERSON'S MYSTICAL THEOLOGY AND ORATORY

Gerson's mystical theology has its own peculiar and original character; it is that of an eminent and almost impeccable master. First of all he distinguishes it from scientific theology which is abstract and discursive. His mysticism in its essence is an experimental knowledge of God which, by love, one perceives in himself. If the inferior powers remain in darkness, the superior faculties, the intellect, and especially pure love, have the freer play, and therefore constitute a sublime state of transport which surpasses all theoretical learning. This theology does not require great scientific attainments, it is within the reach of the most simple. Moreover, through close union with God, it gives us perfect contentment of soul with the entire and definitive appeasement of our desires (cf. Schwab, op. cit., 325; Ellies- Dupin, "Opp. Gersonii", I, clv). Gerson further distinguishes a practical part in his mystical theology and lays down the conditions and means (industriæ) preparatory to contemplation. These industriæ are as follows: (1) to await the call of God; (2) to know well one's own temperament; (3) to be heedful of one's vocation and one's state; (4) to aim constantly towards greater perfection; (5) to avoid as much as possible a multiplicity of occupations and, in any event, not to become absorbed in them; (6) to set aside all vain desire for learning, i. e. all idle curiosity; (7) to remain calm and practise patience; (8) to know the origin of the affections and passions; (9) to choose the necessary time and place; (10) to avoid extremes, either of abstinence or excess, in sleeping and eating; (11) to indulge in thoughts that excite pious affections; (12) to banish from one's mind all images, which is preëminently modus simplificandi cor in meditationibus and producendi contemplationem. Gerson's many treatises are in Vol. III of his works. He was one of the first to recognize and proclaim the supernatural vocation of Joan of Arc. He laboured diligently to promote devotion to the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph and even dedicated to this saint a poem of 4600 lines entitled "Josephina". He was not the author of the "Imitation of Jesus Christ", and the reasons for this adverse opinion advanced by Rosweyde, Amort, Malou, Funk and Vacandard, seem convincing.

He was one of the most eminent orators of his time and preached frequently, either in French or Latin, before the university, at court, in the principal churches of the capital or in his parish of Saint-Jean-en-Grève. It was in this parish that he preached the most of his sermons in French; these discourses, sixty-four in number, have been specially studied by the Abbé Bournet, later Bishop of Rodez and cardinal. In plan these instructions are almost the same as modern sermons but Gerson's learning is often deficient in taste and judgment, and he makes sometimes too pompous a display of incongruous quotations. From the point of view of doctrine he treats, for the greater part, ethical subjects and inveighs against intemperance and the dissoluteness of morals. He labours mainly for reform within, frequently exhorts to penance, and threatens his flock with the judgments of God, but does not leave them without words of hope and consolation. His style is far from uniform and differs according to his hearers. Cold and accurate in the setting forth of dogma, he most frequently stirs the passions and resorts largely to allegory and word-painting; his language, although having all the piquancy, naïveté, and originality of the old French chronicles, is always dignified and becoming.

Gerson's works were published directly after the introduction of printing, first at Cologne in 1483 (4 vols. in fol., for details consult Schwab, op. cit. ad finem). Both French editions, the one by Richer (Paris, 1635, 4 vols.), the other by Ellies-Dupin (Antwerp, or rather Amsterdam, 1703, 5 vols. in fol.) were prepared under the influence of Gallican ideas and with a view to religious polemics. They were hastily and confusedly compiled without any great care and contain serious defects. However, the one by Ellies-Dupin is fairly complete and the first four volumes embody over 400 of Gerson's treatises. The references to Gerson's works in this article are to this edition.

BESS,Johannes Gerson und die kirchenpolitischen Partein Frankreichs vor dem Konzil zu Pisa (1890); BOILEAU in Revue du Monde Catholique (1881), X, 60-80, 304-416, 627-45; BOUIX,Tractatus di Papa (1870), I; BOURRET,Essai historique et critique sur les sermons français de Gerson (Paris, 1858); FOUGÉRE,Discours at Académie franc. (Paris, 1838, 1843); JADART,Jean de Gerson, 1363-1429 (Reims, 1882); JOURDAIN,Doctrina Johannis Gersonii de theologia mystica (Paris, 1838) in Dict. scien. philos. (1875), 616-9; MASSON,Jean Gerson, sa vie, son temps, son œuvres (Lyons, 1894); REYNOLDS,Early Reprints for English Readers: John Gerson (London, 1880); RICHERIUS,Apologia pro Joanne Gersonis pro suprema Ecclesiæ et concilii generalis auctoritate (Leyden, 1676); SALEMBIER,Petrus de Alliaco (Lille, 1886); IDEM,Le grand schisme d'Occident (Paris, 1900), tr. MITCHELL (London, 1908); SCHWAB,Johannes Gerson, Professor der Theologie und Kanzler der Universität Paris, eine Monographie (Würzburg, 1873); THOMASSY,Jean Gerson et le grand schisme d'Occident (2nd ed., 1872); VALOIS,La France et le grand schisme (Paris, 1896, 1902), IV; WINKELMANN,Gerson, Wiclefus, Hussus, inter se et cum reformatoribus comparati (Göttingen, 1857).

LOUIS SALEMBIER