dolcino, occam, minorites
Accidentally augmenting the reading I’ve been doing on heretical christianity, I’ve been rereading The Name of the Rose. I’d forgotten how much the book deals with heretical thought. There are multiple passages covering a variety of things I knew nothing—or next to nothing—about.
For instance, I was confused about the repeated references to the Minorites, but a quick check shows that what we commonly refer to as the Franciscans are more technically called the Order of Friars Minor—the Minorites, a religious order of men tracing their origin to Francis of Assisi and following the Rule of St. Francis.
There are recurring references to William of Occam, a philosopher and Franciscan friar from Ockham (near Surrey), is considered by some to be the father of epistemology and modern philosophy. He is also “one of the greatest logicians of all time.” Most will recognize his name because of the principle referred to as Occam’s Razor, which states “that one should always opt for an explanation in terms of the fewest possible number of causes, factors, or variables.”
Throughout the book are references to Fra Dolcino. Although he is often described as a heretic (inspired by Franciscan theories—see a pattern emerging here?) and was burned at the stake in 1307, he is “considered to be one of the reformers of the Church and one of the founders of the ideals of the French revolution and even anarchism and socialism.”
The Waldensians are referred to in the same breath as Fra Dolcino’s group, but William of Baskerville argues that they don’t deserve that. As I understand it, they believed in poverty and austerity, and viewed the mainstream Catholic church’s wealth as heretical. Founded in 1173, they were brutally persecuted but never eradicated. The Waldensian Church survives to this day.
This is just a shortlist of people and ideas mentioned in The Name of the Rose that caught my attention. It’s a tremendous book, rich with ideas and stunning in execution. If you haven’t read it, or have only seen the movie, I highly recommend it.
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