Bonaventure (Bonaventura) (c.1218–74), Franciscan friar, bishop, and cardinal. The son of a physician of noble birth, he was born at Bagnoreggio, near Orvieto. He became a Franciscan in 1243; his intellectual gifts were soon recognized and he was sent to Paris to study under Alexander of Hales. In 1248 he received his licence to teach; in 1253 he became Master of the Franciscan school at Paris.
As a theologian he was more Augustinian and less Aristotelian than his contemporary Thomas Aquinas; he stressed the importance of an affective, rather than a purely rational approach to the divine mysteries. His main theological teaching is in his commentary on Peter the Lombard's Sentences. While he frequently agreed with Aquinas in many conclusions, points on which they differed included Bonaventure's assertion that the creation of the world in time could be demonstrated by human reason. His other works of importance were in the field of mystical theology: they include the Breviloquium and the Itinerarium mentis ad Deum, which rapidly became a classic, much read from his own day to ours. Indeed it is often maintained that he was primarily a mystical, rather than a dogmatic theologian.
In 1257, at the early age of thirty-six, he was elected Minister-General of the Franciscan Order. He has also been called, with some justice, its second founder. He came to office at a critical time; the Friars' enormous increase in numbers, the lack of organization by Francis, the rivalry among various factions of the Order, each of whom claimed to be heirs of the founder's thought, together with a certain decline in zeal, had made them a target for criticism. He staunchly defended Franciscan ideals, but insisted, against the teaching of Francis, on the serious need for study, and hence on the need for possessing books and buildings. He confirmed the existing practice of the Friars, studying and teaching in the universities. He saw their role in the Church as a whole as completing the work of diocesan clergy by preaching and spiritual direction, in both of which activities the other clergy were frequently deficient through poor education.
Within his Order he was the moderates' leader; he rejected the extreme position of the Spirituals, who exalted poverty above learning and above all else, and claimed to represent the true teaching of Francis. He placed in retirement, instead of prison, his predecessor John of Parma, suspected of Joachimist heresy. His own ideals of simplicity, frugal poverty, diligence, and detachment from the rich as well as from riches were realized in his own life. He wrote a Life of Francis, which was approved as official; the Chapter of 1266 decreed the destruction of others.
As Minister-General he visited Italy, France, Germany, and England. In 1265 he was nominated archbishop of York by Clement IV; he rejected the honour. But in 1273 he was nominated cardinal-bishop of Albano by Gregory X, with a command not to refuse. When the papal messengers reached him, he was washing up the dishes in the friary of Mugello (near Florence); he told them to wait until he had finished his task.
At the Council of Lyons, summoned by the pope to effect reunion with separated churches of the East, Bonaventure took a prominent part. Thomas Aquinas had died on the way to it. Bonaventure resigned his post as Minister-General. By conferring with the Greeks, reunion was temporarily effected. He preached at the solemn Mass of reconciliation, but did not live to see Constantinople repudiate the reunion so patiently achieved. He died at Lyons on 15 July and was buried there.
His achievements in theology and government should not blind one to his personal characteristics noted by contemporaries: gentle courtesy, compassion, and accessibility. A Life, reputedly written in 1300, was lost and there seems no trace of a very early cult. He was canonized by Sixtus IV in 1482 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1588. He is often called the Seraphic Doctor. Notable paintings of him by Crivelli and by Zurbarán are in the Louvre at Paris. Feast: 15 (formerly 14) July.
Bibliography
Click here for a list of abbreviations used in this bibliography.
- AA.SS. Iul. III (1723), 811–60; E. Gilson, The Philosophy of St. Bonaventure (1938); C. H. Tavard, Transiency and Permanence (1954); J. Moorman, A History of the Franciscan Order (1968). Works in critical edn. by Franciscans of Quaracchi,
10 vols. (1882– ); Eng. tr. by J. de Vinck,5 vols. (1960–70); ‘The Souls’ journey into God' and other short works tr. E. Cousins (Classics of Western Spirituality, 1978); The miroure of the Blessed Life of Christ (1978): H.S.S.C., vi 89–95
