1 June 1233 A.D. John Blund’s Election to Archbishopric of Canterbury Quashed

1 June 1233 A.D.  John Blund’s Election to Archbishopric of Canterbury Quashed

John Blund (or Johannes Blund, Iohannes Blondus, Iohannes Blundus; circa 1175–1248) was an English scholastic philosopher, known for his work on the nature of the soul, the Tractatus de anima, one of the first works of western philosophy to make use of the recently translated De Anima by Aristotle and especially the Arab philosopher Avicenna's work on the soul, also called De Anima.^[1] He taught at Oxford University^[2] along with Edmund of Abingdon. David Knowles said that he was "noteworthy for his knowledge of Avicenna and his rejection of the hylomorphism of Avicebron and the plurality of forms.",^[3] although the problem of the plurality of forms as understood by later scholastics was not formulated explicitly in Blund's time.^[4] Maurice Powicke calls him the "first English Aristotelian."^[5]

He was a royal clerk by 1227 and studied at Oxford and Paris, and was at the University of Paris when it was dispersed in 1229.^[6] He was a canon of Chichester before 1232. He was archbishop of Canterbury during a brief reign, having been elected on 26 August 1232.^[7] He was supported by Peter des Roches, but did not receive papal approval and the election was quashed because of alleged pluralism on 1 June 1233.^[8] Probably it was the support of des Roches that doomed his election to Canterbury, and the pluralism charge was cover for the real reason.^[9] He was appointed chancellor of the see of York before 3 November 1234, and died in 1248.^[10]

Notes

1.       Jump up ^ Blund Tractatus de Anima

2.       Jump up ^ Knowles Evolution of Medieval Thought p. 280

3.       Jump up ^ Knowles Evolution of Medieval Thought p. 287

4.       Jump up ^ Dales Problem of the Rational Soul in the Thirteenth Century p. 45

5.       Jump up ^ Powicke Thirteenth Century p. 56

6.       Jump up ^ British History Online Canons of Chichester accessed on 11 September 11, 2007

7.       Jump up ^ Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 233

8.       Jump up ^ British History Online Archbishops of Canterbury retrieved on 11 September 2007

9.       Jump up ^ Lawrence "Blund, John (c.1175–1248)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

10.   Jump up ^ British History Online Chancellors of York accessed on 11 September 2007

References

• Blund, Iohannes (1970). Daniel Callus and R. W. Hunt, ed. Tractatus de Anima. 
• British History Online Archbishops of Canterbury retrieved on 11 September 2007
• British History Online Canons of Chichester accessed on 11 September 2007
• British History Online Chancellors of York accessed on 11 September 2007
• Dales, R. C. (1995). The Problem of the Rational Soul in the Thirteenth Century. Leiden. 
• Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X. 
• Knowles, Dom David (1962). The Evolution of Medieval Thought. London: Longman. 
• Lawrence, C. H. (2004). "Blund, John (c.1175–1248)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (May 2006 revised ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2711. Retrieved 8 November 2007.  (subscription or UK public library membership required)
• Powicke, F. Maurice (1962). The Thirteenth Century 1216–1307. 

Further reading

• Josiah Cox Russell, "Master Henry of Avranches as an International Poet," Speculum, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Jan., 1928), pp. 34–63.

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by John of Sittingbourne	Archbishop of Canterbury Election quashed 1232