So What's the Franciscan School, Anyway?

If you read my post on Bonaventure, you know he was a Franciscan friar. One of the great medieval theologians. But he wasn't a one-off. He was the founding figure of a broader intellectual tradition—the Franciscan school—that developed over centuries. Real alternative to the Dominican-Thomist approach.

Franciscans and Dominicans were the two great mendicant orders of the medieval period. Both produced brilliant thinkers. Both took theology seriously. But distinct styles. Dominicans gave us Aquinas and his Aristotelian synthesis—rigorous, systematic, confident about what reason can accomplish. Franciscans went a different direction. More rooted in Augustine. More focused on will and affections. More open to mysticism. More cautious about the reach of natural reason.

Wasn't just academic preference. Reflected different intuitions about the human person, how we come to know God, what theology is for.

Key Figures

Bonaventure (1221–1274) set the tone. Emphasized divine illumination, primacy of the will, theology as journey toward union with God. His Itinerarium Mentis in Deum remains a classic. If Aquinas wrote for the disputatio, Bonaventure wrote for the soul on pilgrimage.

Duns Scotus (1266–1308) took things more technical. Called the "Subtle Doctor" for good reason—arguments are intricate, demanding. Scotus argued for univocity of being: when we say God "exists" and creatures "exist," same basic sense. Not just analogically like Aquinas held. Also championed primacy of will over intellect, defended the Immaculate Conception centuries before it became dogma, developed the concept of haecceity—the "thisness" that makes each individual uniquely itself. Not just an instance of a universal.

William of Ockham (1287–1347) pushed further still. Famous for "Ockham's Razor"—don't multiply entities beyond necessity. But his real significance is nominalism. Denied that universals have any reality outside the mind. No "horseness" out there in the world. Just individual horses we group together by convention. Sounds like obscure metaphysical debate. Had massive downstream effects though. Some historians trace roots of modern secularism, fact-value split, even the Protestant Reformation back to Ockham's nominalism. Controversial figure in Catholic circles for that reason.

What Holds the Tradition Together

Despite differences, Franciscan thinkers share family resemblances.

Voluntarism—emphasis on will over intellect. Thomists say intellect leads, will follows what intellect presents as good. Franciscans give will primacy. Love can outrun knowledge. God's will is the ultimate foundation of moral order. Not some abstract rational structure even God must conform to.

Modesty about natural reason. Franciscans less confident than Thomists about what philosophy can accomplish apart from faith. Shows up different ways—Bonaventure's insistence on divine illumination, Scotus arguing certain truths (like God's infinity) can't be strictly demonstrated, Ockham's razor cutting away metaphysical entities beyond what we can know.

Attention to particular and concrete. Scotus's haecceity is clearest example. This individual thing matters. Not just as instance of a universal but in its own irreducible thisness. Franciscan sensibility tends toward concrete, personal, experiential.

Christocentrism. Bonaventure made Christ the center of everything. Runs through the tradition. Scotus argued Incarnation would have happened even if humanity hadn't sinned—not just rescue mission but culmination of God's creative plan from the beginning.

Why It Matters

Franciscan school offers resources that complement Thomism. Talking with someone more heart than head? Who distrusts systems? Wants to encounter God rather than just think about him? Franciscan tradition has tools for that conversation. Bonaventure's mystical theology. Scotus's attention to individuality. The emphasis on love and will. Speaks to dimensions of experience a purely intellectualist approach can miss.

Tradition has liabilities too. Ockham's nominalism, taken to its conclusions, arguably destabilized the medieval synthesis. Opened doors to problems still with us. Voluntarism pushed too far can make God's commands seem arbitrary. Franciscan suspicion of natural reason can slide into fideism if you're not careful.

Church hasn't canonized one school over the other. Both Aquinas and Bonaventure are Doctors of the Church. Scotus is Blessed. Franciscan tradition is part of Catholic patrimony. Knowing it gives you fuller picture of what the Church offers intellectually.

For reading: Bonaventure's Itinerarium if you haven't already. Scotus—no easy entry point, genuinely difficult. Thomas Williams has done accessible work introducing his thought. For Ockham and his legacy, Brad Gregory's The Unintended Reformation traces downstream effects of late medieval nominalism on modernity. Controversial but stimulating.

Franciscan school reminds us Catholic intellectual life isn't monolithic. Room for different emphases, starting points, intuitions about what matters most. Not a bug. Feature. Tradition is richer for having both Angelic Doctor and Seraphic Doctor. Cathedral school and friary. Way of intellect and way of love.

The Faith of Children. The Doctrine of Theologians. TheCatholicForge.com