William of Ockham

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Excommunication of William of Ockham

inWilliam of Ockham

Also known as: Doctor Invincibilis, Venerabilis Inceptor, William Occam, William Ockham

Written by Paul D. Vignaux

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Also called:: William Ockham

Ockham also spelled:: Occam

Byname:: Venerabilis Inceptor (Latin: “Venerable Enterpriser”), or Doctor Invincibilis (“Invincible Doctor”)

Born:: c. 1285, Ockham, Surrey?, Eng.

Died:: 1347/49, Munich, Bavaria [now in Germany]

Excommunicated after his flight from Avignon, Ockham maintained the same basic position after the death of John XXII in 1334, during the reign of Benedict XII (1334–42), and after the election of Clement VI. In these final years he found time to write two treatises on logic, which bear witness to the leading role that he consistently assigned to that discipline, and he discussed the submission procedures proposed to him by Pope Clement. Ockham was long thought to have died at a convent in Munich in 1349 during the Black Death, but he may actually have died there in 1347.

Paul D. Vignaux