Thomas Cardinal Cajetan (
Ca'jê-tan or
Caj'e-tan, also known as
Gaetanus), commonly
Tommaso de Vio (February 20, 1469 - August 9, 1534) was an
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
cardinalA cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually a bishop, of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and making themselves available...
. He is perhaps best known among Protestants for his opposition to the teachings of
Martin LutherMartin Luther changed the course of Western civilization by initiating the Protestant Reformation. As a priest and theology professor, he confronted indulgence salesmen with his The Ninety-Five Theses in 1517. Luther strongly disputed their claim that freedom from God's punishment of sin could...
and the
Protestant ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe which is generally deemed to have begun with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 although a number of precursors such as Jan Hus predate that event...
while he was the Pope's
LegateA Papal Legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the Pope to Foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
in
WittenbergWittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a town in Germany in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, on the Elbe River. It has a population of about 50,000....
, and perhaps best known among Catholics for his extensive commentary on the
Summa TheologicaThe Summa Theologica is the most famous work of Thomas Aquinas , although it was never finished. It was intended as a manual for beginners as a compilation of all of the main theological teachings of the time...
of
Thomas AquinasSaint Thomas Aquinas, O.P. was a priest of the Roman Catholic Church in the Dominican Order from Italy, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus and Doctor Communis...
.
He is not to be confused with his contemporary,
Saint CajetanFor the cardinal, see Thomas Cajetan.For Saint Cajetan Catanoso, see Gaetano Catanoso.Saint Cajetan, born Gaetano dei Conti di Tiene, also Thiene is a Roman Catholic Church saint and founder of the order of the Clerics Regular, better known as the Theatines...
, the founder of the Theatines.
Life
De Vio was born in
GaetaGaeta is a city and comune in the province of Latina, in Lazio, central Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is 120 km from Rome and 80 km from Naples....
in the kingdom of
NaplesNaples in Italy, is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples. The city is known for its rich history, art, culture, architecture, music and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,800 years old...
,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
on February 20, 1469 as
Jacopo Vio. The name Tommaso was taken as a
monasticMonastery , a term derived from the Greek word μοναστήριον, neut. of μοναστήριος - monasterios denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer Monastery (plural: monasteries), a term derived from the Greek word μοναστήριον, neut. of μοναστήριος - monasterios...
name, while the surname Cajetan derives from his native city. At the age of fifteen he entered the
Dominican orderThe Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic in the early 13th century in France...
, and, devoting himself to studies in
philosophy of St. Thomas AquinasThomism is the philosophical school that arose as a legacy of the work and thought of Thomas Aquinas. The word comes from the name of its originator, whose Summa Theologica is arguably second only to the Bible in importance to the Roman Catholic Church...
(he is the founder of Neothomism), became, before the age of thirty, a doctor of
theologyThe term "theology" literally means the study of God, deriving from the Greek word theos, meaning 'God', and the suffix -ology from the Greek word logos meaning "discourse", "theory", or "reasoning"...
at
PaduaThe University of Padua , located in Padua, Italy, was founded in 1222. It is among the earliest of the universities and the second oldest in Italy...
, where he was subsequently professor of
metaphysicsMetaphysics investigates principles of reality transcending those of any particular science. Cosmology and ontology are traditional branches of metaphysics. It is concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world...
.
A public disputation at
FerraraFerrara is a city in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara.It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north. The town has broad streets and numerous palaces...
(1494) with Pico della Mirandola gave him a great reputation as a
theologianThe term "theology" literally means the study of God, deriving from the Greek word theos, meaning 'God', and the suffix -ology from the Greek word logos meaning "discourse", "theory", or "reasoning"...
. He was made general procurator in 1507 and
generalSuperior may refer to:*Superior : something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind-Place names:*Lake Superior, the largest of the North American Great LakesUnited States*Superior, Arizona*Superior, Colorado*Superior, Iowa...
of his order a year later in 1508. For his zeal in defending the papal rights against the 1511 Council of Pisa, in a series of works which were condemned by the
SorbonneThe Collège de Sorbonne was a theological college of the University of Paris, founded in 1257 by Robert de Sorbon, after whom it is named. With the rest of the Paris colleges, it was suppressed during the French Revolution. It was restored in 1808 but finally closed in 1882. The name Sorbonne...
and publicly burnt by order of
King Louis XIILouis XII , called "the Father of the People" was king of France and the sole monarch from the Valois-Orléans branch of the House of Valois. He reigned from 1498 to 1515 and pursued a very active foreign policy....
, he obtained the bishopric of Gaeta, and in 1517
Pope Leo XPope Leo X was Pope from 1513 to his death. He was the last non-priest to be elected Pope. He is known primarily for the sale of indulgences to reconstruct St. Peter's Basilica and his challenging of Martin Luther's 95 theses. He was the second son of Lorenzo de' Medici, the most famous ruler of...
made him a
cardinalA cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually a bishop, of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and making themselves available...
and archbishop of Palermo.
Faithful to the traditions of the Dominicans, he appears in 1511 as a supporter of the pope against the claims of the Council of Pisa called by dissident cardinals to punish Pope Julius II, composing in defense of his position the
Tractatus de Comparatione auctoritatis Papæ et conciliorum ad invicem.
Jacques AlmainJacques Almain was a prominent professor of theology at the University of Paris when he died at an early age. Born in the diocese of Sens, he studied Arts at the Collège de Montaigu of the University of Paris. He served as Rector of the university in 1507.-Life:Beginning in 1508, Jacques Almain...
answered this work, and Cajetan replied in his
Apologia. At the Fifth Lateran Council (1512-17) which Pope Julius II set up in opposition to that of Pisa, De Vio played the leading role. During the second session of the council, he brought about a decree recognizing the superiority of papal authority to that of councils.
For his services Leo X made him in 1517
cardinal presbyterA cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually a bishop, of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and making themselves available...
of
Saint SistoSaint Sixtus may refer to:*San Sisto, Pisa, a church in Pisa, Italy, consecrated in 1133*San Sisto Vecchio, a church in Rome, built in the fourth century, dedicated to Pope St. Sixtus II*Pope Sixtus I...
in
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
, and made him in the following year bishop of Palermo. He resigned as bishop of Palermo in 1519 to become bishop of Gaeta, as granted him by the
Emperor Charles VCharles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I of Spain, of the Spanish realms from 1516 until his abdication in 1556...
, for whose election De Vio had labored zealously.
In 1518 he was sent as legate to the
Diet of AugsburgThe Diet of Augsburg were the meetings of the Reichstag of the Holy Roman Empire in the German city of Augsburg. There were many such sessions, but the three meetings during the Reformation and the ensuing religious wars between the Catholic emperor Charles V and the Protestant Schmalkaldic League...
and to him, at the wish of the
Saxon electorFrederick III, Elector of Saxony , also known as Frederick the Wise, was Elector of Saxony from 1486 to his death. Frederick was the son of Ernest, Elector of Saxony and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Albert III, Duke of Bavaria...
, was entrusted the task of examining and testing the teachings of
LutherMartin Luther changed the course of Western civilization by initiating the Protestant Reformation. As a priest and theology professor, he confronted indulgence salesmen with his The Ninety-Five Theses in 1517. Luther strongly disputed their claim that freedom from God's punishment of sin could...
. Treatises of his own, written, without knowledge of Luther's theses, in 1517 show that Luther was justified in his assertion that on the doctrine of dispensation the Church had as yet arrived at no firmly established position; the doctrine of confession De Vio seemed also to regard as a subject open to controversy. Yet more than investigator and thinker he was politician and prelate, and it was before him that the
ReformerThe Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe which is generally deemed to have begun with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 although a number of precursors such as Jan Hus predate that event...
appeared at the diet of Augsburg, his appearance in all the splendor of ecclesiastical pomp only serving to reveal him to Luther as the type of Roman curialist hateful to Germans and German Christianity. In 1519, De Vio helped in drawing up the bill of excommunication against Luther.
De Vio was employed in several other negotiations and transactions, being as able in business as in letters. In conjunction with Cardinal Giulio de' Medici in the conclave of 1521‑1522, he secured the election of Adrian Boeyens,
bishop of TortosaThe Bishop of Tortosa is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tortosa in Spain. The bishop is a suffragan of the Archbishop of Tarragona.-List of bishops of Tortosa:*San Rufo 64 - 90?*Macià s. II*Quart c. 156*Eustorqui s.III*Exuperanci ¿ - 369...
, as
Adrian VIPope Adrian VI , born Adriaan Florenszoon Boeyens, served as Bishop of Rome from 9 January 1522 until his death some 18 months later. He was the last non-Italian pope until John Paul II, 456 years later. He is, together with Marcellus II, one of two 'modern' popes to retain his baptismal name after...
. He retained influence under Clement VII, suffered a short term of imprisonment after the storming of Rome by the Constable of Bourbon and by
FrundsbergFrundsberg may refer to:*10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg*Georg von Frundsberg*SMS Frundsberg...
(1527), retired to his bishopric for a few years, and, returning to Rome in 1530, assumed his old position of influence about the person of Clement, in whose behalf he wrote the decision rejecting the appeal for divorce from Catharine of Aragon made by
Henry VIII of EnglandHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lord of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII.Henry VIII was a significant figure in the history of the English monarchy...
. Nominated by
Clement VIIPope Clement VII , born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici, was a cardinal from 1513 to 1523 and was Pope from 1523 to 1534.-Early life:...
a member of the committee of cardinals appointed to report on the "Nuremberg Recess", he recommended, in opposition to the majority, certain concessions to the Lutherans, notably the marriage of the clergy as in the
Greek ChurchThe Orthodox Church, also officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to in English speaking countries as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the world's second largest Christian communion, estimated to number 225 million members...
, and communion in both kinds according to the decision of the council of Basel.
Cardinal De Vio died in
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
in 1534.
Views
Though as a theologian De Vio was a scholastic of the older
ThomistThomism is the philosophical school that arose as a legacy of the work and thought of Thomas Aquinas. The word comes from the name of its originator, whose Summa Theologica is arguably second only to the Bible in importance to the Roman Catholic Church...
type, his general position was that of the moderate reformers of the school to which Reginald Pole, later
archbishop of CanterburyAlso see Leaders of ChristianityThe Archbishop of Canterbury is the chief bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, the see that churches must be in communion with in order to be...
, also belonged; i.e., he desired to retain the best elements of the humanist revival in harmony with
CatholicThe word Catholic is derived from the Greek adjective , meaning "universal". In the context of Christian ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages. For some, the term "Catholic Church" refers to the church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, made up of the Latin Rite and the 22...
orthodoxy illumined by a revived appreciation of the Augustinian doctrine of justification. In the field of
ThomisticThomism is the philosophical school that arose as a legacy of the work and thought of Thomas Aquinas. The word comes from the name of its originator, whose Summa Theologica is arguably second only to the Bible in importance to the Roman Catholic Church...
philosophy he showed striking independence of judgment, expressing liberal views on marriage and divorce, denying the existence of a material
HellIn many religious traditions, Hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife, often in the underworld. Religions with a linear divine history often depict Hell as endless...
and advocating the celebration of public prayers in the vernacular.
Some Dominicans regarded his views as too independent of those of Saint Thomas. The
SorbonneThe Collège de Sorbonne was a theological college of the University of Paris, founded in 1257 by Robert de Sorbon, after whom it is named. With the rest of the Paris colleges, it was suppressed during the French Revolution. It was restored in 1808 but finally closed in 1882. The name Sorbonne...
in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
found some of these views heterodox, and in the 1570 edition of his celebrated commentary on
AquinasSaint Thomas Aquinas, O.P. was a priest of the Roman Catholic Church in the Dominican Order from Italy, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus and Doctor Communis...
'
Summa, the objectionable passages were expunged. In this spirit he wrote commentaries upon portions of
AristotleAristotle was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology.Together with Plato and Socrates , Aristotle is one of...
, and upon the
Summa of
AquinasSaint Thomas Aquinas, O.P. was a priest of the Roman Catholic Church in the Dominican Order from Italy, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus and Doctor Communis...
, and towards the end of his life, made a careful translation of the
OldIn Christianity, the Old Testament is the collection of books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. These works correspond to the Hebrew Bible , with some variations and additions. In the Eastern Orthodox Church the comparable texts are known as the Septuagint, from the...
and
NewThe New Testament is the name given to the second major division of the Christian Bible, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament, both terms being associated with Supersessionism...
Testaments, excepting
Solomon's SongThe Song of Songs , is a book of the Hebrew Bible—Tanakh or Old Testament—one of the five megillot...
, the
ProphetsProphets may refer to:*Nevi'im, which is the second of the three major sections in the Tanakh *Prophets of Islam - 124,000 in total, beginning with Adam and ending with Muhammad.*Prophet, an interpreter or spokesperson of a deity...
and the
Revelation of St JohnThe Book of Revelation, also called the Revelation of St. John, the Apocalypse of John, and the Revelation of Jesus Christ, is the last book of the New Testament. It may be shortened to Revelation but never Revelations...
.
Of the
ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe which is generally deemed to have begun with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 although a number of precursors such as Jan Hus predate that event...
he remained a steadfast opponent, composing several works directed against
Martin LutherMartin Luther changed the course of Western civilization by initiating the Protestant Reformation. As a priest and theology professor, he confronted indulgence salesmen with his The Ninety-Five Theses in 1517. Luther strongly disputed their claim that freedom from God's punishment of sin could...
, and taking an important share in shaping the policy of the papal delegates in Germany. De Vio bore witness to Luther's ability when he exclaimed,
"Ego nolo ampliùs cum hac bestiâ colloqui: habet enim profundos oculos et mirabiles speculationes in capite suo." ("I do not want to have any further parley with that beast; for he has sharp eyes and fantastical speculations in his head.") Learned though he was in the scholastics, he recognized that to fight the Reformers with some chance of success a deeper knowledge of the Scriptures than he possessed was necessary. To this study he devoted himself with characteristic zeal, wrote commentaries on the greater part of the Old and the New Testament, and, in the exposition of his text, which he treated critically, allowed himself considerable latitude in departing from the literal and traditional interpretation.
De Vio is reported as declaring
a statement that has seemed controversial to some.
In contrast to the majority of Italian cardinals of his day, De Vio was a man of austere
pietyIn spiritual terminology, piety is a virtue. While different people may understand its meaning differently, it is generally used to refer either to religious devotion or to spirituality, or often, a combination of both...
and fervent zeal; and if, from the standpoint of the Dominican idea of the supreme necessity of maintaining ecclesiastical discipline, he defended the rights of the papacy and proclaimed that the pope should be "the mirror of God on earth."
Works
- Opera omnia (5 vol, 1639)
- Opuscula omnia (1530)
- Commentary on Saint Thomas' Summa theologiae (1540)
- De divina institutione Pontificatus Romani Pontificis (1521)
- In Porphyrii Isagogen (1934)
- De comparatione auctoritatis papae u. Apologia (1936)
- De Anima (1938)
- Scripta philosophica (6 vols., edited by P. Zammit, M.-H. Laurent and J. Coquelle, 1934-39)
Other references
- "Aktenstücke uber das Verhalten der römischen Kurie zur Reformation, 1524‑1531," in Quellen und Forschungen (Kön. Press. Hist. Inst., Rome), vol. iii. p. 1‑20; TM Lindsay, History of the Reformation, vol. i. (Edinburgh, 1906).
- Catholic Encyclopedia article