Anne Ashley Davenport Books

Focusing on the intellectual journey of Francis à Sancta Clara, this biography highlights his pivotal role in the revival of the English Franciscan province and his efforts to reconcile the Church of England with Rome during the 17th century. Born into a Protestant family, he became a significant theologian, advocating for moderate Anglican doctrines and the separation of church and state. His extensive Latin writings emphasize the importance of freedom of conscience, marking him as a notable figure in the historiography of English Catholicism.

This volume examines a selection of late medieval works devoted to the intensive infinite in order to draw a comprehensive picture of the context, character and importance of scholastic efforts to reason philosophically about divine infinity. As Dominican masters face Franciscan 'spirituals' and as university-trained theologians face evangelical laymen, the purpose and meaning of divine infinity shift, reflecting a basic tension between the Church's Petrine vocation for geopolitical orthodoxy and its more Pauline mission to promote Christian orthopraxis. The first part of the book traces the scholastic defense of divine infinity from the holocaust of Montségur up to John Duns Scotus. The second part examines the semiotic breakthrough initiated by William of Ockham and the subsequent penetration of infinist theory into a wide variety of disciplines.