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BASSOL, JOHN, a
distinguished disciple of the famous Duns Scotus, is stated by Mackenzie
to have been born in the reign of Alexander III. He studied under Duns at
Oxford, and with him, in 1304, removed to Paris, where he resided some
time in the University, and, in 1313, entered the order of the Minorities.
After this he was sent by the general of his order to Rheims, where he
applied himself to the study of medicine, and taught philosophy for seven
or eight years. In 1322, he removed to Mechlin in Brabant, and after
teaching theology in that city for five and twenty years, died in 1347.
Bassol’s only work was
one entitled, "Commentaria Sou Lecturae in Quatuor Libros
Sententiarum," to which were attached some miscellaneous papers on
Philosophy and Medicine. The book was published in folio at Paris, in
1517. Bassol was known by the title, Doctor Ordinatissimus, or the
most Methodical Doctor, on account of the clear and accurate method in
which he lectured and composed. The fashion of giving such titles to the
great masters of the schools was then in its prime. Thus, Duns Scotus
himself was styled Doctor Subtilis, or the Subtle Doctor. St
Francis of Assis was called the Seraphic Doctor; Alexander Hales
the Irrefragable Doctor; Thomas Aquinas the Angelical Doctor; Hendricus
Bonicollius the Solemn Doctor; Richard Middleton the Solid
Doctor; Francis Mayron the Acute Doctor; Durandus a S. Portiano
the most Resolute Doctor; Thomas Bredwardin the Profound Doctor;
Joannes Ruysbrokius the Divine Doctor, and so forth; the title
being in every case founded upon some extravagant conception of the merit
of the particular individual, adopted by his contemporaries and disciples.
In this extraordinary class of literati, John Bassol, as implied by
his soubriquet, shines conspicuous for order and method; yet we are
told that his works contain most of the faults which are generally laid to
the charge of the schoolmen. The chief of these is an irrational devotion
to the philosophy of Aristotle, as expounded by Thomas Aquinas. In the
early ages of modern philosophy, this most splendid exertion of the human
mind was believed to be irreconcileable to the Christian doctrines; and at
the very time when the Angelical Doctor wrote his commentary, it stood
prohibited by a decree of Pope Gregory IX. The illustrious Thomas not only
restored Aristotle to favour, but inspired his followers with an
admiration of his precepts, which, as already mentioned, was not rational.
Not less was their admiration of the "angelical" commentator, to
whom it was long the fashion among them to offer an incense little short
of blasphemy. A commentator upon an original work of Thomas Aquinas,
endeavours, in a prefatory discourse, to prove, in so many chapters, that
he wrote his books not without the special infusion of the spirit of God
Almighty; that, in writing them, he received many things by revelation;
and, that Christ had given anticipatory testimony to his writings. By way
of bringing the works of St Thomas into direct comparison with the Holy
Scriptures, the same writer remarks, "that, as in the first General
Councils of the church, it was common to have the Bible unfolded upon the
Altar, so, in the last General Council (that of Trent), St Thomas’ ‘Sum.’
was placed beside the Bible, as an inferior rule of Christian
doctrine." Peter Labbé, a learned Jesuit, with scarcely less daring
flattery, styles St Thomas an angel, and says that, as he learned many
things from the angels, so he taught the angels some things; that St
Thomas had said what St Paul was not permitted to utter; and that he
speaks of God as if he had seen him, and of Christ as if he had been his
voice. One might almost suppose that these learned gentlemen, disregarding
the sentiment afterwards embodied by Gray, that flattery soothes not the
cold ear of death, endeavoured by their praises to make interest with the
"angelical" shade, not doubting that he was able to obtain for
them a larger share of paradise than they could otherwise hope for. In the
words of the author of the Reflections on Learning, "the sainted
Thomas, if capable of hearing these inordinate flatteries, must have
blushed to receive them."
Bassol was also
characterized, in common with all the rest of the schoolmen, by a
ridiculous nicety in starting questions and objections. Overlooking the
great moral aim of what they were expounding, he and his fellows lost
themselves in minute and subtle inquiries after physical exactness,
started at every straw which lay upon their path, and measured the powers
of the mind by grains and scruples. It must be acknowledged, in favour of
this singular class of men, that they improved natural reason to a great
height, and that much of what is most admired in modern philosophy is only
borrowed from them. At the same time, their curiosity in raising and
prosecuting frivolous objections to the Christian system is to be
regretted as the source of much scepticism and irreligion. To many of
their arguments, ridicule only is due; and it would perhaps be impossible
for the gravest to restrain a smile at the illustrissimo mentioned by
Cardan, one of whose arguments was declared to be enough to puzzle all
posterity, and who himself wept in his old age, because he had become
unable to understand his own books.
The works of Bassol have
been long forgotten, like those of his brethren but it is not too much to
say regarding this great man of a former day, that the same powers of mind
which he spent upon the endless intricacies of the school philosophy,
would certainly, in another age and sphere, have tended to the permanent
advantage of his fellow creatures. He was so much admired by his
illustrious preceptor, that that great man used to say, "If only
Joannes Bassiolis be present, I have a sufficient auditory."
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