Thomas Netter
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Thomas Netter, OCarm (c. 1375 – 2 November 1430) was an English Scholastic theologian and controversialist. From his birthplace he is commonly called Thomas of Walden, or Thomas Waldensis.
Life
Born at
His public life began in 1409, when he was sent to the
In 1415 Netter was sent by the king to the
He returned to England in the autumn of 1420, and devoted the remainder of his life to the government of his province and the composition of his principal work. Fragments of his correspondence lately published throw a light on his endeavours in the former capacity, showing him a strict reformer, yet kind and even tender. Henry V having died in his arms, he appears to have acted as tutor (rather than confessor) to the infant King
Works
The Doctrinale antiquitatum fidei ecclesiae catholicae is in three parts, the first of which might be termed "De vera religione", the second bears the title "De sacramentis adversus Wiclefistas" etc., and the last "De Sacramentalibus". The first two were presented to the pope, who on 8 August 1427, expressed his satisfaction, encouraging the author to continue his undertaking, and communicating to him the text of the Bull condemning the errors of Wyclif Dudum ab apostolorum. Some Carmelites, notably Ludovicus de Lyra and John Hottus, discovered it in the library of Paris and secured its publication (1523). It was reprinted at Paris (1532), Salamanca (1557), Venice (1571 and 1757). It is a complete apologia of Catholic dogma and ritual against the attacks of the Wycliffites, and was largely drawn upon by the controversialists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Among his more memorable comments, he summed up the traditional view, "In the affairs of the faith, skilled spiritual men are said to understand, the rest of the people only simply to believe".
Notes
- ^ Other members of the order held similar posts at the courts of the dukes of York and of Clarence, of Cardinal Beaufort, etc.
References
- Walter Waddington Shirley(editor), Netter, Thomas, et al., Fascisculi Zizaniorum magistri Joannis Wyclif cum tritico (London: Longman, 1858).
- Benedict Zimmerman, Monumenta Historica Carmelitana, I (Lérins, 1907), 442 sqq.
- Malcolm Lambert, Medieval Heresy, (New York 1992) p. 233
- Bergström-Allen, Johan & Copsey, Richard, Thomas Netter of Walden: Carmelite, Diplomat and Theologian (c.1372-1430), (Faversham & Rome: Saint Albert's Press & Edizioni Carmelitane, 2009).
- Attribution
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Thomas Netter". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.