Bartholomew Mastrius

Drawn from the authors' own words; every quotation links to its place.

Franciscan · ?–1669

In Prümmer's Catalogue and Haringer's Index

“Mastrius, Barth., O.Min., Italian (1673), to be numbered entirely among the foremost Scotists, wrote, besides Disputationes theol. in 4 libros Sententiarum, Theologia moralis ad mentem DD. Seraphici et Subtilis concinnata, in folio, Venice 1671.” — Prümmer, Catalogue of authors
[**: weighty, probabilist] “Mastrius Bartholomaeus, Italian, of the Order of Minors, died 1669.” — Haringer's index of writers (Gury-Ballerini) (p. XXIV, sign read on the page)

His Moral System, as Our Authors Report It

Every report quoted in the author's own words and linked to its place; point at a name to see his words. Haringer's signs give St. Alphonsus's judgment as Haringer found it in St. Alphonsus's works (his notice, Gury-Ballerini, 1884, p. XI); a sign on a writer the 1884 editor added to the list is the editor's own, and is said to be his.

Probabilist
Counted among them by one of our authors	Merkelbach, Summa II, excursus on the moral systems
“Mastrius Bartholomaeus, Italian, of the Order of Minors, died 1669.”Haringer marks him **, giving St. Alphonsus's judgment of him (weighty and probabilist)	Haringer's index, Index of writers, p. XXIV

Where Our Authors Discuss Him

Each read in its full passage; the words quoted are the author's own. Where several authors say the same thing, one is quoted and the others follow “in nearly the same words”; point at a name to see his words.

“All the disciples of St. Thomas, with one or another exception, gave their name to it; the disciples of Scotus, with Mastrius as witness, who calls the sentence of the probabilists most common and most received in every school; all the Fathers of the Society of Jesus entirely (with very few exceptions), to whom, excepting the Theatines, almost all theologians gave their vote."”Bucceroni, after d’Annibale: his witness that the Scotists held probabilism the most common sentence

Bucceroni, Commentarii, n. 110

In the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)

“Bartholomew Mastrius”, vol. 10, by Gregory Cleary. Public domain; transcription at New Advent (which expands some of the print's abbreviations).

Franciscan, philosopher and theologian, born near Forli, at Meldola, Italy, in 1602; died 3 January, 1673. He was one of the most prominent writers of his time on philosophy and theology. He received his early education at Cesena, and took degrees at the University of Bologna. He also frequented the Universities of Padua and Rome before assuming the duties of lecturer. He acquired a profound knowledge of scholastic philosophy and theology, being deeply versed in the writings of Scotus. He was an open-minded and independent scholar. As a controversialist he was harsh and arrogant towards his opponents, mingling invective with his arguments. His opinions on some philosophical questions were fiercely combatted by many of his contemporaries and especially by Matthew Ferchi and the Irish Franciscan, John Ponce. When presenting the second volume of his work on the "Sentences" to Alexander VII, to whom he had dedicated it, the pope asked him where he had learned to treat his opponent Ferchi in such a rough manner: Mastrius answered, "From St. Augustine and St. Jerome, who in defence of their respective opinions on the interpretation of Holy Scripture fought hard and not without reason": the pope smilingly remarked, "From such masters other things could be learned". Ponce in his treatise on Logic holds that with qualifying explanations God may be included in the Categories. Mastrius in combatting this opinion characteristically says, "Hic Pontius male tractat Deum sicut et alter". Mastrius had a well-ordered intellect which is seen in the clearness and precision with which he sets forth the subject-matter of discussion. His arguments for and against a proposition show real critical power and are expressed in accurate and clear language. His numerous quotations from ancient and contemporary authors and various schools of thought are a proof of his extensive reading. His works shed light on some of the difficult questions in Scotistic philosophy and theology. His "Philosophy" in five volumes folio, his "Commentaries" on the "Sentences" in four volumes, and his Moral Theology "ad mentem S. Bonaventurae" in one volume were all published in Venice.