Moral Theology: Its Method and Masters
Sylvester Mazzolini
Drawn from the authors' own words; every quotation links to its place.
Dominican · ?–1523
In the Index: Prierias
In Prümmer's Catalogue and Haringer's Index
- “Prierias, Sylvester (Sylvester Mazolinus de Prierio), O.P., Italian, Master of the Sacred Palace (d. 1523), is a very celebrated and most fecund author. For a list of his works see Quetif and Echard, Scriptores Ord. Praed. II, 55 sqq. For moral theology his Summa Summarum, which is called the Silvestrina, is most worthy of mention; in it, in 715 articles arranged alphabetically, all moral theology is treated, 2 volumes in 4to. More than 49 editions of this work exist.” — Prümmer, Catalogue of authors
- [*: learned] “Silvester (Prieras), Italian, master of the sacred Palace and superior general of the Order of St. Dominic (Silvestrine Summa), died 1523.” — Haringer's index of writers (Gury-Ballerini) (p. XXVIII, 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.
He wrote before the moral systems were formed (Medina first set out probabilism in 1577), so what is reported here is how each author reads the principles he followed, not a system he held.
| Before the systems: cited for the more probable opinion | |
|---|---|
| Counted among them by one of our authors | Prümmer, Manuale I, n. 345 |
| “it is not licit to follow a probable opinion, the more probable one having been set aside. Sylvester thinks the same”Prümmer, quoting Medina: in moral matters he would not allow the probable to be followed with the more probable set aside (the probabiliorist position) | Prümmer, Manuale I, n. 337 |
| “At the beginning several profess probabiliorism, especially from the Dominican school, as Sylvester Prierias and Cajetan; also outside this school, as John Major”Merkelbach: at the beginning of the sixteenth century he professes probabiliorism | Merkelbach, Summa II, excursus on the moral systems |
| Charged with laxity | |
| “Chapter II — The lax propositions of the casuists … XI. Sylvester, under the word Eucharist 3, § 1: “It seems mortal in such an article (of death) for one contemning, and therefore neglecting, to communicate … but because the taking of the Eucharist is not of necessity of salvation, but from the statute of the Church, therefore it is truer that this is not mortal, where negligence alone is the cause.””Concina's censuses of lax opinions list 1 of his opinion (the first is quoted; every one is under 'Where Our Authors Discuss Him') | Concina, Compendium II, bk. X, diss. I, ch. II, n. XI |
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.
| “Angelus de Clavasio (1495), whose Summa was called the Angelica, and Silvester Prierias (1523), who wrote the Summa Silvestrina, honored casuistic moral theology”His Summa Silvestrina | Vermeersch, Theologia moralis I, n. 18In nearly the same words: Tanquerey, Fundamental Moral Theology, n. 42; Koch-Preuss, Handbook I, history of moral theology |
| “Sylvester feels the same”Medina, as Tanquerey quotes him, reports that Sylvester held with Soto | Tanquerey, Fundamental Moral Theology, n. 393 |
| “Later authors, such as Angelus de Clavasio (1480), Sylvester Prierias (1516), and Navarrus (1560) give lists of the different rules of law”Slater names him among the later authors who listed the rules of law for doubtful cases | Slater, Short History, ¶ 82 |
| “Sylvester Prierias tells us that all were agreed that when Doctors differed, a man might follow the opinion of one Doctor even though he was drawn to follow him by affection”Slater: he reports that all agreed one might follow a Doctor’s opinion even from affection | Slater, Short History, ¶ 84 |
| “Saint Antonin, Sylvester, Almaïn, an ancient Doctor of Paris, the learned Tostat, Gerson”Daniel reports that “Florimond du Plessis” cited him for Sirmond’s opinion on the precept of love | Daniel, Apology, ¶ 56 |
| “Now he is esteemed a great theologian who possesses the greatest authority among theologians on account of his distinguished doctrine, prudence, and probity”Konings names him among the great theologians whose word that an opinion is probable makes it so | Konings, Compendium, n. 57 |
In the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)
“Sylvester Mazzolini”, vol. 10, by Daniel Kennedy. Public domain; transcription at New Advent (which expands some of the print's abbreviations).
(MOZOLINI, also PRIERIAS)
Theologian, b. at Priero, Piedmont, 1460; d. at Rome, 1523—sometimes confounded with Sylvester Ferrariensis (d. 1526). At the age of fifteen he entered the Order of St. Dominic. Passing brilliantly through a course of studies he taught theology at Bologna, Pavia (by invitation of the senate of Venice), and in Rome, whither he was called by Julius II in 1511. In 1515 he was appointed Master of the Sacred Palace, filling that office until his death. His writings cover a vast range, including treatises on the planets, the power of the demons, history, homiletics, the works of St. Thomas Aquinas, the primacy of the popes. He is credited with being the first theologian who by his writings attacked publicly the subversive errors of Martin Luther. John Tetzel's productions against the arch-reformer are called by Echard scattered pages (folia volitantia), and Mazzolini stands forth as the first champion of Roman Pontiffs against Luther. The heresiarch replied to Mazzolini's arguments; the latter published rejoinders, and there was a regular controversy between the innovator and the defender of the ancient Faith. The necessity of promptness in attack and defence will account for defects of style in some of his writings. His principal works are: "De juridica et irrefragabili veritate Romanæ Ecclesiæ Romanique Pontificis" (Rome, 1520); "Epitoma responsionis ad Lutherum" (Perugia, 1519); "Errata et argumenta M. Lutheri" (Rome, 1520); "Summa Summarum, quæ Sylvestrina dicitur" (Rome, 1516), reprinted forty times; an alphabetical encyclopedia of theological questions; "Rosa aurea" (Bologna, 1510) an exposition of the Gospels of the year; "In theoricas planetarum" (Venice, 1513).
Sources: QUÉTIF-ECHARD, SS. Ord. Præd. II, 55; TOURON, Hommes illust. de l'Ordre de S. Dominique, III, 716; MICHALSKI, De Sylv. Prieratis … vita et scripta (Munster, 1892).