William of Occam had been called to …

Years: 1328 - 1328

William of Occam had been called to the papal court at Avignon in 1324 to answer a charge of heresy in a trial that drags on without a formal conclusion.

In 1328, Occam and Michael of Cesena, the Franciscan minister-general, flee Avignon for the Munich court of the pope’s enemy, Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV.

Meister Eckhart teaches so-called (by modern scholars) speculative or essential mysticism.

In essence, his doctrine holds that only God actually exists and that any creature exists only insofar as its soul is in contact with God; this vital contact is accomplished only when the individual is released from sin.

By 1326, these doctrines have gotten him into trouble with church authorities, and the Inquisition examines his sermons.

Summoned by Avignonese Pope John XXII to defend himself against charges of heresy, he appeals his case in 1327 but dies before the case can be terminated.

Finally, the pope, in 1329, will condemn only a few propositions of Eckhart’s doctrine.

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