Paludanus was born in the County of
Bresse,
Savoy, about 1275. He entered the
Dominican Order at
Lyon, completed his theological studies at the
University of Paris, and was made a Doctor and Master of Theology in 1314. Wishing to devote his life to teaching and writing, he avoided all offices of honour in the order, except those pertaining to the direction of studies. Twice, however, he was sent as
definitor from the Province of France to the
General Chapter.
John XXII, wishing to organize a
Crusade, sent him in 1318 as
legate to the
Count of Flanders, in the hope of establishing peace between the prince and the
King of France. The mission was not successful, and his associates made charges to the pope against the legate, who, however, easily cleared himself. He was also a member of the commission appointed by John XXII to examine the writings of
Petrus Olivi, whose books contained some errors of the
Fraticelli. The Catholic Encyclopedia states that 'About this time he wrote "De causa immediata ecclesiasticæ potestatis" (Paris, 1506) against John of Pouilly, whose errors were condemned 25 July 1321.' Modern scholarship, however, attributes the work to
Guillaume de Pierre Godin (e.g. the 1982 edition of this work by William R. McCready). In 1329, the pope called him to
Avignon, and consecrated him
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. The same year, he journeyed into
Egypt, to negotiate with the
sultan for the deliverance of
Palestine. The sultan was immovable. The accounts which the patriarch gave of the miserable condition of Palestine led to the announcement of another Crusade, but owing to apathy, and dissensions among the Christian princes, the project failed. Paludanus resumed his studies, composing at this time his commentaries on the
Sentences of
Peter Lombard, in which he combats
Durandus of Saint-Pourçain. About 1332, he was appointed by the
King of France to preside over the deliberations of a body of
prelates and theologians whom Philip had convoked at
Versailles to discuss the charge made against John XXII, of asserting that the souls of the just will not be admitted to the
beatific vision until after the
general judgment. The patriarch and his associates manifested consummate prudence in dealing with this matter. In a letter to the king, they declared: • their entire submission to the pope's authority, and their filial devotion to his person; • their belief, based on the testimony of trustworthy witnesses, that John XXII had not held, much less taught, the opinion attributed to him, but at the most, had mentioned it (recitando) and examined it; • that since the death of Christ the souls of the just with no faults to expiate immediately after death, and the souls of other just persons after complete purgation, are admitted to the beatific vision, which will endure forever. This doctrine was defined by
Benedict XII on 29 January 1336. Besides the works mentioned, Paludanus wrote commentaries on all the books of the Bible, and "Concordantiæ ad Summam S. Thomæ" (Salamanca, 1552). == Death ==