John Peckham
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{{Infobox Archbishop of Canterbury|
| Full name = John Peckham|
| image =[[Image:Canterbury kathedraal interieur.jpg|200px]]
| caption = Interior of part of Canterbury Cathedral where Peckham was buried in the north transept.
| birth_name =
| consecration = [[January 25]] [[1279]]
| began = unknown
| term_end = [[December 8]] [[1292]]
| predecessor = [[Robert Burnell]]
| successor = [[Robert Winchelsey]]
| birth_date =
| death_date = [[December 8]] [[1292]]
| deathplace = [[Mortlake]]
| tomb = [[Canterbury Cathedral]]}}
'''John Peckham''' or '''Pecham''' (circa 1230–[[December 8]] [[1292]]), was [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] in the years 1279–1292. He was a native of [[Sussex]] who was educated at [[Lewes Priory]] and became a [[Franciscan]] monk about 1250. He studied at [[Paris]] under [[Bonaventure]], where he later taught theology. From his teaching, he came into conflict with Saint [[Thomas Aquinas]], whom he debated on two occasions. Known as a conservative theologian, he opposed Aquinas' views on the nature of the soul. Peckham also studied optics and astronomy, and his studies in those subjects were influenced by [[Roger Bacon]].
In around 1270, he returned to England, where he taught at the [[University of Oxford]], and was elected the Franciscan provincial minster of England in 1275. After a brief stint in Rome, he was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1279. His time as archbishop was marked by efforts to improve discipline in the clergy as well as reorganize the estates of his see. Pluralism, or holding more than one clerical [[benefice]], was one of the abuses that Peckham combated. He served King [[Edward I of England]] in Wales, where he formed a low opinion of the Welsh people and laws. Before and during his time as archbishop, he wrote a number of works on optics, philosophy, and theology, as well as writing hymns. Numerous manuscripts of his works survive. On his death, his body was buried in [[Canterbury Cathedral]], but his heart was given to the Franciscans for burial.
==Early life==
Peckham came from a humble family, possibly from [[Patchem]] in [[Sussex]].<ref name=Moorman159>Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 159</ref> He was born about 1230 and received his early education from the [[Cluny|Cluniac]] monks of [[Lewes]].<ref name=DNB>Thompson "Pecham , John (c.1230–1292)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''</ref> About 1250, he joined the Franciscan order and studied in their [[Oxford]] convent. Shortly afterwards he proceeded to the [[University of Paris]], where he took his degree under [[Bonaventure|St Bonaventura]] and became regent master, or official lecturer, in [[theology]].<ref name=Lawrence146/><ref name=Leff183>Leff ''Paris and Oxford Universities'' p. 183</ref>
For years Peckham taught at Paris, coming into contact with the greatest scholars of the day, among others St Thomas Aquinas.<ref name=Lawrence146>Lawrence "The Thirteenth Century" in Lawrence (ed.) ''The English Church & the Papacy in the Middle Ages'' p. 146-147</ref> He famously debated Aquinas on at least two occasions during 1269 and 1270, during which Peckham defended the conservative theological position, and Thomas put forth his views on the soul.<ref name=Thought294>Knowles ''The Evolution of Medieval Thought'' p. 294</ref> The Thomist doctrine of the unity of form was condemned after these debates.<ref name=Leff228>Leff ''Paris and Oxford Universities'' p. 228</ref> His theological works later were used by his pupil [[Roger Marston]] who in turn inspired [[Duns Scotus]].<ref name=DNB/>
Peckham also studied other fields, however; and was guided by [[Robert Grosseteste]] and Roger Bacon's views on the value of experimental science.<ref name=Leff288>Leff ''Paris and Oxford Universities'' p. 288</ref> Where Peckham met Bacon is not known, but it would have been at either Paris or Oxford. Bacon's influence can be seen in Peckham's works on [[optics]] (the ''Perspectiva communis'') and astronomy.<ref name=DNB/>
==Return to England==
[[Image:Roger Bacon optics01.jpg|left|thumb|A manuscript of Roger Bacon's work on optics, which influenced Peckham's own works]]
===Reorganization of the archdiocese===
About 1270, he returned to Oxford and taught there, being elected in 1275 provincial minister of the Franciscans in England,<ref name=BHOCant>Greenway [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=33853 ''Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: volume 2: Monastic cathedrals (northern and southern provinces):Canterbury Archbishops'']</ref> but he was soon afterwards called to [[Rome]] as ''lector sacri palatii,'' or theological lecturer in the schools of the papal palace.<ref name=Thought169>Knowles ''The Evolution of Medieval Thought'' p. 169</ref> In 1279 he returned to England as Archbishop of Canterbury, being appointed by [[Pope Nicholas III]] on the rejection of [[Robert Burnell]], [[Edward I of England|Edward I]]'s preferred candidate. He was provided (appointed by the pope to the see) on [[January 25]] [[1279]] and consecrated on [[February 19]] [[1279]].<ref name=Handbook233>Fryde ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 233</ref>
Peckham's insistence on discipline offended contemporaries. His first act on arrival in England was to call a council at [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]], which met in July of 1279. Its main object was ecclesiastical reform, but the provision that a copy of ''[[Magna Carta]]'' should be hung in all [[cathedral]] and [[collegiate church]]es seemed to the king a political action. Another ruling was on non-residence of clergy in their livings. The only exception Peckham was prepared to make on non-residence was if the clerk needed to go abroad to study.<ref name=Edward250>Prestwich ''Edward I'' p. 250</ref> At the [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] of Winchester in 1279, the archbishop compromised and the parliament declared void any action of this council touching on the royal power. The copies of Magna Carta were taken down.<ref name=Edward251>Prestwich ''Edward I'' p. 251</ref> One reason the archbishop may have backed down was that he was in debt to the Italian banking family of the [[Riccardi family|Riccardi]], who also were bankers to Edward and the pope, and Peckham was under threat of [[excommunication]] from the pope unless he repaid the loans.<ref name=Edward252>Prestwich ''Edward I'' p. 252</ref>
However, Peckham worked hard to reorganize the estates of the diocese, and held an inquiry in 1283 through 1285 into the revenues of the see. He set up administrative structures in the manors that divided them into seven administrative groups.<ref name=Lordship248>DeBoulay ''The Lordship of Canterbury'' p. 248</ref> Peckham, though, was almost continually in debt, and because he was a Franciscan, he had no personal property to help with his living expenses. He had inherited the diocesan debts that his predecessor had allowed to accumulate, and never managed to clear them.<ref name=Moorman173>Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 173</ref>
===Visits to Wales===
Nevertheless Peckham's relations with the king were generally good, and Edward called on him for help in bringing order into conquered [[Wales]], sending him on a diplomatic mission to [[Llywelyn the Last]]. In 1282 he attempted to mediate between the Welsh and King Edward, but given that Edward would not budge on the main issues, it was a hopeless mission.<ref name=Edward191>Prestwich ''Edward I'' p. 191-192</ref> In the end, Peckham excommunicated some of the Welsh who were resisting Edward, not unsurprising given Peckham's views of the Welsh.<ref name=Edward191/><ref name=Edward200>Prestwich ''Edward I'' p. 200</ref> Peckham visited the Welsh dioceses as part of his tour of all his subordinate dioceses. While there, Peckham criticised the Welsh clergy for their unchaste lives, conspicuous consumption, and heavy drinking. He also found the Welsh clergy to be uneducated, although he did order a Welsh-speaking suffragan bishop to be appointed to help with pastoral duties in the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield.<ref name=Walker87>Walker ''Medieval Wales'' p. 87</ref>
Peckham also had problems with his subordinate [[Thomas Bek, Bishop of St David's|Thomas Bek]], who was [[Bishop of St David's]] in Wales. Bek tried to revive a scheme to make St David's independent from Canterbury, and to elevate it to metropolitan status. This had originally been put forth by [[Gerald of Wales]] around 1200, but had been defeated by the actions of [[Hubert Walter]], then the Archbishop of Canterbury. Bek did not manage even the four-year fight that Gerald had managed, for Peckham routed him quickly.<ref name=Walker77>Walker ''Medieval Wales'' p. 77-79</ref>
===Ecclesiastical matters===
Skirmishes with Edward over clerical privileges, royal power, Peckham's use of excommunication, and ecclesiastical taxation continued, but in October of 1286, Edward issued a [[writ]] entitled ''Circumspecte Agatis'' which specified what types of cases the ecclesiastical courts could hear. These included moral issues, matrimonial issues, disputes about wills and testiments, the correction of sins, and slander and physical attacks on the clergy.<ref name=Edward257>Prestwich ''Edward I'' p. 257</ref>
Peckham was very strict in his interpretations of canon law, and once wrote to [[Eleanor of Castile|Queen Eleanor]] that her use of loans from Jewish moneylenders to acquire lands was [[usury]] and a [[mortal sin]].<ref name=Edward125>Prestwich ''Edward I'' p. 125</ref> He also felt that Welsh laws were illogical and conflicted with Biblical teachings.<ref name=Edward186>Prestwich ''Edward I'' p. 186</ref> He also mandated that the clerical [[tonsure]] worn by the clergy should not just include the top of the head, but also have the nape and over the ears shaved, which allowed the clergy to be easily distinguished from the laity. To help with this, the archbishop also forbade the clergy from wearing secular clothing, especially military garb.<ref name=Moorman149>Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 149</ref> He also forbade an effort by the [[Benedictine]] order in England to reform their monastic rule, to allow more time for study and for more education for the monks. Peckham's reason was that they were against custom, but he may also have had concerns that these reforms would have drawn recruits away from the Franciscans.<ref name=Southern236>Southern ''Western Society'' p. 236</ref>
At an ecclesiastical council held at Lambeth in 1281, Peckham ordered the clergy to instruct their congregations in doctrine at least four times a year. They were to explain and teach the Articles of Faith, the Ten Commandments, the Works of Mercy, the Seven Deadly Sins, the Seven Virtues and the Sacraments.<ref name=HistMedLit396/> This command was issued as a canon, or law, of the council, and the group is known as the Lambeth Constitutions.<ref name=Devotion59>Swanson ''Religion and Devotion'' p. 59-60</ref> Even later these constitutions were collected as the [[Ignorantia sacerdotum]].<ref name=HistMedLit396>Wallace ''Cambridge History of Medieval English Literature'' p. 396</ref> The six doctrines comprised the minimum theological knowledge the archbishop considered necessary for the laity to know.<ref name=HistMedLit548>Wallace ''Cambridge History of Medieval English Literature'' p. 548</ref> The constitutions, which were originally in Latin, were the basis and inspiration for pastoral and devotional works throughout the remainder of the Middle Ages, and were eventually translated into English in the 15th century.<ref name=Devotion59/>
The crime of "plurality," or pluralism, which was the holding by one cleric of two or more [[benefice]]s, was one of Peckham's targets,<ref name=Moorman220>Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 220-221</ref> as were clerical absenteeism and laxity in the monastic life. His main instrument was a system of "visitation," which he used with an unprecedented frequency. Disputes resulted, and on some points Peckham gave way, but his powers as papal legate complicated matters, and he did much to strengthen the court of [[Canterbury]] at the expense of the lower courts.<ref name=Lawrence137>Lawrence "The Thirteenth Century" in Lawrence (ed.) ''The English Church & the Papacy in the Middle Ages'' p. 137</ref> The quarrel with [[Thomas de Cantilupe]], [[Bishop of Hereford]], arose from similar causes. It involved an appeal over the jurisdiction of the archbishop, that Thomas sent to Rome in 1281, but Thomas died before the case could be decided.<ref name=Lawrence128>Lawrence "The Thirteenth Century" in Lawrence (ed.) ''The English Church & the Papacy in the Middle Ages'' p. 128</ref> He also decreed that the clergy should preach to their flocks at least four times a year.<ref name=Moorman80>Moorman ''Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century'' p. 80-81</ref>
Peckham often was in conflict with his subordinate bishops, mainly because of his efforts to reform them, but Peckham's own attitude and handling of his clergy contributed to the problem.<ref name=Southern194>Southern ''Western Society'' p. 194-196</ref> He once wrote to [[Roger de Meyland]], the [[Bishop of Lichfield|Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield]] "These things need your attention, but you have been absent so long that you seem not to care. We therefore order you, on receipt of this letter, to take up residence in your diocese, so that -- even if you are not competent to redress spiritual evils -- you may at least minister to the temporal needs of the poor."<ref name=QSouthern194>quoted in Southern ''Western Society'' p. 194</ref> The historian [[Richard Southern]] says that Peckham's disputes with his suffragan bishops were "conducted in an atmosphere of bitterness and perpetual ill-will",<ref name=Southern194a>Southern ''Western Society'' p. 194</ref> which probably owed something to a "petulant strain in Peckham's character".<ref name=Southern194a/> Peckham's conflicts started because his own ideals were those of a Franciscan, but most of his clergy were concerned with more mundane and materialistic affairs. These strains between the archbishop and his subordinates were intensified by clashes over ecclesiastical and secular authority, as well as Edward's great need for income.<ref name=Southern211>Southern ''Western Society'' p. 211</ref>
==Death and legacy==
The numerous manuscripts of Peckham's works to be found in the libraries of Italy, England and France, testify to his industry as a [[Philosophy|philosopher]] and commentator. Queen Eleanor persuaded him to write for her a scholarly work in French, which was later described as "unfortunately rather a dull and uninspired little treatise."<ref name=Edward123>Prestwich ''Edward I'' p. 123</ref> His poem ''Philomena'' is considered one of the finest poems written in its time.<ref name=HistMedLit362>Wallace ''Cambridge History of Medieval English Literature'' p. 362</ref>
Peckham died on [[December 8]] [[1292]]<ref name=Handbook233/> at [[Mortlake]] and was buried in the north transept, or the Martyrdom, of [[Canterbury Cathedral]].<ref name=DNB/> His heart, however, was buried with the Franciscans under the high altar of their London church.<ref name=Burton120>Burton ''Monastic and Religious Orders'' p. 120</ref> His tomb still survives.<ref name=DNB/> He founded a college at [[Wingham, Kent]] in 1286, probably a college of [[Canon (priest)|canons]] serving a church.<ref name=Lordship127>DeBoulay ''The Lordship of Canterbury'' p. 127</ref>
===Works===
A number of his works have survived, and some have appeared in print in various times:
{{col-begin}}
{{col-1-of-3}}
* ''Perspectiva communis''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=UVJaAAAACAAJ&dq=inauthor:John+inauthor:Pecham&lr=&as_brr=0&ei=M_HvR5jfLJvmiQGHlqitDQ |title= Google Books: John Pecham and the Science of Optics: Perspectiva Communis |accessdate=2008-03-30 |publisher=Google Books}}</ref>
* ''Collectarium Bibliae''<ref name=DNB/>
* ''Registrum epistolarum''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=48u4HAAACAAJ&dq=inauthor:John+inauthor:Peckham&lr=&as_brr=0&ei=DPjvR9-bFovsiQHN772pDQ |title=Google Books: Registrum Johannis Pecham Archiepiscopi Cantuariensis |accessdate=2008-03-30 |publisher=Google Books}}</ref><ref name=Texts677>Mullins ''Texts and Calendars I'' section 6.77</ref>
* ''Tractatus de pauperitate''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=5BwYIAAACAAJ&dq=inauthor:John+inauthor:Pecham&lr=&as_brr=0&ei=7PHvR_7JMpewiQG9n8ijDQ |title=Google Books: Tractatus Tres de Paupertate |accessdate=2008-03-30 |publisher=Google Books}}</ref><ref name=Texts132>Mullins ''Texts and Calendars I'' section 13.2</ref>
{{col-2-of-3}}
* ''Summa de esse et essentia''<ref name=DNB/>
* ''Quaestiones disputatae''<ref name=DNB/>
* ''Quodlibeta''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=PdIlHQAACAAJ&dq=inauthor:John+inauthor:Pecham&lr=&as_brr=0&ei=YfLvR6H3I5vEigHAn9SrDQ |title=Google Books: Johannis de Pecham Quodlibet Romanum |accessdate=2008-03-30 |publisher=Google Books}}</ref>
* ''Tractatus contra Kilwardby''<ref name=Texts132/>
{{col-3-of-3}}
* ''Tractatus de anima''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=UmTSGAAACAAJ&dq=inauthor:John+inauthor:Peckham&lr=&as_brr=0&ei=cPPvR5XjI5eOiQGJ8siwDQ |title=Google Books: Tractatus de Anima Ioannis Pecham |accessdate=2008-03-30 |publisher=Google Books}}</ref>
* ''Canticum pauperis''<ref name=DNB/>
* ''De aeternitate mundi''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ahI3zH34dFAC |title= Google Books: Questions Concerning the Eternity of the World |accessdate=2008-03-30 |publisher=Google Books}}</ref>
* ''Defensio fratrum mendicantium''<ref name=Texts132/>
{{col-end}}
Peckham is the earliest of the Archbishops of Canterbury to have his registers, the principal records of archiepiscopal administration, held in at [[Lambeth Palace]] Library.<ref name=LPL>[http://www.lambethpalacelibrary.org/holdings/archbishopsarchives.html#registers Holdings of Lambeth Palace Library] accessed on March 6, 2008</ref>
== Notes ==
{{reflist|2}}
== References ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |title= Monastic and Religious Orders in Britain: 1000-1300|last=Burton |first=Janet |year= 1994|publisher=Cambridge University Press|series=Cambridge Medieval Textbooks |location=Cambridge UK |isbn=0-521-37797-8}}
* {{cite book |title= The Lordship of Canterbury: An Essay on Medieval Society |last= DuBoulay |first= F. R. H. |year= 1966|publisher=Barnes & Noble |location=New York }}
* {{cite book |author=Fryde, E. B. |coauthors=Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. |title=Handbook of British Chronology|edition=Third Edition, revised |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1996 |isbn=0-521-56350-X }}
* {{cite book |title= Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: volume 2: Monastic cathedrals (northern and southern provinces): Canterbury Archbishops |last= Greenway|first=Diana E. |year=1971 |publisher= Institute of Historical Research |url= http://british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=33853|accessdate=2008-03-30}}
* {{cite web |url= http://www.lambethpalacelibrary.org/holdings/archbishopsarchives.html#registers |title= Holdings of Lambeth Palace Library |accessdate=2008-03-30|work= Holdings of Lambeth Palace Library |publisher= Church of England Record Centre}}
* {{cite book |title= The Evolution of Medieval Thought |last= Knowles|first=Dom David |authorlink=David Knowles |year=1962 |publisher=Longman |location=London }}
* {{cite encyclopedia| last = Lawrence| first = C. H. |encyclopedia= The English Church and the Papacy in the Middle Ages |title= The Thirteenth Century | editor-last = Lawrence| editor-first = C. H.| pages = p. 117-156 | place = Stroud| publisher = Sutton Publishing|isbn=0-7509-1947-7 | year = 1965 |edition=Reprint edition 1999}}
* {{cite book |author=Leff, Gordon |title= Paris and Oxford Universities in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries: An Institutional and Intellectual History |publisher=Robert E. Krieger Pub. Co |location=Huntington, N.Y |year=1975 |isbn=0-88275-297-9 }}
* {{cite book |title= Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century |last=Moorman |first=John R. H. |authorlink= John Moorman |year=1955|edition=Revised Edition |publisher= Cambridge University Press |location= Cambridge }}
* {{cite book |title=Texts and Calendars I: An Analytical Guide to Serial Publications |last=Mullins |first=E. L. C. |year=1958 |publisher=Royal Historical Society |location=London }}
* {{cite book |author=Prestwich, Michael|authorlink=Michael Prestwich |title=Edward I |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, Conn |year=1997 |isbn=0-300-07157-4 }}
* {{cite book |author=Southern, R. W.|aurthorlink=Richard Southern |title=Western society and the Church in the Middle Ages |publisher=Penguin Books |location=New York |year=1970 |pages= |isbn=0-14-020503-9 |oclc= |doi=}}
* {{cite book |author=Swanson, R. N. |title=Religion and Devotion in Europe, c. 1215-c. 1515 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |series=Cambridge Medieval Textbooks |location=Cambridge, UK |year=1995 |isbn=0-521-37950-4 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last= Thompson |first= Benjamin |encyclopedia= Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |title= Pecham , John (c.1230–1292) |url= http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21745 |accessdate=2008-03-30 |year=2004 |publisher= Oxford University Press }}
* {{cite book |author=Walker, David |title=Medieval Wales |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |year=1990 |series=Cambridge Medieval Textbooks |isbn=0-521-31153-5 }}
* {{cite book |author=Wallace, David Foster (editor) |title=The Cambridge History of Medieval English Literature |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=2002 |isbn=0-521-89046-2 }}
{{refend}}
==Further reading==
* {{cite book |title=Archbishop Peckham |last=Douie |first= Decima Langworthy |year=1952 |publisher=Clarendon Press |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=T4G9JAAACAAJ&dq=archbishop+peckham&ei=UB39R_jYK56MjAGlhtmBDA}}
==External links==
* [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/John_Peckham John Peckham at 1911 Britannica Online]
* [http://maritain.nd.edu/jmc/etext/homp312.htm History of Medieval Philosophy]
* {{CathEncy|wstitle=John Pecham}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef | before=[[Robert Burnell]] }}
{{s-ttl| title=[[Archbishop of Canterbury]] | years=1279–1292}}
{{s-aft| after=[[Robert Winchelsey]] }}
{{end}}
{{1911}}
{{Archbishops of Canterbury}}
{{Persondata
|NAME= Peckham, John
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Pecham, John
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=Archbishop of Canterbury
|DATE OF BIRTH=
|PLACE OF BIRTH=
|DATE OF DEATH=December 8, 1292
|PLACE OF DEATH=
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peckham, John}}
[[Category:13th century births]]
[[Category:1292 deaths]]
[[Category:Franciscans]]
[[Category:Archbishops of Canterbury]]
[[Category:13th century Roman Catholic archbishops]]
[[Category:13th century Latin writers]]
[[de:Johannes Peckham]]
[[fr:John Peckham]]
[[ko:요하네스 페캄]]