Ad conditorem canonum

Ad conditorem canonum is a decretal issued by Pope John XXII in 1323 that condemned the Franciscan doctrine of the absolute poverty of Christ and the apostles, asserting that Christ and the apostles did own property. This decree directly challenged the Perugian Chapter of 1322, which had declared that Christ and the apostles held nothing individually or in common, and it intensified the conflict between the Pope and the Franciscan order, aligning the latter with the Emperor Louis the Bavarian.

Background and Context

The decretal was part of a broader struggle between Pope John XXII and the Franciscan order over the issue of evangelical poverty. In 1322, the general chapter of the Franciscans, convened in Perugia under the leadership of Michael of Cesena, proclaimed as a matter of faith and doctrine the poverty of Christ, who, if he owned something with his apostles, possessed it only as usus facti (de facto use). This resolution was meant to safeguard the virtue and purity of the order, but it highly displeased the Pope, who perhaps discerned in it a principle that would jeopardize the very claims that he, as head of the church, had made, denying the empire the right to elect bishops, and asserting on the contrary that the papal throne had the right to invest the emperor. Moved by these or other reasons, John condemned the Franciscan propositions in 1323 with the decretal Ad conditorem canonum.

Content and Implications

The decretal directly contradicted the Perugian Chapter's stance, asserting that Christ and the apostles did hold property. This condemnation was a significant blow to the Spiritual Franciscans and their allies, who saw the doctrine of poverty as central to their identity and mission. The Pope's action also had political ramifications, as it drove the Franciscans, now the Pope's enemies, into the arms of the Emperor Louis the Bavarian, who saw them as potential allies against the papacy. By affirming the poverty of Christ, the Franciscans were somehow strengthening the ideas of the imperial theologians, namely Marsilius of Padua and John of Jandun.

Consequences and Aftermath

The decretal Ad conditorem canonum was followed by another, Cum inter nonnullos, which further condemned the Franciscan position. The Franciscan Bonagratia of Bergamo appealed against the decretal, considering it contrary to the interests of his order. The Pope then took down that decretal from the doors of the church of Avignon where it had been exposed, and revised it in several places, but he actually made it harsher. As an immediate consequence, Bonagratia was held in prison for a year. The conflict over poverty escalated, leading to the Emperor Louis's Declaration of Sachsenhausen in 1324, which confirmed the Perugian theses and called the Pope a heretic. This series of events set the stage for the failed meeting at the abbey, where the papal legation, led by Bernard Gui, sought to link the Franciscan position with the heresy of the Dolcinians, using the trial of Remigio of Varagine as a tool to discredit the Franciscan cause.