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John Luttrell
Chancellor of Oxford University
LUTTERELL, JOHN (d. 1335), theologian, was a doctor of divinity at Oxford, and became chancellor of the university in 1317. Early in 1318 he went to the Roman court at Avignon, apparently in reference to the dispute between the university and the Dominicans, being furnished for this purpose with commendatory letters from the king. His disputations are said to have given him a great reputation at the Roman court. In January 1319 he received the prebend of Axford at Salisbury. He resigned the chancellorship at Oxford in 1323 through a dispute in which be became involved with the masters and scholars on the subject of nominalism and realism. (1)
Lutterell was a Dominican and a Canon of Salisbury Cathedral.(4) He was involved in a dispute between the university and the Dominicans during his first year as chancellor and was the leading figure in a battle with the masters and scholars at the university in 1322 that almost ended in schism. He was deposed as chancellor in September 1322 and went to Avignon for two years. Pope John XXII justified his long stay, since he was involved in proceedings against certain teachings that recent scholars are sure were the teachings of William of Ockham. The grounds for this conclusion is that Lutterell was examining the Commentary on the Sentences of Ockham and found 56 propositions there that were against true and sound doctrine. The list can be found in his Libellus contra doctrinam Guillelmi Ockham [A Pamphlet against the Teaching of William of Ockham] written during 1323–1324. He also was one of the masters of theology who condemned 51 articles of Ockham that were censured at Avignon in 1326. Some scholars suspect that Lutterell was also trying to take revenge on Ockham as one of the leaders of the group that had him deposed as chancellor. He was again in Avignon from 1327 until 1333 and there he wrote his Epistola de visione beatifica, defending Pope John XXII’s theology of the beatific vision. During these years, he was frequently sent on papal missions. (2)
The parentage of John Lutterell is not known. Before 1304 he obtained a papal dispensation from the impediment of illegitimacy, in view of his ordination to sacred orders, and again on Sept. 1, 1331, probably in prospect of the bishopric of Salisbury. (3) He received the prebend of Knaresborough, Yorkshire, in 1334, and died at Avignon on 17 July 1335. (1)
References:
1 - https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography,_1885-1900/Lutterell,_John
Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lutterell, John Lutterell, John by Charles Lethbridge Kingsford
2 - https://hslcorner.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/stephen_f-_brown_juan_carlos_flores_historical_b-ok-org.pdf
Historical Dictionary of Medieval Philosophy and Theology
Stephen F. Brown
Juan Carlos Flores
Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements, No. 76
The Scarecrow Press, Inc., Lanham, Maryland • Toronto • Plymouth, UK 2007
3 - https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/john-lutterell
4 - https://handwiki.org/wiki/Biography:John_Lutterell
