Alexander of Hales (d. 1245), Franciscan theologian and author of several works, including an unfinished Summa universae theologiae.
Alexander of St. Elpidio (d. 1326), Augustinian monk and author of a number of theological and ecclesiological treatises in which he defended the pope’s primacy over the Church with arguments very similar to those of his fellow Augustinian, Giles of Rome, whose work he often referred to.
Alexius I Comnenus (ca. 1048-1118), Byzantine emperor who participated in the first crusade.
Alfonso Alvarez Guerrero (d. 1574), Portuguese jurist who served in Italy under Charles V, ending his legal career as president of the supreme tribunal in Naples before quitting it to become a priest and, in 1572, bishop of Monopoli. In a series of important works he attacked the authority of the pope in temporal matters and defended the superiority of the council over the pope; these writings included the Thesaurus Christianae religionis and De modo et ordine generalis concilii celebrandi.
Almain, Jacques (ca. 1480-1515), theologian at the University of Paris and author of several works on ecclesiology (De potestate ecclesiastica et laica, Libellus de auctoritate ecclesiae, Quaestio resumptiva) and a commentary on the fourth book of Peter Lombard’s Sententiae.
Alvarus Pelagius (ca. 1275-1352), Franciscan friar, bishop of Silves in Portugal, and scholar of canon and civil law. His works include De statu et planctu ecclesiae and Speculum regum dedicated to King Alfonso XI of Castile.
Ambrose (ca. 340-97), bishop of Milan from 374. One of the most influential Fathers of the Church and often quoted for his engagement in his pastoral duty, he wrote extensive homilies on the Bible, treatises on ecclesiastical and ecclesiological matters, and works against Arianism and on ethics, among them De officiis ministrorum, from which Bellarmine often quotes.
Anastasius, Flavius (ca. 430-518), Byzantine emperor.
Anastasius II, pope between 496 and 498.
Anselm of Canterbury (d. 1109), saint and Father of the Church. He was a prominent theologian and author of many theological, philosophical, and devotional treatises and is well known for his “ontological proof” of God’s existence.
Anselm of Lucca (ca. 1035-86), bishop, canonist, and author of exegetical works. He supported vigorously Pope Gregory VII against Emperor Henry IV.
Anthimus (sixth century), patriarch of Constantinople and a supporter of the Monophysite heresy.
Antonino of Florence (1389-1459), archbishop of Florence, saint, and a Dominican theologian. He was the author of Summa theologica moralis and other Scholastic works, as well as a historical work, the Chronicon, from the beginning of the world until the year 1360.
Antonius Cordubensis (d. 1578), Spanish Franciscan theologian and author of Quaestionarium theologicum.
Apelles (second century), adherent of Gnosticism.
Aquinas, Thomas. See Thomas Aquinas.
Aretius, Benedictus (1522-74), Protestant theologian who wrote in support of Valentino Gentile’s execution.
Aristotle (384-22 B.C.), the most authoritative ancient Greek philosopher during the Middle Ages as the result of Aquinas’s interpretation of Aristotle’s philosophy. Aristotle’s Politics became the basis of the Scholastic understanding of the nature, origin, and aim of the political commonwealth.
Arius (d. 336), heresiarch and founder of Arianism, a heresy that refused to consider the Son to be of the same essence and substance as the Father.
Astesanus from Asti, or Astiensis (d. 1330), Franciscan monk and author of Summa de casibus, or Summa Astensis, a collection of cases of conscience containing many references to canon and civil law and meant to serve as a manual for priests.
Athanasius (d. 373), bishop of Alexandria, saint, and Father of the Church; he was the author of many anti-Arian works.
Aufreri, Etienne (Stephanus Aufrerius) (ca. 1458-1511), jurist, president of the inquests in the parliament of Toulouse, and author of a number of legal and ecclesiological works.
Augustine (354-430), bishop of Hippo beginning in 396 and Doctor of the Church. His Confessions is often considered the first autobiography in Western literature. His writings include more than one hundred treatises and commentaries, more than two hundred letters, and more than five hundred sermons. Among his works the De civitate Dei, a historical, philosophical, and theological reflection on the relation between temporal and secular authority, the meaning of history, and the significance of pagan philosophy and its relationship with Christian theology, is especially important. Among Augustine’s many contributions to Christian thought is his theology of grace, with influenced Luther and Calvin. Bellarmine engaged deeply with Augustinianism and its view on grace, particularly when dealing with the delicate controversy de auxiliis, an issue that pitted members of Bellarmine’s own order, the Society of Jesus, against members of the Dominican Order.
Baconthorpe, John (Bacon) (d. 1346), an English Carmelite theologian and the author of numerous works, including a series of commentaries on the Gospel and a relatively influential commentary on Lombard’s Sententiae.
Baldus de Ubaldis (ca. 1327-1400), professor of law in Pisa, Perugia, Florence, and Pavia, where he also taught canon law. He was one of the most important jurists of his time and wrote a number of commentaries on canon and Roman law.
Balsamon, Theodore (twelfth century), Byzantine canonist.
Bañez, Domingo (1528-1604), Dominican theologian and pupil of Francisco de Vitoria. He was professor of theology at the University of Salamanca, and his works include a commentary on Aquinas’s Summa. He took part in the controversy de auxiliis against Molina.
Baronius, Cesare (1538-1607), cardinal and author of the influential Annales Ecclesiastici, covering up to the year 1198. This work was directed against the “Magdeburg Centuries” (1559-74), the first universal Protestant church history (cf. Matthias Flacius Illyricus).
Bartolus from Sassoferrato (ca. 1313-57), professor of law in Pisa and Perugia and one of the most influential jurists of his time. He wrote commentaries on almost the entire Corpus iuris civilis.
Basil the Great (ca. 330-79), saint, bishop, and Doctor of the Church. He was the author of many exegetical, moral, and homiletic works.
Bernard of Clairvaux (ca. 1090-ca. 1153), saint and author of, among other writings, numerous sermons and a small treatise titled De consideratione, on the duty of the pope, which contained many passages that Bellarmine and other theologians used as key references in works on papal authority.
Bernold of Constance (d. ca. 1100), historian and continuator of Hermann Contractus’s chronicle.
Beza, Théodore (1519-1605), French reformer, collaborator, and successor of Calvin in Geneva. In his De hereticis a magistratu puniendis, a defense of Calvin’s execution of Servetus, and in De iure magistratum, Beza offers an important exposition of the Calvinist theory of resistance.
Bibliander, Theodorus (Theodor Buchmann) (1506-64), a Swiss reformer and famous linguist, who published a Hebrew grammar, a Latin translation of the Koran, and works of biblical exegesis.
Biel, Gabriel (ca. 1420-95), professor of theology and author of an influential commentary on Peter Lombard’s Sententiae. Biel was well known as a representative of Nominalist thought.
Biondo, Flavio (1392-1463), Italian humanist and historian who authored a number of important works, including a trilogy on Roman history and architecture and Historiarum decades, a history of the world since the end of the Roman Empire.
Bonaventure (1221-74), saint and theologian of Augustinian inclinations. He wrote an extensive commentary on Peter Lombard’s Sententiae, together with many other mystical, theological, and ecclesiological works. His writings, especially the mystical ones, have been translated repeatedly, but