Dives and Pauper

Dives and Pauper is a 15th-century commentary on the Ten Commandments in dialogue form.[1] Written in Middle English, it was most likely authored by a Franciscan friar. It is structured as a dialogue between a wealthy layman (Dives) and a spiritual poor man with many similarities to a friar (Pauper). The work is an example of orthodox Catholic theology, but it engages many questions relevant to Wycliffism, an English movement condemned as heretical by church authorities.[2]

Like John Wycliffe's De mandatis divinis, Dives and Pauper discusses the Commandments in the context of Church law, as well as the "laws of civil society".[3] Patricia Barnum describes it as a discussion about justice in the context of the "seemingly double standard" of the Old Testament concept of law (ius) and the New Testament charity (caritas).[3] The question posed is whether God's laws may be harmonized with man's laws. Dives and Pauper starts the inquiry with the question of what the Christian scriptures teach about wealth (temporalia).[3]

References

  1. Connolly, Margaret (2007). "Dives and Pauper, Vol II". Medium Aevum. 76 (1): 164–165. ISSN 0025-8385.  via Academic Search Complete (subscription required)
  2. Rouse, Robert; Echard, Sian; Fulton, Helen; Rector, Geoff; Fay, Jacqueline Ann, eds. (2017). "Dives and Pauper". The Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature in Britain. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. doi:10.1002/9781118396957. ISBN 9781118396957.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  3. Barnum, Priscilla Heath (2004). Dives and pauper: (no. 323 in series). Introduction, explanatory notes and glossary. Oxford University Press for the Early English Text Society. ISBN 978-0-19-722326-0.
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