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From: Diana V. C. Suk, MEL
T1: DianaSuk@worldnet.att.net
Date: 3/18/98
Time: 10:43:34 AM
Remote Name: 12.68.156.83
Eco's representation of the Church poverty debate is stated in simplistic terms but basically accurate. This was absolutely more of a political issue than an idealogical one, having to do with the POWER wealth always endows. Pope John XXII felt that to agree to the declaration of the Friars Minor (a.k.a. Minorites) that the true Christian way of life meant renouncing property, except for basic necessities, would mean the Church -including the papacy, of course- and all its supporters would have to surrender all wealth in order to avoid the hypocrisy of advocating one way of life while living its polar opposite. Since surrendering wealth would inevitably lead to a surrendering of the political power wealth brings, John XXII refused to even consider doing this. Emperor Louis the Bavarian was of course delighted at the prospect of a troublesome political adversary existing in a state of poverty, since this would make that enemy much easier to control, or simply ignore. Of these three factions, -the Minorites and their Franciscan sympathizers, Pope John XXII and Emperor Louis the Bavarian- the last two seem to have had the clearest understanding of what the struggle was really about. Neither Pope John nor Emperor Louis was a "good guy," but they were both extremely shrewd. They both knew what they had to do to further their respective personal and political agendas, and didn't hesitate to act accordingly. They were both also very adept at cloaking their politics in idealogy to make them more palatable to their followers. In contrast, the Minorites and their sympathizers seem to have been very naive. They viewed the world from their early fourteenth century theological perspective, while Pope John XXII and Emperor Louis the Bavarian had a more politically savvy, twentieth century outlook. William of Baskerville was the most enlightened of the lot; he functions in the book as his spectacles do, allowing Eco's readers to view these events of the 1300's clearly through modern lenses. The power struggle between Church and State has never ended. At present, their is an ongoing effort on the part of the conservative religious right to teach Creationism in public schools, abolish gay and lesbian rights, cripple the feminist cause, etc. It doesn't even make an attempt to stay out of politics; I don't think it ever has. The Church poverty issue, however, seems to be a thing of the past. Most religious orders do not take vows of poverty anymore (though most of them hold their property communally).