Blessed John Duns Scotus

Life story

John Duns Scotus was probably born at Duns in Berwickshire, Scotland, between late December 1265 and mid-March 1266. The birthplace is inferred from the name Johannes Duns, and the exact date is uncertain. He joined the Franciscans and was ordained a priest on 17 March 1291 at Northampton in England, the earliest certain date in his life.

By tradition he was educated at a Franciscan house in Oxford, though this is not certain. He was at Oxford by 1300 and lectured there. From late 1302 he lectured at the University of Paris; in that year he was expelled for siding with Pope Boniface VIII, and he had returned by 1304.

Around October 1307 he was sent to the Franciscan studium at Cologne, for reasons that are unclear, and died there on 8 November 1308; that date is traditional. His major work is the Ordinatio (also called the Opus oxoniense), his standard commentary on Peter Lombard's Sentences, revised from his Oxford lectures and never finished.

He argued that Mary was conceived without original sin, reasoning that God could grant this and that it was the most fitting course; the argument influenced the 1854 dogma. The story that he was buried alive is probably a myth, and some works once attributed to him are now thought to be by others. Pope John Paul II beatified him on 20 March 1993; his feast is 8 November.

Works and witness

• Ordained a priest on 17 March 1291 at Northampton
• Lectured at Oxford and at the University of Paris
• Wrote the Ordinatio, a commentary on the Sentences
• Argued for the Immaculate Conception, influencing the 1854 dogma
• Beatified on 20 March 1993

Saints from the same country

Saint Thomas Becket, Saint Thomas More, Saint Carlo Acutis, Saint Bede the Venerable

References

• John Duns Scotus, Ordinatio (Opus oxoniense)
• Beatification of Duns Scotus, John Paul II, 20 March 1993
• Martyrologium Romanum, 8 November

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.