possess, survives in more than one version, apparently
being student reportationes of his lectures. A set of
Quaestiones disputatae “antequam esset frater” belongs
to him, but a Summa theologiae begun by Alexander
was fi nished by William of Melitona, John of La Ro-
chelle, and other members of the “Franciscan school”
that Alexander headed. It is thus a useful summary of
13th-century Franciscan ideas. The same group of friars
was responsible for an exposition of the Franciscan
Rule, in 1242.
With William of Auvergne, Alexander (known as
Doctor irrefragibilis), was the fi rst Paris master to use
Aristotle in the service of theology; and, like William,
he used Aristotle’s ideas in a framework of traditional
Augustinian orthodoxy. Alexander’s main sources are
Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius, Boethius, and the “mod-
erns” of the 12th century: Bernard of Clairvaux, Gilbert
of Poitiers, Anselm, and others.
Alexander’s prosaic style makes it diffi cult for us
today to appreciate his enormous contemporary success,
although his structured and ordered approach remains
a key feature of his work. Bonaventure was of one of
the succeeding generation who revered Alexander, sug-
gesting that his teaching in person may have been more
gripping than the remnant left to us.
See also Bonaventure, Saint; Peter Lombard;
William of AuvergneFurther Reading
Alexander of Hales. Glossa in Sententias, ed. P. Doucet. 4
vols. Florence: Ex Typographia Collegii S. Bonaventurae,
1951–57.
——. Questiones disputatae “antequam esset frater.” 3 vols.
Florence: Ex Typographia Collegii S. Bonaventurae, 1960.
——. Summa theologica, ed. Bernardini Klumper. 4 vols. Flor-
ence: Ex Typographia Collegii S. Bonaventurae, 1924.
——. Summa theologica. Indices in tom. I–IV, ed. Constantini
Koser. Grottaferrata (Rome): Editiones Collegii S. Bonaven-
turae ad Claras Aquas, 1979.
Catania, F.J. Knowledge of God in Alexander of Hales and John
Duns Scotus. Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute, 1966.
Herscher, I. “A Bibliography of Alexander of Hales.” Franciscan
Studies 5 (1945): 434–-54.
Huber, Raphael M. “Alexander of Hales O.F.M. (ca. 1170–1245):
His Life and Infl uence on Medieval Scholasticism.” Francis-
can Studies 26 (1945): 353–65.
Principe, Walter H. The Theology of the Hypostatic Union in the
Early Thirteenth Century. 4 vols. Toronto: Pontifi cal Institute
of Mediaeval Studies, 1963–75, Vol. 2: Alexander of Hales’s
Theology of the Hypostatic Union.
Lesley J. SmithALFONSO V, KING OF ARAGÓN,
THE MAGNANIMOUS (1396–1458)
Born 1396, the eldest son of Fernando of Antequera
and Leonor de Alburquerque, Alfonso V passed muchof his childhood in the court of his uncle, Enrique III of
Castile. Fernando, Victor of Antequera (1410), coregent
of Castile from 1406, and from 1412 (Compromise of
Caspe) King of Aragón, became the boy’s hero, a model
of knightly prowess and kingly virtue. An abiding thirst
for adventure, deep piety, and a passion for hunting all
derived from that paternal source.
Fernando’s brief reign in Aragón (1412–1416),
besides grounding Alfonso in the arts of government,
introduced him to the constitutional pretensions and
Mediterranean concerns of his future subjects. Castile
remained nonetheless a vital element in the family’s
dynastic and political calculations, as evidenced by
his marriage to María of Castile (1415), a match that
proved loveless and barren. Thrust by his father’s fatal
illness (1415–1416) into the center of affairs, Alfonso
found himself confronting the antipope Benedict XIII
and Sigismund, King of the Romans, in a meeting called
at Perpignan to end the Schism. In this, his fi rst great
test of political judgment, he opted for the Council of
Constance, yet took care to keep Benedict in reserve
as a bargaining counter in dealings with the restored
authority of Rome.
On 2 April 1416 Alfonso became King of Aragón.
Looking around for warlike ventures that had hitherto
eluded him, he saw Sicily and Sardinia restive under
Aragonese domination, Genoa challenging Catalan
aspirations in Corsica, and Castile chafi ng at the over-
weening Antequera presence. His subjects, however,
especially the Catalans and Valencians, opposed all
foreign projects for they mistrusted their new Castilian
dynasty and were resolved to bind it in constitutional
fetters. In the succeeding four-year contest of wills
he won the upper hand thanks largely to clerical and
Castilian subventions, then sailed in high spirits for
Italian shores.
Touching fi rst at Sardinia, he subdued that island
without diffi culty, but in his next objective—Corsica—
encountered a desperate Genovese defense. Frustrated
there, he moved on to Naples in the guise of champion
and adopted heir of Giovanna II against Louis III of
Anjou whom Pope Martin V, suzerain of the kingdom,
planned to install as successor to the childless queen.
Enthusiasm greeted his arrival (July 1421), but the war
against Louis soon embroiled him in intrigues that
within two years left him totally isolated. Rescued by a
Catalan fl eet, he embarked for Spain in October 1423,
having fi rst sacked Naples; on the homeward voyage he
paused to burn Angevin Marseilles.
Spain presented its own problems: Catalan demands
for curbs on royal authority, the consequences of a
breach with Rome over the Neapolitan investiture, and
turmoil in Castile provoked by blind rivalry between his
brothers and Álvaro de Luna for control of that kingdom.
Against his better judgment he allowed Juan and a partyALEXANDER OF HALES