478 Martianus Capella
As an elective monarchy, his reasoning continued,
the imperial regime corresponded to this theoretical
model. The prince or emperor was alone qualified to hold
coercive authority at a more general level. Priestly
authority was limited to that of advice and exhortation.
The church was defined as all the faithful, both CLERGY
and LAITY. Only a general council representing all the
faithful had authority in matters of FAITH. Composed of
priests and laity, the council represented the universal
church as headed by the emperor. The Christian prince
held his power directly from GOD, with no need for papal
mediation. Priests were to live in poverty and humility, in
the image of apostolic times. These assertions were all
condemned by the church. Marsilius was dead by April
1343.
See alsoARISTOTLE ANDARISTOTELIANISM IN THEMID-
DLEAGES; POLITICAL THEORY AND TREATISES.
Further reading: Marsilius of Padua, Marsilius of
Padua: The Defender of Peace, the “Defensor pacis,”Vol. 2,
trans. Alan Gewirth (New York: Columbia University
Press, 1956); Marsilius of Padua, Marsiglio of Padua: Writ-
ings on the Empire,trans. Cary J. Nederman (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1993); Alan Gewirth, Mar-
silius of Padua: The Defender of Peace, the “Defensor pacis,”
Vol. 1, Marsilius of Padua and Medieval Political Philoso-
phy(New York: Columbia University Press, 1951).
Martianus Capella(Martianus Minneus Felix Capella)
(fl. after 410)writer
Martianus was perhaps a lawyer who lived under the
VANDALSin the later fifth century at Carthage. Between
410 and 439 he wrote an allegorical encyclopedia known
as On the Marriage of Mercury and Philology,but he called
the Philologia. The Philologiawas an original Neoplatonic
myth in prose and verse describing the ascent to heaven
of Philology, her apotheosis, and her wedding to Mercury.
At this wedding her seven bridesmaids, the personified
SEVEN LIBERAL ARTS, each presented and explained her
discipline to the assembled gods. The Philologia had
an immediate influence on BOETHIUS’SConsolidation of
Philosophyand was known in Merovingian Gaul by the
time of GREGORYOFTOURS. As a model for allegories and
cosmographical information it was popular during the
Carolingian period and the 12th century renaissance and
Platonic revival, and used as a textbook, literary source,
and compendium of the liberal arts.
See alsoCAROLINGIANRENAISSANCE; CASSIODORUS.
Further reading: William Harris Stahl, Martianus
Capella and the Seven Liberal Arts.Vol. 2, The Marriage of
Philology and Mercury(New York: Columbia University
Press, 1977); William Harris Stahl, Martianus Capella and
the Seven Liberal Arts: The Quadrivium of Martianus
Capella, Latin Traditions in the Mathematical Sciences, 50
B.C.–A.D. 1250(1971; reprint, New York: Columbia Uni-
versity Press, 1991); Bernard Silvestris, The Commentary
on Martianus Capella’s De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii
Attributed to Bernardus Silvestris,ed. Haijo Jan Westra
(Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1986);
Danuta Shanzer, A Philosophical and Literary Commentary
on Martianus Capella’s De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986).Martin of Tours, Saint (ca. 315–397)bishop of Tours
Martin was a former soldier from PANNONIA, expelled
from the army for something like conscientious objec-
tion. He became the founder of the monastery of Ligugé,
then the bishop of Tours in 371. Until his death, in 397,
however, he basically led a monastic life at Marmoutier,
the first monastery in Gaul. As part of effort to convert
people in the countryside, he was also famous as a won-
der worker. In the Life of Martin,Sulpicius Severus (ca.
360–ca. 420), a friend, exalted him as a model of sanctity
and as a charitable monk-bishop. He died in November of
397, and was buried in Tours.LATER CULT
In the midfifth century, the bishops of Tours strongly pro-
moted the cult of Saint Martin as effective protector
against the evils of war and against ARIANISM. A basilica
was then built and pilgrimages organized twice a year, on
November 11, his feast, and on July 4. In a conflict withSaint Martin of Tours dividing his cloak to share it with a
beggar, from a fresco by Simone Martini in the Lower Church
of San Francesco in Assisi, Italy (Scala / Art Resource)