Hervaeus Natalis

Hervaeus Natalis de Brito (or: de Nedellec, Nédélec, Nédélek, Noël, as well as first name: Arveus, Erveus, Hervé ) (* against 1260 in the Diocese of Treguier; † August 7, 1323 in Narbonne ) was a French Dominican and a representatives of Thomistic scholasticism.

Natalis entered the Dominican Order in 1276 in Morlaix in. After a stay at the Paris convent of St. Jacques ( 1302-1307 ) to theological studies, he taught at various convents study in the French province, but probably also in Paris ( until about 1310). Since 1305 he was provincial of his order in France and was Vice- General in 1317. The following year, in 1318 we elected him unanimously elected Superior General of the Order. On August 7, 1323 he died in the convent of Narbonne.

Natalis theology is a continuation of the teachings of Thomas Aquinas. Some fonts can hardly be attributed with certainty to him or Thomas. Its main themes are the doctrine of original sin, the problem of the incarnation, the scientific status of theology, the relationship between church and state, within the Church hierarchy with the powers of the incumbent, and the sacraments. Natalis is attributed to the development of the concept of so-called intangible matter, which became the starting point of angelology in Thomism.

The relations to his contemporaries in Paris Eckhart von Hochheim and Duns Scotus are still largely unexplored. Natalis theological counterpart is Durandus of St. Pourçain ( the doctor modernus ). 1314 he has been chairman of a commission that condemned doctrine Durandus. In addition, Natalis also intervened in the Templar processes.