Introduction

William of Ockham was born around 1287, probably in the village of Ockham near London. After entering the Franciscan order he studied at Oxford and completed the requirements for the master's degree in theology He never became a regent master, however, probably because of the need to defend his teachings on grace, free will, and other topics from charges of heresy brought against them at the papal court in Avignon in the mid-1320s. While Ockham was in Avignon, he concluded that Pope John XXII was himself a heretic on points of doctrine held by most Franciscans at the time to be essential to Christian belief. Ockham fled the curia in 1328 with the Minister General of his order and a few confreres, taking refuge with Ludwig of Bavaria, who was at odds with the papacy over his title as Roman emperor. Ockham then wrote against the teachings of John XXII and John's successor Benedict XII, composed a massive treatise in dialogue form on heresy (with special reference to papal heresy), and discussed at some length the basis and functions of secular and religious governmental institutions. He is usually thought to have died in Munich in 1347 during an outbreak of plague.

Ockham was formally excommunicated for leaving Avignon without permission and was implicitly condemned as a heretic for his opposition to John XXII's bulls against the dominant Franciscan conception of the poverty of Christ, the apostles, and the Franciscans themselves.