{{Short description|French theologian and bishop (died 1279)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| title = [[Bishop of Paris]]
| name = Étienne Tempier
| church = [[Roman Catholic Church]]
| diocese = [[Archdiocese of Paris|Paris]]
| appointed = 7 October 1268
| term_end = 3 September 1279
| predecessor = Renaud Mignon de Corbeil
| successor = Renaud de Hombliéres
| death_date = 3 September 1279
| previous_post = Canon of [[Notre-Dame de Paris|Notre Dame]]
| birth_place = 
| death_place =
}}
'''Étienne Tempier''' ({{IPA|fr|tɑ̃pje|lang}}; also known as '''Stephanus of Orleans'''; died 3 September 1279) was a French [[bishop of Paris]] during the 13th century. He was [[Chancellor of the University of Paris|Chancellor]] of the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]] from 1263 to 1268, and bishop of Paris from 1268 until his death.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Light and the Dark: A Cultural History of Dualism |first=Petrus Franciscus Maria |last=Fontaine |location=Amsterdam |publisher=J.C. Gibben |year=2006 |page=181 |isbn=90-70265-40-0 }}</ref> He is best remembered for promulgating a [[Condemnations (University of Paris)|Condemnation]] of 219 [[philosophical]] and [[theological]] propositions (or articles) that addressed concepts that were being disputed in the faculty of arts at the [[University of Paris]].
==Life==
Born in [[Orléans]], Tempier studied in [[Paris]], where he became master of theology and canon of Notre Dame.  During a period of about five years (1263–ca. 1268), Tempier was the [[Chancellor (ecclesiastical)|Chancellor]] of the chapter of [[Notre Dame de Paris|Notre Dame]] at Paris, succeeding Erich von Veire.  At that time, the Chancellor of the Chapter was also the [[Chancellor of the University of Paris]].

He served as bishop of Paris from 7 October 1268 until his death on 3 September 1279. Tempier had been a master in the faculty of [[theology]].

==Condemnations==
In 1270 Tempier, encouraged by [[Henry of Ghent]] (died 1293), had issued a formal condemnation of thirteen doctrines held by "radical [[Aristotelians]]".  These included the unity of intellect, causal necessity, and the eternity of the world. Further investigation into perceived errors then prevalent at the  university was prompted by the Portuguese cleric Juliani, who was elected [[Pope John XXI]] on 13 September 1276.<ref name=John>{{cite book |title=History of Mediæval Philosophy |first=Maurice |last=de Wulf |location=New York |publisher=Nelson |year=1951 |page=356 }}</ref> A former professor of theology at the University of Paris, he wrote Tempier on 28 January 1277.<ref>{{cite book |title=Aristotle's Children: How Christians, Muslims, and Jews Rediscovered Ancient Wisdom and Illuminated the Middle Ages |first=Richard E. |last=Rubenstein |location=Orlando |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] |year=2004 |page=231 |isbn=0-15-603009-8 }}</ref> The pope told Tempier that he had heard reports of heretical opinions in the Paris area, and requested to be informed of the situation. By this time Tempier was already investigating possible heretical opinions at the University of Paris.<ref>{{cite book |title=Science and Religion, 400 BC to AD 1550: from Aristotle to Copernicus |first=Edward |last=Grant |location=Baltimore |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=2006 |page=181 |isbn=0-8018-8401-2 }}</ref>

On 7 March 1277, Tempier expanded the number of condemned doctrines to 219.  He was assisted by a commission of theologians from the University. Henry of Ghent sat on  Tempier's episcopal commission (''assessores episcopi'') of sixteen masters, which produced the syllabus of 219 propositions condemned by Tempier on 7 March 1277. The condemnations against [[Aristotelianism]] in Paris involved [[Giles of Rome]], [[Siger of Brabant]], the arts faculty, and certain doctrines of [[Thomas Aquinas]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Medieval Philosophy |first=John |last=Marenbon |location=London |publisher=Routledge |year=1998 |page=291 |isbn=0-415-05377-3 }}</ref> The forty-ninth item on the list was the assertion that God is incapable of moving the universe because it implies the existence of a void.<ref name=black/>

Tempier also overturned [[Aristotle]] on one point: [[God]] could have created more than one world (given His omnipotence) yet we know by revelation He made only one. Tempier's stress on God's omnipotence also opened up all kinds of possibilities for the understanding of the cosmos. In his effort to defend the abilities and unique rights of the Creator, Tempier's propositions led to the new approach taken to understand the workings of celestial and terrestrial bodies.  By rejecting that astral bodies were animated, incorruptible and eternal, refuting the idea that their motion was the result of something comparable to animal desires and denying that stars had any influence over individuals, he showed that Christians were prepared to refute Aristotle's world view along with some basic assumptions held by Greek learning.

It is  not clear what Tempier's intentions were in issuing this condemnation. Nevertheless, scholars have written that "the Parisian Condemnation of 1277 is symbolic of an intellectual crisis in the University. It is indicative of fundamental shifts in speculative thought and cultural perception which occurred in the late 13th century,  which portend aspects of modern thought."<ref>{{cite book |first=Kent Jr. |last=Emery |first2=Andreas |last2=Speer |chapter=After the Condemnation of 1277: New Evidence, New Perspectives, and Grounds for New Interpretations |title=Nach der Verurteilung von 1277: Philosophie und Theologie an der Universität von Paris im letzten Viertel des 13. Jahrhunderts. Studien und Texte |series=Miscellanea Mediaevalia |volume=28 |location=Berlin |publisher=Walter De Gruyter |year=2000 |page=1 |isbn=3-11-016933-9 }}</ref>

==Opposition to and repeal==
Tempier's prohibitions did not curtail the free discussion of [[Thomist]] doctrines and did little to limit their influence at the University of Paris.<ref name=John/>
His decree was actively opposed and eventually overturned in 1325.<ref name=black>''The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace: A History of Space from [[Dante]] to the Internet'', Margaret Wertheim, [[W.W. Norton & Company]], 2000, pg. 102.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Averroism]]
*[[Godfrey of Fontaines]]
*[[Omnipotence paradox]]
*[[Vacuum]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{BBKL|t/tempier_e|band=22|autor= Bernd Goebel|artikel= Tempier, Étienne (Stephanus von Orléans)|spalten=1332-1339}}
*[http://www.economist.com/diversions/millennium/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=346780#top Economist.com: "Millennium issue: The church and science"] {{in lang|en}}
*[http://www.philosophypages.com/hy/3q.htm Philosophy Pages: Scholasticism's End] {{in lang|en}}
*[http://www.calames.abes.fr/pub/ms/MAZA13779 Lettres d'Étienne Tempier, évêque de Paris, datées de 1277]
*Hans Thijssen (2003) [http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2008/entries/condemnation/ "Condemnation of 1277"]. '' [[The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]'' (Fall 2008 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.).

{{Subject bar |portal1= Biography |portal2= Catholicism |portal3= France}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tempier, Etienne}}
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
[[Category:1279 deaths]]
[[Category:13th-century French philosophers]]
[[Category:13th-century French Roman Catholic bishops]]
[[Category:Bishops of Paris]]
[[Category:Catholic philosophers]]
[[Category:Chancellors of the University of Paris]]
[[Category:Clergy from Orléans]]
[[Category:French male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:French Roman Catholic writers]]
[[Category:Scholastic philosophers]]
[[Category:University of Paris]]