John Major (philosopher) facts for kids

John Major in a woodcut from his time.

John Major (also known as John Mair) was a Scottish thinker, religious expert, and historian. He lived from 1467 to 1550. Many people admired him during his time, and he influenced many great thinkers. He was a famous teacher, and his books were collected and printed again and again across Europe.

Major had a sensible and logical way of looking at old texts like those by Aristotle or the Bible. He also believed in questioning things. Later, during the time of humanism, people preferred a different approach that focused more on language and literature.

His ideas were very modern for his time. He influenced many areas, including:

Logic: How we understand words and ideas.
Science: Ideas about how things move and tiny, tiny parts.
Politics: He believed people had more power than kings.
Church: He thought church councils were more important than Popes.
International Law: He argued for the human rights of native people in the Americas.

Major believed it was more important to understand the truth clearly than to use fancy words. Because of this, his Latin writing style was not always seen as elegant. However, his writings tell us a lot about his life, like how he was "short of stature." He was a very curious and observant man. He used his own experiences, like earthquakes in Paisley or storms at sea, to explain his ideas.

John Major's Life Story
Major's Important Ideas
Some Books by John Major
See also

John Major's Life Story

Early School Days

John Major was born around 1467 in a place called Gleghornie, near North Berwick, Scotland. He went to school there when he was young. He then attended grammar school in nearby Haddington, East Lothian. Major said his schoolmaster was very strict. He might have left school if his mother hadn't encouraged him to stay. He and his brother did well in their studies.

Major remembered staying in Haddington until he was quite old. He heard the sound of King James III's cannons firing at Dunbar Castle in 1479. He also remembered a comet in 1488, which some believed foretold the King's defeat. In 1490, Major left home for the first time. He decided to go to Paris to study, likely influenced by Robert Cockburn, another man from Haddington who became an important bishop.

University Studies

We don't know if Major studied at a university in Scotland first. He said he never saw St Andrews University when he was young. He seems to have prepared for Paris at Cambridge in England. In 1492, he attended "Gods House," which later became Christ's College, Cambridge. He remembered the church bells there. He was well-prepared and left for Paris after only three terms.

In 1493, he started at the University of Paris, France. This was the most important university in Europe at the time. He studied at the Collège Sainte-Barbe and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1495. He got his master's degree in 1496. Major was greatly influenced by the ideas of John Buridan. Buridan's ideas later influenced famous scientists like Copernicus and Galileo.

In 1496, Major became a student master at the Collège de Montaigu. He began studying theology. He met many famous scholars, including Erasmus, Rabelais, and Reginald Pole. In 1497, he became very ill. After that, he often had dreams, headaches, and felt very sleepy. In 1499, he moved to the College of Navarre. He received his Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree in 1501. In 1505, his writings on logic were published for the first time. In 1506, he became a Doctor of Sacred Theology. He taught at the Collège de Montaigu and the famous Sorbonne.

Later Career and Return to Scotland

In 1510, Major discussed important questions about the Spanish discovery of America. He argued that the native people had rights to their land and their freedom. He said these rights could not be taken away without payment. He also used the new discoveries to show that new knowledge could always be found. He asked, "Hasn't Amerigo Vespucci found lands unknown to earlier geographers? Why can't the same happen in other areas?"

At the same time, he didn't like it when humanists criticized the logical way of studying texts, including the Bible. He believed these logical questions were like a "ladder" to help people understand the Bible better. However, in 1512, he learned Greek from Girolamo Aleandro, showing he also valued humanist learning.

In 1518, Major returned to Scotland. He became the leader, or Principal, of the University of Glasgow. He also held other important church positions. He traveled back to Paris several times. Once, he was delayed by a storm at sea. Another time, he had dinner with his friend, Cardinal Wolsey, in England. Wolsey offered Major a job at his new college in University of Oxford, but Major said no. In 1528, King Francis I of France made Major a French citizen.

In 1533, Major became the Provost of St Salvator's College at the University of St Andrews. Many important Scottish figures, including John Knox and George Buchanan, studied there. Major missed Paris, saying he often thought about going back to teach there. He died in 1550, probably on May 1st. His books were read all over Europe, and his name was respected. However, soon after his death, the Scottish Reformation began, which changed how people viewed his traditional way of thinking in Scotland.

Major's Important Ideas

Influence on Historians

Major's book, De Gestis Scotorum (1521), was a patriotic effort to highlight his home country. But it also tried to remove myths and legends from history. He wanted to base history on facts and evidence. Later Scottish historians, like his student Hector Boece, followed and improved on his scholarly approach.

Impact on Key Thinkers

In 1506, Major earned his doctorate in theology in Paris. He became a teacher and rose through the ranks, even serving as Rector for a short time. He was a famous expert in logic and philosophy. People said he was a very clear and powerful lecturer, attracting students from all over Europe. However, his written Latin style was seen as plain by some.

Major's ideas were very important for the issues of his time. He believed that God's power was unlimited and that individual faith was very important. He also thought that authority in the church belonged to the whole church, not just the Pope. Similarly, he argued that power in a kingdom belonged to the people, not just the king. This meant people could take back their power if a king was not doing his job well. It's not surprising that he believed people were naturally free.

His ideas spread through his students to leading thinkers of the day. This included a group of Spanish thinkers who taught John Calvin and likely Ignatius of Loyola. In 1522, a scholar named Domingo de San Juan called Major "the revered master, a man celebrated the world over."

Connection to John Knox

Major wrote, "Our native soil attracts us with a secret and unexplainable sweetness and does not allow us to forget it." He returned to Scotland in 1518. Because of his success in Paris, he became the Principal of the University of Glasgow. In 1523, he moved to the University of St Andrews. He returned to Paris in 1525 and then came back to Scotland in 1531. He became the Provost of St Salvator's College, St Andrews until his death in 1550.

One of his most famous students was John Knox, who was also from Haddington. Knox said that Major's work was "held as an oracle on the matters of religion." Knox's own strong beliefs, like God's complete freedom, the importance of the Bible, and questioning earthly power, seem to come from Major's ideas. It might seem surprising that Major chose to stay in the Roman Catholic Church, like his friend Erasmus. However, he did imagine a national church for Scotland. Major also inspired other Scottish Reformers, including the Protestant martyr Patrick Hamilton and the Latin writer George Buchanan.

Empiricism and Common Sense

Major and his group were interested in how language works, whether spoken, written, or in our minds. He looked at many questions from a "nominalist" point of view. This was a way of thinking that started in the Middle Ages and continued into the time of Scottish and other European thinkers who believed in empiricism (learning through experience).

According to scholar Alexander Broadie, Major's ideas influenced thinkers as late as the 18th and 19th centuries, including the Scottish School of Common Sense. Major's very logical and technical way of thinking, along with his plain writing style and his loyalty to the Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation, might explain why his influence is not always fully recognized today.

Human Rights Ideas

Major's ideas on moral philosophy were very important. He believed in looking at the details of each individual case, which later became strong in Jesuit teaching. His legal views were also influential. His writings were studied and quoted in important debates in Burgos, Spain, in 1512. These debates led to a major decision in Spanish law. It recognized the native people of America as free human beings with rights, including the right to liberty and property. Even though the Spanish crown didn't always enforce this perfectly, it is seen as a starting point for human rights law.

Some Books by John Major

Heinrich Totting von Oytha's shorter version of Adam de Wodeham's Oxford Lectures, edited by Major, Paris 1512.
Lectures in logic (Lyons 1516)
Reportata Parisiensia by Duns Scotus co-edited by Major, Paris 1517–18
Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard (In Libros Sententiarum primum et secundum commentarium) Paris 1519
History of Greater Britain (Historia majoris Britanniae, tam Angliae quam Scotiae) Paris 1521
De Gestis Scotorum Paris 1521
Commentary on Aristotle's physical and ethical writings Paris 1526
Quaestiones logicales Paris 1528
Commentary on the Four Gospels Paris 1528
Disputationes de Potestate Papae et Concilii (Paris)
Commentary on Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (his last book)