Benedict Hesse of Cracow’s Question about Dispensation from Religious Vows from His Commentary on Matthew’s Gospe: Study and Critical Edition

Abstract

This article deals with Benedict Hesse of Cracow’s question about dispensation from religious vows preserved in MS Kraków, BJ 1369, ff. 26v–28v, which is a part of his Commentary on Matthew’s Gospel preserved in MS Kraków, BJ 1366, pp. 245–250 and in MS Città del Vaticano, BAV, Vat. lat. 14646, ff. 75va–77rb. The question was compiled between the year 1446 and March 7, 1448. Based on Aquinas’s thought, Hesse claims that there is no possibility of dispensing a monk from the three religious vows. The vow of obedience can be changed according to circumstances, but it cannot be dispensed. The solemnly professed chastity must always be kept by monks, even though there is a possibility of dispensing a secular priest from his obligation to keep chastity. Poverty belongs to the essence of religious life, therefore there is no possibility of dispensing from it, and each monk, even the abbot, is obliged to keep this vow.