SOURCE: Pascoe, Louis B. “Jean Gerson: Mysticism, Conciliarism, and Reform.” Annuarium Historiae Concilorum 6 (1974): 135-53.

In following essay, Pascoe emphasizes the importance of the concept of hierarchical order in Gerson's writings, arguing that it links several aspects of his thought.

Within the past ten years our understanding of the ecclesiology of Jean Gerson (1363-1429) has undergone a considerable, if not revolutionary, transformation. Until the work of G. H. M. Posthumus Meyjes, Gerson's ecclesiology was commonly regarded as a form of radical conciliarism. His ideas on the church were frequently compared to the laicizing tradition of Marsilius of Padua (d. 1342), and William of Ockham (d. 1349). The significance of Meyjes' work was to reverse that interpretation. As a result of his detailed and extensive study, the ecclesiological orientation of Gerson's thought became more accurately identified. Instead of the traditional association with Marsilius and Ockham, Gerson emerged from Meyjes' study as a...