청빈 논쟁의 법이론적 의의

This article aims to examine the influence of the poverty controversy, a theological debate within medieval Christian orders, on the formation and development of modern legal theory and thought. The medieval poverty controversy is an intellectual-historical concept encompassing internal discords and conflicts within the Franciscan Order during the 13th and 14th centuries regarding their religious belief in voluntary evangelical poverty. It further includes the ideological clashes between the Order and secular masters, as well as the confrontations between the Order and the Papacy. While the primary axis of the poverty controversy undoubtedly concerned the interpretation of Christian doctrine, it is equally true that the debate expanded significantly into the realms of legal theory, jurisprudence, and political thought. This article delineates the implications of the poverty controversy for legal theory and thought through the following three perspectives: First, in the course of the poverty controversy, the legal personality of corporate bodies was explicitly recognized for the first time in history, thereby laying the foundation for the subsequent development of modern corporate personality theory. Second, the discussions regarding the separation of ownership (dominium) and use (usus) of property, which were raised during the controversy, led to the formation of 17th-century voluntarist theories of rights. Third, against the backdrop of escalating conflict between the Franciscan Order and the Papacy, a fundamental reflection was undertaken regarding the tension between the two meanings of the concept of ius: namely, subjective rights and objective law. As a result of this reflection, a modern ethical and legal-philosophical perspective emerged that places the concepts of liberty and will at its center.