Claude Frassen

Claude Frassen (1620–1711) was born at Péronne in Picardy and entered the Franciscan Observants. He took his doctorate at the Sorbonne and taught philosophy and theology for many years at the great Franciscan convent in Paris, where he also served as guardian. He held offices in his province and took part in the order's general chapters.

He is one of the principal representatives of seventeenth-century Scotism. His Philosophia academica presented the philosophy of the Franciscan school, and his Scotus academicus, published in four large volumes from 1672 to 1677, sets out the whole of Duns Scotus's theology according to the teaching method of the University of Paris, comparing the positions of the Thomists and other schools. The work was reprinted several times and remained in use in Franciscan houses of study well into the nineteenth century.

The library holds the Scotus academicus in the twelve-volume Roman edition, including the tomes on God, on the Trinity, on the angels, on creation and on grace. The first tome, on God in himself, is the natural starting point and shows the method of the whole work.