The Quaestio prima in Pope Adrian VI’s Quaestiones quodlibeticae and his Approach to Poverty

The pontificate of Adrian VI has been judged very variedly in the biographies of him that have appeared over the centuries. Recent biographers emphasize his lack of sensitivity to curial administrative culture as well as his integrity and sincerity in his efforts to reform the church. Not only as pope was Adrian committed to reforming the church in capite et membris, but also as professor at the Louvain Faculty of Theology (1490 to 1515) he strove to bring priests and prelates back to their original vocation and to restore celibacy. And even before accepting his professorship, he was well aware of the fact that authenticity and integrity are regarded as virtues that can help give the church plausibility in its proclamation of its message. This conviction appears in his Quaestiones quodlibeticae. They are a proof of his pastoral concern. In the quaestio prima, he denounces, as a young theologian, the problem of poverty. It is less well known that Adrian was outspoken in calling poverty a scandalum. In his view, poverty was contrary to the order willed by God. In this article the rigorous way in which Adrian denounces poverty is explained.