John of Freiburg

John of Freiburg

Johannes de Friburgo

1250–1314
Wikipedia

John of Freiburg (Johannes de Friburgo, c. 1250–1314) was a German Dominican friar and canonist who served as lector at the Dominican convent in Freiburg im Breisgau. He is best known for his Summa confessorum (completed c. 1297–98), a comprehensive manual for confessors that reorganized and updated Raymond of Penyafort's Summa de casibus with material from Hostiensis, Goffredus of Trani, William of Rennes, and the moral theology of Thomas Aquinas. The work became the standard confessor's handbook of the later Middle Ages, surviving in hundreds of manuscripts and shaping pastoral practice for over two centuries. John also compiled the Libellus quaestionum casualium and other pastoral aids.