John Foxal (
c. 1415–1474),[1] also spelled Foxholes, Foxhalls, Foxhals or Foxall,[1][2] was an English
Franciscan theologian, philosopher and prelate who served as the
archbishop of Armagh and
primate of Ireland from 1471 until his death. An
Oxford University graduate, he lectured in Germany and Italy before returning to the Isles as a bishop.
On 16 December 1471,
Pope Sixtus IV appointed Foxal to succeed
John Bole as archbishop of Armagh. Bole had left the archdiocese bankrupt and Foxal had to borrow 1,100
florins from Italian bankers like the
Bardi. Although Foxal received the
pallium and was consecrated as a bishop in England after the spring of 1472, he was unable to actually take possession of the archdiocese because of his financial problems.[5] He appointed proctors to govern the see while he stayed in
London trying to raise funds.[1] He was dead by 23 November 1474 and his successor,
Edmund Connesburgh, was appointed on 5 June 1475.[6]
Works
The following works have been attributed to Foxal:
Start of Flores e libris Posteriorum Analyticorum Aristotelis in the Parisian manuscript
Commentarium in I Sententiarum Scoti, a commentary on the first book of
Duns Scotus' Opus Oxoniense, found in a single manuscript[7][8]
Commentarium in Porphyrium Scoti, found in many manuscripts and printed at Venice in 1483 and again in 1492[9]
A collection of works found only in the manuscript Vat. lat. 9402, which also has a copy of the Commentarium in Porphyrium Scoti:
Tractatus de distinctionibus et formalitatibus (or Tractatus de formalitatibus et distinctionibus), a work referred to in the Commentarium in Porphyrium Scoti[14][16]
Flores e libris Posteriorum Analyticorum Aristotelis, found in three manuscripts and printed at Venice in 1509[16][17]
Expositio super Metaphysicam Antonii Andreae, found in a single incomplete copy[16][18]
Tractatus de octo speciebus distinctionis actionum (or Tractatus de octo generibus vel modis actionum), a work referred to in the Commentarium in Porphyrium Scoti[19]
Expositio Universalium Scoti, printed at Venice in 1508 and 1512[16]
Expositio super Conflatum Francisci Mayronis, a hypothetical work[20]