Canon law and scholasticism: the question of forced baptism in Spain and Europe in the Middle Ages and modern times

Abstract

Throughout the Middle Ages, bitter controversy surrounded the question of the sacrament of faith. Saint Thomas Aquinas and his followers were hostile to the practice of forced baptism, while Duns Scotus and his followers were in favor. This conflict between Thomism and Scotism gave rise to a veritable scholastic controversy over baptism. At the crossroads of all these debates, the child was at the heart of a legal conflict between parents and prince. The aim was to assess the rights of parental power versus the rights of the prince, and to determine the status of infidels and Jews in society.