William, named after the village of Ockham in Surrey, near London, England, where he was born, studied theology and the arts at Oxford University. His primary focus while working on his doctorate was Peter Lombard's (1100-1160) Books of Sentences, the official theology textbook, and all students were required to write detailed commentaries and disputations consisting of questions with replies and rebuttals. Ockham's got him in trouble with the chancellor, a devout Thomist, who promptly had him arrested for heresy. Instead of defending himself before the Holy See at Avignon, the young Ockham took every opportunity to further criticize the currently accepted interpretations, such as whether Jesus and his disciples possessed any property, raising questions about the relationship between papal and secular authority. The Holy See reprimanded him for his views but stopped just short of outright condemnation. Ockham was not intimidated. He went on to publish his controversial ideas. His Dialogus de Potestate Papae et Imperatoris (Dialogue on the Power of the Emperor and the Pope, 1339-1342), a charged critique of the temporal supremacy of the pope in favor of the idea of a secular state, lay the foundations for modern theories of government. Throughout his life, Ockham criticized Pope John XXII. He joined forces in 1328 with the Franciscan General Michael of Cesena. In Pisa they formed a new Franciscan order called the Spirituals. But eventually the Spirituals too found him too critical and expelled him from the order that he helped form. King Ludwig of Bavaria offered him protection in Munich.
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