This article briefly outlines the life of William of Ockham and, taking a historical approach, will focus in particular on his involvement in the controversy in the Franciscan Order. This will cover the background and circumstances of the time he thrived, the crux of the issue at hand, how he handles the problem, the outcome and the consequences. General observations will be outlined that will lead to the conclusion. William of Ockham was born around 1287 in the village of Ockham in Surrey, east of London in England. At the tender age of around 9 or 13 Ockham was entrusted to the Franciscan Order. William studied and later taught at Oxford University. He was later controversially denounced by Pope John XXII for dangerous teachings while serving a house arrest from 1324 to 1328. William sided with the Franciscan general against the pope. In 1328 he fled to Munich and was excommunicated. He died around 1347 in Munich in the Holy Roman Empire. As a Western philosopher, he belonged to medieval philosophy in the school of scholasticism. William of Ockham's most important ideas are Ockham's Razor, Nominalism (Vacchetta; Kaye). It is interesting to note that William of Ockham was the most important scholar after Thomas Aquinas. He was a student of Duns Scotus both at Oxford University and in Paris. Scotism and the writings of Scotus in general heavily influenced William, but he later rivaled Scotism which was a realist approach by rejecting realism. He did this by being the greatest exponent of the nominalist school, the main rival of the Thomist and Scotist schools. As an English philosopher and scholastic theologian, William's intellectual life is filled with confident redefinition of existing philosophical concepts. William of Ockham is considered one of the most important exponents of Western philosophy in the Lumbian history. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999. McInery, Ralph. A History of Western Philosophy: Upto OckhamShand, John. Philosophy and Philosophers: An Introduction to Western Philosophy. London: UCL Press, 1993.Copleston, Frederick. A history of philosophy. Philosophy of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Vols 3Copleston, F.C., 1953. History of Philosophy, Volume III: From Ockham to Suarez. London: Search PressMarenbon, John. Routlege History of Philosophy. Medieval philosophy. vols. 3London 1998.Turner, William. "William of Ockham." The Catholic Encyclopedia. vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. April 18, 2011. Accessed: March 28, 2011. Kaye, Sharon. “William of Ockham (Occam, c. 1280 – c. 1349)”. (January 3, 2007) http://www.iep.utm.edu/ockham/ Accessed: March 28 2011.