Gerard of Abbeville

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Gerard of Abbeville (died 1272) was a theologian at the University of Paris, from 1257. He is known as an opponent of the mendicant orders[1], taking part in a concerted attack that temporarily affected their privileges[2].

His Contra adversarium perfectionis christianae of c. 1269, in support of William of St Amour, argued that extreme emphasis on poverty contradicted the Aristotelian doctrine of the mean[3], and undermined the basis of pastoral work[4]. It provoked replies from Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure[5]. From the Franciscan side, Bonaventure wrote Apologia pauperum, and John Peckham his Tractatus pauperis[6]. The Dominican Aquinas wrote his case on the "state of perfection" in De Perfectione Vitae Spiritualis contra Doctrinam Retrahentium a Religione (1270)[7].

On trinitarian theology, however, Gerard was much closer to the emerging Franciscan view[8]. With Aquinas, he was one of the developers of the quodlibet genre of open philosophical discussion, flourishing for about a century from his time[9]. His polemics used a combination of quodlibets and sermons[10].

He was a major benefactor of the Sorbonne library, leaving it around 300 books and manuscripts[11]; his collection was based on that of Richard Fournival, outstanding in Europe of his time[12].

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Lesley M. Smith and Benedicta Ward (editors), Intellectual Life in the Middle Ages: Essays Presented to Margaret Gibson (1992), p. 208.
  2. ^ James Henderson Burns, The Cambridge History of Medieval Political Thought c. 350-c. 1450 (1988), p. 635.
  3. ^ Virpi Mäkinen, Property Rights in the Late Medieval Discussion on Franciscan Poverty (2001),p. 41.
  4. ^ Gilleeds
  5. ^ David Knowles, The Religious Orders in England I (1979 edition), p. 221.
  6. ^ History of the Franciscan Movement (2)
  7. ^ History of Medieval Philosophy 272
  8. ^ Russell L. Friedman, Trinitarian Texts from the Franciscan Trinitarian Tradition, ca. 1265-85, in Cahiers de L'Institut Du Moyen-Âge Grec Et Latin, Volume 73 (2006), p. 22.
  9. ^ André Vauchez, Richard Barrie Dobson, Michael Lapidge, Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages (2001 translation), p. 1207.
  10. ^ Simon Tugwell, Albert & Thomas: Selected Writings (1988), p. 229.
  11. ^ Cornelius O'Boyle, The Art of Medicine: Medical Teaching at the University of Paris, 1250-1400 (1998), p. 161.
  12. ^ Jeremiah Hackett, Roger Bacon and the Sciences: Commemorative Essays (1997), p. 16.

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