Gerard of Abbeville

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 de Fournival, outstanding in Europe of his time.[12]

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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