The Quaestiones super Physica Aristotelis traditionally attributed to Iohannes Canonicus survive in over 35 manuscripts and at least 8 printings from 1475 to 1520. Yet historians have disagreed about the century, the place of origin, the name and the institutional position of the author. This brief paper combines old and new evidence proving that the text was authored by an Augustinian Canon Regular of the Cathedral of Tortosa named Francesc Marbres, a Catalan from Barcelona, while he was Master of Arts (...) at the University of Toulouse around 1330. (shrink)

Himbert of Garda was a little-known Franciscan theologian who studied at Paris around 1320 and probably served as Francis of Meyronnes’ secretary. His commentary on the Sentences provides precious insights on the development of Franciscan thought at Paris, connecting Francis of Meyronnes’ refined presentations of doctrine with raw academic debates between bachelors and masters in the Faculty of Theology. An appendix presents Himbert’s discussion of intrinsic degrees in Book I d.36, and both redactions of his treatment of the formal distinction (...) in the context of the divine attributes in Book I d.8, as well as parallel texts from Francis of Meyronnes. A second appendix provides a full question- and citation-list for Himbert’s commentary on the Sentences. (shrink)

In Lyon in 1497 Badius printed the Sentences questions and other material attributed to the Dominican Robert Holcot, active at Oxford in the early 1330s. It turns out that the so-called De imputabi...

In Lyon in 1497 Badius printed the Sentences questions and other material attributed to the Dominican Robert Holcot, active at Oxford in the early 1330s. It turns out that the so-called De imputabi...

Bulletin de Philosophie Médiévale, Volume 62, Issue, Page 335-338, January 2020.

This article examines the author, date, place, sources and reception of the Quaestiones libri Physicorum by the Catalan Augustinian Canon Francesc Marbres, usually attributed to “John the Canon.” The Quaestiones are perhaps the most influential philosophical work by an Augustinian Canon in the university era. From Barcelona, Marbres became a Canon of Tortosa Cathedral, a Master of Arts at Toulouse, and an advanced student in theology, probably at Paris, where he died. In his Quaestiones, compiled around 1330, his main sources (...) were works, primarily Sentential commentaries, by Franciscan theologians active at Paris from John Duns Scotus to Gerald Odonis. The Quaestiones survive in only two fourteenth- century manuscripts, described here, but at least 37 manuscripts and eight printings from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries attest to its later reception, which is traced down to the present day. Appended to the article is an annotated question- and citation-list. In part II of this... (shrink)

This is Part II of a two-part study on the questions on Aristotles’ Physics by Francesc Marbres, the artist commonly known as “John the Canon.” Although written around 1330, only two fourteenth-century manuscripts preserve the work, but it became so popular around 1450 that dozens of fifteenth-century manuscripts containing the work survive and it was printed eight times from 1475 to 1520. Here the manuscripts and early prints are described, and then an attempt is made to trace the tradition of (...) the text using structural differences, the colophons and variant readings in the question-titles and small passages. These three sets of data turn out to be insufficient for constructing a stemma; instead they provide evidence of extensive contamination, suggesting that many scribes and printers employed more than one witness. This conclusion reinforces what we learn from marginalia and from information about the Oxford curriculum: the questions on the Physics by the mysterious “John the Canon” played an active rol... (shrink)

This is Part II of a two-part study on the questions on Aristotles’ Physics by Francesc Marbres, the artist commonly known as “John the Canon.” Although written around 1330, only two fourteenth-century manuscripts preserve the work, but it became so popular around 1450 that dozens of fifteenth-century manuscripts containing the work survive and it was printed eight times from 1475 to 1520. Here the manuscripts and early prints are described, and then an attempt is made to trace the tradition of (...) the text using structural differences, the colophons and variant readings in the question-titles and small passages. These three sets of data turn out to be insufficient for constructing a stemma; instead they provide evidence of extensive contamination, suggesting that many scribes and printers employed more than one witness. This conclusion reinforces what we learn from marginalia and from information about the Oxford curriculum: the questions on the Physics by the mysterious “John the Canon” played an active rol... (shrink)