Quodlibet VII

The editon of Henry of Ghent's Quodlibet VII makes available the critical text of an influential work. Written near the end of 1282, this Quodlibet is perhaps best known because it contains Henry's initial discussion of the papal bull Ad fructus uberes, which had granted certain exaggerated privileges to the mendicants. Henry's text puts forward arguments which limit wide interpretations of the bull and sets forth a position which favors the secular clergy. These arguments set the stage for discussions of the privileges granted by the papal bull. Indeed, Richard of Mediavilla in his Quaestio Privilegii Papae Martini makes a case for the mendicants by addressing the arguments of Quodlibet VII point by point. Henry himself reiterates and elaborates his arguments in subsequent Quodlibetaand in the Tractatus super facto praelatorum et fratrum. His analyses of Ad fructus uberes lead to discussions of poverty in the religious life, which Henry argues is not a perfection but a means to perfection.

Quodlibet VII also treats more philosophical matters, e.g. transcendentals, God's essence and knowledge, knowledge of the divine essence, genus, difference, matter, relation, quantity, human knowledge, and the human body. In addition, the text contains a response to some claims in Berthaud of Saint denis' Quodlibet I, q17. This fellow secular master has not been studied or edited, but he emerges here and in the Tractatus as a secular master with whom Henry disagreed.

The edited text was established from the manuscript PARIS, Bibl. Nat., lat. 15350 and from manuscripts copied from a first university exemplar in paris. Three manuscripts, copied from a possible second exemplar, are collated for on pecia only. The critical study explains the editiorial method, which is complicated by two facts. First, the text of Quodlibet VII in the manuscript PARIS, Bibl. Nat., lat. 15350 seems to be copied from two different models. There is a noticeable change of ink in the text at the beginning of question 23. The text of this manuscript prior to this change is rather sonsestently superior to the first university exemplar. After this change, the text although occasionally equal or superior to the text of the first university exemplar, will often need to be coorected by the readings of the first exemplar. The second complication is that for three of the peciae, specifically peciae 10, 11, and 13, the manuscripts that depend on this exemplar form definite subgroups, probably because these peciae were either corrected or replaced.

"Quodlibet VII" was written by Henry of Ghent.

"Quodlibet VII" was edited by Gordon Wilson.

Gordon A. Wilson is Professor Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.

Yes, "Quodlibet VII" is part of the "Ancient and Medieval Philosophy - Series 2: Henrici de Gandavo Opera Omnia" series. It's book 11 in the series.

Henry of Ghent, who taught initially at the Faculty of Arts in Paris before 1276 and subsequently at the Faculty of Theology in Paris from 1276 until his death in 1293, was an original and extremely important thinker. A major influence on John Duns Scotus, Henry's ideas had a direct impact on the scholastic discussion into the early modern period. His two major works, namely his - fifteen Quodlibeta and his Quaestiones Ordinariae (Summa), along with works of his that have never before been printed, are being published in modern critical edition in the Ancient and Medieval Philosophy - Series 2, Henrici de Gandavo Opera omnia.

Launched in the 1970s by Raymond Macken, who served as its first general coordinator, the series is now coordinated by Gordon A. Wilson of the University of North Carolina at Asheville, USA.

In association with the De Wulf-Mansion Centre.

Editorial Coordinator

Bernd Goehring, Wagner College, USA, and KU Leuven, Belgium

Editorial Board

Valérie Cordonier, Centre National de la Recherches Scientifique, France
Kent Emery Jr., University of Notre Dame, USA
Russell Friedman, KU Leuven, Belgium
Guy Guldentops, Universität zu Köln, Germany
Jenny Pelletier, KU Leuven, Belgium
Pasquale Porro, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy
Carlos Steel, KU Leuven, Belgium
Gordon A. Wilson, University of North Carolina at Asheville, USA

Proposals

Proposals and enquiries can be sent to  Russell L. Friedman. Please send a preliminary abstract (3-4 pp.) and a short bio. Upon approval of this abstract, the full manuscript will be submitted to international peer review.

Please make use of the submission form to present the full manuscript to our board.
Authors interested in Open Access can consult the available funding options.

Links & Resources

Critical Study

1. Introduction

2. The editions and the manuscripts


3. Historical elements used for the reconstruction of the text: the text examined exteriorly


4. The general relationships of the manuscripts: the text examined interiorly


5. Ms. 25 and the university exemplar


6. The reconstitution of the text of Quodlibet VII


7. History of the text of Quodlibet VII


8. The general tradition of Quodlibet VII represented by a diagram


9. Technique of the edition


10. Symbols of the manuscript

Quodlibet VII

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