scholarly journals Botany as a New Field of Knowledge in the Thirteenth Century: On the Genesis of the Specialized Sciences

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-75
Author(s):  
Mustafa Yavuz ◽  
Pilar Herraíz Oliva
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Huge Amount ◽  
New Curriculum ◽  
University Of Paris ◽  
The University ◽  
Special Case

The reception of the translations of Aristotelian and pseudo-Aristotelian works at the University of Paris in the thirteenth century promoted a new understanding of the sciences as specialized fields of knowledge. The huge amount of translations required a new organization of knowledge, which included novel subjects and categories. Among these there is a very special case, namely the pseudo-Aristotelian De plantis, translated from Arabic into Latin and then back into Greek to be re-translated into Latin again. De plantis was included in the new curriculum in Ripoll 109 (1230–1240 BCE), and constituted the main source for botanical studies until the sixteenth century. Throughout this paper we will explore the reception and impact of De plantis in both the Arabic and the Latin traditions. We aim to show its foundational role in the development of botany as a theoretical discipline within the natural sciences.

The Anonymous Peterhouse Master and the Natural Philosophy of Plants

Traditio ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 313-326
Author(s):  
R. James Long
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
The Other ◽  
Albert The Great ◽  
University Curricula ◽  
University Of Paris ◽  
The University ◽  
Latin Version

Early in the thirteenth century, probably within the first decade, a treatise on plants was translated from the Arabic by Alfred of Sareshel (or Alveredus Anglicus), which was to become the foundation of the science of botany for the Latin-speaking world. This treatise was until the sixteenth century universally ascribed to Aristotle and awarded all the authority accorded the Philosopher in the other sciences. Within a generation of the appearance of the Latin version the De plantis had become a set text in university curricula and by 1254 was prescribed by statute at the University of Paris as an examination subject. Roger Bacon was lecturing on the text at Paris already in the 1240s and a decade later Albert the Great was composing his monumental and never-to-be-surpassed commentary on the same text.

scholarly journals Towards a New Methodology for Natural Philosophy: Latin Averroism Revisited

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 131-155
Author(s):  
Pilar Herráiz Oliva
Keyword(s):  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Philosophical Movement ◽  
University Of Paris ◽  
Siger Of Brabant ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The University ◽  
Special Case ◽  
Shed Light

The reception of Aristotelian philosophy with Averroes’s commentaries in the thirteenth-century Latin world promoted a new way of understanding natural philosophy and its method. A very special case among the readers of such commentaries, mostly found at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Paris, are the so-called averroistae. What these averroistae actually were is still a matter of discussion in current scholarship, whereas there is kind of consensus regarding the main exponents of this philosophical movement, namely Siger of Brabant and Boethius of Dacia. The aim of this paper is to shed light on this topic by providing a re-definition of Averroism in the 13th century. To do this, I will analyse some of the most important works of the aforementioned authors in an attempt to clarify the specificity of their philosophical program.

Medieval Understandings of Charity

2019 ◽  
pp. 33-78
Author(s):  
Adam J. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Role Model ◽  
University Of Paris ◽  
Popular Representations ◽  
The University

This chapter discusses religious and moral ideas about charity, sanctity, and salvation, largely emanating from the University of Paris during the thirteenth century. Medieval representations of charity tended to focus on the almsgiver, not the recipient of charity. Much of the discussion about charity built on a long tradition of associating charity and the works of mercy with penance for sin. Thirteenth-century developments in confessional practices and a growing preoccupation with Purgatory as a real and terrifying place heightened the significance of the works of mercy. Moreover, confessional manuals and treatises on the virtues and vices identified charity as the virtue that most closely corresponded to the vice of avarice; in the increasingly commercial, profit-oriented economy of thirteenth-century Europe, charity therefore had additional social and religious appeal. The growing veneration for charitable work, for example, is reflected in “the sanctification of charity” during the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries, as sanctity increasingly became tied to the practice of charity. Indeed, popular representations of the saints canonized during this period depicted their extraordinary willingness to make personal sacrifices, debasing themselves and suffering in an effort to alleviate the suffering of others. Hagiographical accounts exalted these charitable saints' selfless service as holy and Christ-like and served as a role model for others to follow.

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