The Friar and the Philosopher: William of Moerbeke and the Rise of Aristotle’s Science in Medieval Europe

171 Pages·2022·12.16 MB·English

by  Pieter Beullens

The Friar and the Philosopher
William of Moerbeke was a prolific medieval translator of Aristotle and
other ancient philosophical and scientific authors from Greek into Latin, and
he played a decisive role in the acceptance of Aristotelian philosophy in the
Latin world. He is often criticized for an allegedly deficient translation
method.
However, this book argues that his approach was a deliberate attempt to
allow readers to reach the correct understanding of the source texts in accord-
ance with the medieval view of the role of the translator. William’s project to
make all genuine works of Aristotle – and also of other important authors
from Antiquity – available in Latin is framed against the background of intel-
lectual life in the 13th century, the deliberate policy of his Dominican order
to reconcile Christian doctrine with worldly knowledge, and new trends in
book production that influenced the spread of the new translations. William
of Moerbeke’s seemingly modest acts of translation started an intellectual
revolution, the impact of which extended from the Middle Ages into the early
modern era.
The Friar and the Philosopher will appeal to researchers and students alike
interested in Medieval perceptions of Aristotle as well as other works from
Antiquity.
Pieter Beullens (b. 1967) studied classics and philosophy at the universities of
Antwerp and Leuven (Belgium). He published the critical edition of
Aristotle’s History of Animals in the Latin translation by William of
Moerbeke (with Fernand Bossier, two volumes, 2000–2020). His PhD
research centred on the working methods of late medieval translators (A
Methodological Approach to Anonymously Transmitted Medieval Translations
of Philosophical and Scientific Texts: The Case of Bartholomew of Messina;
KU Leuven, 2020). He currently works as a postdoctoral research fellow of
the Research Foundation – Flanders at the KU Leuven (2021–2024).
Studies in Medieval History and Culture
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For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.
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The Friar and the Philosopher
William of Moerbeke and the Rise of
Aristotle’s Science in Medieval Europe
Pieter Beullens
First published in English 2023
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
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© 2023 Pieter Beullens
The right of Pieter Beullens to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
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registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
Published in Dutch by Uitgeverij Damon 2019
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book.
ISBN: 978-1-032-30521-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-30522-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-30554-5 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003305545
Typeset in Times New Roman
by SPi Technologies India Pvt Ltd (Straive)
Contents
Preface viii
Shoulders 1
Further reading 3
Notes 4
1 Model 5
Appearing and being 6
Teacher and pupil 7
Observation and inventory 8
Cause and effect 11
The mouldy library 12
Shaping an oeuvre 14
On fire 16
Further reading 17
Notes 18
2 Precursors 19
A Greek crisis 20
A king stuck in the middle 20
Curator of culture 21
The logic of the consul 22
By the new book 23
The caliph’s dream 26
Aristotle and the Arabic mind 26
Multicultural Toledo 27
The translator at work 28
An embassy to Constantinople 29
A Venetian from Constantinople 29
A judge from Pisa 30
The translator’s library 32
vi Contents
Demand and supply 34
Aristotle in the ‘school’ of Salerno 34
Aristotle crossing the Alps 35
Aristotle and the Mont Saint-Michel 37
Aristotle crossing the Channel 37
To the classrooms 39
Further reading 42
Notes 42
3 Project 46
A work of titans 47
A manual for the translator? 48
According to the rule book? 50
Beyond the book 52
Animals and their procreation 52
The hypothesis put to the test 55
On the right line 58
Toward a complete Aristotle 59
The search continues 61
Further reading 63
Notes 64
4 Order 68
The inventory of nature 69
A brother from Cologne 71
A philosopher above criticism? 74
A saint in training 75
Thomas and the translations 77
A preferential relationship? 80
On commission? 82
A piece of good fortune 84
Further reading 85
Notes 86
5 Network 89
An exceptional manuscript 90
Over the translator’s shoulder 91
A papal pause 92
At the papal court 94
The pope’s penitentiarius 96
The second council of Lyons 97
Another interregnum 98
In the library of the popes 100
Contents vii
A new light 102
A new friend 103
By good fortune? 104
Leaving the shadow? 105
Further reading 107
Notes 108
6 Diplomat 110
Moerbeke, Moerbeke, or Morbecque? 110
Between French Flanders and Greece 112
In the pope’s service 114
A memorial in stone? 116
Further reading 118
Notes 118
7 Success 120
A Spanish cardinal 120
Aristotle under fire again 122
In the bookstore 123
On track for a monopoly? 126
Form and content 128
First-hand 129
Further reading 132
Notes 133
8 Fall 135
Translater en François 135
Out of the shadow 137
Under fire 138
A break with the past 139
The revolution that never took place 141
The verdict 143
Further reading 145
Notes 145
Appendix I: Chronological guide 147
Appendix II: Guide to the translations by William of
Moerbeke and their contents 151
Index 158
Preface
Rise and fall, progress and decline are conventional images used to describe
evolutions in history. After the greatness of classical Antiquity came the
darkness of the medieval period, during which the achievements of earlier
times remained hidden and unstudied, until the humanists of the Renaissance
rediscovered the treasures of ancient scholarship.
Generalisations are misrepresentations. Broad strokes cover up finer lines.
Throughout the millennium that is traditionally called the Middle Ages, the
association with Antiquity was appreciated and maintained. Especially the
link with Roman times was felt vividly present, and the linguistic background
stayed unchanged. Latin still was the language of knowledge and research,
and education could be achieved only through the study of Latin authors.
The tie with Greek science and philosophy was more problematic. Expertise
in that field was highly prized yet difficult to attain because of the language
barrier. For many centuries, few Greek texts, apart from those translated in
Antiquity or assimilated by Roman writers, reached the readers in western
Europe.
That situation changed significantly in the 12th and 13th centuries. In
quick succession, many previously unknown texts with a Greek background
arrived in the form of Latin translations through various channels. Their
contents produced important shifts in the way of thinking among philoso-
phers and students of science and medicine, enough for modern scholars to
describe these centuries as early forms of ‘renaissance.’
Research and literature about the great thinkers of the period are abun-
dantly available. The same cannot be said about the learned men who trig-
gered this significant evolution, the translators who mastered enough Greek
to reveal the authoritative writings of the ancient philosophers and scientists
to the Latin world. Most overviews of intellectual history name a few among
them and stress the importance of their activity without further detail.
However, these translators’ decisions regarding the selection and interpreta-
tion of texts determined which source material other thinkers and scholars
could use. In that manner, they guided the course of important intellectual
changes in the later Middle Ages, which merged into the humanist movement
of the Renaissance with far less dramatical shifts than is traditionally thought.
Preface ix
This book aims to do justice to the efforts of the medieval translators. The
centre of attention lies with William of Moerbeke, arguably the most influen-
tial translator of his time. His work is well studied, but most scholarship cir-
culates in various foreign languages. As an unfortunate result, English
publications often rely on inaccurate and outdated secondary sources. It is
this book’s ambition to provide an accessible introduction to the topic for the
general and the academic reader while bringing an up-to-date account of
current scholarship and recent publications.
Over the years, many people have contributed to my personal development
and to my growing understanding of medieval translators, in particular
William of Moerbeke. Many names are recorded in this book, others were on
my mind as inspirations for its lines of thought. I am especially grateful to
Jenny van de Laar and John van Gortel (Damon Publishers, Eindhoven) for
their belief in the initial Dutch version of this book and for their willingness
to publish it. Piet Gerbrandy (University of Amsterdam) kindly supported
the project and wrote a foreword. Without their backing, the English version
would probably not exist. The same gratitude goes to editor Michael
Greenwood and to the press’s reviewers for accepting the book in this series.