Paper short abstract:

This paper aims to examine the techniques used in the thirteenth century to deal with the spread of heresy in Medieval Universities, specifically in Paris and Oxford. It emphasizes the cases of condemnation and preceding procedures that compiled the list and the content of condemned propositions.

Paper long abstract:

The main focus of this paper is the thirteenth-century condemnations at Paris and Oxford universities. These events reflected the conflict between scientific and theological doctrines in the High Middle Ages. The most imposing above all, the condemnation of 1277, is even regarded as “the birth of modern science” by renowned physicist and historian of science Pierre Duhem. A wide range of Latin translations from Greek and Arabic became available to the Christian west throughout the thirteenth century. A significant part of these texts was Aristotle's philosophical works and commentaries of Averroes, which influenced various prominent scholars, including Siger of Brabant, Boethius of Dacia, and Thomas Aquinas. They formulated theories inspired by Aristotle's scientific principles that were often deemed heretical by the church. Because universities were ecclesiastical institutions, local churchmen were compelled to respond to the great quantity of non-Christian literature. As a result, ecclesiastical authorities encouraged by Papal letters and several anti-Aristotelian scholars began to use various condemnation practices. They aimed to draw a line between Aristotle’s scientific theories and theological views and to restore the misplaced borderline between heresy and orthodoxy. The paper seeks to explore cases of condemnation as a technique employed against heretical literature and ideas. It also examines the procedure and methods (e.g., rhetoric) that were utilized in compiling the list of condemned ideas and reviews the preceding events. Initially, lecturing on Aristotle’s libri naturales, his Metaphysics, and Commentaries of the same was prohibited. Subsequently, the ideas themselves were condemned multiple times at the university of Paris and Oxford. Overall, the main objective is to scrutinize the aforementioned techniques that were applied to resist the spread of heretical literature and the practice of teaching them in university environments during the thirteenth century.