ROBERT KILWARDBY’S COMMENTARY ON THE SENTENCES OF PETER LOMBARD*

Gerhard Leibold

1. The Life and Works of Robert Kilwardby

Robert Kilwardby, a member of the , was born around 1215 in Leicestershire, England.1 Most likely no earlier than 1231, he enrolled as a student in the arts faculty at the . In accordance with university regulations, he could have received a Mas- ter of Arts degree around 1237 and held the position of master until 1245. He joined the Dominican order, most likely in England, before 1250 and studied at Oxford. Aft er lecturing on the Sentences and the Bible, he received his Masters degree in theology probably around 1256, before being elected provincial of the English Domini- cans in September 1261—and this is the earliest certain known date of his biography. To ward off an impending confl ict with the foreign superiors of the order upon Kilwardby’s reelection, Pope Gregory X appointed him on October 11, 1272. In 1278 he was appointed cardinal-bishop of Porto (near Rome). He died in Viterbo, Italy, on September 10, 1279. Even before he entered the order, Kilwardby’s role as master at the arts faculty (ca. 1237–1245) was far from insignifi cant. His lec- tures on , grammar, and ethics provide comprehensive insight into this faculty’s curriculum during the fi rst half of the thirteenth century. In accordance with a request from the superiors of his order, around 1250 he composed the treatise De ortu scientiarum, one of the best introductions to the theory of science the Middle Ages ever brought forth.

* English translation by Cornelia Oefelein, with revisions by Philipp Rosemann. 1 For this entire section, see Gerhard Leibold, “Robert Kilwardby,” in Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 7 (Munich, 1995), 907–08. 176 gerhard leibold

2. The Textual Tradition of the Quaestiones in quattuor libros Sententiarum

Our knowledge of the Quaestiones in quattuor libros Sententiarum derives from four textual witnesses that also form the basis for the fi ve-volume critical edition; each is described in detail in the relevant introductions.2 Books I and IV are found only in two manuscripts, Book II in four, and Book III in three.

2.1. The Extant Manuscripts (i) Worcester, Cathedral Chapter Library, F 43; (ii) Oxford, Merton College, L.1.3 (Coxe 131); (iii) Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Ottob. lat. 161; (iv) Toulouse, Bibliothèque municipale, 61.

Th e manuscripts preserved at Worcester and Oxford contain all four books of the Sentences commentary. Th e Worcester codex also includes a detailed index to the complete work. Th e Vatican manu- script contains only Books II and III, the one at Toulouse only Book II. Fragments of the questions on faith from Book III may be found in a manuscript from London.3

2.2. The Lost Manuscripts Th e fi ve manuscripts of the Sentences commentary described by Stegmüller4 are considered lost. Th ese are the manuscripts from the Oxford colleges Jesus and Oriel, as well as those from the Domini- can convent at Exeter, the abbey St. Augustine at Canterbury, and the Brigittine monastery of Syon House at Isleworth. Th e Dunholme

2 See Robert Kilwardby, Quaestiones in librum primum Sententiarum, ed. Johannes Schneider (Munich, 1986); Quaestiones in librum secundum Sententiarum, ed. Ger- hard Leibold (Munich, 1992); Quaestiones in librum tertium Sententiarum, Part 1: Christologie, ed. Elisabeth Gössmann (Munich, 1982); Quaestiones in librum tertium Sententiarum, Part 2: Tugendlehre, ed. Gerhard Leibold (Munich, 1985); Quaestiones in librum quartum Sententiarum, ed. Richard Schenk (Munich, 1993). 3 I would like to express my gratitude to the late Fr. Osmund Lewry for point- ing out this manuscript to me: it is MS. London, British Library, Harley 5431, fols. 261r–264v. 4 See Friedrich Stegmüller, “Les questions du commentaire des Sentences de Robert Kilwardby,” RTAM 6 (1934): 55–79 and 215–28, at 60.