PETER COMESTOR’S Lectures on the Glossa ‘ordinaria’ on John (ca. 1165) An Historical Introduction with a Critical Edition by David M. Foley A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Medieval Studies University of Toronto © David M. Foley, 2020 PETER COMESTOR’S Lectures on the Glossa ‘ordinaria’ on John (ca. 1165) An Historical Introduction with a Critical Edition David M. Foley Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Medieval Studies University of Toronto 2020 ABSTRACT This thesis encompasses the first partial critical edition and specialised study of a series of lectures from the cathedral school of Notre-Dame, Peter Comestor’s Glosae super Iohannem glosatum. Delivered in Paris in the mid-1160s, Comestor’s lecture course on the Glossa ‘ordinaria’ on the Gospel of John has survived in seventeen manuscript witnesses, being preserved in the form of continuous transcripts taken in shorthand by a student-reporter (reportationes). Following a careful census of the manuscript tradition, I have selected ten of the best witnesses dating from between ca. 1175 and 1225 to produce a critical edition of the prothemata and the first chapter of Comestor’s lectures. In addition to the text of the original lectures, I provide two appendices containing subsequent accretions to the lecture materials contributed by Comestor and his students, as well as a third appendix containing an edition of the corresponding portion of the Glossa ‘ordinaria’ from which Comestor lectured. The second part of this thesis, comprised of five chapters, represents a critical study of the historical and intellectual context of Peter Comestor’s biblical teaching. Chapter One presents an outline of Comestor’s scholastic career and known works, a survey of the scholarship on his biblical glosses, and a general introduction to the text of the edition: its date, genre, and title. Chapter Two charts the intellectual landscape of Comestor’s lectures: namely, the tradition of biblical teaching originating at ii the School of Laon, preserved in the Glossa ‘ordinaria,’ and subsequently developed in the classroom by Peter Lombard and a succession of Parisian masters. Chapter Three examines more closely the portion of the Glosae presented in this thesis, encompassing: an overview of its structure and narrative sequence, an examination of Comestor’s teaching method and scholastic setting, an outline of the sources behind the master’s biblical scholarship, and a survey of his engagement in contemporary doctrinal controversies. In Chapter Four, I provide a detailed description of the manuscripts selected for this edition together with a stemmatic analysis of their relations. Finally, Chapter Five sets forth the editorial principles observed in the edition, its various apparatus, and the appendices. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Gilbert Keith Chesterton, of blessed memory, asseverates that “thanks are the highest form of thought.” Admittedly, I am ill qualified to analyse this aphorism at the philosophical level, but G.K. would be gratified to learn that little higher thought went into the production of the present thesis than that prompting my initial act of thanksgiving towards the many benefactors and friends who have made my doctoral work at the Centre for Medieval Studies possible. It is not simply for the promised length of days that I am compelled to begin by observing the fifth commandment. To my parents, Gregory and Christie, I cannot sufficiently express my gratitude: for the virtue of faith, for the love of reading and intellectual adventure, and for their bewildering support throughout the years of their youngest son’s every pursuit, whether it happened to be skateboarding, medieval Latin philology, or French monasticism. Next to filial piety falls the fraternal; accordingly, my thanks turn to my brothers Gideon and James, who have always been the deserving objects of my friendship and mischief. Also, to my late grandfathers James and Ronald (quorum animabus propitietur Deus) and to the worthy women who have survived them, Janna and Lois. Although they are not to be held responsible for the hardened follies of their disciple, recognition is next due to the magistri sacrae paginae. From the first session of his course on Medieval Latin Palaeography, I had identified Alexander Andrée (viz. ‘Magister noster’ ) as the destined supervisor of my doctoral research. Professor Andrée’s judicious commentary, ready counsel, and unfailing good humour all serve to demonstrate that medieval history is not merely important, but that it is fun. It is in Professor Andrée’s classroom that I was first warmly acquainted with Peter the Eater, and it is from the same that I inherited the felicitous project of editing Comestor’s lectures on St. John’s Gospel. Equally difficult to express is my debt of gratitude to Joseph Goering, who has not only been an indispensable member of my doctoral committee, but also the longsuffering Master of the House in which I have been blessed to lodge for the duration of my dissertation research. One could not have been entrusted to a wiser counsellor, a more cheerful interlocutor, or an abler sous-chef. My gratitude is also due to Greti Dinkova-Bruun, whose philological acumen and fierce commitment to her students have been an invaluable asset towards the completion of my dissertation. Any infelicities that remain are due largely to my defiance of her advice. Finally, I am deeply indebted to Professor Timothy Noone, than whom a more formidable external examiner or penetrating critic could scarcely have been hoped for. iv It is upon the highest counsel (sc. Facite uobis amicos de mammona iniquitatis) that I now express my thanks to the various institutions through whose financial support my graduate studies have been made possible. For my Master’s degree and again for the final year of my doctoral studies, I enjoyed an Ontario Graduate Scholarship from the Government of Ontario. For the intervening three years, the Government of Canada generously awarded me with the Canada Graduate Scholarship through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Additionally, I have received support from numerous benefactors for research abroad, among which I must name the School of Graduate Studies for a Research Travel Grant, the Dean’s International Initiatives Fund, and the Gilson Institute for Advanced Manuscript Studies. It is under the auspices of these bodies that I was able to undertake my codicological work in situ at several medieval archives across Europe with due leisure. The scholarly community of the Centre for Medieval Studies, magistri and condiscipuli alike, has been formative in my intellectual pursuits for the past five years. By virtue of the venerated lineage of Toronto’s medievalists, I am profoundly indebted, as a “petit-fils spirituel,” to the likes of Fr. Édouard Jeauneau, Fr. Nikolaus Häring, and Fr. Leonard Boyle, O.P., magistri magistrorum meorum. Among the Centre’s current faculty members to whom I am grateful for transmitting this traditio studii are Lawrin Armstrong, who first taught me to read medieval manuscripts, John Magee, who taught me to apply thought to textual criticism, and Giulio Silano, whose aptitude for provocation (and not infrequently of thought) knows few rivals. I must also express my warm gratitude Gilbert Dahan of the Centre national de la recherche scientifique and Mark Clark of the Catholic University of America, who have both shown me uncommon kindness during the final stages of my research. My original Master’s cohort at the Centre was an exceptionally convivial one, and many of the friendships that began in 2014 have not ceased to enrich my life. Accordingly, I must name Mark Doerksen, a fellow Saskatchewanian, irreproachable flatmate, and worthy vicarius ad Societatem Domuscholarium Latinitatis Vivae. Robert Smith, who dwelt among us but briefly in the New World but lingers still in our hearts. Jared Johnson, who opened to the three of us the little world of pipe tobacco and hosted the weekly Palaeo-Halo-Vino evenings which would prove so formative in our study of medieval handwriting. And Anthony Fredette, a loyal friend and brilliant medievalist, whose sole intellectual fault, perhaps, is his fixation upon the pagan delicacies of the twelfth-century schools. Preceding me in the programme, but exerting no less influence over my ideal of Catholic scholarship, is Jason Brown, who has from the first been a judicious mentor and a firm friend. v Following me in the programme is Simon Whidbee, to whom I am united by a keen affection for Peter the Eater, and who has graciously shared with me many of the materials that he has compiled in his preparation of a critical edition of Comestor’s Glosae super Lucam glosatum. Finally, the cordiality and patient technical support of Andrew Dunning have been a continuous source of cheer. Many kindly families of the parish of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Saskatoon have supported me in more ways than I can name. First among these, and that which I will ever count as a second family, is the Robertsons: Charles and Heather, parents to my goddaughter Perpetua Lucia and to her vivacious (and numerous) siblings Ianua, Macarius, Philomena, Eulalia, Ignatius, † Crescentia, and Anastasia. Incidentally, it is Jordan Olver who first introduced me, not only to the Robertsons, but also to another unwearying friend and patron, St. Thomas Aquinas, and to the medieval intellectual tradition more generally; for these benefices, and many others besides, I am in his debt. An affectionate allusion is also due to a merry concatenation of Sidloski cousins – Misses Mary, Anna, Katherine, and Thérèse, and Masters Dominic, Kolya, James, and Stephen –, stupores mundi, who serve equally well as discipuli in Societate Domuscholarium Latinitatis Vivae and a fellow’s dearest friends. It remains to express my gratitude to certain men of the cloth, without whose sensible counsel and spiritual direction I do not like to imagine what might have become of me.