Caius 668*/645

14th c manuscript (not 668)

James

Vellum 6 3/4 x 5 3/4, ff. 174, double columns of 44 lines. Cent. xiii-xiv, in an excessively contracted hand. [...]

Contents:

• 1. Questiones M. Petri de Bradsley (f.1 headed Bradsley) 'Equivoca dicuntur quorum solum nomen commune est. Ending f. 8* : Expl. questiones date a mag. Petro de Bradlay.
• 2. f.9 Questiones de sex principiis. "Forma est composicioni contingens". Ends f. 13b: Expl. questiones M. Adam burley.
• 3. f. 13v Questiones de potenciis anime. "Ut dicit philosophus secundo de anima". Ends f. 18b: Expl. Notabilia de Potenciis Anime data a Mag. Waltero de Burley.
• 4. f.19 Inc. questiones date a M. Thoma de Chirmistcv super lib. Preciani de construccionibus. "Quoniam in ante expositis libris... Circa istam artem que dicitur gramatica".
• 5. f.30 Questiones super librum II priorum. "Circa librum priorum queratur unum commune (?)". Unfinished, apparently.
• 6. f. 34 Questiones de sophisticis elenchis. "Queritur utrum si/us sophis sit secundum"
• 7. f.60 Questiones date a M. Waltero de Burley super librum peryarmenias a.d. m. ccc. primo. "Queritur utrum eorum (?) primo significet".
• 8. f. 76v Questiones date a Ricardo de Camsal super librum priorum analeticorum
• 9. f. 119v Inc. questiones super librum posteriorum date a domino Waltero de Burley. Ending f. 133 b.
• 10. f. 133v In a xivth cent. hand. Algorismus. "Hec algorismus ars presens dicitur in quae [..] Multiplicandorum de normis sufficiunt hec".
• f. 135v Followed by three pages of prose in a very illegible hand .
• 11. f. 137 Questiones date a Mag. Will, de Duffeld super librum posteriorum analeticorum. "Queratur de veritate huius".
• 12. f. 150 Questiones super libros I, 11 de anima. Mag. Adam de Burley
• 13. f. 158v Questiones circa tercium de anima. Mag. Walt, de burley .
• Ending on f. 173 with the general colophon: Expl. questiones locicales date a diuersis magistris. On 173v, 174r is faint writing: on 174v scribbles, including proper names: Joh. de Wyndessora, Joh. de Oresseby.

Synan

From Synan 1968:

If we except Alexander de Villa dei, the author of the Algorismus, who had long been dead when the other contributions were composed, all the 'diverse masters' represented were Oxford men: Peter Bradley (nos. 1 and 5), Adam Burley (nos. 2 and 12), Walter Burley (nos. 3, 7, 9, and 13), Thomas Chirminster (no. 4), Richard of Campsall (no. 8), and William Duffeld (no. 11).

With the exception of the Algorismus, which is written in a large and very formal Gothic bookhand, all components of the collection were copied by an unpretentious, but expert, English scribe whose work M.R. James had every right to date as a thirteenth-fourteenth century hand, but which he was, perhaps, too severe in styling 'excessively contracted'. The writing is generally small and the abbreviation is nearly always maximal, but in both respects it conforms to the standard practice of the period for works of primarily academic interest. The first lettrine of the codex has been done in blue (f. 1ra) and there are a few red strokes to mark paragraphs in the first column; most lemmata, and certain connecting phrases such as 'Iuxta istud' are written in bolder and more formal fashion. These inconsiderable gestures in the direction of elegance apart, tight abbreviation and a generally accurate text give the impression of an instrument collated and edited for serious study, intended to provide a student of the liberal arts with current teaching by sound instructors, among whom it seems right to put Richard of Campsall and, even more, Walter Burley in the first rank.

Needless to say, the dating of these components is of the highest interest. One contribution by Walter Burley, his Questiones super librum peryarmenias (no. 7) is dated 1301; as I have argued elsewhere, it seems possible to assign the Questiones date a Magistro petro de bradlay (no. 1), on internal evidence, to a year in the first decade of the fourteenth century, and one that is early rather than late. Bradlay dealt with positions that almost certainly stem from the Oxford teaching of John Duns Scotus (ca. 1291-ca.1305, with several interrruptions) in such a way to imply that the Subtle Doctor was still alive when Bradlay wrote, perhaps was still in evidence at the Greyfriar's Oxford Convent.

Another indication of an early date in the fourteenth century for the whole codex is provided by the way in which Campsall's name appears, written into the top margins of random folios of his section; on eight such occasions his name is given with the academic title 'dominus', and it is never given with 'magister' (fols. 98r, 98r, 99r, 101 v, 103v, 106r, 108*, 115v). This implies that he was still a bachelor of arts at Balliol, writing well before 1306 when, as noted above, he had transferred to Merton and was styled 'magister'. It may be noted also that two other contributors to this codex are named in the Balliol document that was cited above as the earliest known mention of Campsall. Finally, in addition to the names 'Johannis de VVyndessora' and 'Johannes de Oressby' that James noted on fol. 174v it is possible to read on the same page, and nine times repeated, some version of the formula: 'Eduardus, Dei gracia Rex Anglie'. It may be supposed that this formula refers to Edward I (d. 1307) rather than to his successor, Edward II. Merton records that mention Campsall, for instance, are generally dated by the year of the current reign; those that were written during the reign of Edward II habitually use some variant of the formula: 'anno regni Regis Eduardi, filii Regis Eduardi' whereas a year in the reign of Edward I is expressed: 'anno Rengni <sic> Regis Eduardi xxxiii' (1307). To these indications, stronger to be sure when taken together than singly, that the whole collection was probably compiled before 1306 or 1307, may be added the negative reflection that no detail of the manuscript or its content has been noted that would be incompatible with the conviction that all components were available for inclusion within four or five years of Burley's explicitly dated questions.

Most of the contributions to this collection, including that by Campsall, are instances of the university 'disputed question'; Burley's De potenciis anime (no. 3) and the Algorismus of Alexander de Villa dei (no. 10) are the only exceptions. Each aporia is introduced, with or without a lemma, by the formula: 'Queratur: utrum... ?' or: 'Queratur: an... ?' The thrust of a series of 'argumenta principalia ' or 'raciones principales ' (which do not exclude the cut and parry of incidental dialectic within their own structure — 'contra istud... huic responditur') directed against the thesis to be defended is interrupted by an 'Ad oppositum' that invokes an 'authority'. The determination by the master follows under the heading 'Ad questionem' or 'Ad problema', and this is followed by responses to the preliminary 'argumenta principalia', often in a sequence that has been numbered explicitly.