Nicholas Tempelfeld of Brzeg (ca. 1400–1471) was a distinguished Silesian figure among the scholars of the University of Krakow: he was a professor of theology educated there, a dean of the Faculty of Arts, a canonic of St. Florian’s... more
Nicholas Tempelfeld of Brzeg (ca. 1400–1471) was a distinguished Silesian figure among the scholars of the University of Krakow: he was a professor of theology educated there, a dean of the Faculty of Arts, a canonic of St. Florian’s Chapel, a preacher in St. Mary’s Church in Krakow and St. Elisabeth’s Church in Wroclaw, and even a politician, if we may call the author of the treatise against Czech king George of Podiebrad so. His philosophical output remains unknown since he seems to have written a single commentary on Aristotle (Parva naturalia) and is to be discovered on the basis of research into his university sermons. The paper presents the edition (preceded by a substantial introduction) of two redactions — a draft and a proper redaction — of such a sermon: his opening lectures on Summulae logicales by Peter of Spain, composed during his activity at the University of Krakow. The draft consists of several notabilia only, dealing primarily with some general problems concerning logic. The proper redaction is a deeply elaborated introduction to Peter’s work, that — according to Nicholas — should be entitled: The treatise by Peter of Spain dealing with the argumentation and some other things relating to it, compiling views of the other philosophers, composed because of the love for young students to these students obtain the way of argumentation, as well as the possibility to discern the truth from the false. It contains the recommendation of logic, some general logical problems, like the causes and subject matter of commented text, and the accessus to the first part of the Tractatus. Both versions of the sermon are preserved in Ms. Wroclaw, University Library, cod. I Q 380.
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Presented paper contains the critical edition of the question "Utrum universale nihil sit aut posterius suis singularibus" of the "Collectanea de anima" preserved in MS. BJ 2118. "Collectanea de anima" is a provisional title of the... more
Presented paper contains the critical edition of the question "Utrum universale nihil sit aut posterius suis singularibus" of the "Collectanea de anima" preserved in MS. BJ 2118. "Collectanea de anima" is a provisional title of the collection of 6 questions dealing with the problem of the soul, composed in Krakow in the 2nd half of the 15th century. This manual has a heterogenic character, since every question differs from the others regarding its form, multidimensionality of undertaken issues and the degree of doctrinal independence. Surely, the 3rd question edited here (precisely its part that has been preserved till today, i.e. the introduction and first passage of articulus 1) is not too original work and does not include any remarkable statements. But yet, it is an important testimony of work of compilers, that nowadays only uncommonly is a subject of studies. The edited text in general is doctrinally dependent: first of all, it is based on the works by Thomas Aquinas, Albert the Great and Alexander Bonini of Alexandria (the author explicitly quotes these sources), but also on treatises by Heymericus of Campo and Pseudo-Aquinas (their works are not induced by the author). Concerning the substance of the edited question, the most interesting and “original” is a kind of ignorance of the historical background of the problem of universals and the occurrence of quite numerous mistakes.Mostly they can be easily explained, since they often arise from improper decipheration of abbreviation, overinterpretation or basing on a corrupted source. The accumulated mistakes lead the author to draw his own (singular) conclusions, that all testify the correctness of the Aristotle’s sentence: "Parvus error in principio maximus erit in fine".
In the late Middle Ages, it was a common practice for scholastic authors (yet almost unnoticed in modern literature) to include a series of questions with concise answers that were only slightly connected to the substance of the discussed... more
In the late Middle Ages, it was a common practice for scholastic authors (yet almost unnoticed in modern literature) to include a series of questions with concise answers that were only slightly connected to the substance of the discussed issues — commentaries on the Parva naturalia. According to the current state of the art, it seems that the first author to do so was Marsilius of Inghen in the 14th century, with the practice continued in the following century in commentaries by Nicholas Tempelfeld of Brzeg, John Versor, Peter Tartaret and a number of anonymous scholars. At the very beginning of the latter period, the so-called Problemata Parvorum naturalium were probably also composed by an anonymous author. Their history is very interesting since they were an addition to the existing commentary on the Parva naturalia by John Buridan, and later became an independent work bearing this title. The presented paper contains the critical edition of these Problemata…, preceded by an introduction.
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Matthew of Szydłów is agreed to be one of the most important figures of late XV th cent. at the University of Cracow. Among the other scholars of his time, he was distinguished as a man of eloquence, professor of theology and canon law,... more
Matthew of Szydłów is agreed to be one of the most important figures of late XV th cent. at the University of Cracow. Among the other scholars of his time, he was distinguished as a man of eloquence, professor of theology and canon law, and, especially, as a great preacher. About his philosophical activity, only few facts are known, and the only extant, and thus, the most crucial testimony of his teachings is his disputed question on the subject of the science of the soul, preserved in MS BJ 2118 (fol. 2v-2v). Its critical edition, published here for the first time, has been intended to shed some light on the late XV th cent. reception of the opinions concerning the philosophical anthropology, which were strictly connected with the growing popularity of the so-called via antiqua at the University of Cracow.