Parergon

The twelfth and thirteenth centuries were a time of rapid change and growth in the intellectual life of Western Europe. Cathedral schools gave way to the first universities, commentaries on the books of the Bible lost ground to the systematic discussion of theological questions, the orders of friars emerged and became a major force, and a system of mass-production for text books was developed. A far greater range of Greek and Arabic writings became available for study and incorporation into the curriculum. Most of the greatest names in medieval theology were active in this period: Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure, Peter Lombard, Peter Abelard, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Hugh of St Victor, amongst others.

Lesley Smith has gathered together examples of a typical set of the books which were used by theologians in the mid to late thirteenth century. For each title, she provides a black and white reproduction of a page from a contemporary manuscript, with a brief codicological description and a short explanation of the book's significance and relevance. The manuscripts are representative of the full range of different types of books, ranging from the formal and beautiful (the Liber scintillarum – British Library Royal 7 C. IV) to the personal and practical (Franciscan exempla – Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Ottob. Lat. 522). They come from a wide variety of different libraries and collections in Europe and North America, and, though the reproductions vary a little in quality and would sometimes be much better in colour, they are more than adequate to illustrate her purpose. Perhaps the only thing missing is some comment on the script used in each of the books; their form and arrangement are well-covered.

The choice of texts is an interesting mixture of the well-known and the more obscure, organized into four categories: the Bible, sources (patristic and later), Sentences and Summae, and 'theology made accessible' (works for practical use). Many of them – both contemporary and earlier – are classic works of theology and biblical commentary: Jerome, Ambrose, Gregory, Isidore, the Glossa Ordinaria, Peter Comester's Historia Scholastica, Hugh of St Victor, Peter Lombard, Aquinas, Bonaventure and so on. Others are much more popular and practical in orientation, including the sermons of William Peraldus, and Thomas Chobham's Summa confessionum. All are in Latin, with the exception of the Bible moralisée – perhaps the one text which seems somewhat out of place here (as the author herself recognizes). The introduction to each plate gives a brief account of the [End Page 280] author and a summary of the work in question. On the whole, it is hard to fault the choice and range of texts, and little to quibble about in the introductions. They certainly achieve Smith's stated aim of bringing together a compendium of the main texts available to a theologian (particularly from one of the mendicant orders) in the later thirteenth century.

The result is a book which is hard to classify and does not fit easily into a specific genre. While it contains elements of an intellectual history, a palaeographical handbook, a guide to manuscripts, and a survey of sources, it is none of these. Not that this is a criticism, however, for the strength of Smith's work lies in its uniqueness. As well as making an excellent introduction to the various forms of 'academic' books produced in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, it also provides a succinct and reliable starting-point for studying the intellectual culture of the period. Above all, she manages to give a good impression of the contents of a medieval library, as far as the visual appearance of the different volumes is concerned. While her book will be remarkably useful for undergraduates and the general reader, it also has undoubted interest and value for the more advanced scholar in this field and related areas.