Gerard of Abbeville explained

Gerard of Abbeville (1220-1272) was a theologian from the University of Paris. He formally became a theologian in 1257 and from then was known as an opponent of the mendicant orders,^[1] particularly in the second stage of the conflict,^[2] taking part in a concerted attack that temporarily affected their privileges.^[3]

Background

His Contra adversarium perfectionis christianae of c. 1269, in support of William of St Amour, argued that extreme emphasis on poverty contradicted the Aristotelian doctrine of the mean^[4] and undermined the basis of pastoral work.^[5] It provoked replies from Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure.^[6] From the Franciscan side, Bonaventure wrote Apologia pauperum, and John Peckham wrote his Tractatus pauperis.^[7] The Dominican Aquinas wrote his case on the "state of perfection" in De Perfectione Vitae Spiritualis contra Doctrinam Retrahentium a Religione (1270).^[8]

On trinitarian theology, however, Gerard was much closer to the emerging Franciscan view.^[9] With Aquinas, he was one of the developers of the quodlibet genre of open philosophical discussion, flourishing for about a century from his time.^[10] His polemics used a combination of quodlibets and sermons.^[11]

He was a major benefactor to the Sorbonne library, leaving it around 300 books and manuscripts;^[12] his collection was based on that of Richard de Fournival, outstanding in Europe in his time.^[13]

Notes

1. Lesley M. Smith and Benedicta Ward (editors), Intellectual Life in the Middle Ages: Essays Presented to Margaret Gibson (1992), p. 208; Stephen M. Metzger, Gerard of Abbeville, Secular Master, On Knowledge, Wisdom, and Contemplation Studien und Text zur Geistesgeschichte des Mittelalters (Leiden: Brill, 2017); Andrew G. Traver, 'The Forging of an Intellectual Defense of Mendicancy in the Medieval University,' in The Origin, Development, and Refinement of Medieval Religious Mendicancies Ed. Donald Prudlo. (Leiden: Brill, 2011), 157-196.
2. Web site: Gerard of Abbeville - New Catholic Encyclopedia Encyclopedia.com. www.encyclopedia.com. 2016-03-09.
3. James Henderson Burns, The Cambridge History of Medieval Political Thought c. 350-c. 1450 (1988), p. 635.
4. Virpi Mäkinen, Property Rights in the Late Medieval Discussion on Franciscan Poverty (2001),p. 41.
5. Web site: GILLEEDS. users.bart.nl.
6. [David Knowles (scholar)|David Knowles]
7. http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/fra/FRAht02.html History of the Franciscan Movement (2)
8. Web site: History of Medieval Philosophy 272. maritain.nd.edu. 2021-12-28. 2021-12-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20211228050104/https://maritain.nd.edu/jmc/etext/homp272.htm. dead.
9. Russell L. Friedman, Trinitarian Texts from the Franciscan Trinitarian Tradition, ca. 1265-85, in Cahiers de L'Institut Du Moyen-Âge Grec Et Latin, Volume 73 (2006), p. 22.
10. [André Vauchez]
11. , Albert & Thomas: Selected Writings (1988), p. 229.
12. Cornelius O'Boyle, The Art of Medicine: Medical Teaching at the University of Paris, 1250-1400 (1998), p. 161.
13. Jeremiah Hackett, Roger Bacon and the Sciences: Commemorative Essays (1997), p. 16.