Autour de Guillaume d'Auvergne (†1249). Edited by Franco Morenzoni and Jean-Yves Tilliette. Pp. 424. Illustrated. (Bibliothèque d'histoire culturelle du moyen âge, 2.) Turnhout: Brepols, 2005. isbn 2 503 51791 9. Paper €60.

Abstract

William of Auvergne was Bishop of Paris from 1228 to 1249, at a time in the development of the University of Paris and in the evolution of European culture when his active involvement and his spread of intellectual interests made an important contribution. This volume of essays, the fruit of a conference in 2001 and published in a series whose philosophy is to be sensitive to the whole culture of the Middle Ages, sets out to reflect the range of his achievement. Jacques Berlioz discusses references to William in the exempla of the next two centuries, discovering lively descriptions of him as something of a ‘bon viveur’ and a vivid raconteur. Roland Teske examines William's ‘spiritualist concept of the human being’ in the context of the theories of Avicenna. Barbara Faes de Mottoni considers William's doctrines of ecstasy and rapture. Brenno Boccadoro takes as his theme William's extensive knowledge of musical theory, exploring it in conjunction with his psychosomatic ideas of the passions.