Axiomatic Wisdom: Boethius’ De hebdomadibus and the Liber de causis in Late-Medieval Albertism

Abstract

By developing a reassesment of the repertoire of Albertist literature in light of new manuscript witnesses, the article intends to reconstruct the late-medieval Albertist model of metaphysics and to investigate the crucial reception of Boethius’ De hebdomadibus and of the Liber de causis in the academic teaching and disputes of the early fifteenth century. The article focuses on two anonymous commentaries on these treatises, which were both composed by the same Albertist master (most probably in Paris), and analyzes their significance within the Albertist school as well as their close relation to the works of Johannes de Nova Domo. In particular, the essay illustrates how the De hebdomadibus and the Liber de causis, which were adduced and commented on as canonical authorities, not only constituted central sources for Albertist doctrines, but also served as disciplinary models for the axiomatic exposition of first philosophy. The final section of the article provides a detailed account of the manuscript transmission of the two Albertist commentaries and traces the topography of their dissemination.