Rewriting History? the Parisian Secular Masters ‘ Apologia of 1254

Abstract

Abstract In February 1254, the University of Paris promulgated a tract addressed to all the prelates of Christendom but more specifically aimed at influential university graduates who had been promoted to higher ecclesiastical dignities. This document summarizes, through the eyes of the secular masters of theology, the University ‘s relationship with the mendicant orders from their incorporation into the University of Paris until the early 1250s. Although often taken at face value by historians, it contains assertions which contradict prima facie certain known facts. Some contemporaries denounced the perceived discrepancies: the Master General of the Dominicans, Humbert of Romans, referred to it as a ‘letter of rare untruth and infamy ‘ . His confrere, Thomas of Cantimpre, simply dismissed it as plenas mendaciis-a pack of lies. Modern historians have likewise expressed their reservations about the letter ‘s veracity. One of the topics disputed by them, on the basis of this apologia, concerns both the exact number of magisterial chairs present within the theological faculty in 1254 and the percentage of these chairs held by the regular clergy. The 1254 letter reveals not only a subjective and selective version of recent history by the seculars, but also a dramatic shift in university strategy vis a vis the mendicant orders. When faced both with the rapid encroachments of the friars upon time honored academic procedures and the seemingly pro-mendicant policies of Pope Innocent IV (1243-54), the University set aside its traditional papal alliance and began to court the support of the secular clergy outside of the university milieu.