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FRANCISCUS DE MAYRONIS: A NEWLY DISCOVERED TREATISE ON INTUITIVE AND ABSTRACTIVE COGNITION During the course of cataloging some 100 manuscripts containing works of Franciscan authors,1 I came across a series of treatises located in the middle of codex Vaticanus Latinus 3028, the majority of which are easily identifiable as the work of Franciscus Mayronis, O.F.M. Although none of these treatises is attributed explicitly to Franciscus in this manuscript, the final six treatises have copies in other manuscripts where the attribution to Francis is beyond doubt, as has been shown by Roth2 and Rossmann.3 However , neither of these scholars seems to have been aware of this Vatican manuscript nor of its first treatise on intuitive and abstractive cognition. How then can we be sure that this treatise on intuitive and abstractive cognition is the work of the renowned fourteenth century Franciscan? First of all (and this seems to be a 'trademark' of Francis), the treatise begins with a scripture quote, this time taken from Numbers 24, 17. Secondly, the language (and doctrine) of this treatise show marked similarities to that of Francicus's Conflatus, as his commentary to the first book of Peter Lombard's Sentences has come to be known. For example, in the Conflatus we read: "Concedo quod Deus potest sine obiecto se habente in ratione causantis, sed tarnen non sine obiecto se habente in ratione terminantis. . . Tertia [conclusio] quod Deus potest supplere vicem obiecti in ratione moventis. Quarta quod non in ratione terminantis."4 In the treatise edited below (n. 25), we read: ". . . in ratione autem terminantis 1Cf. G. Etzkorn, Iter Vaticanum Franciscanwt (Leiden: EJ. Brill, 1996), xi + 301. B. Roth, Franz von Mayronis O.F.M. Sein Lehen, seine Werke, seme Lehre vom Formalunterschied in Gott, (Werl: Franziskus Druckerei, 1936): 74-84, 322-325, 385387 ,487-488,521-523. 3H. Rossmann, "Die Quodlibeta und verschiedene sonstige Schriften des Franz von Meyronnes, O.F.M.," in Franziskanische Studien, 53 (1971): 160-161; idem, Franziskanische Studien, 54(1972): 10-11. 4Franciscus M ayronis, Conflatus, prol. q. 18 (ed. Trivisiae 1476): f. B4nfc—f. YAva-vh. 15 Franciscan Studies (54) 1994-1997 16 GIRARD J. ETZKORN omne obiectum est praesens, in ratione autem moventis non semper illud quod intuitive cognoscitur, ut si Deus suppléât causalitatem effectivam obiecti". Even more striking is the parallelism in wording and ideas between the second part of the present treatise (on abstractive cognition) and the prologue to the Conflatus. De cognitione abstractiva Art. 3 Vat. lat. 3028 f. 67vb Intelligendum ulterius quod intuitiva concernit quattuor extrema istarum contradictionum. Primo quidem exsistentiam, quia nonexsistens non potest intueri. Secundo praesentiam, quia absens non potest cognosci nisi per speciem remanentem. Tertio causationem, quia de communi lege intuitiva ab obiecto causatur. Quarto terminationem, quia omnis visio actualis terminatur ad rem visam; intuitio autem est visio quaedam. FRANCISCUS MAYRONIS Conflatus Prol. q. 17 Ed. Trevisiae 1476, f. B3va Intelligendum tarnen quod notitia intuitiva concernit quattuor extrema contradictionis a quibus abstrahlt notitia abstractiva. Primum est actualis exsistentia, quia si cognoscatur, non ut actualiter exsistens, sed tantum quidditas, tunc cognoscitur abstractive tantum et non intuitive; nam abstractiva concernit tantum quidditatem. Secundum est quod intuitiva concernit praesentiam de communi lege; licet enim forte Deus posset faceré obiectum non praesens, tarnen de communi lege ita est. Tertium est causatio, quia de communi lege causatur a re ad quam terminatur. Quartum est motio, quia de lege communi oportet quod obiectum moveat. Thirdly, the writer of the present treatise refers to Scotus (cf. infra n. 78) as Doctor noster, the preferred expression used in the Conflatus. Although it has been shown that Francis of Mayronis is an independent thinker, he is firmly situated in the tradition of his Franciscan predecessors, particularly that of his mentor, John Duns Scotus. He takes for granted the adage frequently invoked in FRANCISCUS DE MAYRONIS17 William de la Mare's Correctorium, viz. that whatever God can cause by way of secondary causes, He can cause without their intermediation (cf. infra nn. 7, 176). Mayronis is likewise perfectly aware of the controversy as to the need in cognition of sensibile and/or intelligibile species, noting that many believe that species (infra n. 65) are required, as does...

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