Rotuli Parisienses: Supplications to the Pope from the University of Paris, Vol. III: 1378–1394 ed. by William J. Courtenay, Eric D. Goddard (review)

William Courtenay is one of the finest scholars who specialize in the prosopography of the Parisian academics in the Middle Ages. In 2002 and 2004 he edited the first two volumes of the rotuli that the University of Paris sent to the Avignon papacy between 1316 and 1378. The third volume, published in two parts and coedited by Eric Goddard, is completely devoted to the pontificate of Clement VII (1378–94), the first antipope of the Great Schism. The rotuli were made up of collective supplications to the Curia from princes, prelates, and certain institutions requesting papal benefices or promises thereof for their dependants or their staff. We are already familiar with a number of rotuli emanating from the University of Paris, which have been preserved in the Vatican Archives. These lists of supplicants were drawn up by the entire university, one faculty, one nation, one college, or a group of graduates. Heinrich Denifle and Émile Chatelain edited more than fifty examples from between 1342 and 1403 in volumes II to IV of their Chartularium Universitatis Parisiensis (Paris, 1891–97). However, apart from the fact that these two scholars saw fit to publish mainly extracts, their research was limited by the very nature of their sources as the archive series of supplications begins only in 1342. For the earlier period we only have the registers of papal letters, which recorded the papal favors accorded in response to supplications received by the Curia. Courtenay’s important contribution has been to show that the earliest Parisian rotuli do not date from 1342 but go back as far as the pontificate of the Avignonese pope, John XXII (1316–34). From a close examination of the papal letters, he was able to identify groups of apostolic favors with exactly the same date that were dispensed to members of the University of Paris and that were probably from the same rotulus, a rotulus that was not registered, as there was no specific register for that purpose. Pushing his research beyond 1342, Courtenay has been able not only to reconstitute these lost rotuli but also to fill in the gaps in the supplications from the period when they were in fact preserved. Indeed, the papal letters contain more biographical details than the registered supplications. The third volume of the Rotuli Parisienses thus contains thirty-nine rotuli, sixteen more than those published by Denifle and Chatelain for the same period. Furthermore, Courtenay and Goddard have edited the complete content of the supplications in an abbreviated form and have analyzed the papal letters written in reply to them, when these could be found. This is a considerable advance on the previous incomplete versions of the Chartularium. There is also an appendix containing a large number of individual supplications from the Parisian academics. This work is more than a work of pure scholarship—it is also one of great historical interest because of the specific context of the pontificate of Clement VII. The crisis of the Great Schism was responsible for an increase in the number and size of the rotuli, and the Avignonese pope, who wished to remain in the good graces of the powerful University of Paris, was eager to grant its requests whenever possible. This is why the third volume of Rotuli Parisienses is almost as long as the first two volumes combined and contains the supplications of almost 3000 scholars who provide us with information on their origins, their studies, and their ecclesiastical careers and benefits. It is easy to see that this publication, which is further enriched with a detailed index, constitutes an essential contribution to the prosopography of the University...