Robert Grosseteste and His Intellectual Milieu: New Editions and Studies ed. by John Flood, James R. Ginther, Joseph W. Goering (review)

This volume, edited by scholars from institutions in the Netherlands, the United States, and Canada, represents a welcome and timely addition to both medieval studies in general and Robert Grosseteste studies in particular. It sprang from a 2003 conference at then-Bishop Grosseteste College in Lincoln to commemorate the 750th anniversary of the philosopher’s death. Publication of proceedings experienced some unforeseen delays. Readers frustrated by the wait will find themselves duly rewarded for their patience by the content of this excellent volume.

Grosseteste (c. 1168–1253) was not only bishop of the largest diocese in England but also a great scholar. A polymath in the true medieval sense, he was equally comfortable in the worlds of science, philosophy, and theology; he even authored a work on the art of horticulture. He also managed to acquire a knowledge of Greek (a rare skill in thirteenth-century Western Europe), and his work as a translator wins contemporary admirers. Robert Grosseteste and His Intellectual Milieu has done a splendid job of representing the preternatural range of this great scholar’s abilities.

Perhaps the primary testament to this range comes in the section on texts and translations. It is a welcome contribution to Grosseteste studies in itself, where much work remains to be done in this area. Here we have both a critical edition and an English translation of De luce, Grosseteste’s fascinating and highly original account of Creation. We have an edition, and a translation of a translation, of Grosseteste’s rendering of John of Damascus’s The Dialogue of the Christian and Saracen. Finally we have Sermon 86, “The Ten Commandments of the Lord.”

Two sections of essays are offered. The first explores theology and philosophy, which includes Neil Lewis’s explanation and critical examination of the Libertas arbitrii in the work De libero arbitrio. Here Lewis explains that the bishop had a unique understanding of freedom of choice. In addition, Joseph Goering has contributed a highly important analysis of the Dicta, as well as a state-of-play account of the project to edit this neglected work. A second section sets out to set the philosopher in an intellectual context. Here Grosseteste is placed alongside contemporaries. R. James Long compares his natural philosophy with that of Richard Fishacre, Richard Rufus, and Robert Kilwardby. Celcia Panti adds to her critical edition of De luce with another fine contribution that argues persuasively that certain scientific works that have been dubiously attributed to Grosseteste should instead be regarded as the work of a Franciscan, Adam Marsh.

The volume concludes with a magisterial survey of the reputation of Robert Grosseteste in the early-modern period by John Flood and the late James McEvoy. This serves as a corrective to Sir Richard Southern’s assertion that Grosseteste slipped out of the consciousness of historians for more than 300 years after the sixteenth century. As McEvoy died in 2010, it is poignant to consider that this chapter might represent his last academic offering. At his funeral a garland of flowers was offered by his friends from the world of Grosseteste. Perhaps ultimately this first-rate collection will be regarded as an even more fitting garland tribute to a great Grossetestian from his academic companions.