Fernando of Cordova: a biographical and intellectual profile (review)

Reviews 159 exclusion from the affairs of the realm of some of the established nobility, particularly families with Norman connections who had been prominent under Baldwin n, and especiaUy Hugh of Jaffa. There are many other studies in this collection which have not been mentioned, including all eight which appear in the second part of the volume and which deal with the 'Lordships', i.e., baronies, of the Kingdom. Many of these also impact on the reigns of Baldwin II, Fulk, and Melisande. The volume wUl be an indispensable addition to the libraries of all scholars of the Crusades. John H. Pryor Department of History University of Jerusalem Monfasani, John, Fernando of Cordova: a biographical and intellectual profile (Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 82, Part 6), Philadelphia, The American Philosophical Society, 1992; paper; pp. x, 116; R.R.P. US$18.00. John Monfasani presents with enormous erudition all the information he has gathered over twenty years on the life and work of Fernando of Cordova. This wUl certainly be the definitive treatment since it is difficult to imagine another scholar considering the topic worthy of the effort. In fairness to Monfasani he admits in his preface that he never intended to write a book about Fernando of Cordova but discovered that he had too much material for even a large article. I wonder! The volume contains almost 50 pages of appendices, and the 50 pages of text are half covered in notes. I can understand why Fernando attracted Monfasani's attention, because Fernando likewise enjoyed displaying his erudition. Fernando of Cordovafirstcame to the attention of the world as a result of Lorenzo Valla's letter of recommendation to King Alfonso of Aragon in 1444. He had established areputationas a Wunderkind, having degrees in each of the four university faculties: arts, theology, medicine, and law. He furthermore claimed proficiency in Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin, as well as expertise in painting and playing and making all musical instruments. From such a promising start his career petered out in the service of cardinals and the papacy. His patrons in R o m e werefirstcardinal Juan Carvajal, then cardinal Bessarioh, and finally cardinal Francisco della Rovere, w h o became Pope Sixtus IV in 1471. Fernando's theological 160 Reviews writings demonstrated Scotist themes and arguments and supported the realists against the nominalists, while his largest extant philosophical work, De artificio omnis et investigandi et inveniendi natura scibilis, claimed establish the method of discovering everything that is knowable naturally. His more mundane works supported papal power, both spiritual and temporal, defended the lavish lifestyle of cardinals, and justified his own financial privileges as a Papal subdeacon. He died in 1486 and has an enormous tomb in the cloister of S. Maria di Montserrat on the via Giulia. A. Lynn Martin Department of History The University of Adelaide Moorhead, John, Theoderic in Italy, Oxford, Clarendon, 1992; cloth; pp. viii, 300; R.R.P. A U S $ 100.00. King Theoderic the Ostrogoth, who ruled in Italy from 493-526, has had a very good press: from the anonymous sixth-century Italian source which states that for thirty of these years he did nothing wrong ('Nihil enim perperam gessit'), to the medieval Germanic tradition (wherein Dietrich von Bern was equated to Theoderic of Verona, one of his capitals), and to this book, which concludes that 'his achievement was immense' (pp. 251 and 256). Above all, in Theoderic's reign Italy knew peace. When his Gothic forces, which sometimes had Roman commanders, fought beyond Italy, they generally won. He maintained the Roman system of government, bureaucracy, and taxation and legislated for the Goths. 'Edictum suum, quo ius constituit', in the source quoted previously, might be pushed even harder in attributing the Edict of Theoderic to him (p. 76). He supported drainage of the Pontine Marshes and, if there had been trains to be made to run on time, he would have done his best. The Roman equivalent, the public post, continued to function in his time. As Moorhead twice says in his conclusion, when Theoderic's reign looked backwards to antiquity, it did not do so across a gap. Several factors combine...