Richard Brinkley and His "Summa Logicae"

RICHARD BRINKLEY AND HIS «SUMMA LOGICAE" The first century of the Franciscan School (1236-1336) was its most glorious one. The first century began when the renowned master of theology at the University of Paris, Alexander of Hales, astounded the learned world by joining the Order of St. Francis, and it ended when Adam Wodeham, William of Ockham's brilliant disciple and assistant, became Regent Master of the Franciscan Studium at the University of Oxford. Between these two dates we see an uninterrupted succession of Franciscan authors, philosophers and theologians, both in England and on the Continent: Alexander of Hales (| 1245), John of RocheUe (f 1245), Odo Rigaldus (| 1275), Adam of Marsh (f 1258), Thomas of York (f c. 1260), Richard Rufus of Cornwall (I c. 1260), Saint Bonaventure (f 1274), Wilham of Middleton (t c. 1257), Roger Bacon (f c. 1292), John Peckham (j 1292), Roger Marston (f c. 1303), Matthew of Aquasparta (f 1302), Peter John Olivi (J 1298), Richard of Middleton (f c. 1294), William of Ware (I c. 1305), John Duns Scotus (f 1308), WilUam of Alnwick (f 1333), Peter AureoU (f 1322), Francis of Meyronnes (f 1328), John of Reading (f 1346), Walter Chatton (f 1343), WilUam of Ockham (t !347). John of Rodington (t 1346), and Adam Wodeham (f 1358), to mention only the more prominent ones. In comparison to this imposing array of authors, the second century (1337-1437) presents a rather bleak and depressing picture. Scholars become scarcer and scarcer (rari nantes in gurgite vasto),1 and they are not towering figures. Such a decUne of scholarship should not be attributed to a diminished desire for learning. We must take into account a number of circumstances, both physical and moral, which were less than favourable to an orderly process of phüosophical and theological training . The Black Death (1347- 1350) wiped out at least one third of the friars, striking down both young and old, learned and unlearned. 1 Vergil Aeneid, 1. 118. 6oGEDEON GAL and RBGA WOOD There was the Hundred Years War (1339-1475) and finaUy the Great Western Schism (1378-1417), when nobody knew who the legitimate Pope was, and everybody was excommunicated by one or the other of the contending Pontiffs. Scholars, therefore, who in spite of these adversities had the strength to achieve a considerable degree of learning, even if they were not shining stars, deserve our respectful attention. One such deserving, but badly neglected, author from the second half of the 14th century was Richard Brinkley.2 His contemporaries called him "Doctor Bonus" and "Doctor Valens," and judging from the many references to his opinions, he was an author whose views had to be taken into account.3 Yet, up to the second quarter of the present century, there were uncertainties concerning the period in which he lived, his philosophical orientation and even his name. In the present article, we intend to describe the manuscripts of his only complete surviving work. These manuscripts describe it as a Lógica; a contemporary of Brinkley's, Thomas Rossy, caUed it Summa Nova de Lógica*; we propose to call it Summa Logicae. After describing the manuscripts containing Brinkley's Summa Logicae, we will confirm the authenticity of the work, outUne its contents, and summarize the available information concerning its author. In the second half of this article, we will publish five chapters selected to represent Brinkley's views. 2 The essential information on Brinkley has been collected by A. B. Emden, A Biographical Register of the University of Oxford to A.D. 1500, 3 vols. (Oxford, 1957), 1:267s. — The Abbreviation of Brinkley's Sentence Commentary was recently discovered and is being edited by Z. Kaluga. 8 Apart from the authors cited below, some of the scholastics who frequently cited Brinkley include Dionysius Cisterciensis, Gualterus Disse and John Hiltalingen of Basel. Cf. A. Lang, "Die Wege der Glaubensbegründung bei den Scholastikern des 14. Jahrhunderts," Beiträge zur Geschichte der Philosophie des Mittelalters , 30:1-2 (1930), 169-172; D. Trapp, "Augustinian Theology of the 14th Century," Augustiniana, 4 (1956), 245. According to Trapp, Brinkley certainly influenced Facinus de Asta and very probably John of Ripa. " 'Moderns' and...