Guitmund of Aversa and The Eucharistic Theology of St. Thomas

The Thomist 68 (2004): 577-600 GUITMUND OF AVERSA AND THE EUCHARISTIC THEOLOGY OF ST. THOMAS MARK G. VAILLANCOURT Staten Island, New York 0 NE OF THE PRINCIPAL treatises written to defend the doctrine of the real presence in the Eucharistic crisis of the eleventh century, De corporis et sanguinis Christi veritate in eucharistia libri tres,1 by Guitmund of Aversa, contains a fascinating vision of the Eucharist as a species domini, or another postresurrection apparition of Christ, that calls for further examination by theologians of our own day. Guitmund's doctrine of the real presence, characterized by some authors as "ultra-realist,"2 is actually far more faithful to the received tradition and indeed anticipatory ofthe Eucharistictheology ofSt. Thomas than was once thought. In fact, when compared to that of Thomas, Guitmund's teaching on the real presence furnishes much insight into just what the Angelic Doctor actually taught about the Eucharist. In order for the reader to appreciate this portrait of the Eucharistic Christ, and to understand not only how it anticipates the Thomistic synthesis, but indeed even lays the theological foundations for it, I shall rehearse briefly the historical background of Guitmund's De corporis et sanguinis Christi and its immediate context, the Berengarian crisis of the eleventh century. 1 See Mark G. Vaillancourt, "The Role ofGuitmund ofAversain the DevelopingTheology of the Eucharist" (Ph.D. diss., Fordham University, 2004). 2 See J. Montclos, 1.Anfranc et Berenger: LA controverse Eucharistique du Xie siecle (Louvain: Spicilegium Sacrum Lovaniense, 1971), 462; F. Vernet, "Eucharistic du IX ala fin du XI siecle," Dictionnaire de thiologie catholique 5 (Paris: Letouzey et Ane, 1913),1228; J. Geiselmann, Die Eucharistielehre der Vorscholastik (Paderborn: F. Schonigh, 1926), 375. 577 578 MARK G. VAILLANCOURT I will then discuss Guitmund's Eucharistic doctrine as it can be found in De corporis et sanguinis Christi, and compare his theology with that of St. Thomas Aquinas. Such an exposition should illustrate not only the importance of Guitmund's insights into the doctrine of the real presence, but also the extent to which Thomas's Eucharistic doctrine was predicated upon them. I. GmTMUND OF AVERSA AND THE BERENGARIAN CRISIS OF THE ELEVENTH CENTURY Guitmund of Aversa was born sometime during the first quarter of the eleventh century in Normandy, and joined the Order of St. Benedict at the Abbey of the Cross in St. Leufroy.3 Around the year 1060, he began his theological studies at the monastery of Bee, where he fell under the influence, and became the faithful disciple, of Lanfranc, Berengarius's principal antagonist and chief proponent of Eucharistic realism. We know from his own correspondencethat around 1070William the Conqueror ordered him to leave France and travel to England. As an enticement to remain in England, William offered him a diocese, but Guitmund rejected the offer because of William's brutality and the Norman hegemony over the British people.4 He then left England and returned to France. After his return to Normandy, there was a movement to have Guitmund fill the see of Rouen, but the attempt was blocked by his enemies.5 Subsequent to his episcopal rejection, Guitmund sought permission from his abbot to leave Normandy, and reside at a monastery in Rome, where he assumed the name of "Christian."6 Upon his arrival, one chronicler of the period wrote that "Pope Gregory VII received 3 See Notitia historica et litteraria (PL 149:1425A-1426B). •See Guitmund. Oratio ad Guillelmum IAnglorum regem cum recusaret episcopatum (PL 149:1509A-1512A). 5 According to Oderic Vitalis, Guitmund's enemies used the fact that he was the son of a priest to block his election (see excerpt from Historia ecclesiastica 5.17, appended to the end of Guitmund's Oratio [PL 149:1512C]). 'See the anonymous De Berengarii haeresiarche damnatione multiplici (PL 145:8B). See also Theodoric Ruinart, Vita beati Urbani II papae (PL 151:78A). GlTITMUND OF AVERSA AND EUCHARISTIC THEOLOGY 579 him with joy and made him a cardinal."7 We know also that in February 1077, Gregory appointed him to a papal legation north of the Alps.8 It appears that Guitmund continued to reside in Rome after the death of Gregory VII, and...