Subtheme:
The 1277 Condemnations: Heresy and Censorship at their 750th Anniversary

In the 1200s, many works in the Aristotelian corpus were reintroduced into the Latin West. For thirteenth-century syncretists like Thomas Aquinas, these writings on scientific method and natural philosophy were received as invaluable sources of philosophical wisdom. For others, however, numerous Aristotelian positions were seen as dangerous to matters of faith. In 1277, many such propositions were prohibited to be taught at Oxford, with the Bishop of Paris even condemning them under the threat of excommunication. Now, 750 years after the Condemnations, which stand as the culmination of the thirteenth-century debacle, it is worth reflecting on them. What underexplored intellectual or cultural currents might have contributed to the Condemnations? How did these restrictions on academic freedom affect the life of the average academic or layperson, and how did they impact the development of the ever-changing medieval university? And, more broadly, what do the Condemnations illuminate about the many divergent understandings of faith and reason for those living in the Middle Ages?