The Grey Friars in OxfordLittle, A. G. (Andrew George)
History
The Grey Friars in Oxford
Little, A. G. (Andrew George)
Franciscans -- Great Britain
On Dec. 23, 1257, he was ordered abroad by the King[941]. He probably died
on Nov. 18[942], 1258, and was buried next to Grostete at Lincoln[943].
Besides the treatise mentioned below, none of his works remain[944] except
the letters, which, stilted and obscure in style, do not justify the title
of _Doctor illustris_, with which subsequent generations honoured
him[945]. His reputation as a philosopher and theologian must rest on the
evidence of his contemporaries, and on the greatness of the school which
he did so much to found. Matthew Paris calls him ‘_literatus_[946].’
Grostete found him
‘a true friend and faithful counsellor, respecting truth not
vanity,’--‘a wise man and a prudent, and fervent in zeal for the
salvation of souls[947].’
His most famous pupil Roger Bacon had nothing but praise and admiration
for his master, who like Grostete was ‘perfect in all wisdom[948].’
Extant works:--_Epistolae._
MSS. Brit. Mus.: Cotton Vitell. c. viii. (sec. xiii-xiv).
Bodl.: Digby 104, fol. 90 (sec. xiii), letter 147 only.
Edited by Brewer, Monumenta Franciscana, I (1858).
_Pastorale excerptum_ (perhaps merely an extract from the letters).
MS. Vienna: Bibl. Palat. 4923, fol. 40{b}-42{b} (sec. xv).
2. =Ralph de Colebruge= was the second Franciscan master who lectured at
Oxford. He entered the Order while regent in theology at Paris, where he
won some fame; after finishing his course of lectures, he was appointed by
the General of the Order to rule in theology at Oxford, probably before
1250; he was still a novice when he entered on his duties at Oxford[949].
3. =Eustace de Normaneville=, probably took the Franciscan habit at Oxford
about 1250 or before[950]. His conversion was of peculiar importance to
the Order,
‘because he was noble and rich, and had laudably ruled in arts and
decrees, and had been Chancellor of Oxford[951], and was about to
incept in theology.’
It must have been soon after his entry that the friars at Norwich asked
him to become their lecturer. Adam Marsh was deputed by the Provincial to
make the proposal to him. Eustace refused the honour on the plea of
ill-health and ‘unprepared aptitude of mind[952].’ Eccleston mentions him
as the third who lectured at the Oxford Grey Friars as a master[953]. He
was afterwards sent to Cambridge and was the third regent master of the
Franciscans there[954].
4. =Thomas of York= (1253) is first mentioned in a letter of Adam Marsh
written at Lyons, 1245; the writer sends for various books, among which is
‘the chapter of the First Prophecy (Abbat Joachim?) which the beloved
brother in Christ, Thomas of York had[955].’
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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