Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Abbreviations
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- Part I John Moorman and His Franciscan Studies
- Part II The Order of Friars Minor in England
- Part III The Friars and the Schools
- Appendix: The Moorman Letters in the Archive of the Collegio San Bonaventura (Quaracchi/Grottaferrata/Rome)
- Index
8 - Adam Marsh at Oxford
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 December 2020
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Abbreviations
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- Part I John Moorman and His Franciscan Studies
- Part II The Order of Friars Minor in England
- Part III The Friars and the Schools
- Appendix: The Moorman Letters in the Archive of the Collegio San Bonaventura (Quaracchi/Grottaferrata/Rome)
- Index
Summary
Abstract
Adam Marsh was the nephew of Richard Marsh, bishop of Durham (1226), and the rector of Wearmouth before love of evangelical poverty prompted him to become a friar. He was the first member of the order to serve as regent master at Oxford University (c.1243), and was one of the most influential friars of the English province of the order. He was, in the words of Sir Maurice Powicke, a friar who knew everybody, a fact that is borne out by his extensive network of correspondents, who included members of the extended royal family, prelates and nobles, clerics, and young masters of arts, some of whom were future prelates. He was on very good terms with William of Nottingham, the fourth minister provincial in England (1240–1254), and was influential in shaping the lives of young scholars such as Thomas of York. Professor Lawrence, the editor and translator of Adam's letters, considers Adam's family background and the widespread influence which he exercised upon the life of the Oxford Greyfriars. His candidacy for the vacant bishopric of Ely was promoted in vain by Boniface of Savoy, archbishop of Canterbury. Adam died on 18 November 1259 and was interred next to his master, colleague, and friend Robert Grosseteste, bishop of Lincoln, in the cathedral.
Keywords: Adam Marsh, Oxford, Sir Maurice Powicke, Richard Marsh, bishop of Durham, Robert Grosseteste, Thomas of York, William of Nottingham
Salimbene de Adam called the Franciscan Adam Marsh (Adam de Marisco) ‘one of the greatest clerks of the world’, an accolade he reserved for a small group of men whom he regarded as the masterminds of his time. A glance at Marsh's letters suggests that Salimbene's opinion was widely shared by contemporaries. Few men without official position can have had their advice so eagerly sought by so many different people in high places. He was the counsellor of Henry III and the queen, the confidant of Simon de Montfort and his wife, the mentor of bishops, and consultant to the ministers provincial of his order. He enjoyed the trust of men as different as Boniface of Savoy, archbishop of Canterbury, who tried to recruit him to his familia, and Robert Grosseteste, theologian and later bishop of Lincoln, a lifelong friend with whom he collaborated in the study and translation of Greek texts.
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- The Franciscan Order in the Medieval English , pp. 159 - 180Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2018