This chapter traces the development of theological teaching in Paris from the early twelfth century, a time of independent teachers on the left bank of the Seine, to its consolidation as a corporate teaching group centred at Notre Dame, and its movement back to the left bank, with masters teaching in different locations but acting as a corporate body for purposes of legislation, judicial action, and learned opinion.

Late medieval Christians had constructed a complex method for the discernment of spirits through which mystical encounters could be experienced, scrutinized, and censured. This chapter explores how two famous Counter-Reformation mystics – Teresa of Ávila and Caterina de’ Ricci – successfully articulated their experiences of the divine, setting out their own advice for discernment in the face of growing ecclesiastical hostility.

The Origins of Scholasticism provides the first systematic account of the theological and philosophical ideas that were debated and developed by the scholars who flourished during the years immediately before and after the founding of the first official university in Paris. The period from 1150 to 1250 has traditionally been neglected in favour of the next century (1250–1350), which witnessed the rise of intellectual giants like Thomas Aquinas, Albert the Great, and John Duns Scotus, who famously popularized the major works of Aristotle. As this volume demonstrates, however, earlier scholastic thinkers laid the groundwork for the emergence of theology as a discipline that evolved subsequently. Although they relied heavily on traditional theological sources, this volume highlights the extent to which they also made use of philosophy not only from the Greek but also the Arabic traditions in ways that defined the role it would play in theological contexts for generations to follow.

The introduction outlined the book and defines three critical terms: “Johannine Community,” “social matrix,” and “disguised authorship.”

This chapter presents a portrait of study and teaching at the Faculty of Arts in Paris during the first half-century of the university's existence: from enrolment under a master to obtaining a licence, entering the corporation of the Magistri Artium and, eventually, enrolment in one of the higher faculties (theology, canon law or medicine).

Images played a seminal role in constructing the new Counter-Reformation notions of sanctity, and the increasing regulation of sacred art, and of saints’ images in particular, impacted the development of the visual culture of sanctity in a distinct way. This chapter demonstrates that even as artists had to negotiate changing sets of religious and artistic norms in order to create visual proposals for sacred subjects that would also conform to new Tridentine regulations, they also created alternative visual forms for representing aspiring sanctity.

This chapter traces the development of ideas concerning the divine nature over the course of the early scholastic period. In particular, it traces a shift which occurred over the course of the period, at the start of which scholastic theologians generally described God's nature as fundamentally simple, but over the course of which members of the Franciscan order in particular began to speak of God's nature as primarily infinite.

The chapter discusses the development of sacramental doctrine during a period of lively debate on the subject around the year 1200, with a focus on the relevance of the Fourth Lateran Council as a continuation of the eleventh-century ecclesiastical reform movement, and with stress on the unique relevance of Paris as the key centre of intellectual production.

This chapter considers how, between the mid twelfth and the mid thirteenth century, the theme of free will was addressed according to two major lines of investigation: on the one hand, that of the relationship between free will and the different powers of the soul; and on the other hand, the idea that free will should be understood as a process divided into several steps.

The Origins of Scholasticism provides the first systematic account of the theological and philosophical ideas that were debated and developed by the scholars who flourished during the years immediately before and after the founding of the first official university in Paris. The period from 1150 to 1250 has traditionally been neglected in favour of the next century (1250–1350), which witnessed the rise of intellectual giants like Thomas Aquinas, Albert the Great, and John Duns Scotus, who famously popularized the major works of Aristotle. As this volume demonstrates, however, earlier scholastic thinkers laid the groundwork for the emergence of theology as a discipline that evolved subsequently. Although they relied heavily on traditional theological sources, this volume highlights the extent to which they also made use of philosophy not only from the Greek but also the Arabic traditions in ways that defined the role it would play in theological contexts for generations to follow.

This chapter uses Black confraternities as a case study to show the vital role of such organizations in organizing mutual aid, fostering saintly devotions, and maintaining communal bonds. Confraternities built churches, commissioned art, and took part in public festivals; such activities by Black confraternities also enabled Afrodescendants to navigate social hierarchies and visibly assert their presence in the Catholic world.