CHAPTER LIII
THOMAS OF CANTIMPRÉ
De natura rerum; date, authorship, and relation to similar works—Life of Thomas—Character of the De natura rerum—Plan and contents—Chief authorities—Embodiment of long extracts—Other citations—Credulous attitude—Very uncritical character of the Bonum universale de apibus—A chapter on the lion—Different kinds of lions: their generation—Disposition and behavior—Fear inspired and felt by lions—Their diet, medicine, and mode of fighting—Medical virtues of the lion’s carcass—Medieval and modern encyclopedias compared—Examples of the zoology of the Experimenter—Fish, worms, and toads—Solomon’s experiment in worms—Trees—Marvelous virtues of stones—An adamantine mariner’s compass—The mariner’s compass and magic—Occult virtues of sculptured gems—Thetel on images on stones—Zahel or Zaël the Israelite—Consecration of gems—The seven metals: modern plumbing—The seven regions of the air—Astrological—Elements and spirits—Other works incorrectly ascribed to Thomas of Cantimpré—Appendix I. The Manuscripts of the De natura rerum—Appendix II. Some Manuscripts of the Treatise of Thetel on Seals.
De natura rerum; Date, authorship, and relation to similar works.
We now approach the consideration of two works with titles similar to Alexander Neckam’s On the Natures of Things, namely, Thomas of Cantimpré’s On the Nature of Things[1254] and Bartholomew of England’s On the Properties of Things. These two works are much longer and more elaborate than Neckam’s, containing each nineteen books, whereas of his five books only two really dealt with the natures of things, and they lead up to the later and still better known natural encyclopedia of Vincent of Beauvais. Thomas and Bartholomew were contemporaries and it is difficult to say whose book was finished or appeared first but we shall consider Thomas first. As he says that he spent fourteen or fifteen years in collecting his material, he perhaps began to write first and his work seems to reflect a somewhat less developed state of learning. Thomas is later than Michael Scot whom he cites, while an allusion to Jacques de Vitry as the most recent of his authorities and as now bishop of Tusculum and a cardinal indicates that the work was finished between 1228 and 1244. On the whole Thomas and Bartholomew seem to have compiled their works independently, employing different general plans, emphasizing rather different fields, and using somewhat different authorities. Possibly, therefore, the two works may have been completed almost simultaneously, and one wonders whether they may not have represented rival ventures of the two friar orders. Bormans and Rose[1255] after him have dwelt on the use made of Thomas’s compilation by his fellow Dominicans, Vincent of Beauvais and Albertus Magnus, but I have little doubt that most of his sources were known to them directly. The De natura rerum remained long in use; an official price was fixed for it at the University of Paris in the reign of Philip the Fair;[1256] and the manuscripts of it are numerous and widespread, but as yet often unidentified because in the manuscripts themselves it is either anonymous or ascribed to Albertus Magnus.[1257] This attribution to Albert is found even in a manuscript of the thirteenth century, while “Albert in the book De naturis rerum,” is cited in the Thesaurus pauperum[1258] by Petrus Hispanus, a work written at some time before 1277 when its author died as Pope John XXI. But Thomas himself speaks in the Bonum universale de apibus[1259] of the De natura rerum as an earlier work of his, which seems decisive, and he is also credited with the authorship of both these works in the fourteenth century Dominican bibliography. A critical edition of the De natura rerum would be a valuable contribution to the study of medieval learning.
Life of Thomas.
The date of the birth of Thomas in Brabant has not been fixed but seems to lie between the years 1186 and 1210 and probably is close to the latter date. He attended the episcopal school at Liège for eleven years and entered the Dominican order in 1232. He states that he was in Paris in 1238 when William of Auvergne as bishop of that city called a meeting of all the masters in the chapter house of the Friars Preachers to consider the abuse of plurality of benefices.[1260] In 1246 he became subprior and lector of the Dominicans at Louvain. Kaufmann placed the date of his death between 1263 and 1293, but if the date 1276 mentioned in his Bonum universale de apibus is correct,[1261] he was alive then. In that work he seems to refer to Aquinas and Albertus Magnus as both still living,[1262] but the former had already completed his studies with Albert and become a professor of theology himself,[1263] while Albert is spoken of as if an old man.[1264] Thomas says that he was an attendant upon his lectures “for a long while” when he occupied the chair of theology. It does not seem, however, that this passage implies any very close relation of discipleship between Thomas and Albert.
Character of the De natura rerum.
The De natura rerum is professedly a handy compilation made from numerous other writings, as Thomas states both in his preface and conclusion. Stimulated by the remark in Augustine’s Christian Doctrine that it would be a splendid achievement if someone should collect in one volume data concerning the natures of things and especially of animals, Thomas has spared neither labor, solicitude, nor expense toward that end and has spent fourteen or fifteen years in collecting material “scattered widely over the world in the diverse writings” of many philosophers and authors. He has not been satisfied to pursue his investigations merely in Gaul and Germany, although books abound in those countries, but has gone beyond the sea and collected the books published in England on nature, and has made excerpts from all sources. He asks indulgence of his readers if he has omitted anything that should be included, reminding them how great a task it is for one man to read and digest all the varied and scattered works of the philosophers. Nevertheless he feels that “there will scarcely be found among the Latins so much and so varied material compressed into a single volume.”[1265] Thomas does not directly state as his aim, although it is perhaps involved in his citation of Augustine, the elucidation of the properties of things mentioned in the Bible, as we shall find that Bartholomew of England does. But he expresses a hope that arguments for the Faith and illustrations serviceable in sermons may be derived from his work, and there are a number of little books in existence in manuscript which seem to be extracts from the works of Thomas or Bartholomew intended for pulpit use.[1266] Thomas will sometimes, moreover, like Alexander Neckam, explain the allegorical or moral significance of natural phenomena, “but not continually, because we have tried to avoid prolixity.” As a matter of fact, it is rarely that he does so,[1267] although the amount of allegory or moralizing varies somewhat in different manuscripts. These also differ as to the fulness of the text generally and there are numerous minor differences, certain passages being abbreviated or entirely omitted in some manuscripts. Copies have also been discovered of a second or revised edition in which a twentieth book has been added.[1268]
Plan and contents.