If the Speculum naturale as we have it was completed by 1250, it would aid us in dating works of Albertus Magnus and Aquinas which it cites. Vincent cites Albert a great deal, especially for the Aristotelian psychology, often without definite mention of the title of the work cited, but sometimes such titles are mentioned as De anima, De sensu et sensato, De somno et vigilia, De animalibus.[1520] Evidently Albert had already completed many of his commentaries upon and elaborations of the Aristotelian philosophy, and had made an established reputation for himself. It is quite possible that this had been already accomplished by 1250, since, while Albert lived on until 1280, he was then an old man. But what is surprising to find in a work written in 1250 are Vincent’s citations of Thomas Aquinas on such questions as “How an angel instructs the soul?” and “What prophecy is?”[1521] In 1250 Aquinas would have been only twenty-three and would scarcely have attained the rank of an authority upon advanced theological problems of this sort, since he did not receive his doctorate in theology, precocious as he was, until 1257. Either then these citations are later interpolations, or Vincent did not complete the Speculum naturale in 1250. But this problem again calls for an examination of the earliest manuscripts.
General character of the Speculum naturale.
The Speculum naturale may be described as a sort of over-grown Hexaemeron; indeed, in some of the manuscripts it is entitled, Speculum in Hexemeron libris 32, ex dictis innumerabilium tam christianorum quam gentilium.[1522] That is to say, its consideration of nature follows the order of the six days of creation. But the mass of scientific data is so voluminous as to obscure this underlying Biblical plan, and the work is divided not into six books, but thirty-two and a prologue, or thirty-three in all. The work is, however, more marked by a theological aim, tone, and interest than others that we have considered or shall consider. This is not quite so noticeable as in the Speculum historiale, described by Daunou as “a work planned and executed in an essentially theological spirit,”[1523] and one of whose four books on the twelfth century consists entirely of extracts from the writings of St. Bernard. But as the prologue of the Mirror of Nature ranks the philosophers and doctors of the Gentiles as of the third and lowest grade of authority, as its next book discusses the Trinity and angels as well as the universe, and the third deals with demons as well as elements and atoms, so its twenty-fourth book is largely concerned with the soul and its immortality, the thirtieth with the seventh day of rest and such topics as fate and providence, sin and penitence, and the thirty-first with Paradise, the creation and fall of man, marriage, and so on. We have had other writers begin with the Trinity and angels and demons but thereafter deal more exclusively with purely physical phenomena. We have seen other writers start out with the professed object of explaining the Scriptures but end by discussing nature in a purely scientific way. Vincent, on the other hand, sets out to compile a Mirror of History or a Mirror of Nature but cannot keep his mind off such themes as the fall of man and the last judgment.
Vincent’s method of compilation.
Vincent also adheres rather more strictly to his professed rôle of a mere compiler than some of our other medieval writers. He says that he will distinguish his own statements by the word Actor or Auctor, author or editor, and such passages are of minor importance and make little or no new contribution to scientific knowledge. His superiority to other medieval compilers or encyclopedists consists almost entirely in the fact that he has had access to a larger library and has made longer and more numerous excerpts from his authorities than they. As a rule he does not attempt to reconcile conflicting statements in the authorities, warning his readers in the prologue that he is a mere excerptor and not to be held responsible for such inconsistencies. Indeed, he is to such an extent a mere excerptor that it is perhaps more important to note the authors whom he uses[1524] than the subject-matter which he takes from them and which we have already been over in large measure, since we have already considered separately many of his main sources.
Use of Pliny and Aristotle.
Vincent is easily indebted to Pliny, with whose entire Natural History he seems acquainted,[1525] more than to any other single source and the Speculum naturale is as much an imitation of it as a development from patristic Hexaemerons. Another constant reliance is Isidore, who of course in his turn had used Pliny extensively. Aristotle and various Arabian authorities—Rasis, Avicenna, Albumasar, Averroes—are frequently cited, but sometimes at least indirectly through Albertus Magnus. In his preface Vincent apologizes for often giving Aristotle’s views not in his own words but in transposed order for the sake of condensation and clearness. Incidentally he reveals that he had the service of assistants in compiling his encyclopedia, since he states that he has not made these renditions of Aristotle himself but that they have been “excerpted by certain brothers.” At the same time he shows how familiar the wording of Aristotle’s text had become by his time and how precise the standards of medieval scholarship were in some respects, when he adds that there are some scholars who will not tolerate the alteration of one iota or the order of a single word of the authority.[1526]
More recent authorities.
Vincent is also not ashamed “to learn from modern doctors”[1527] and employs many works of his medieval Latin predecessors from Constantinus Africanus, whom he cites a great deal as Bartholomew did, to Albertus Magnus and perhaps Thomas Aquinas. He makes some use of the Natural Questions of Adelard of Bath, which treatise he once cites as “Adelardus ad nepotem,”[1528] and for matters astronomical he makes much use of the De philosophia or Dragmaticon of William of Conches. He also repeats its locus classicus concerning the waters above the firmament where the view of Bede is rejected for “the more probable opinion of the moderns in this matter.”[1529]
Credulity concerning barnacle birds.