A Re-Examination of Albert the Great's Use of Thomas of Cantimpré's De Natura Rerum

Bibliographic Data

ID5654589
AuthorsIrven Michael Resnick (0000-0003-2125-1549, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume16
Issue11
Pages1338
Publication date2025-10-23
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel16111338
OpenAlexW4415467335
LanguageEN
References cited33

The first twenty-one books of Albert the Great's massive paraphrastic commentary on Aristotle's De animalibus (completed in the 1260s) were followed by something very different in books 22-26, namely brief narrative descriptions of various animals arranged alphabetically and relying extensively upon Thomas of Cantimpré's De natura rerum. The result is a peculiar composite that first articulates the general or common principles of animals-e.g., the manner of their reproduction, their nutrition, growth, shared behaviors, etc.-but then provides brief, narrative descriptions of different animal species which are sourced primarily from Thomas of Cantimpré's encyclopedia (ca. 1256). In the following pages I examine Albert's use in his De animalibus of Thomas of Cantimpre's narrative descriptions in De natura rerum. I will show that although Albert often criticized Thomas's text, he utilized it nonetheless to satisfy the requirements for a natural science and to make that science accessible to a wider audience

Encyclopedia · Narrative · Historical Philosophy and Science · History of Science and Medicine · Medieval Philosophy and Theology

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