Gerard of Abbeville

Who was Gerard of Abbeville?

Gerard of Abbeville was a theologian at the University of Paris, from 1257. He is known as an opponent of the mendicant orders, taking part in a concerted attack that temporarily affected their privileges.

His Contra adversarium perfectionis christianae of c. 1269, in support of William of St Amour, argued that extreme emphasis on poverty contradicted the Aristotelian doctrine of the mean, and undermined the basis of pastoral work. It provoked replies from Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure. From the Franciscan side, Bonaventure wrote Apologia pauperum, and John Peckham his Tractatus pauperis. The Dominican Aquinas wrote his case on the "state of perfection" in De Perfectione Vitae Spiritualis contra Doctrinam Retrahentium a Religione.

On trinitarian theology, however, Gerard was much closer to the emerging Franciscan view. With Aquinas, he was one of the developers of the quodlibet genre of open philosophical discussion, flourishing for about a century from his time. His polemics used a combination of quodlibets and sermons.

He was a major benefactor of the Sorbonne library, leaving it around 300 books and manuscripts; his collection was based on that of Richard de Fournival, outstanding in Europe of his time.