Peter of Spain

Who is Peter of Spain?

Peter of Hispania or, in Latin, Petrus Hispanus is the Mediaeval author of Tractatus, later known as Summulae logicales magistri Petri Hispani, a standard textbook on logic. There is a large volume of manuscripts and printed editions of that work, a strong indication that it enjoyed great success throughout European universities well into the seventeenth century. His is also often credited with a number of works on medicine. Peter of Spain supported an investigation of teaching at the University of Paris which resulted in the Condemnation of 1277 issued by the bishop of Paris, which denounced Aristotelian propositions which conflicted with church doctrine.

Peter's true identity remains debated. The word Hispanus refers to Hispania, often incorrectly translated as Spain, but including the whole Iberian Peninsula. It is often assumed he was Pedro Julião, the Portuguese physician known as Petrus Hispanus who in 1276 became Pope John XXI. Another theory, usually sustained by Spanish authors, asserted the author of the Tractatus was Castilian, and a member of the Dominican Order. Other theories from the fifteenth century point to Petrus Ferrandi Hispanus, or to a Blackfriar from the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century.