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In the third edition of Ars Magica a change occurred that was anathema to several players and writers, the creation of the Realm of Reason. The notion that somehow people in the 12th and 13th centuries were inherently stupider and less reasonable than those before and after them personally drove me to distraction. With this article I would like to introduce the Ars Magica community to one of the more fascinating individuals of this period, a man of deep learning as well as sincere devotion to the Church, Robert Grosseteste, scholar, translator, and soon to be Bishop of Lincoln.
Much of Grosseteste's life and career is obscure and open to debate. It is known that he was born c. 1168-70 in Stradbroke (or Stow Longtoft), Suffolk, apparently to peasants. Even more notable is the fact that we have no record of a patron for young Robert. It is possible that he achieved his education and his later offices strictly by his own merits, but this would be nearly unheard of in the 12th and 13th centuries. He studied at Oxford and presumably he had to leave along with the other residents when King John had the institution shut down between 1209 and 1214. During this time it is assumed that he when to Paris for further studies and teaching. He developed a reputation in medicine and was noted for his ability actually to read Greek. At the beginning of an official Ars Magica campaign he would be back at Oxford teaching theology. He became Chancellor of Oxford under rather obscure circumstances sometime between 1221 and 1224; in 1224 he became the official lecturer to the first Franciscans there. About this same time he was elevated to the office of Archdeacon of Leicester. In 1235 he was made Bishop of Lincoln, possibly as a compromise candidate between the interests of the king, the Pope, and the Canons of Lincoln. He continued to hold this office until his death. His tenure was contentious in that he removed numerous officeholders in the diocese for breaking a variety of rules, which made him less than popular with several monasteries, yet he also held off attempted encroachments by both Henry III and the papacy so that by the time of his death the normally acidic Matthew Paris proclaimed that Robert was probably a saint.
Such is a brief introduction to this priest and man of letters. What follows is an investigation into a man whose mind would convince many a Criamon that he had found a soul-mate in Mother Church.
Grosseteste developed a reputation as a man of deep learning, if at times a rather opaque scholar, especially in his studies of astronomy, mathematics, and theology. He translated (or presided over the translations of) works by Denys the Areopagite, (Pseudo-) Dionysius and John of Damascus. Amongst Grosseteste's other writings are translations of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Sophisiteis Elenchis, and Physics, along with commentaries on these works. These works were filled with copious marginal notes, some of which later became works in their own rights, but often were left merely in notational form. These notes were collected and studied with great interest by later Franciscans, notably including Roger Bacon.
Robert Grosseteste held the opinion that "moderns who try to make Aristotle a Catholic only make themselves heretics" (Hyman, Philosophy in the Middle Ages). As noted above, Grosseteste was in a unique position to make such a comment as, unlike most of his contemporaries, he could actually read Greek. While he spent his greatest effort on theological works, it is for his proto-scientific efforts that he is most remembered today. In various works he becomes fascinated with comets and other celestial phenomena, the process by which we are able to perceive the world through our senses (and the reliability and lack thereof of these senses), rainbows, and a host of other related topics.
Grosseteste was not a neat and orderly scholar. Sometimes his presentation of both question and answer were schematic, as if patently obvious to a halfway trained mind. Many times he became fascinated by a small topic and dashed off a never-to-be-completed study of the topic. Indeed after his death (and continuing to this day) there was a great debate as to what works were actually his, what works were merely ascribed to him, and how to handle the many works he had not formally released as they were left unpolished and unfinished. Unlike the rather "cool" style of the emerging Scholastic movement, Robert often punctuated his works with "I believe", "I say", "my view" and other such phrases - thoughts were not necessarily pure and self-evident, but opinionated. Indeed he was a very opinionated man, causing him to step on toes, both scholarly and ecclesiastical. But above all he had a passion for going to original sources over commentators. While he was deeply versed in many authorities of the Church, quoting them readily if overly much in his works, he wanted to know the basis of thoughts relating both the God and nature. Instead of reading a work about the Bible, he went to the Bible; instead of reading commentary on Aristotle, he went to Aristotle's work itself.
His last known work is probably his most intriguing, De luce (On Light). This work begins with an important consideration:
The first bodily form, which some call corporeity, I judge to be light. For light of itself diffuses itself in every direction, so that a sphere of light as great as you please is engendered instantaneously from a point of light, unless something opaque stands in the way. (Wallis, On Light)
What Grosseteste is doing here is trying to consider the very nature of the basis of all reality. Consider his assertions. Light continues equally and instantly in all directions until something blocks it. This is pure observation. On the other hand he makes this the basis of all Creation, following in the path the Bible had laid out for him - Dixitque Deus: Fiat lux (And God said, Let there be light) -- the very first act of Creation itself. Ultimately God is Light, but not the Gross Light of the elemental sphere of Earth.
De luce is a very short work, perhaps five or six pages in modern layout, yet in this short space Grosseteste considers the nature of the fundamental building blocks of the cosmos, the concept of multiple infinities, mathematics, geometry, spiritual numerology, music, optics, the nature of the celestial spheres, and many other points. Yes, it is a dense work; many an Ars Magica player would decide Grosseteste had the "Incomprehensible" flaw. This work is indicative of how Grosseteste approached many problems. On the one hand he was a keen observer who questioned previous explanations, even those provided by someone as accepted as Aristotle. On the other he was strictly orthodox in his belief, or at least so he believed himself. His mind obviously was not limited simply to past patterns. While many of his conclusions are unquestionably wrong by modern interpretations, it is in his very questing that he provides the basis for later scholars near and dear to the early scientific movement. Some modern commentators make him a scientist, some a theologian. Ultimately he was both and this is what makes him so fascinating.
Now consider (to use a favourite phrase of Grosseteste's) the place of Robert in your campaign. He is a scholar of some repute, although with a reputation for being rather obtuse in his writings. Here is someone many scholars would love to correspond with if for no other reason than to explore new notions. He could also provide quite the puzzle - a man who thinks of himself as rigidly orthodox in his Christianity, yet whose very thoughts cause others to question the power of authority. Certainly a member of your Covenant might wish to correspond with such a scholar. If your campaign is set near to Oxford or, later, Lincoln, it is possible to meet him. He was known as a genial and generous host and welcomed scholars to his board; perhaps a meeting could take place between magi and bishop. Such a vivid personality and deep mind could have quite the impact on your campaign.
To read De luce, please visit: http://www.colorado.edu/StudentGroups/lcm/lunch/deluce.html.
Callas, Fr. D.A. (ed.), Robert Grosseteste, Scholar & Bishop, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1955.
Gilson, Etienne, Reason and Revelation in the Middle Ages, ** 1938.
Grosseteste, Robert, Electronic Grosseteste: http://www.grosseteste.com.
Hyman, Arthur and James J. Walsh (eds.), Philosophy in the Middle Ages: The Christian, Islamic, and Jewish Traditions, New York: Hackett Publishing, 1973.
Southern, R.W., Robert Grosseteste: The Growth of an English Mind in Medieval Europe, New York: Clarendon Paperbacks, 1988.
Wallis, C.G. (trans.), On Light, or, The Incoming of Forms, New York: St. John's Bookstore, 1939.
Text copyright © Angus Macdonald 2003.