Individuals and Institutions in Medieval Scholasticism

The volume explores the relationship of individuals and institutions in medieval scholasticism between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries, and is intended as an important reference point for future debates on these topics, principally for medieval historians while also raising questions relevant to those working on individualisation and institutionalisation in other periods and disciplines. The volume revolves around two questions, which provide the structure for the table of contents below: (1) what was the relationship between particular intellectuals and their wider networks (including but not limited to 'schools') and; (2) how did intellectuals shape their institutions and how were their institutions shaped by them? Beyond this volume, there is currently very little close exploratory scholarship on the fundamental relationship between scholastic thought, the individuals who produced it, the institutional contexts in which they produced it, and the relationships between these phenomena (these points are explained further in the detailed proposal and introduction). In addressing these questions, we deliberately integrate contributions from both major, established scholars and early career scholars. The volume is a theoretically sophisticated collection which uses a range of European methodological approaches to address our theme across a variety of genres (commentaries, quodlibetal questions, polemics, epic poetry and inquisition records), and across a range of subject matter (history, practical ethics, medicine, theology, philosophy, the constitution of religious orders, the practice of confession, and the institution of cults).