650 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1049-1294.
tares. In one consecutive volume he commented on the books of the Old Testament from Genesis to Chronicles, on the four Major Prophets, and the four evangelists.1 The commentary on Genesis alone occupies nearly four hundred columns in Migne's edition. Among his other exegetical works were commentaries on the Gospel and Revelation of St. John, the Minor Prophets, Ecclesiastes, and especially the Canticles and Matthew. In these works he follows the text conscientiously and laboriously, verse by verse. The Canticles Rupert regarded as a song in honor of the Virgin Mary, but he set himself against the doctrine that she was conceived without sin. The commentary opens with an interpreta tion of the second verse of chap. 1, thus : " ' Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth.' What is this exclamation so great, so sudden ? O blessed Mary, the inundation of joy, the force of love, the torrent of pleasure have filled thee full and wholly intoxicated thee and thou hast felt what eye has not seen nor ear heard nor has entered into the heart of man, and thou hast said, ' Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth ' for thou didst say to the angel ' Behold the handmaid of the Lord, let it be unto me according to thy word.' What was that word? What did he say to thee? ; Thou hast found grace,' he said, < with the Lord. Behold thou shalt conceive and bare a son.' . . . Was not this the word of the angel, the word and promise of the kiss of the Lord's mouth ready to be given? " etc.2
Rupert also has a place in the history of the doctrine of the Lord's Supper, and it is an open question whether or not he substituted the doc trine of impanation for the doctrine of transubstantiation.3
1 The name of the work is De operibus sanctce trinitatis. Migne, 167. 199-1827. The first two parts represent the work of the Father and the Son and the third the work of the Holy Spirit, pp. 1571-1827.
2 Migne, 168.841.
8 De operibus 8. trinitatis, II. 10. Bellarmin pronounced Rupert a heretic because of his views on the Lord's Supper. Schwane, Doymeityesch., p. 641, denies the charge.
CHAPTER XIII.
SCHOLASTICISM AT ITS HEIGHT. § 106. Alexander of Hales.
LITERATURE : For general works on Scholasticism see § 95. ALEX. OF HALES: Summa universes theologice, Venice, 1475, Niirnberg, 1482, Basel, 1502, Cologne, 1611, 4 vols. — WADDING : Annal. Min., III.— STOCKL: Phil, des Mittelalters, II. 313-326. — K. MULLER: Der Umschwung in der Lehre von der Busse, etc., Freib., 1892. — The Doctrinal Histories of SCHWANE, HARKACK, SKEHKRG, etc., Diet, of Natl. Biogr., I. 272 sq.
THE culmination of Scholasticism falls in the thirteenth century. It is no longer as confident in the ability of reason to prove all theological questions as it was in the days of Anselm and Abselard a hundred years before. The ethical element comes into prominence. A modified realism prevails. The syllogism is elaborated. The question is discussed whether theology is a science or not. The authority of Aris totle becomes, if possible, more binding. All his writings have become available through translations. The teachings of Averrhoes, Avicenna, and other Arabic philosophers are made known. The chief Schoolmen belong to one of the two great mendicant orders. To the Franciscan order belonged Alexander of Hales, Bonaventura, Duns Scotus, Roger Bacon, and Raymundus Lullus. Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas were Dominicans. All these men had to do with the universities.
Alexander of Hales (Halesius or Halensis), called by his pupils the Irrefragable Doctor — doctor irrefragabilis — and the king of theologians — monarcha theologorum — was born at Hales, Gloucestershire, England, and died in Paris, 1245. After reaching the dignity of archdeacon, he went to Paris to prosecute his studies. He entered the order of St. Francis, 1222, and was the first Franciscan to obtain the degree of