652 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1049-1294.
doctor and to teacli in the University of Paris, which he con tinued to do till 1238.
Alexander was the first Schoolman to whom all the writings of Aristotle were accessible. His chief work, the System of Universal Theology, was completed by one of his pupils, 1252. l His method was to state the affirmative and negative of a question2 and then to give the solution. In worldly things, knowledge proceeds from rational conviction ; in spiritual things, faith precedes knowledge. Theology is, therefore, rather a body of wisdom — sapientia — than a science — scientia; not so much knowledge drawn from study as knowledge drawn from experience.3 Alexander had a most important part in the definition of some of the characteristic mediaeval dogmas, which passed into the doctrinal system of the Roman Catholic Church. He declared for the indelible character of baptism and ordination. By elaborate argument he justified the withdrawal of the cup from the laity and stated the new doctrine of penance. He is especially famous for having defined the fund of merit — thesaurus meritorum — the vicious doctrine upon which the practice of distributing and sell ing indulgences was based. He was one of the first to make the distinction between attritio or imperfect repentance, due to fear, timor servilis, and contritio or perfect repentance based upon higher motives. In all these matters he had a controlling influence over the later Schoolmen.4
§ 107. Albertus Magnus.
LITERATURE : Works. Complete ed. by Jammy, Lyons, 1651, 21 vols. ; re vised by August! Borgnet, 38 vols. Paris, 1800. Dedicated to Leo XIII. , con taining a Lift" and valuable indexes. The D<j vegetabilibus, ed. by Meyer and Jessen,Berl.,1867. — Com. on Job, ed. by M. Weiss, Freib., 1904.— Fullest
1 Roger Bacon contemptuously said of it that it was heavier than a horse in weight. Natl, Diet, of Biogr., I. 273. Other MSS. ascribed to Alexan der are found in Oxford, etc. The snmina de virtutibus, Paris, 1509, a Com. on the Apocalypse, Paris, 1647, published under his name, are of doubtful authenticity.
2 Vuletiir quod sic, et videtur quod non.
3 Cognitio secundum visum, cog nit io secundum gustum.
4 See Chapter on the Sacramental System.
§ 107. ALBERTUS MAGNUS. 653
monograph J. SIGHART: Alb. Mag., sein Leben und seine Wisscnscliaft, Regensb., 1857, based upon the compilation of PETER .DK PRUSSIA : Vita B. Alb., doctoris magni ex ordine Prcedicatorum, etc., Col. , 1486. — Sighart gives a list of the biogr. notices from Thomas of Chantimpr6, 1261. — D'ASSAILY: Alb. le Grand, Paris, 1870. — G. VON HERTLING: Alb. Mag., Beitrage zu s. Wurdigung, Col., 1880 ; Alb. Mag. in Gesch und Sage, Col., 1880, and his art. in Wetzer- Welte, I. 414-419. — Ueberweg-Heinze.— STOCKL, II. 353-421.— SCHWANE, pp.46 sqq. etc.— PREGER: Deutsche My 'stik, I. 263-268. — HARNACK,SEEBERG.
The most learned and widely read man of the thirteenth century was Albertus Magnus, Albert the Great. His ency clopedic attainments were unmatched in the Middle Ages, and won for him the title, Universal Doctor — doctor universalis. He was far and away the greatest of German scholars and speculators of this era.
Albert (1193-1280) was born at Lauingen in Bavaria, studied in Padua, and, about 1223, entered the order of the Dominicans, influenced thereto by a sermon preached by its second general, Jordanus. He taught in Freiburg, Hildesheim, Strassburg, Regensburg, and other cities. At Cologne, which was his chief headquarters,1 he had among his pupils Thomas Aquinas.2 He seems to have spent three years in teaching at Paris about 1245. In 1254 he was chosen pro vincial of his order in Germany. Two years later we find him in Rome, called by Alexander IV. for counsel in the conflict over the mendicant orders with William of St. Amour.
He was made bishop of Regensburg, an office he laid down in 1262. 3 His presence at the council of Lyons, 1274,
1 He speaks in his will of spending most of his life in the convent at Cologne. He appointed a brother by birth, Henry, one of his executors. Sighart, p 247.
2 Leo XIII., in his letter allowing Borgnet to dedicate his edition of Albert's works to him, said: " Especially am I glad to grant this permission because our old love for the angelic doctor is not disjoined from love for his teacher." Borgnet's ed., I. p. vii. Labbe, the Jesuit editor of the acts of the councils, wrote a poem comparing Albert with his pupil, Thomas Aquinas, and greatly praising him for his eulogy of Mary. Borgnet, I. Ixxii. sq.
8 Sighart, pp. 148,152, ascribes his resignation to bitter opposition, and thinks Albert had this opposition in mind when he was writing the paraphrase to Aristotle's Politics. The slothful, Albert says, find fault with those who ex cel. They killed Socrates, drove out Plato from Athens, and banished Aris totle. These people have the same plan in the domain of letters and science