Critical edition of Pierre D'Ailly's Abbreviatio Dyalogi Okan

• Main Author: Murdoch, Ian
• Published: Durham University 1981
• Subjects: 282
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.575758

This thesis consists of a critical edition of the Abbreviatio dyalogi Okan of Pierre d'Ailly (1350-1420), a leading figure in the University of Paris and in the western church during the period of the great schism. Previous discussion of the Abbreviatio dyalogi Okan has been dependent on a single manuscript of the work: Paris, Bibliothe~que Nationale ms. lat. 14579. This edition makes use of four additional texts of the work: Paris Arsenal ms. 517; Cologne, Stadtarchiv ms. GB f 0 76; London, Lambeth Palace Library cod. 168; and an early printed version, printed in Paris. Estimates of the dating of the Abbreviatio dyalogi Okan have varied from 1372 at the earliest to 1415 at the latest. On the grounds of internal evidence and by reference to other works of d'Ailly, it is possible to date it prior to 1378, while d'Ailly was still a student in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Paris. This calls for a revision of the assumption that it was the great schism which led d'Ailly to turn to Dialogus primarily for Ocknam's theories of ecclesiastical power. The weight of evidence is that d'Ailly's initial interest in Dialogus was doctrinal and dogmatic. His abbreviation of the Dialogue provides further evidence of his interest in Ockham's theology, and further evidence, too, of the importance of the College of Navarre during the fourteenth century as a centre of interest in the philosophical and theological writings of William of Ockham. Beginning with a brief historical survey intended to situate the Abbreviatio dyalogi Okan within the context of the life and relevant works of d'Ailly, the thesis then addresses itself to the problem of dating. A survey of some of d'Ailly's major works, extending over the duration of his distinguished career, reveals that his borrowings from Ockham's Dialogue were more frequent and more extensive than previously realised. Most of these were taken from Dialogus itself rather than from d'Ailly's abbreviation, which served primarily as a reference guide. In d'Ailly's selection and use of material from the Dialogue later in his career, it is possible to see a number of significant differences in emphasis, direction and position between d'Ailly and Ockham. During d'Ailly's own lifetime, and for more than fifty years afterwards, his abbreviation was recognised as a convenient guide to the Dialogue. In a number of manuscripts and in the historically important editio princeps of Dialogus, d'Ailly's abbreviation served as a detailed table of contents. The edition of the text of the Abbreviatio dyalogi Okan, in addition to the identification of sources in the apparatus fontium, provides cross-references to other works of d'Ailly. The style of the edition is basically that being used in the edition of the Opera Politica of Ockham; hopefully, it will not be long before it is possible to compare the text of d'Ailly's abbreviation with the first critical edition of Ockham's Dialogue,