Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-857557d7f7-8wkb5 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-11-21T08:30:41.874Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

17 - Virtues

from Part II - Theological Themes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 November 2025

Lydia Schumacher
Affiliation:
King's College London
Get access

Summary

This chapter discusses the definitions of the virtues employed by early scholastic authors and examines their systems for classifying the virtues, as well as their accounts of specific virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Information

Type
Chapter
Information
The Origins of Scholasticism
Theology and Philosophy in Paris, 1150–1250
, pp. 464 - 494
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Primary Sources

Douai, Bibliothèque Municipale, MS 454.Google Scholar
Geoffrey of Poitiers. Summa theologiae. Avranches, Bibliothèque Municipale, MS 121 [A1]; Bruges, Bibliothèque Publique, MS 220 [B1].Google Scholar
Hugh of St Cher. In Sententias. Leipzig, Universitätsbibliothek, 573 [L].Google Scholar
Lectura Abrincensis in Ethicam Veterem. Avranches, Bibliothèque Municipale, 232, ff. 90r–123r [A2]Google Scholar
Lectura in Ethicam Veterem. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, 3804A [P].Google Scholar
Praepositinus of Cremona. Summa theologica. Bruges, Bibliothèque Publique, MS 237 [B2].Google Scholar
Pseudo-Peckham. Lectura cum Questionibus in Ethicam Novam et Veterem. Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, conventi soppressi, G4.853 [F]; Oxford, Bodleian Library, misc. lat., c.71 [O].Google Scholar

Secondary Sources

Variorum, Auctorum. In Odon Lottin, ‘Textes inédits relatifs aux dons du Saint-Esprit’. Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale 1 (1929): 6297.Google Scholar
Alan of Lille. De Virtutibus et de Vitiis et de Donis Spiritus Sancti. In Odon Lottin, ‘Le Traité d’Alain de Lille sur les Vertus, les Vices et les Dons du Saint-Esprit’. Mediaeval Studies 12 (1950): 2056.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alexander of Hales. Doctoris irrefragabilis Alexandri de Hales Ordinis minorum Summa theologica. 4 vols. Florence: Collegii S. Bonaventurae, 1924–48.Google Scholar
Alexander of Hales. Alexandri de Hales Glossa in Quatuor Libros Sententiarum Petri Lombardi. 4 vols. Florence: Collegii S. Bonaventurae, 1951–7.Google Scholar
Anselm of Laon. Anselms von Laon systematische Sentenzen. Edited by Bliemetzrieder, F. P.. Münster: Aschendorff, 1919.Google Scholar
Arnulf of Provence. Divisio scientiarum. Edited by Lafleur, Claude In Quatre introductions à la philosophie au XIIIe siècle. Textes critiques et étude historique, 295355. Montreal: Institut d’études médiévales, and Paris: Vrin, 1988.Google Scholar
Augustine. De doctrina christiana. Edited by Martin, J.. In De doctrina christiana. De vera religione, edited by Daur, K. D. and Martin, J.. CCSL, no. 32. Turnhout: Brepols, 1962.Google Scholar
Augustine. De libero arbitrio. Edited by Green, W. M.. In Contra academicos. De beata vita. De ordine. De magistro. De libero arbitrio, edited by Green, W. M. and Daur, K. D.. CCSL, no. 29. Turnhout: Brepols, 1970.Google Scholar
Augustine. Enchiridion. Edited by Evans, E.. In De fide rerum invisibilium; Enchiridion ad Laurentium de fide et spe et caritate; De catechizandis rudibus; Sermo ad catechumenos de symbolo. Sermo de disciplina christiana; De utilitate ieiunii; Sermo de excidio urbis Romae; De haeresibus, edited by van den Hout, M. P. J., Evans, E., Bauer, J., Vander Plaetse, R., Ruegg, S. D., O’Reilly, M. V., and Beukers, C.. CCSL, no. 46. Turnhout: Brepols, 1969.Google Scholar
Augustine. On the Trinity. Translated by S. McKenna. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.Google Scholar
Boethius. De divisione. Edited by Magee, E. J.. Leiden: Brill, 1998.Google Scholar
Boethius. De topicis differentiis und die byzantinische Rezeption dieses Werkes. Edited by Nikitas, D. Z.. Athens: The Academy of Athens, Paris: Vrin, and Brussels: Editions Ousia, 1990.Google Scholar
Boethius. In Categorias Aristotelis. Edited by Migne, J.-P.. PL 64. Paris, 1847.Google Scholar
Cicero. De inventione. De optimo genere oratorum. Topica. Edited by Hubbell, H. M.. Loeb Classical Library, no. 386. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1949.Google Scholar
Compendium examinatorium Parisiense. Edited by Lafleur, C. and Carrier, J.. In Le ‘Guide de l’étudiant’ d’un maître anonyme de la Faculté des arts de Paris au XIIIe siècle. Édition critique provisoire du ms. Barcelona, Arxiú de la Corona d’Aragó, Ripoll 109, ff. 134ra–158va1240. Quebec: Faculté de philosophie de l’Université Laval, 1992.Google Scholar
Hugh of St Cher. In Sententias. Edited by Bejczy, I.. In The Cardinal Virtues in the Middle Ages: A Study in Moral Thought from the Fourth to the Fourteenth Century, 301–7. Leiden: Brill, 2011.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hugh of St Victor. De sacramentis Christiane fidei. Edited by Berndt, R.. Münster: Aschendorff, 2008.Google Scholar
John of La Rochelle. Summa de anima. Edited by Bougerol, J. G.. Paris: Vrin, 1995.Google Scholar
John of La Rochelle. Tractatus de Divisione Multiplici Potentiarum Animae. Edited by Michaud-Quantin, P.. Paris: Vrin, 1964.Google Scholar
Justinian. Institutiones. Edited by Krueger, P.. In Corpus Iuris Civilis, vol. 1. Berolini: apud Weidmannos, 1877.Google Scholar
Liber pancrisis. Edited by Giraud, C.. In Per verba magistri, Anselme de Laon et son école au XII siècle, 503–51. Turnhout: Brepols.Google Scholar
Macrobius. Commentarium in somnium Scipionis. Edited by Armisen-Marchetti, M.. Paris: Belles Lettres, 2003.Google Scholar
Abelard, Peter. Collationes. Edited by Marenbon, J. and Orlandi, G.. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2001.Google Scholar
Abelard, Peter. Scito te ipsum [=Ethica]. Edited by Ilgner, R. M.. Christianorum, Corpus, Mediaevalis, Continuatio, no. 190. Turnhout: Brepols, 2001.Google Scholar
Abelard, Peter. Theologia Scholarium. Edited by Buytaert, E. M. and Mews, C. J.. CCCM, no. 13. Turnhout: Brepols, 1987.Google Scholar
Peter of Poitiers. Sententiae, vol. 1. Edited by Moore, P. and Dulong, M.. Notre Dame, IN: Notre Dame University Press, 1943.Google Scholar
Peter of Poitiers. Sententiae. Edited by Migne, J.-P.. PL 211. Paris, 1855.Google Scholar
Lombard, Peter. Sententiae in IV libris distinctae. 2 vols. Rome: Collegii S. Bonaventurae, 1981.Google Scholar
Philip the Chancellor. Summa de bono. 2 vols. Edited by Wicki, N.. Corpus Philosophorum Medii Aevi. Opera Philosophica Mediae Aetatis Selecta, vol. 2. Berne: A. Francke, 1985.Google Scholar
Pseudo-Peckham. Lectura cum Questionibus in Ethicam Novam et Veterem, Prologus. Edited by V. Buffon. ‘Anonyme (Pseudo-Peckham), Lectura cum questionibus in Ethicam Nouam et Veterem (vers 1240–1244): Prologue’. Recherches de Théologie et Philosophie Médiévales 78, no. 2 (2011): 297–382.Google Scholar
Kilwardby, Robert. Commentary on the Ethics of Aristotle. Edited by Celano, A.. Leiden: Brill, 2022.Google Scholar
Bandinelli, Roland. Die Sentenzen Rolands Nachmals Papstes Alexander III. Edited by Gietl, A. M.. Amsterdam: RODOPI, 1969.Google Scholar
Roland of Cremona. Die Summa magistri Rolandi. Edited by Thaner, F.. Innsbruck: Wagner, 1872.Google Scholar
Sententiae magistri Petri Abaelardi. Edited by Luscombe, D.. CCCM, no. 14. Turnhout: Brepols, 2006.Google Scholar
Sententiae Parisienses. Edited by Landgraf, A. M.. In Écrits théologiques de l’école d’Abélard, Spicilegium Sacrum Lovaniense, no. 14, 160. Louvain: Université Catholique de Louvain, 1934.Google Scholar
Langton, Stephen. Quaestiones theologiae. Liber III, vol. 2. Edited by Bieniak, M., Trepczyński, M., and Wciórka, W.. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021–2.Google Scholar
Langton, Stephen. ‘Utrum omnis motus meritorius sit motus iustitie’. Edited by I. Bejczy. In ‘Two Questions of Stephen Langton on the Cardinal Virtues’. Medioevo. Rivista di storia della filosofia medievale 31 (2006): 320–35.Google Scholar
Summa Sententiarum. Edited by Migne, J.-P.. PL 176. Paris, 1854.Google Scholar
William of Auvergne. De virtutibus. In Guilielmi Alverni Opera Omnia, vol. 1. Paris: F. Hotot, 1674, 102b–191a.Google Scholar
William of Auvergne. On the Virtues. Translated by R. J. Teske. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2009.Google Scholar
William of Auxerre. Summa aurea. Edited by Ribaillier, Jean. In Magistri Guillelmi Altissiodorensis Summa aurea. 7 vols. Spicilegium Bonaventuriam 16–20. Paris: CNRS, and Rome: Collegii S. Bonaventurae, 1980–7.Google Scholar
Bejczy, István Pieter. The Cardinal Virtues in the Middle Ages: A Study in Moral Thought from the Fourth to the Fourteenth Century. Leiden: Brill, 2011.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bieniak, Magdalena. ‘Stephen Langton and Geoffrey of Poitiers on the Natural Power to Believe’. Przeglad Tomistyczny 23 (2017): 6593.Google Scholar
Boulnois, Olivier. ‘Généalogie de la (philosophie) morale’. In Non est excellentior status: Vaquer à la philosophie médiévale, edited by Piché, D. and Buffon, V., 249–69. Turnhout: Brepols, 2023.Google Scholar
Buffon, Valeria. ‘Éthiques concurrentes au début du XIIIe siècle. La classification macrobienne des vertus dans la première réception de l’Éthique aristotélicienne’. Patristica et Mediaevalia 30 (2009): 2944.Google Scholar
Buffon, Valeria. ‘The Structure of the Soul, Intellectual Virtues, and the Ethical Ideal of Masters of Arts in Early Commentaries on the Nicomachean Ethics’. In Virtue Ethics in the Middle Ages, edited by Bejczy, I., 1130. Leiden: Brill, 2008.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casagrande, Carla. ‘Les vertus chez Philippe le Chancelier, théologien et prédicateur’. In Philippe le Chancelier prédicateur, théologien et poète parisien du début du XIIIe siècle, edited by Dahan, G. and Rillon-Marne, A.-Z., 111–24. Turnhout: Brepols, 2017.Google Scholar
Cervera Novo, Violeta. ‘Acerca de la prudentia en los primeros comentarios a la Ethica vetus. La Lectura Abrincensis in Ethicam Veterem (ca. 1230)’. Patristica et Mediaevalia 37 (2016): 1535.Google Scholar
Colish, Marcia. ‘Habitus revisited: A Reply to Cary Nederman’. Traditio 48 (1993): 7792.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corso, Laura. ‘Appendix’. In Cicerón. Sobre las Leyes, translated by Corso, Laura, 261–87. Buenos Aires: Colihue, 2019.Google Scholar
Jakubecki, Natalia. ‘La clasificación filosófica de virtudes de la Ysagoge in theologiam y sus fuentes’. Studium. Filosofía y teología 26, no. 52 (2023): 255–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laemers, Jeroen. ‘Claustrum animae: The Community as Example for Interior Reform’. In Virtue and Ethics in the Twelfth Century, edited by Bejczy, I. and Newhauser, R., 119–30. Leiden: Brill, 2005.Google Scholar
Lafleur, Claude and Carrier, Joanne, eds. Le ‘Guide de l’étudiant’ d’un maître anonyme de la Faculté des arts de Paris au XIIIe siècle. Édition critique provisoire du ms. Barcelona, Arxiu de la Corona d’Aragó, Ripoll 109, ff. 134ra–158va1240. Quebec: Faculté de philosophie de l’Université Laval, 1992.Google Scholar
Lottin, Odon. Psychologie et Morale aux XIIe et XIIIe siècles. Vol. 3, Problèmes de morale, part 2. Louvain: Abbaye du Mont César, 1949.Google Scholar
Moore, Philip and Dulong, Marthe. ‘Introduction’. In Peter of Poitiers, Sententiae, vol. 1, edited by Moore, P. and Dulong, M., v–lix. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1943.Google Scholar
Nederman, Cary J.Nature, Ethics, and the Doctrine of Habitus: Aristotelian Moral Psychology in the Twelfth Century’. Traditio 45 (1990): 87110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pinckaers, Servais. ‘Les origines de la définition de l’espérance dans les Sentences de Pierre Lombard’. Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale 22 (1955): 306–12.Google Scholar
Ramírez, Santiago. Los dones del espíritu santo. Madrid: Traditio Spiritualis, 1978.Google Scholar
Rohmer, Jérôme. ‘Sur la doctrine franciscaine des deux faces de l’âme’. Archives d’histoire doctrinale et littéraire du Moyen Age 2 (1927): 73–7.Google Scholar
Saccenti, Riccardo. ‘Quattro gradi di virtú: il modello etico di Comentarii di Macrobio nel XII secolo’. Medioevo. Rivista di storia della filosofia medievale 31 (2006): 69101.Google Scholar
Spijker, Ineke van’t. ‘Hugh of Saint Victor’s Virtue: Ambivalence and Gratuity’. In Virtue and Ethics in the Twelfth Century, edited by Bejczy, I. and Newhauser, Richard, 7594. Leiden: Brill, 2005.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Théry, Gabriel. ‘L’authenticité du De spiritu et anima dans Saint Thomas et Albert le Grand’. Revue Des Sciences Philosophiques et Théologiques 10, no. 3 (1921): 373–7.Google Scholar

Accessibility standard: Inaccessible, or known limited accessibility

Why this information is here

This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

Accessibility Information

The PDF of this book is known to have missing or limited accessibility features. We may be reviewing its accessibility for future improvement, but final compliance is not yet assured and may be subject to legal exceptions. If you have any questions, please contact accessibility@cambridge.org.

Content Navigation

Table of contents navigation
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.
Index navigation
Provides an interactive index, letting you go straight to where a term or subject appears in the text without manual searching.

Reading Order & Textual Equivalents

Single logical reading order
You will encounter all content (including footnotes, captions, etc.) in a clear, sequential flow, making it easier to follow with assistive tools like screen readers.

Structural and Technical Features

ARIA roles provided
You gain clarity from ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles and attributes, as they help assistive technologies interpret how each part of the content functions.

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×