William of Moerbeke
William of Moerbeke was a Flemish Dominican scholar born around 1215 near Ghent, in the duchy of Brabant. He became a prominent translator of Greek philosophical texts during the 13th century, a time marked by a deep European interest in classical works, particularly those of Aristotle. Studying in Paris and Cologne, he was influenced by notable figures such as Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas, the latter of whom encouraged him to produce direct translations of Aristotle's works, aiming to clarify philosophical concepts for European scholars.
William's prolific translations, conducted with the support of Popes Urban IV and Clement IV, included major works by Aristotle, Plato, and other classical authors, significantly contributing to the revival of classical learning in Europe. His translations not only enhanced the understanding of Aristotelian philosophy but also played a crucial role in shaping the intellectual climate of the medieval period, influencing thinkers such as Aquinas in their theological and philosophical pursuits. He served as the archbishop of Corinth in his later years and continued his work in translation until his death around 1286. William of Moerbeke's legacy as a translator is integral to the development of Western thought and the integration of classical philosophy into medieval scholarship.
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William of Moerbeke
Flemish scholar and philosopher
- Born: c. 1215
- Birthplace: Moerbeke, near Ghent, Flanders (now in Belgium)
- Died: c. 1286
- Place of death: Corinth, Greece
Along with many translations of classical works by other authors, William provided Europe with its first Latin translations from the Greek of Aristotle’s major works.
Early Life
William of Moerbeke (MEWR-behk-eh) was Flemish, born near Ghent, then in the duchy of Brabant, in about 1215. Innocent III had just recognized the Dominican order at the Fourth Lateran Council. William entered the Dominican priory in Ghent, where his education began. Later, he studied in Paris and Cologne, where he probably knew Albertus Magnus , one of the great teachers of the century. The fact that William was a Neoplatonist reflected the dominant intellectual climate of both Paris and Germany; Albertus Magnus and his students, such as Ulrich of Strasbourg and the greatest of the medieval mystics, Meister Eckhart, were also Neoplatonists. Significantly, William contributed to this spirit of mysticism with his translation of Proclus, finished in 1268, which became the basis of Christian humanism. William joined the papal court of Urban IV, who patronized William and encouraged his translations. This support, which came at the beginning of the 1260’, marked the beginning of William’s astoundingly productive career as a Greek translator.
The enthusiasm of the Europeans for classical Greek works, particularly Aristotle, during the thirteenth century was overwhelming. The establishment of the Latin Empire in Constantinople in 1205 drove this enthusiasm because of the easy access to Greek manuscripts it provided. Pope Innocent III encouraged the translation of these works into Latin. King Philip II of France founded a school in Paris for the purpose of teaching Latin to Byzantines residing in his country. Roger Bacon, the great medieval scientist, wrote a Greek grammar. The revival of Aristotle , in particular, led to renewed interest in science and a more accurate perspective on classical philosophy.
No one did more to reinforce this interest in the classics than William of Moerbeke and Robert Grosseteste, the two who did most of the translations from Greek into Latin. The effect of the translations was revolutionary, and Moerbeke was the hero of this effort. Only Gerard of Cremona, a great Arab-Latin translator of the twelfth century, matched William’s productivity and range of material translated.
Life’s Work
At the same time, also at the papal court, William met Thomas Aquinas , who became his lifelong friend and who urged him to revise the existing Arab-to-Latin Aristotelian texts and to translate previously unknown ones coming into Europe from Byzantium. Thomas believed that the direct translations would give European scholars, such as himself, a clearer understanding of Aristotle’s philosophical intentions. The pope also wished to use the direct translations to curb Averroism (named after the Spanish-Muslim philosopher Averroës ), which conveyed Aristotle with Neoplatonic and Islamic overtones and was unacceptable in part because of the strong undercurrent of superstition that ran through the Arabic texts.
Between 1260 and 1278, William revised and translated all Aristotle’s major works, which were written from 335 to 323 b.c.e.: the Politica (Politics, 1598) unknown even to the Arabs Metaphysica (Metaphysics, 1801), Physica (Physics, 1812), and a number of his other works. William translated some of Plato’s dialogues as well as works by Galen, Hippocrates, Archimedes, Hero of Alexandria, Simplicius, and Alexander of Aphrodisias. The Politics was picked up quickly by both the Church and the state as a system of governance and a justification for the authority that each wished to exercise over the other.
In 1260, the pope sent William to Dominican priories, first in Thebes and then in Nicaea. As a result, William traveled widely throughout the Greek world, becoming even more proficient in Greek. In 1265, Pope Clement IV called William back to the papal court to serve as his confessor and chaplain. He held this position through the reigns of five additional popes. Papal confidence in William is further exemplified by the fact that he represented Pope Gregory X at the 1274 Second Council of Lyon called to reform the Church and to promote the reunion of the Eastern and Western halves of Christendom, for an optimistic attitude had been encouraged by the political existence of the Latin Empire. Having spent time in the East, William understood the Greek church better than many and was deeply committed to that reunion a hope that was to remain unfulfilled.
Pope Nicholas III appointed him archbishop of Corinth on April 9, 1278. That same year, William finished his translation of Aristotle’s Poetics. The last eight years of William’s life were spent in Corinth, where he continued to translate until his death around 1286.
Significance
Most of William’s translations made their way into European libraries through their use by the Dominicans, especially Thomas Aquinas, who used William’s translations of Aristotle to construct his Summa theologiae (c. 1265-1273; Summa Theologica, 1911-1921) , the epitome of the medieval synthesis of reason and faith. In addition, and as important, William’s translations of other Greek authors opened the door to classical learning, especially in the sciences, that had been unknown or unavailable to Western scholars for centuries. The undeniable force of Aristotle’s influence on the thirteenth century mind owed much of its vitality to the translations completed by William. The interest stimulated by these works intensified the impact of Aristotelian philosophy on medieval society and, by extension, on the whole intellectual tradition of Western civilization. William of Moerbeke stands as an indispensable component in the development of that tradition.
Bibliography
Crombie, A. C. Medieval and Early Modern Science. 2 vols. 2d ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1963. Details William’s translations of classic texts. An excellent introduction to the history of science. The book is highly readable and contains an excellent bibliography.
Durant, Will. The Age of Faith. Vol. 4 in The Story of Civilization. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1950. Good reading and an excellent source for little-known facts about William’s life. This long work contains an extensive index, a standard bibliography, and a detailed table of contents.
Heer, Friedrich. The Intellectual History of Europe. New York: Doubleday, 1968. An excellent analysis of the development of Western thought. In Volume 1, William is described as a crucial figure in the shaping of the medieval mind. This is a long, detailed study, and the sources must be culled from copious notes.
Heer, Friedrich. The Medieval World: Europe 100-1350. Translated by Janet Sondheimer. New York: New American Library, 1964. While this book does not discuss the work of William specifically, it is one of the best available historical surveys of the High Middle Ages. It is interpretive and provocative in tone and topical in arrangement, and it covers the standard medieval subjects. It includes chapters on intellectualism in the universities and the intellectual warfare in Paris, much of which centered on the works of Aristotle.
Knowles, David. The Evolution of Medieval Thought. Edited by D. E. Luscombe and C. N. L. Brooke. 2d ed. New York: Longman, 1988. An excellent presentation of the philosophical and theological development of the Middle Ages, including the significance of William’s translations in this development. A synthetic work of notable merit. Bibliographic essay.
Leff, Gordon. Medieval Thought: St. Augustine to Ockham. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1965. An easily understood description of the development of medieval thought, stressing the influence of William’s translations on the medieval mind.
Marías, Julián. History of Philosophy. Translated by Stanley Appelbaum and Clarence C. Strowbridge. New York: Dover, 1967. A detailed survey that includes some information about William but is more important for giving the reader an understanding of the major philosophical problems of the age.