Aegidius of Lessines

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aegidius von Lessines (a Letinis), also Giles von Lessines, (* around 1235, † 1304 or later) was a Belgian Dominican monk , philosopher and astronomer of the 13th century.

life and work

Aegidius von Lessines came from Lessines (now the province of Hainaut) in what is now Belgium, possibly became a Dominican in the monastery of Valenciennes , studied in Paris (baccalaureus in theology) and was probably a student of Albertus Magnus in Cologne and later of Thomas Aquinas in Paris (as who taught there from 1269 to 1272). He was an early representative of Thomism , who not only presented the teachings of Thomas Aquinas, but developed them further, e.g. in 1278 in a defense of the doctrine of the unity of the substantial form of Thomas Aquinas (without naming him) against Robert Kilwardby. In 1270/75 he asked Albertus Magnus for an opinion on fifteen philosophical problems discussed in Paris. Thirteen of them had been condemned in 1270 by the Bishop of Paris Étienne Tempier . Albertus Magnus replied in De quindecim problematibus .

From 1260 onwards, Aegidius von Lessines wrote astronomical works such as the Summa de temporibus and a book on comets with his observation of the comet from 1264 ( De essentia, motu et significatione cometarum ). He quotes Aristotle ( Meteorologia ) based on a translation by the Dominican Wilhelm von Moerbeke (1260), Albertus Magnus, Robert Grosseteste and, among others, Nur ad-Din al-Bitrudschi and Albumasar , which indicates access to a large library. Richard Dunthorne used his observations in the 18th century to calculate the comet's orbit.

He also wrote on economic issues. In De usuris (created between 1278 and 1284) he defended the church's ban on interest .

His De concordia temporum deals with the concordance of historical data. Since it ends in 1304, that may have been the time of his death.

literature

  • P. Engelhardt: Aegidius von Lessines, Lexicon of the Middle Ages , Volume 1, Column 176-177
  • William A. Wallace: Giles (Aegidius) de Lessines, Dictionary of Scientific Biography , Volume 5, pp. 401-402
  • Martin Grabmann : Medieval Spiritual Life, Volume 2, Munich, 1936, pp. 512-530
  • M. de Wulf: Le Traité De unitate formae de Gilles de Lessines, 1901
  • FJ Roensch: Early Thomistic School, Dubuque, Iowa 1964
  • Paola Zambelli: The Speculum Astronomiae and Its Enigma: Astrology, Theology and Science in Albertus Magnus and his Contemporaries , Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science, Volume 135, Springer 1992 (especially Chapter 6)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Life data according to Dict. Sci. Biogr.
  2. ^ Reprinted in Pierre Mandonnet, Siger de Brabant et l'Averroisme latin au XIIIe siècle, Volume 2, Löwen 1908, pp. 29-30
  3. ↑ Reprinted in Robert Steele: Opera hactenus inedita Rogeri Baconi , Fasc. VI, Compotus, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1926, Archives , (formerly attributed to Roger Bacon)
  4. ^ Reprinted and translated by Lynn Thorndike , Latin treatises on comets between 1238 and 1368 AD, University of Chicago Press 1950, pp. 103-184. In addition to comets from ancient times and that of 1264, he only mentions comets from 840, 1062, 1066, 1222, 1239.
  5. ↑ Printed in the works of Thomas von Aquin, Opusculum LXVI, in: S. Thomae Aquinatis Opera Omnia, Volume 17, Parma 1864, pp. 413–436
personal data
SURNAME Aegidius of Lessines
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Giles from Lessines
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dominican monk, philosopher and astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH around 1235
DATE OF DEATH 1304