Life

Robert Kilwardby, or Robertus Kilewardbii, Kilvirbi, Kulverbi, Kalverbi as his name is misspelled in medieval manuscripts, was an Englishman born either in Leicestershire or in Yorkshire (Sommer-Seckendorff 1937). The date of his birth, unknown, is assumed to have been between 1200 and 1215, probably the latter. Kilwardby started his studies at the University of Paris in 1231, becoming master of Arts around 1237. He taught at the Faculty of Arts between 1237 and 1245, when he moved back to England. Around 1245, he entered the Dominican Order (Sommer-Seckendorff 1937) starting a rather successful ecclesiastic career. He taught theology at Oxford from c. 1254 until 1261, when he was elected Provincial of the English Dominicans. In 1269, he participated in the Dominican General Chapter in Paris, where he, together with Thomas Aquinas (and three other members), was responsible of analyzing the process of Bartholomew of Tours. In 1271, the Master General of the Dominicans, John of Vercelli, sent a questionnaire to three theologians of the Order, Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, and Robert Kilwardby. The 43 questions, which should be answered in a forma taxata, deal with a wide range of theological problems, from the cause of motion of the celestial bodies to the location and nature of Hell (Chenu 1930; Silva 2007). Kilwardby was nominated Archbishop of Canterbury in 1272. Two of his acts as Archbishop were the coronation of Edward I, at the Westminster Abbey (August 19, 1274), and the issuing of the Condemnations of Oxford in 1277. On March 18, 1277, Kilwardby, at the head of a meeting including all the regent and non-regent masters of the University of Oxford, issued a list of 30 propositions on the subjects of grammar (4), logic (10), and natural philosophy (16). These propositions were prohibited for being primarily philosophical mistakes, and only secondarily against Christian faith. Although close in time to the Condemnations of Paris, no proof of connection has been presented, nor that Kilwardby had acted under Papal orders (even if frequently assumed). The direct targets of these propositions are still to be identified (Lewry 1981a). Nevertheless, even in Kilwardby’s time, some of the propositions in naturalihus were interpreted as aimed at the teaching of Thomas Aquinas, namely those propositions related with his unicity of substantial form. The first reaction came in a letter written by Peter of Conflans, disciple of Aquinas. Kilwardby’s answer constitutes the clearest expression of his theory of the plurality of substantial forms in human beings. A more institutional reaction took place when the General Chapter of the Order to which both Aquinas and Kilwardby belonged, meeting in Milan (1278), decided to send a commission in order to investigate and punish those who blackened the writings of Thomas Aquinas in scandalum ordinis. The results of this commission are not known. The next Chapter, held in Paris, repeated the advertence and promoted the praise of Thomas’ works. Meanwhile, Pope Nicholas III appointed Kilwardby to Cardinal of Porto and S. Rufina in 1278, which allowed him to move from England to Italy. This nomination can be understood either as an attempt to protect Kilwardby from his own Order or as a way of stopping Kilwardby’s actions toward Thomas and Thomism. The Oxford Condemnations were later interpreted as a campaign against Thomism (Callus 1955), but this interpretation has been challenged (Wilshire 1964). A conciliatory approach can be to argue that Kilwardby was defending an interpretation of Aristotle that made it compatible with his own reading of Augustine. Kilwardby died in 1279, soon after his arrival at the Papal court in Viterbo.