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Science and Rhetoric in the Middle Ages: The Natural Philosophy of William of ConchesAuthor(s): Joan CaddenReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 56, No. 1 (Jan., 1995), pp. 1-24Published by: University of Pennsylvania PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2710004.

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Science ndRhetoricntheMiddleAges:The Natural hilosophyfWilliam fConches

JoanCaddenBy theend of thethirteenthenturyheprominencef universitiesndthe nfluence f Aristotelianhought rovided he nstitutionalupport ndphilosophicalustification f scientificnquiry. hese legitimizing orceswere neither nivocalnorstatic, uttheywerestrongnd lasting.1n thetwelfthentury,owever,he nstitutionalrameworkf theuniversities asabsent, ndthepreachingrderswhichwere o have a criticalnfluencepontheform nd contentfhigher ducation ad notyetbeenfounded. onasticand cathedralchoolsdidnotdesignate regular lacefor aturalhilosophyin their arious ourses f study although stronomy,s one of the sevenliberal rts,was acknowledged),orwere hey ommittedo an amplebodyof authoritativeexts bout henaturalworld.Inthe arlyyears f the enturyhysica, he nvestigationf "the ausesofthingsntheir ffectsnd theeffectsrom heir auses,"2was sometimesFor invaluable riticismsnd suggestions am indebted o an anonymous eferee orJHI and to members f theMark M. Horblit ymposium t Harvard, articularlyeterBuck; of the Shelby CullomDavis CenterSeminar t Princeton, articularly nthonyGrafton ndNatalie Davis; andof theFaculty ymposium tKenyon, articularlyliftonCrais. KenyonFacultyDevelopment unds supportedheresearch.I See JamesA. Weisheipl, Classification f the Sciences in Medieval Thought,"

Mediaeval Studies, 7 (1965), 54-90; RichardMcKeon, "The Organizationf Sciences andthe Relations of Cultures n the Twelfth nd Thirteenth enturies," n JohnEmeryMurdoch and Edith Dudley Sylla (eds.), The Cultural Context f Medieval Learning:Proceedings f theFirst nternational olloquium n Philosophy,cience, and Theologyin the Middle Ages-September,1973 (Boston, 1975), 151-84; RichardWilliamHunt,"Introductionso the Artes' in theTwelfth entury,"n Studiamediaevalia n honoremadmodum everendiatrisRaymundi osephiMartinBruges,1948), 85-112.2 Hughof SaintVictor,Didascalicon de studio egendi, d. CharlesHenryButtimer(Washington,939),bk.II, ch.xvi,34: "Physica ausas rerumneffectibusuiseteffectus

1Copyright995 yJournalftheHistoryf deas,nc.

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2 Joan Caddennamed mong herecognized ranches f knowledge, etwas the ubject fvery ittle cademic ttention. ristotle'sworkswere ust beingtranslatedintoLatinand were onlybeginningo be read andassimilatedn the atterpartof thecentury. lthoughcholarsknewthey ould find nformationaboutthe naturalworld nVirgil's Georgics,sidoreof Seville'sEtymolo-gies,andGenesis, he ources apableof endingubstancend egitimacyothe tudy fnature eremeager. he most herishedndprestigiousesourcecame to be Plato's Timaeus,which ncludes mythic epresentationfthebirth fthe osmos nd which xistedntruncatedormnLatin.Before he welfthentury,hen, aturalhilosophyadnostable onsti-tution, o particularocial or nstitutionalupportystem,nd no significantcorpusof authoritativend authorizingexts;and by the middle of thethirteenthentury atural hilosophy as a clearly efined omain f earn-ing supported y a well articulatedet of institutionsnd an establishedgroupofrecognized exts.The standard ccounts f theprocessbywhichmedieval cience ook hape nd gained rominenceend oemphasize hosetwelfth-centuryevelopments hich hed ight n the ubsequentmergenceofscholastic cience n a universityetting:herationalisticrame fmindand theprominencef ogic;the hift fscholarshiprom monasticettingtotheurban chools; ndthe ranslationftheAristotelianorpus nto atin.3Thismildly eleologicalpproach ends ominimize heextento whichthe definitionnd directionfnatural hilosophy,s well as its social andinstitutionaliche,was still ndetermineduringhe enturyhich recededThomasAquinas nd RogerBacon.An inquirynto hemodesof presenta-tion nd ocial environmentf science anbegin oyield picture ot nly ftheunsettled imensionsfnatural hilosophy's onstitutionnd place butalso of theprocessbywhich cholars ngagedn tsoughtoclarifyoth. talso suggests hat,fwe are toexplain ow sciencebecame uthoritative,emust ook at howthosewhocreated r usedknowledgeboutthe naturalworld lacedthat nowledgena position o be an embodimentnd vehicleofpower.Receivedwisdom, orgood fsometimes ivergenteasonsfrompositivistoFoucauldian),ocates he nceptionfthemodernpotheosis fsciencein the seventeenthr eighteenthentury,ut a medievalistmaya causis suis investigando onsiderat."Hugh also characterizeshysicain terms f theelemental omposition fthings ndsimply s the tudy fthingsbk. I, ch, xvii,36). Thesenseofphysica spiralsbetweennatural hilosophy ndmedicine, ccumulatingmeaningin thecourse of theMiddle Ages. See Paul OskarKristeller,The School of Salemo: ItsDevelopment nd Its Contributiono the History fLeaming,"Bulletin f theHistory fMedicine,17 (1945), 138-94, nd Jerome .Bylebyl, The MedicalMeaningofPhysica,"inRenaissanceMedicalLearning:Evolution fa Tradition, d. Michael R. McVaugh andNancy G. Siraisi Osiris, 2nd ser.,6 [1990]), 16-41.

3 E.g., Charles HomerHaskins,Studies n theHistory fMediaeval Science (NewYork,1960 [c. 1927]); A. C. Crombie,AugustineoGalileo: TheHistory fScience A.D.400-1650 (Cambridge,1953); LynnThomdike,A Historyof Magic and ExperimentalScience New York,1923-58).

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WilliamfConches 3sensibly sk how sciencebecamea candidate or his tatus. osed in thisway, the problem alls for an explorationf the audiences nd supportsystems f science and of the deploymentf language nd genrewhichaffectedheplacement f sciencewithinhe ccepted odyof knowledge.No case studywill lluminateheroleof all ofthese ariables r producea definitiveccount fanyof them, utthework f William f Conches,Norman cholarof thefirst alfof the twelfth entury, ields sufficientevidence o suggest he fruitfulnessf this ine of inquiry. he contents,tones, nd settingsf William'swritingsbout nature hrow ight n theplace ofthetwelfthenturyn the emergence nd articulationf Westernscienceby illustratingow the rhetoric f its practitionersnd advocatesstaked utclaimsfor he ystematictudy f thenaturalworld oth ntermsof contemporaryoundariesnd hierarchiesflearning ndinterms f theavailable ocial and nstitutionalesources.The characternd historyf William'sworkrevealsnot a smoothndinevitablerajectoryoward niversity-basedristotelianciencebuta ma-trix f diverse ndcompeting ossibilities.n particular,lthough isratio-nalistic pproach o nature nd his participationn scholarly ommunitiesoutside f themonasteriesssociatehim o some degreewith new wayofthinkingnd a new sectorof society,Williampositionedhimselfmoreambiguouslynrelationo thetransformationf the courseoflearningnddissociated imself othrhetoricallyndgeographicallyromhenew cen-ters f ntellectualnd administrativeower.4William f Concheswas born nNormandynthe ate eleventhenturyand received t least the moreadvancedpartof his education omewhereamongthe schoolsof theIle-de-France, hereremarkablehangeswereoccurringnthe nstitutionsnd contentf earning. atural hilosophyelda modest lace in thisworld, epresentedspecially ythe nterpretationndelaboration f Plato's Timaeus, textwhichcommanded he attentionfWilliam nd a numberf his mostgifted ontemporaries,ncluding hierryof ChartresndBernard ilvestris.Williamprobably pentmostof his career s a teacher nd scholar tChartresrParisorboth, eginningometimeround 120,whenhewas inhis thirtiesnd becomingne ofthebestknown ndmost espectedmastersofhistime.5Mostofhiswrittenork,ike hat fhiscontemporaries,as inthe form fexpositionsf authoritativeexts.n addition o glosseson theTimaeus nd Macrobius whoseworkprovided dditional pportunityornatural hilosophicalxploration), illiamwrote losseson thegrammati-cal theoryfPriscian,nthepoetryfJuvenal,nd on Boethius'sConsola-

4Cf.AlexanderMurray, eason andSociety n theMiddleAges (Oxford, 978).5 On William's life and works see Tullio Gregory, nimaMundi: la filosofiadiGuilielmo i Conches la scuola di Chartres Florence,1955), 1-40;WilliamofConches,Glosae superPlatonem, d. EdouardJeauneauParis, 1965), intro., -31.

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4 Joan Caddentionof Philosophy. ne of William'searlierworks,written erhaps bout1125 or a little ater,was a broad treatise n natural hilosophy alledPhilosophia.6 ometimeround 140,oneof thewatchdogs f orthodoxyfthe perioddenounced s contraryo faith ome of the views n thatwork,includinghose bout heTrinitynd about hecreation fEve.7 n the ate1140s,aftereaving he schoolsto becometutor o the sons of GeoffreyPlantagenet,ount fAnjou and Duke ofNormandy, illiam ignificantlyreworkedhe reatise,ot nly etractingomeofthe heological rrors hichhad been identified utalso addingnew material nd filling ut somearguments,xpandingtfrom our ooks o six andreshapingt nto heformof a dialoguebetween heDukeofNormandynda Philosopher.The Creation ndLegitimationf Natural hilosophynthePhilosophia

In thePhilosophiaWilliam f Conches mploys nti-rhetoricalolemicto claimfornatural hilosophytsownstatus,tsowncharacter,nd tsownauthorities;uteven as he setshimselfn oppositiono those devoted olinguistic nalysis nd elegant xpression, e displayshis ownrhetoricalplumage, roposes rhetoricaltyle ppropriateophilosophy,pplies tan-dardmethods ftextualnterpretation,ndportrayshenatural orld s itselfelegantly dorned. Williamcontributedignificantlyo twelfth-centurytrends owardshenaturalizationnd secularizationfthephysicalworld, uthe did not imply issociate heworld rom heword.8Fromthe first entence f thePrologueWilliam etsthe tone of thisdouble genda fappropriatingheverbal rts odistinguishissubject romthem: e uses conventionalhetorico dismissmere hetoric.itingCicero,theundisputeduthorityn that rt,Williamdeclares hat eloquencewith-outwisdom s harmful,utwisdomwithoutloquence, houghtdoes little

6 More than one versionof this work has come down to us. William of Conches,Philosophia, d. GregorMaurach Pretoria, 980), ntro., -11 (references ere reto thisedition); A. Vernet, Une remaniemente la Philosophia de Guillaume de Conches,"Scriptorium, (1946-47), 243-59; and MartinGrabmann, andschriftlicheorschungenund Mitteilungenum Schrifttumes Wilhelmvon Conches in Sitzungsberichteerbayerischen kademie es Wissenschaften,hilosophisch-historischebteilungMunich,1935), fasc. 10, 7-10.

7 JeanLeclerq, "Les lettres e Guillaumede Saint-Thierry Saint Bemard,"RevueBenedictine, 9 (1969), 375-91. Williamof Saint-Thierryrobablywrotethe letter nWilliamofConches's errors o Bemard of Clairvaux ndGeoffroyfLevres,BishopofChartres,fter issimilaretterondemningbelard 1138) andbefore is tracts peculumfideiand Enigmafidei composedbetween 140and1144). See J.-M.Dechanet,Guillaumede Saint-Thierry:'homme t sonoeuvre Bruges,1942), 65-69, 82-90; and AndreAdam,Guillaume e Saint-Thierry:a vie etses oeuvres Bourg,1923),69-70.8 Cf. Tullio Gregory,La nouvelle dee de nature t de savoirscientifiqueu XIIe

siecle," nMurdoch nd Sylla (eds.), CulturalContext f Medieval.Learning, 93-218.

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William f Conches 5good, at least does some."9He characterizes is opponents s thosewhovalue eloquencewithout isdom.The problem, ccording o William, s apreoccupation ith xpressionttheexpense f substance.10

The objects of William's scornmay in part be fictional, hemselvesrhetoricalonstructs,utthey lso reflect ery eal changes nd conflictsnthe cademic cene of northernrance.The study f theverbal rts-gram-mar, hetoric,nd logic-enjoyedgreat restige, onstitutingne importantmanifestationf thehumanism orwhich heperiod s known. or example,Williamof Champeaux, teacher f PeterAbelard nd one of the earlyparticipantsn thecenturies-longebate about theproblem f universals,taught hetoricnParis duringWilliam f Conches's student ears, mpha-sizing rnamentation.11nthePhilosophiaWilliam ints hat he ocus of theproblem s theschools,12n whichmasters ike Bernard f Chartres erefamous othfor heir wneloquence nd for heir eachingsn the verbalarts. ut nthiswork,writtent a timewhenhe wasestablishingis careernthose choolsand among hosemasters,William'sdirect omplaintsboutthem re few nd general, omparedo those ntheDragmaticon.The prominenceftheverbal ciences eneratedome trongnd visibleresistance.We know oolittle bout hemenJohn fSalisburyaternamed"Cornificians"after detractor f Virgil)to say whetherWilliamwasalignedwith hem.Johnpecificallyondemnsheir ttacks n thesciencesofspeech, ndhewarns hat lthoughuch detractorfthe rts may eemtogo after loquence lone,he overthrowsll liberal tudies,ttacks ll theworkof thewhole of philosophy, and] tearsapartthe bond of humancommunity."13fWilliam'spolemics n thePhilosophiamight xposehim

9Philosophia, , Prologue, 1, 17: "... eloquentia inesapientia ocet, apientia erosine eloquentiaetsi parum, amenaliquid ... prodest...."Cf. Cicero,Rhetorici ibriquivocantur e inventione,d. E. Stroebel1915, repr. tuttgart,977), , i, ?1, 2b. See alsoJerome aylor, Introduction"oHugh of St. Victor, idascalicon: A Medieval GuidetotheArts New York,1961), 16.10Philosophia, , Prologue, 1, 17: "Mercurii t Philologiaeconiungium.. solvere."Cf. MartianusCapella, De nuptiisPhilologiae et Mercurii ibri viiii, ed. Adolf Dick(Leipzig, 1925), I-II with PeterDronke,Fabula: Explorationsnto the Use of Myth nMedievalPlatonismLeiden,1974), app. B, 167-83. See also Philosophia, , Prologue, 1,17.11Peter Abelard,Historia calamitatum, d. J. MonfrinParis, 1959), 65; KarinMargareta redborg, Twxelfth-CenturyiceronianRhetoric: ts DoctrinalDevelopmentand Influences"nBrianVickers ed.), Rhetoric evalued: Papers from he nternationalSociety ortheHistory fRhetoric Binghamton, .Y., 1982), 87-97on 91.12 E.g., Philosophia, V, Prologue, 1, 88.13John f Salisbury,Metalogicon,d. J.B. HallwithK. S. B. Keats-RohanTurnhout,1991),bk. I, ch. 1, 13: "Et quamuis olam uideatur loquantiam ersequi, mnia iberaliastudia onuellit,mnem otius hilosophiaempugnat peram, ocietatis umanae eodumdistrahit...." f. J.0. Ward, The Date of theCommentaryn Cicero'sDe inventioneyThierry f Chartresca. 1095-1160?) and theCornifician ttackon the Liberal Arts,"

Viator, (1972), 219-73on 222.

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6 JoanCaddento suchcriticism,is verbalvirtuosityssuredhe couldnotbe accused, ikesome,of being gnorantf thatwhichherejected.14The prologues o Books I and II reiteratehe ondemnationfsuperfici-ality nd of preoccupation ithornament:We knowmanywho seek theornamentornatus] f words, ew he ruthfknowledge."15hesemany re"men who,] earing ff heclothes f Philosophy ndbelieving hat,withthegrabbed ags, he hassurrenderederwhole elf othem, epart."16hislast metaphor, hichWilliam ses often,s notonlyrhetoricallytrikingnitsownrightnd suggestivefa significantender imensionntheprogramof twelfth-centuryearning,utwouldhave recalled oWilliam's eadershefigure f Philosophy epicted y Boethius, erelegant aimentorn y falsephilosophers.7There s more han negativemessage nthese ccusations.William sbuilding case for hepursuitftruewisdom,rue nowledge,rue hiloso-phy.

Knowing othingboutphilosophy,shamed oconfess hey o notknowsomething,nd seeking hecomfort f theirgnorance, heyproclaimhat hose hings hich hey onotknow re ofno use. But... we have proposed o saysomethingboutphilosophy,o thatwemay helpthosewho delightn it, and trulymayexciteto delightthosewho do not.18

WhatWilliammeanshereby "philosophy,"he ubject f histreatise,s,ashe says nthefirsthapterfthework,the rue nderstandingfwhat xistsand s not een andof what xists nd s seen,"19hat s (as theorganizationand contentfhis treatisemakesclear),natural hilosophy.William husdelineates isdomain,which, ied s itwasto thePlatonic osmologyf theage, ncludedntities,uch s spirits,hehuman oul andtheworld oulnot

14 Compare heupstart hastised yGilbert f PoitiersWard, ThierryfChartres,"229).15Philosophia, II, Prologue, ?1, 41: "Sed quamvis multos ornatumverborumquaerere, aucos veritatemcientiaecognoscamus...."16 Philosophia, II, Prologue, 1, 73: "... multosvestes philosophiae bscindentestcumpanniculis rreptisotam ibi eam cessisse credentes bisse cognoscimus...."17 Boethius,De consolatione hilosophiae, d. H. F. Stewart,Cambridge, 968), I,prose , 22-24 and prose ii.18 Philosophia, , Prologue, 2, 17: "Nihilquippe de philosophia cientes, liquid senescire confiteri rubescentes, uae imperitiae olacium quaerentesea quae nesciuntnullius utilitatis sse minus cautis praedicant. Sed ... de philosophia aliquid dicereproposuimus, t diligentibuspsam proposse nostro roficiamus, on diligentes ero addiligentiam xcitemus."19 hilosophia, , i, ?4, 18: "Philosophia st eorum uae sunt tnonvidentur,t eorumquae suntet videntur era comprehensio." ee Helen RodniteLemay,"GuillaumedeConches'Division ofPhilosophyn theAccessus ad Macrobium,"Mediaevalia, 1 (1977),115-29.

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William fConches 7covered y modem cience.At the same time heuse of thetermsvisiblethings" nd "invisiblethings"resonatesboth withthe Creed, therebyassociating issciencewith nowledgefthe reator,20ndwith sagetied othepracticesfbiblical xegesis ccordingowhichwordswerevisibilia ndtheir piritualmeaningwere nvisibilia.21Thus the prologues fWilliam's Philosophia,which ttack hose de-voted to themere trappingsf learning,mploy, ven as theyclaim totranscend,tylistic legance, hetoricaluthoritiesnd exegeticalmethods.Ambiguouslyroundednd equipped,hey unctions platformsrom hichto proclaimhe mportancefthesubject nd form f his work-thedirectstudyfthenatural orldna free-standingreatise ith n orderlyequenceoftopics.Neither ied oa text,s were ommentariesn the arly haptersfGenesis,nor committedrimarilyo thediscovery f moraland spiritualmeaningn natural bjects, s was the bestiary r Physiologus,he Phil-osophia nd twas oneof the arliest orthernuropeanworks f thiskind,which ecame ncreasinglyommonn thecourse f thecentury.The effects f William'sstrategyn theprologues arry ver ntothebody fthework swell. nhis discussionfthefour lements,or xample,heholds hatwe encounterhe lements nly ncompounds,ike ettersn asyllable,neveralone. Defending hisposition, e refers o theprideandarrogancef thosewho"havenever eadthewritingsfConstantiner of[any]other hysicus"that s, anyone treatinghenature fbodies").22 eisreferringoConstantineheAfrican, converted oslem,who, owardheend of the eleventh entury,enderednto Latin a large bodyof Arabicmedicine ndwith ta considerablemount fnatural hilosophy.Williamwas one of thefirstNorthernuropeanswe knowof to cite Constantine,whoseworkswere certainlyotregardeds authoritativet thistime.BynamingConstantines his main sourcerather han the well establishedexperts lato and Macrobius whoseopinionshe citesmerely o supportConstantine's)William s contributingo thecreation f a newcanonfornaturalphilosophy.He also drawson other uthorswhose works, ikeConstantine's,were circulatingt the timein the livelycommunityfmedical ntellectualst Salerno nSoutherntaly.23

20 "Credo nunumdeum .. factorem.. visibilium mnium t invisibilium."ee alsoPhilosophia, V, xxxiii,?58, 116.21 See NancyF. Partner,The New Cornificius:MedievalHistorynd theArtifice fWords" in ErnstBreisach (ed.), Classical and Medieval HistoriographyKalamazoo,1985), 5-59on 26.

22 Philosophia, , vii, ?23,28: "... qui nequeConstantinicripta eque alterius hysiciumquam egerunt....";nd ?24, 29: "Constantinusgitur tphysicus e naturis orporumtractans...." nphysicus, ee note2.23 He mentions ohannitiust I, vii, ?23, 28 and IV, xviii,?31, 104. See HeinrichSchipperges,Die Schulenvon Chartres nterdem Einflussdes Arabismus," udhoffsArchiv ur Geschichte er Medizinundder Naturwissenschaften,0 (1956), 193-210on203.

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8 Joan CaddenSimilarly,n a provocativeiscussion fthe reation f Eve inwhichhesaysGodmadeher fclay imilar oAdam's,his ncorporationf hebiblicalstory ndhisunusualnterpretationfthenatural istoryehindtonly erve

tounderscore is deviation rom tandardcripturaleadingswhich mpha-sizedthemoral ndspiritual eaningsfAdam'srib.William ookpainstoemphasize is heterodox se of thetext ndofexegetical ractice,ndheanticipatedhepublic heological ttackater aunchedgainst im perhapshe had alreadyheardobjections rom is studentsrcolleagues),whenhedismissedhosewhodidnotwant o know bout heforces fnaturendwholabel as hereticshosewhodid.24 hePhilosophia ontains umerousiblicalquotations,utfewserve oprovidenformationboutnature.When, s inthiscase, Williamdoes acknowledge cripturaluthorityn relation o thesubstance f his argument,e usuallygives it an unorthodoxaturalisticspin.His treatmentereofsubjects uchas thetheoryf thefour lementshighlightsis commitmentothestudy f natural rocesses ndthusplaceshimon thethresholdf a newway of looking t theworld.25et,whileWilliam's nalysis s naturalisticndrationalistic,t is stillfimdamentallytied oassumptionsnd methodsfthe xegetical radition:he nvisibilia finsightreembeddednthevisibilia fwords.

In otherways,too, Williamwas usinghis literarykillsto create ndadvance natural hilosophy. e called attentiono his use of an unorna-mented rose style,which s indeeda model of clarity. nlikeMoliere'sbourgeois entilhommeho didnotknowhehadbeenspeaking rose ll hislife,William ookpains to point ut that simple tyle s notno style. orexample,making transitionrom ne partofphilosophyo another, edeliberatelysed rhetoricalerminology:Up to now our oratiohas beenabout hose hings hich xist ndarenot een;now our] tilus s turned othose hingswhich xist ndareseen."26 e contrastedisstylewith hat fthe eloquence-mongers,nce again claiming hatthe difference as notmerelyneof form:Forwepreferoputforward aked ruthhan ostumedfalsity."27e representedis work s a responseotheviolation f Philoso-phy, Lest she remain aked,we have sewn ogetherhe orn ieceswith hestyle f our nsignificance."28ith rhetoricallourish,e explainedwhyman nhispositionouldnotbe expected oengage nrhetoricallourishes:

24 Philosophia, k. I, ch. xii,?43-44, 38-39. See above,note 7 and Taylor, Introduc-tion"toHugh,Didascalicon, 12-13and 18; and 166,n. 69.25 Dorothy lford,WilliamofConches," nPeterDronke ed.),AHistory fTwelfth-CenturyhilosophyCambridge, 988), 308-27.26 Philosophia, , vii, ?19, 26: "Hactenusde illis quae suntet nonvidentur ostradisseruit ratio;nunc ad ea quae suntet videntur tilusconvertatur."Stilus" is also"pen. "27 Philosophia, rologue, 1, 41: "Maluimus nimpraetendereudamveritatemuampalliatamfalsitatem."28 Philosophia, II, Prologue, 1, 73: "... ne nudaremaneat, articulas bscisas stilonostrae arvitatisonsuimus...." Stilus"also evokesa pen wielded as a needle.

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10 Joan Cadden"placedthe firmamentnthe midst f the waters."33Sincethis s againstreason,"he sayswithhis characteristicaturalism,we shall show why tcannot e thus nd howScripturehould e understood."34illiam xplainsthat he gravity-defyingaters bove the firmament ay have allegoricalsignificanceut do notreflect he actual arrangementf the ordered os-mos.35Thiscultural abit freading eyondhe ppearancesftexts, longwitha neoplatonic utlookwhich ncouragedeading eyond heappearances fthings iguratively,ontributedo William'smostcomplicatednd signifi-cant ngagement ith hetoricallegance.Why,f he is so committedothenaked ruth,as William usiedhimselfmending hilosophy'slothes? hequestionmay eemunfair: he wo etsof mageryccur nseparateontexts.Williamhad, however, eliberatelyonstructedhisparadox, nd he ex-ploitedttoshow, mong therhings,owthephilosophyfnaturenvolvesandembodies transcendentormfrhetoric. emaybegin osee this fweexamine hegarmentsfPhilosophy. s grabbedtbythose gnorantf heressence, hey resuperficial, ere overings; uttothe nitiatedhecover-ings themselvesre windows o deeperknowledge-thewordsand signswhich lothe heworld lso expresst.

Considerablecholarshipasbeendevoted oWilliam'suse of thewordintegumentumr"covering."36ufficet to sayherethathe treats heveilthrough hichwe see darkly,he urfacesf texts ndthings,s opportuni-tiesfor, atherhanmpedimentso,knowledge.nBoethius'sConsolation fPhilosophy,William's ource, ergarments encodedwith text-notmeredecorationutthe maging fhervery ssence.37orWilliam hetruths ftheCreationnd theCreator ere imilarly rittennto he osmosfor hosewho knewhow to read t. Studentsfearlymodem cience refamiliar iththeview that heBookof Natures writtenn the anguage f mathematics.ForWilliam,however,he Book of Naturewas writtenn the anguage flanguage.And in thesamewaythat arlymodemsmeantnotsimply hat

33 Philosophia, I, i, ?3, 42: "'Posuit firmamentumn medio aquarum'et iterum:'divisit quas, quae sunt ub firmamentob his, quae erant uperfirmamentum'Genesis1:6-7]." See Helen RodniteLemay,"Science and Theology t Chartres: he Case of theSupracelestialWaters," ritishJournalfor heHistory f Science,10 (1977), 226-36.34Philosophia, I, i, ?3, 42: "Sed quoniam llud contra ationemst,quaresic esse nonpossit ostendamust qualiter ivinapagina npraedictis ntelligendait."35 Philosophia, I, ii, ?6, 43: "... quamvishoc plus allegorice uamad litteramictumcredamus."36 See EdouardJeauneau, L'usage de la notion 'integumentumtraverses gloses deGuillaumede Conches,"Archives 'HistoireDoctrinaleet Litte'raireu MoyenAge, 24(1957), 35-100; andDronke,Fabula; also Brian Stock,Myth nd Science in theTwelfthCentury: Study fBernard ilvester Princeton, 972).37 Boethius,De consolatione hilosophiae, , prose i, 11. 18-19: "Harum n extremamargine I . [= practica]Graecum, n supremouero . 0 . [= theorica], egebaturntex-

tumr."

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William f Conches 11mathematicsescribed heworldbut thatnumber,igure, nd ratio onsti-tuted r at thevery eastdeeply rdered heworld,William nd someof hiscontemporariesnderstood hatword, figurativetructure,nd linguisticmeaningonstitutedr at leastordered ature.38he naked ruth f philoso-phy an be attained-indeed,an onlybe attained-by n understandinghatworks hroughndbeyond hesignsshownon her garment f figures ndappearances. he superficialmphasis pon therhetoricalrappingseadsboth omistakinghe ppearance or he ssence ndto a failureoappreciateandrespecthebodyoftruth eneath.In thePhilosophiaWilliam uggestshisvisionof thenatural rder yhis use oftheterm ornatus." he wordhas a number f meanings,nclud-ing "preparation," furnishing,"adornment," nd "splendid attire."Translatingt nthecontextf William's ttacks n mere loquence, haveused "ornament";ts resonancewith the figure f clothing equiresnoelaboration.n theveryprologue f thesecond book he complains boutthosewho seektheornatus f words atherhan he ruthfscience, ayshehas no timefor rnatus ecause he has a sword none hand nd a buildingblock ntheother,nd announceshathe will nowspeakabout ach oftheelementsnd tsornatus.39e saysofaether,or xample,hat itsornatusssomethingeenabovethemoon,namely hestars,hefixed nes as wellasthewanderingnes."40 hus,even as he dismisses preoccupation ithdecoration,e insists nattentionotheway nwhichnatures arrayed. heambiguityf clothing eralds hedistinctionetween impleornatus ndornatus f a more rofoundndtruth-bearingort.41 hishigher, hilosophi-cal sensewhichWilliam s employing henhe speaksoftheornatus f theelements as todo with he rrangement,heplanof theworld. tretainsherhetoricaluraand extendsttotherational rder fthe reated niverse.42

The rhetoricalharacterfthisorder s illustratedyWilliam's ttribu-tionof a soul to theworld ndbyhiscomparisonf theelementsn theirplaces to thelayers n an egg.43n somerespectsWilliam'splainprose38 This view was encouraged y the associations f theLogos or Verbum ithChrist,the Incarnationf God butwas more explicitly onnectedwiththe paralleland relatedneoplatonicraditionn which ogoswas bothorder nd its expressionnd withWilliam'sreading fthe Timaeus.See Jeauneau, La notionde l'integumentum,"sp. 58-84.39 Philosophia, II, Prologue, ?1-2, 41. On the ornatuselementorumn Bernard

Silvester ee Stock,Myth nd Science,119-37.40 Philosophia, I, i, ?3, 42: "Ornatus ero illiusest quidquidsuper unamvidetur,scilicet stellaetam nfixae uam erraticae."41 The Englishword array"mayhelp to illuminatehe doublemeaning, or n arraymaybe a dress or garment,s in thephrase"a richarray," r it maybe an orderorarrangement,s in the phrase"battle rray."42Williamusesthe erm hus n hisGlosae superPlatonem,writtennthe ame periodas thePhilosophia, d.Jeauneau, LXXI (on Timaeus 4B), 144; ?CIV (on Timaeus 9D),191; ?CLIV (on Timaeus 7E), 258; andespecially CLXXVI (on Timaeus53A), 289.43Philosophia, , iv, ? 13, 22-23; IV, Prologue nd i, ?3-4,88-89.See Gregory, nima

Mundiand Dronke, abula, 79-99.

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12 Joan Caddenexpositionfthenaturalrder ifferedignificantlyrom hat f hiscontem-porary ernard ilvestris, hose verse cosmogony eaturespeechesby acastof abstract latonic haracters,utWilliam haredwithBernardertainfundamentaliewsnot onlyabout nature ut also about anguage.44issuspicion f elegant peechdid not nclude suspicion f rhetoricaliguresper se. On thecontrary, illiam,who was a sympatheticeaderof thesometimes xtravagantlynterpretedyth f nature ontained n Plato'sTimaeus,was inclinedo viewfiguresnd mages s basic featuresf natureitself ndthereforef thedescriptionnd nterpretationf nature.45The rhetoricalurrencyf thePhilosophiapurchased or Williamadouble dvantage. ntheone handhe established imselfs a master f theverbal rts s theywere aughtndpracticednthemost dvanced ntellectualenvironmentsf Northernurope, he urban chools.He demonstratediseloquence,his familiarityiththeclassical authorities,nd his skillsatglossing nd exegesis.On theother andhe distanced imself rom hese norder o highlighthe distinctivenessf natural hilosophy,o accord titsownstatus,tsownauthorities,ts ownstyle, nd its ownrelationshipithfigurativepeech.Thisdualitymirrors illiam's ositiont thebeginningfhis career,whenhewrote hePhilosophia.He was a participantn a set ofdynamicnstitutionsevoted o advanced earning utside he walls of themonasterynd in intellectualraditionsemarkableortheir ophisticatedapplicationsftheverbal ciences oclassicalpoetrynd Christiancripture.Thesewere perhapsnotmucholder than Williamhimself, uttheyhadalready cquired formidable omentum,hichWilliamharnessednhisattempto extend hem o thestudy f naturendwhichhe resisted o theextent hathe perceived heir ery uccessto be limitingnd stultifying.Twenty ears atermuchhadchangednWilliam'sgeneral nd immediateenvironment,o thatwhenhecametoreworkhis roductfhisearly areer,itsrhetoricaltrategiesacked mmediacyndforce.n themeantime,ow-ever, ewcircumstancesresentedWilliamwith ewopportunitieso use hisrhetoricalkillsand imaginationn theserviceof natural hilosophy,histime ess to legitimizetssubject nd methods han o explore ts possibleaudiences nd sources fsupport.

TheDragmaticonnd theSocial Locus of ScienceThe Dragmaticon,he new, expanded reatise n natural hilosophywrittennthecourt fGeoffreylantagenet,ustainsmany f therhetoricalpractices f thePhilosophia.6OnceagainWilliamheads each bookwithpolemical preface;cites the standard lassical authorities n the verbal44Bernardus ilvestris, osmographia,d. PeterDronke Leiden,1978); Stock,Mythand Science, 237-40,249-62.45 See note36.46 Vuilelmus,Dialogus de substantiis hysicis (Strasburg, 567; repr. Frankfurt,1967), referredo here as Dragmaticon,following he modern onvention. his title,

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William f Conches 13sciences;47mploys hefamiliarechniquesfverbal nalysis;48nddevelopshis application f figurativeanguage.However,William'senergies re nolonger imedat denigratingheverbal ciences n order o promote aturalphilosophy,ordoeshe use devices uch s theplayonornatus o egitimateanddeepen he tyle rsubstancefhissubject. loquence s not n issue nthis aterwork, ut t remains vehicleforWilliam'spromotionf naturalphilosophy. e employs ery ifferenthetoricaltrategiesrom hose fthePhilosophiato reposition he studyof nature n relation o a changingacademic cene.By choosingnewtargets orhispolemic nd shaping hework s a dialoguebetween philosophernd his secularpatron,Williamdistanceshimselfmetaphoricallys he has physically rom he teemingschools. Like the rhetorical trategy f the Philosophia, that of theDragmaticon as more han ne layer, o that lthoughWilliam'snew workis in onesense uthenticallyddressed otheDukeof Normandy,nanothersense ts udiences a newkind f scholar eveloping newnaturalhiloso-phy nNorthernurope.Whataccountsfor William'sshift way fromhis earlier genda?Hementions ith egrethepassing f thoseheregardeds the rue ervants fWisdom. These would have been his own teachers, generation hichcontributedotonly o thestudy ndpractice fgrammarndrhetoricutalso to the ppreciationnd nterpretationf classicalLatinpoetry.William,whowasalways uoting orace,had earned lotfromhem ndhadhimselftaughtndwrittenboutgrammarndpoetry.49f nthePhilosophiaWilliamhadplayeduponhis differencesith hem o highlighthe distinctnessfnaturalhilosophy,hedistance eparatingimfrom hemmust ave seemedfar ess significantfter o manyyears.Furthermore,herelative ositions fnatural hilosophynd theverbalartshad changed. rodigiousnd creativeworkof several ortshad madenatural hilosophy ore amiliarnd fashionable. number fscholarswhohadmainly enesis ndPlato ogoonhadtaken n theproject freadinghenatural orld.Honorius f Autun adwrittenis magomundi,nd BernardSilvester ad beenteachingboutPlatonicnatural hilosophyt Tours. naddition, orthernuropeanswerebeginningo knowof and benefit romthe translationnd appropriationf Greek ndArabicworksoccurringnSpain nd Southerntaly.WhenWilliam ad citedConstantineheAfricannthe1120s,thescientificreasuresf theArabictradition ere argely n-knownnNorthernrance ndEngland,whereas ythe ate 1140sthey admade a real impression. delardof Bath had completed is QuestionesattestedlongwithDialogus avoidsconfusion ith hevariousversions f the arlierwork.(Variations on "Philosophia" predominate n the manuscripts:Vernet, "Une rema-niement," 55-57.)

47 See Clothilde icard-Parra,Une utilisation es Quaestionesnaturalesde Senequeau milieudu Xiie siecle," Revuedu MoyenAge Latin,5 (1949), 115-26.48 He adds glosses-e.g., on "substance"Dragmaticon,, 8-9).49 See John f Salisbury,Metalogicon,, v, 20.

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14 JoanCaddennaturales,nwhich e boasted boutwhathe had earned mong heArabs;50and PeterAlfonsi,n expert n astrologynd theelements, ad come fromSpainto serve s physiciann the ourt fHenry ofEngland.51 he work fthese ndividuals nd othershelpedto assure the subjecta place in theconstellation f learning nd establish hepractice f incorporatingewauthoritiesnto he anon.Theydid ittle o settle heproper orm rstylenwhichknowledgeboutnature ught obe conveyed-indeed heymuddiedthewaters onsiderablyn that core-butWilliamno longer eeded obeaggressiven theDragmaticon boutassertinghe-egitimacy f naturalphilosophytself.Atthe same time, hestatus nd the study f rhetoricalloquencehadbeenconsiderablyndermined.52ne facet fthis hangewas themeteoricrise of logic amongthe verbal sciences, represented y Peter Abelard.William ndhiscontemporariesommentedn thisdevelopment,ndmod-ernscholars aveanalyzed t.53 quallyrelevanto William'sconcerns,hetraditionaleaching f rhetoric ased on classical textshad lostground oinstructionynewpracticalmanualswhich ffered odelsmore elevant omundane,modern asks-the writingf letters, harters,ndthe ike.Al-thoughWilliam had objectedto eloquence for ts own sake, the properapplications e hadinmind, hosehe himselfxercised, adto do with hepursuit f higherwisdom,notwiththe trivialitiesf everydayife. Thecharacterfthisnew rhetoricotonly uggestswhyWilliam bandoned isattacks n theold rhetoricnd itspractitioners,ut t also signals largerchange ntheeducationalnvironment.That environment as very fluid for two reasons. First, t was notstronglynstitutionalized.ven nschoolswhich unctionedithin hewallsof cathedralompounds,urriculum as notstandardized,tudentsfvari-ousagesstudied or arious eriods ftime, odegreesweregranted,ndnoprotocol orthe certificationf masters xisted.Outside he cathedral,ncities ikeParis,Laon,andTours, reelancemasters ame andwent, ettingupone-masterchools nrented ouses-PeterAbelard idthis, or xample.Thesecondreasonfor hefluidityf Latin earning adtodo with hedeepandrapid conomic, ocial,andpolitical hangeswhichmarked heperiodfrom he ateeleventho the nd of the welfthentury.heconsolidationfthe English,French, nd "papal" monarchieswas accompaniedby thecodificationndelaborationf civil ndcanon aw,andbytheriseof secular

50Die Quaestionesnaturales esAdelardus onBath,ed. MartinMuller,BeitrdgeurGeschichte er Philosophieund Theologiedes Mittelalters,1/2 1934), 5, 11.51 See Dronke,A History, 53; andMarie-Therese 'Alvemy, Pseudo-Aristotle,eelementis"nPseudo-Aristotlen theMiddle Ages, ed. JillKraye,W. F. Ryan and C. B.SchmittLondon, 1986), 63-83.52 "Thierry f Chartres nd theLiberal Arts,"224-32; Fredborg, Twelfth-CenturyCiceronianRhetoric."53 Dragmaticon, rologue,5. See, e.g., LambertusMarie de Rijk, Logica Moder-norum:A ContributionotheHistory f Early Terministogic (Assen, 1962, 1967).

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Williamf Conches 15and ecclesiastical ureaucracies. t thesametimethe expansion f long-distance rade, egional airs, nd urban enterswas accompanied y thearticulationf mercantilend financial unctionsndbya growingourgeoiselite.Professionals ith new self-awarenessndnew sets of standards,especially awyers, ut also physicians,ad a place in theseprocesses oo.All these rendsreated ewand largely ractical emands or iteracyndeducation,ndalthoughmany f theneedswereprobablymetwithinnfor-mal systems f apprenticeship,tudents ith oalsother han he ttainmentof Wisdom sometimes ismissivelyeferredo as garciones-mercenariesormarauders)looded he ownsnsearch fteachers.54herewas thus highdemandformasters nd for courseof study racticaln orientationndshortnduration.While heywereno doubtdealizinghe igorousolden geoftheirwneducations,William nd some of his contemporariesere ooking t veryreal changeswhen, round hemiddle f thecentury,hey egan amentingthedecline n educational alues andstandards. hierryf Chartres,erhapsthe only masterof William's generationmore prominenthanWilliamhimself, omplainedhat fhe did not flatterhe "ignorantmultitudendbuttingiffrafff theschool,"he wouldbe leftwithouttudents.55ohn fSalisbury, powerfuldministratorntheEnglishChurch, hohad studiedwithWilliam ndothermastersnFrance, poke bout he ecent rend s thecauseofWilliam'swithdrawalrom he chools:

Afterwards,ecauseopinion amaged ruth,nd people preferredoseemratherhan o be philosophers,ndteachersfthe rts romisedtheiristenersheywouldhavephilosophyoured nto hemn lessthan woor three ears William f Conches nd a certain ichardcalled"theBishop"],defeated ytheattack f the gnorantmulti-tude, etreated.56

These dilutersndbetrayersf earning,oth tudentsnd masters,ecomethenew objectsofWilliam'spolemicalprologues.He attacksnparticulartheshort ourseof studymentioned y John nd thevenality fthenewbreed.As in thePhilosophia, isgeneral rologue etsrightothepoint:54 See PhilippeDelhaye,"Organisationcolaireau Xiie siecle," Traditio, (1947),225-29.On garciones ee below,note 64.55Thierryf Chartres ommentumuper Rhetoricam iceronis,n KarinMargaretaFredborg ed.), The Latin RhetoricalCommentariesf Thierry y Chartres Toronto,1988), pt. I, Prologue,49: "... ut vulgus profanum t farraginemcolae petulcamexcludere."56 John fSalisbury,Metalogicon,, xxiv, 120-24,54: "Sed postmodumx quo opinioueritati raeiudicium ecit, t hominesuideriquam esse philosophimaluerunt,rofes-soresqueartium e totamphilosophiam reuiusquam triennio ut bienniotransfusuros

auditoribuspollicebantur,mpetumultitudinismperitaeuicti cesserunt."Cf. Ward,"Thierry f Chartres," 35.

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16 Joan CaddenHaving bandonedheformfPythagoreaneaching ywhich t wasestablishedhat studentistened nd believedfor evenyears, ndnot until he eighth sked questions .. [now] they sk questions,rather, hat s worse, heymake udgements,aving tudied egli-gentlyor he paceof oneyear.57As for he harge fvenality, illiamsinpart laying n a conventionaltheme, he admonitionf Ecclesiastes bout thevanity f the world, hemedieval omplaintbout orrupt embersfthe lergy.58nthe ther andhe is applying histrope o a new subject.His specificgrievances thatbishops reusing athedralchoolsfor heir wnendsand that hey ppoint

foolishmenwhofillupendless archmentsith selessglosses, eaving hewiseandnoblemasters ithoutositions.59hecompetitionor ositionsnecclesiastical nd secularcourts nd the perception hat new groupofambitiousmen was competingor hemwas one pointof intersectione-tweenthe worldof scholarshipnd the shiftingconomicand politicalscene.60 venmore losely ied othechanges nderway s William'sviewof the areers f thenew breed f students:Andthus,with wisepurse nd a foolishmind, hey eturno theirrelatives. how easyis wisdom Anyusurer anbe wise. 0 whatkindof wisdom s itwhich thief an steal, mouse can gnaw,moth an destroy,ain anwash away,fire an consume?6'

Is William suggestinghatthese men are destined or the lucrative utdisreputableccupationsfthe own-finance, ommerce,ndthe ike?John f Salisburys morespecific bout them: ome become monks(some sincere,mostnot);othersngage nprofane rofessions,uch s usury(herethey pply heir umericalearningo round ff ntheir wnfavor);others akepositionsnsecular recclesiasticalourtsas, infact, othJohnhimself nd Williamdid); and othersgo intomedicine. n addition oattackinghegreedof these ast,John omplains bouttheir uperficiallearning:Others, ontemplatingheir ailurenphilosophy,ave gone forth

57 Dragmaticon, rologue,2: "... relictaPythagoricae octrinae orma, ua consti-tutum ratdiscipulum eptem nnis audireet credere, ctauodemum nno nterrogare..interrogant,mo quod deteriusest iudicant,unius uero anni spacio negligenter tu-dentes...." f. Hughof SaintVictor, idascalicon,bk. I, ch.iii,53; also Dragmaticon, I,210-11.

58 Likewise,Dragmaticon, rologue, .59Dragmaticon, rologue, ; and III, 63.60See Murray, eason andSociety, 1-109.61 Dragmaticon, II, 63-64: "Sicque cum sapiente sacculo et insipiente nimo adparentes uos recurrunt. quamfacilisest sapientia, uislibetfoeneratoric potest ssesapiens 0 qualis est sapientiaquam fur subripere,mus rodere, ineademoliri, luuiaabluere, gnisconsumere otest?"

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William f Conches 17to Salerno rMontpellier,ecomephysicians' ollowers,nd suddenly urstforthn no time t all as the same kindof doctors s theyhad been philo-sophers."62

The curricular onservatism f the critics of change like JohnofSalisburynd William f Conches s thus ied oa social conservatismhichdraws upon the disdainof an aristocratic ulturefor the activities ndidentities ssociatedwithemergent rbanelites.63 heir use of the wordgarcionesto designate he students heyfelthad no proper lace in theschools arried ithtconnotationsotonly fyouth nd ack of seriousnessbut lso ofservice ooremploymentyothers-hence heir aste nd theirinterestn practical tility.64lthought is likelythat majority f thegrowing anks f studentsame from he esser ristocracy,65heir areersnthe professions nd in the new typesof civil and ecclesiastical ervicesconformedeithero the dealofdisinterestedevotion o learning ithinreligious ontext or o the deal of chivalric ervicewithin courtlyontext.The bases of thisattitude nd of thepolemical ones nwhich twasexpressedrecomplicatedutnotcontradictedyevidence hat hese ham-pionsoftheolder ducationalalueswere o some xtent rawn nto henewpractices hemselves.11hierry f Chartres, ho complained bout henewways nd was celebratedor esistinghem,wasneverthelesshe uthor f aworkwhich onstituted short ourseon the iberal rts.67 ohn f Salis-bury's uccessful areernecclesiastical olitics ndadministrationuthiminregular ontact ithmanywhowouldhaveprofitedromriefernd morepractical chooling-indeed,t s difficulto imagine hat ewouldnothaverecruitednd supervised ome of thebrightestnd most mbitiousmongtheseupstarts.68ohnnturn eportshatThierry, illiam, nd otherswerenotuncontaminatedythe rend owards he ducation f "bakers"- thats,aneasyand ucrativerade for hosewho are after readrather han kill."Thus (according o John),Williamand Thierry became foolishwhile

62 Metalogicon, , iv, 21-24, 18: "Alii autem uum n philosophia ntuentes efectum,Salernum el ad MontemPessulanum rofecti, acti unt lientulimedicorum, t repentequales fuerant hilosophi, ales inmomentomedicieruperunt."ee also I, iv, 25-28, 18.63 Cf.HughofSaintVictor, idascalicon, Preface, .64J. F. Niermeyer, ediae Latinitatits exicon Minus (Leiden, 1976), s.v. garcio;

Edouard Jeauneau, Deux redactions es gloses de Guillaumede Conches sur Pricien,"Recherchesde TheologieAncienne t Medievale,27 (1960), 212-47 on 219-22; Ward,"Thierry f Chartres," 29,-n.23.65 For evidencefrom lightlyater, ee JohnW. Baldwin, Masters t Paris from 179to 1215: A Social Perspective"n RobertL. Benson and Giles ConstablewithCarol D.Lanham eds.), Renaissance nd Renewal n theTwelfthenturyCambridge, 982), 138-72. 66 Ward, "Thierry f Chartres."67 See EdouardJeauneau, Le Prologus in Eptateuchon e Thierry e Chartres,"Mediaeval Studies,16 (1954), 171-75.68 Baldwin, "Masters t Paris," 154-55.

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18 Joan Caddenresisting oolishness."69tthevery eastthese uminariesf the ntellectualscene were participantsn the formationf the newtypeof "cleric"-notthose ssociatedwith he religiousife as "clergy" utratherhose ssoci-atedwith he exploitationf literacys "clerks."70 illiam's early kepti-cism bout heverbal rts ndhis decadesofexperiencentheurban choolsputhim na good positionorecognizend evenappreciatehe volution ewitnessednthe nstitutions,urricula,nd constituenciesfadvanced du-cation; utgivenhisage,his ong uccess tmore raditionalcholarship,ndthe ocialand deological one f thedebate, e was-notnclinednthe arly1140s to become n advocate f the hanges.Thuswhenhe installed imselfnthecourt f one ofthemostpowerfulfeudal ynastiesnNorthernurope,William ookpainstopresent hecasethat he ristocraticousehold ouldreplace he ompromisedchools s thehavenfordisinterestedearning, articularlyatural hilosophy.he authorof theDragmaticonddressed imself hus o theDuke ofNormandy,akingthe mageof a disheveled hilosophynestepfurther:

If, therefore,even] n a time nwhich hereweremany rofessorsanddefendersfphilosophy,herewererashattemptso tear wayher lothes ndcarry er ff creaming-as share fthebooty, o tospeak-whatdo youthinks done nourtimes,nwhich philoso-pher an scarcely e found?... ut f shallhavea patronnda helper[here], shallrescueherfrom hehands fviolentmen ndmend ergarments.7'

Like the ase hehad madeagainst loquence nthePhilosophia, he ase hemadefor hilosophy's ew sanctuaryntheDragmaticon as both seriouspositionndat the ametime vehicle or nother rogram-in his nstancea continuingialoguewith hemasters nd studentsehad eft ehind. nceagainWilliamwasundertakingdouble genda:on theonehand heway nwhichWilliam eshaped isearlierwork eflects is desire oexplore newniche or hepracticefnatural hilosophynthe ourts fthe ristocracy;nthe ther and he ontentnd fate ftheDragmaticon oint otbackward othepurposendaudience f thePhilosophia for hose arlier onditions ad

69 John f Salisbury,Metalogicon, k. I, ch. 5, 20: "... apud eos qui panem potiusquamartificiumuaerunt....nsipientes taquefacti untduminsipientiae esistebant...."70 Murray, eason andSociety, 63-65.71 Dragmaticon, VI, 212: "Si igitur n tempore, uo multi erant professores tdefensores hilosophiae, emerarii usi sunt llius vestes abscindere, andemque quasireclamantem uamuis uelut in partempraedae detrahere, uid in nostrisputas fieritemporibus,n quibus uix inuenientur hilosophus? ... At si fautoremhaberem etadiutorem, manibusuiolentorumllameriperem,lliusquevestemresarcirem." haveemended he edition's abelingof the Philosopher's nd Duke's partshere: see AndreWilmart,Analecta Reginensia: Extraits des manuscrits atins de la reine Christineconserves u VaticanVaticanCity,1933), 10, Reg. Lat. 72 (fol. 127-39),265.

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William f Conches 19all butceased to exist)butonward o the nterestsndpractices f thefast-changingchools.What uggestshatWilliamwas, at leaston one level,serious boutnew itefor he tudy fnature atherhan hat e was simply ngagingnproforma ppeals o hispatron? erhaps hebest vidences the lass frameworkwithinwhichhe and others iewedthe declineof the schools. n addition,both heparticularatron e served ndtherhetoricaltructurend fabric ftheworkheproduced trengthenhecase thatWilliamwas interestedn thepossibilities f his new setting,hegreat allofthe raditional arriorlite.Geoffreylantagenet as inmany espects modelofthe mbitiousndsuccessful welfth-centuryord.At fifteen e marriedMatilda,daughterfKing Henry ofEngland; t sixteen, e became CountofAnjou,whenhisfather entoff o become Kingof thecrusadertateofJerusalem. hileMatildapursuedmilitaryndpolitical ampaignsnEngland o enforce erclaim othe hronefter erfather'seath,Geoffreyid hispart y conquer-ingNormandy-which elonged o theEnglish rown-andmaking imselfDuke. Threeyears fter eoffreyied at the ge ofthirty-eight,hese ffortspaidoffwhen heir ldest onreceived hecrown s HenryI. Pro-Angevinhistorians f the period ttributeo Geoffreyll theconventional nightlyandlordly irtues: e was valiant,ust,andcharitable. ut at a timewhenmuchofthearistocracy as illiteratendtherewas no habit f connectinglearning ith ecular irtue r effectiveeadership, eoffrey as also called"highly ducated" optime itteratus).72 descriptionf his firstmeetingwithhis futureather-in-law,enry , hashim ornamentingis wordswithrhetoricalolors";73nd one chronicle escribesnextravaganterms ow, nhisyouth, e lovedreading ndmemorizedassagesfrom oth acred ndsecular exts.74

Writteny authors riendlyo Geoffrey's ynasty,hesedescriptionsrehyperbolend flattery;ut ntellectualttainmentserea newandnotyetcommonwaytoflatterecular rinces, uggestinghatGeoffrey as-or atthevery eastwished o be known s-a personwith omeeducation. fter72 Chronicade gestis consulum ndegavorum,n Chroniques es comtesd'Anjouetdes seigneurs 'Amboise, d. Louis Halphen nd Rene PoupardinParis, 1913), 71: "FuitGosfridus robitate dmirabilis,ustitie nsignis,militie ctibusdeditus, ptime itteratus,

inter lericos et laicos facundissimus,ereomnibusbonismoribus epletus...." ee alsoHistoriaGaufredi ucis normanorumt comitis ndegavorum,n Halphen nd Poupardin,Chronica, 76-77;WilliamofMalmesbury, istoriaenovellae, , ?452 inDe gestisregumanglorumibriquinque; Historiaenovellae ibritres, d. William Stubbs London, 1887,1889), I, 531; and Georges Duby, "The Cultureof theKnightly lass: Audience andPatronage" n Robert L. Benson and Giles ConstablewithCarol D. Lanham (eds.),Renaissance nd Renewal n theTwelfth enturyCambridge, 982), 248-62 on 254.73 Historia Gaufredi, n Halphenand Poupardin eds.), Chronica,178: "Adolescensvero,utsapientiummoris st,verborumompendio tudens,adem etiamverbarhetoricisexornans oloribus, aucis innotescereatagebat."74HistoriaGaufredi,nHalphen ndPoupardineds.),Chronica, 12-13;see also 218.

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20 Joan Caddenall, he did engageWilliamof Conches,one of the mosthighly eputedmasters fthe ge,to be the utor f hisyoung ons.He may venhavehad aparticularnterestnscience, or f themany ubjects n whichWilliamhadwritten,atural hilosophy as theone aboutwhichhe chose to dedicatework oGeoffrey;nd at ustabout he sametime,whenyoungHenrywasbetween even nd elevenyears ld,Adelard f Bathdedicated little racton the strolabeo theboy.75The most ignificanthetoricalransfornationilliam ffectednrevis-ingthePhilosophiawas the horoughewritingf theworkn theform f adialoguebetween he Duke ofNormandynd an unnamed hilosopher. ethusdeparted romhefree-standingreatise ivided nto hapters hich, npart hanks ohis own earlierwork,was becoming more ommon ehiclefornatural hilosophy.hedialoguewasbyno means newform, orwasWilliam theonlytwelfth-centuryuthor o try t out on a philosophicalsubject. ike Bernard ilvester's daptationfepic andmythic orms s avehicleforhiscosmology,William's xperimentith ialogue s one mani-festationmong manyof the search often mongclassicalmodels) forvehicles fexpressionppropriateo therapidly evelopingnd differentiat-ing disciplines.76 illiamwas certainlyamiliar ith eneca's Quaestionesnaturales,whosesubjectwas related o his own,althoughts form id notpermithedevelopmentf an interlocutor'sersona.Works ike Boethius'sConsolatio hilosophiae nd Martianus apella's De nuptiis hilologiae tMercurii ontained ialogicexchanges mongfull blown characters, utthoseworkswerenotstructureds dialogues nd the characters ere alle-gorical.The catechisticuestion-and-answerormat hich erved o incul-cate basic principlesnd informationntomedicalnovicesmayhavepro-videdWilliamwith precedentormaster-studentxchange utnotfor hetype f broad xplorationo whichhis workwas devoted.77Thus, lthoughariations n thedialogue ormwerefamiliaro twelfth-centuryudiences,hehybridormwhichWilliamdevisedwas notused forteachingn the schools.Employingtwas thusonewayinwhichWilliamdetached is workon natural hilosophy rom he standard roductionfscholarly exts,nd attachedtto a secular etting.Williammakesmuchofthedialogue orm. he work's itle, rom heword drama,"sprobably is;

75 FranzBliemetzrieder,delhardvonBath: Blatter us demLeben eines englischenNaturphilosophenes 12. Jahrhundertsnd Bahnbrechers iner Wiedererweckungergriechischen ntike: ineKulturgeschichtlichetudie Munich,1935), 133-41 and 340-50;CharlesHomerHaskins, tudies ntheHistory fMedievalScience Cambridge, 927),28-29; and Gregory, nimaMundi, -8,n. 4.76 See Stock,Myth nd Science,7-8.77Peter . von Moos, "Le Dialogue latin u moyen ge: l'example d'Evrardd'Ypres,"Annales: Economies,Societe, Civilisation, 4 (1989), 993-1028. See also "PatternsnMiddle EnglishDialogues" in Edward Donald Kennedy,Ronald Waldron nd Joseph .Wittig eds.), Medieval EnglishStudies Presented to GeorgeKane (Wolfeboro,N.H.,1988), 127-45.

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William f Conches 21and he calls attention number f times o the format,t one point, orexample, xplaininghedialogueby saying, Since similarityf speech sthe mother f boredom,we shall set offour speech dramatically"drag-matice).78Theconversationalharacterf thebook s carried hroughairlyconsistently,nd William mphasizest at many oints.79Although his new structure as not necessary orWilliamto effectchangesnhissubstantivereatmentf certain cientificoints, t neverthe-lessprovided imwith convenientehicle.On a number f subjects,uchas the theoryf the elements,William's discussionn theDragmaticonsconsiderably orecomplex,nuanced, nd indeed nconclusivehan n theearlier ersion.80hevoiceof theDuke askingfor xplanationsnd posingproblems ives omestructureo thisbroader xploration.The dialogue lso emphasizes he position nd role of theDuke, thushighlightinghe secular nd aristocraticetting.When he Philosopher is-agreeswiththeVenerableBede on the waters bove the firmament,orexample,heDuke nsistshatwhen mandisagreeswith is superior,e hadbetter resent ood reasons.81The Duke tells thePhilosopherhat t isunmanlyo cry ndpromisesomobilizehisarmies or hebattle gainst heenemies f Wisdom.82 illiam oeseverythinge cantomake hecharacteroftheDukeworthyfthe ask-to distinguishimfromhe uperficialndvenalmen whoprostitutehilosophy. he Duke of thedialogue s smart,well versed, nd well spoken.More important,nlike he tradesmenndopportunists,e hastherightttitudeowardsWisdom:

Although ublicbusinessworriesme, I neverthelessetWisdombefore ll business, greeing ith olomon,whosays, [Wisdom]sbetter han raffickingn gold and silver, nd all thingswhich redesired renotworthyfbeing omparedo it."83The Philosopherraises heDuke for hewayhe sraising is children:Youhave mbuedhem ot,ikeothers, ith heplayofgames fchance, utwith78 Dragmaticon, rologue,7-8: "Sed quia similitudo rationismater st satietatis,satietas astidii, ostram rationem ragmatice istinguemus."ee also William'sGlosaesuperPlatonem uoted nGregory, nimamundi, , n. 4, citingMS Marciano at.1870,f.

gr (notrecordedn Jeauneau d.); Thierry f Chartres Jeauneau, Prologus n Eptateu-chon," 175); and Isidore of Seville,Etymologiarumive originumibri XX, ed. W. M.Lindsay Oxford, 911),VIII, vii, ? 11.79E.g.,Dragmaticon, rologue, andtheopening f eachbook.80 See Elford, William ofConches";similarly,n the waters bove thefirmament,Dragmaticon,II, 64-69.81 Dragmaticon,II, 65.82 Dragmaticon,I, 35-36.83 Dragmaticon, I, 36: "Quamuis publica negotiame sollicitent, unctistamennegotiis apientiam raepono, alomoni consentiens,ui ait, Melior est acquisitioeiusnegotionibusuri et argenti t omniaquae desiderantur,i non ualentcomparari.'"Cf.Proverbs 6:16.

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22 JoanCaddenthe tudy f etters rom tender ge,thefragrancefwhich heywillretainfor long time."84 e expresses heexpectationhat he Duke's example,combinedwithhis status,will win wider pproval or uchan educationalprogram. he whole et-up onveys nordinarymount fflattery,utonceagain the unusualmedium hosen for the flatteryllows it to serve theadditional unction f promotingn alliance between he truephilosopherand the rue ristocrat.With heartfulhaping f thedialogue ndtheskillful ortrayalf theDuke,Williamhas madethebest ase possible or his ealignment.ndoingso,herepresentscounterxample o the ssociationfthenewrationalismwith sector fsociety "thosewith areers omake")anda social outlookwhich epresentedrisinglternativeo the ocial and deological ominanceof an aristocraticnd ascetic ensibility.85npart ecauseofthevery hangesinwhich e participatedndto which e contributed,illiam ought hroughtheDragmaticono find secure osition orhimself nd natural hilosophyon the hearth f theold elite.Having stepped ut of the shelter f themonasteriesnd ackinghekind f nstitutionallternative hich heuniver-sitieswouldprovidenthefollowingenturies,he ystematictudyfnaturehad, n the mid-twelfthentury,o obvioushome. The existing enters fsecular ower hus eemed reasonable, erhaps venobvious, ecourse.Conditions idnot,however, avor uch a move. The secular ourts fthetwelfthentury ere ndeeddeveloping atternsf patronage, ot onlyfor vernaculariteratureut also for Latin letters-notably or historicalwriting. eoffreyasbyno means loneamong he ristocracynprovidingLatin ducation orhischildren,nsupportinghework fa scholar, r eveninrepresentingn audiencefor learnedwork.86ut neitherhilosophyngeneralnornatural hilosophyn particular ad yetfound niche n theevolving ulturef theFrenchndEnglish ristocracies.lthoughhe olu-tions o theproblemsWilliam erceiveday mainlynanother irection-inthe institutionsf the university-Geoffreylantagenet, ithhis unusualbackgroundnd nterest, as a harbingerf a patronage elationshiphichwas to become ncreasinglyignificantnthefollowingenturiesnd musthave nspiredomeoptimismnWilliam.But Williamwas not o radical sto abandon bruptlyhe nstitutionsfthe chools, orrupthough heymightbe;norwas he so naive s tothinkhat hemen ndboysof a militaryamilyconstitutedn adequateaudiencefor his mostadvancedwork n naturalphilosophy; or, finally,was he so lacking n rhetorical irtuositys toconstruct text o doonly ne ob.

84Dragmaticon, rologue, -4: "... quosnonutalii ludo alearum ed studio itterarumtenera aetate imbuisti, uius odorem diu seruabunt."Cf. Horace, Epistles in Satires,Epistles,Arspoetica, ed. and tr. H. Rushton airclough Cambridge, 966), I, ii, 67-70,266, which s also alluded o nthepreface fAdelard'swork nthe strolabe edicated oGeoffrey'sonHenry.Haskins, tudies, 8-29.85Murray, eason and Society, 01.86 See Duby,"The Culture ftheKnightly lass."

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Williamf Conches 23If thepersistentraise f theDuke's attitudeoward earning as aimedat Geoffrey imself, he persistentomplaintsbout today'smasters ndstudents erethe continuationf a conversation hichhad arisen n the

urban chools,whereWilliam ad participatedefore ismove o Geoffrey'shousehold,ndwhichwas continuingmong cholars.fGeoffreyead or,more ikely, adWilliam ead ndexplain o him, arts f theDragmaticon,still nonebut members f learned ommunitiesould fully ppreciatetscontents.We do notknow f William ver directlyeenteredhe fray,87utthesubsequent istoryftheDragmaticontself uggests hat tquickly oundits mainaudience n the townsof England nd Northernrance.Carefulmanuscriptesearchwill be necessary o map withprecision heDrag-maticon'snfluence,ut wopreliminarybservationsrepossible. irst,hedisseminationf theDragmaticonppears o havebeen similarothat fthePhilosophia,n the enseboth hat ozens f copiesofeachhavecomedowntous andthat othingoted o date bout he opies-their ppearancertheother extswithwhich hey rebound-suggests hey elonged o a courtlyenvironment.88econd,bythe nd ofthe enturyiecesoftheDragmaticonhad beenborrowednd attachedo Northernuropean exts boutmedicineandphysiology.n particular,ne sectionwas lifted ut as a separateittletreatise,89ndportions f that ame sectionwereintegratedntoa highlydeveloped luster f compilationsf medical nd scientificmaterial ftenreferredo as "Salernitan uestions," ecause theywere largelyderivedfrom heworkof Constantinehe African nd other lements f thenewmedicalknowledge f Salerno.90hesecompilations, hich re associatedwith he environmentfthe urban choolsofEngland,may n somewaysrepresent hatso dismayedWilliamabout modern ducation. romthefragmentationf natural hilosophynto specific nd sometimes racticalbits of informationo some scurrilous ommentsboutthe sexuality findividualmasters,he"Salernitan uestions" eemto attest o the ascen-dancy fthegarciones nthe cademic cene.91

87 See Albericdes TresFontaines, hronica ited nGregory nimaMundi, .88 LynnThomdike,Historyof Magic, II, 64-65, and "More Manuscripts f theDragmaticonndPhilosophiaof Williamof Conches," peculum, 0 (1945), 252-59; andVemet, "Une remaniement."89 MSS Cambridge, rinity .2.5, fols.75r-85vb; urich,Zentralbibliothek,ar. C.172,fols.3v-6v; aris,Bibliotheque ationale at. 14809,fols.298v-3 2Vndn. a. 693,fols.183r-86r.Probably lso Oxford,Christchurch9, fols. 134-3 , which have not seen:Thorndike More Manuscriptsof the Dragmaticon and Philosophia," 84. See alsoGrabmann, andschriftlicheorschungen.90BrianLawn (ed.), TheProse SalernitanQuestions ditedfrom BodleianManu-script Auct.F.3.10) (London,1979) and I QuesitiSalernitani: ntroduzionella storiadella letteraturaroblematicamedicae scientifica el MedioAevo e nelRinascimento,r.Alessandro pagnuolo [Salerno],1969),add. note G.

91 Duby,"The Culture f theKnightly lass," 255-56.

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24 JoanCaddenYet in another ense theappropriationf his textby excerptersndcompilersepresentstriumphor tleastpart fWilliam'soriginalgendaand part f his revised hetoricaltrategy.n this bbreviatedorm,hework

ofWilliam,whowas among hefirsto take dvantagefthe cientificichescontained n the medical learning f Southern taly, now rejoinedthattradition, hichhad, in part thanks o Williamhimself, ecomewidelyappreciatednNorthernurope.Bothnatural hilosophyngeneral ndthenew canonof medical nd philosophical orks epresentedy Constantineheld prominentlace ntheworld fLatin earning ythe ndofWilliam'scareer. urthermore,hedialogue ormftheDragmaticonit icelywith hecompilation'suestion-and-answerormat hich adevolved longwith heSalernitanmedicalmaterial. he sectionswhich he"Salernitan uestions"borrowedrom heDragmaticonnhanced hedevelopmentf thatmaterialby introducingialogic exchange-notmerely he catechistic ransferfinformationutrather means oexplore cientificubjects.Given the fluiditynd diversityf natural hilosophy n thetwelfthcentury, e cannotclaim thattheway Williamnegotiated he changesthroughhich e lived onstitutesmodelfor urunderstandingf relationsamong uthor,hetoric,udience,ndnaturalhilosophy.ut forWilliam,tleast, rhetoricalhoiceswere one way to positionnatural hilosophy,oarticulatetsrelationshipo other ranchesf earning,o exploretscontent,and to address articularndevenmultipleudiences. t was not theonlywayto accomplishhese nds,norwas itthe nlymethodWilliam mployed,but t was oneheusedwith reat elf-consciousnessnd skill-and both heself-consciousnessndthe skill were products fthe ntellectual orldheinhabited.Furthermore,he shifts n his rhetorical hoices fromthePhilosophia otheDragmaticon epresentlearresponsesochangesntheconstellationfknowledge,he ducationalmilieu, nd the onstituenciesorLatin earning.William's pproachesoshaping ndpositioningatural hilosophyreambiguous ot o much ecauseheoccupied middle rounds becausehefoundhimself n shifting round.A pioneer n the creation f Westernrationalismndnaturalism,e was deeply ommittedo a Neoplatonic ndexegetical espect or heconstitutiveowerofwords; participantn thedissociation f learning rom heold scholarlylite of themonasteries,emistrustedany mplicationsf that hift ndsought he upport f theoldsecular lite.Theflexibilityndexploratorypirit f William's pproach odefiningndadvancinghe nterestsfnaturalhilosophyllustratehekindsof social andrhetoricaltrategieshich ventuallylacednatural hilosophyina positiono claim he ttentionnd commitmentotonly f ater cholarsbutalso ofthose ocialgroups nd nstitutionsith hepower o secure tsfuture.

KenyonCollege.