PETER OF IRELAND

Teacher of Aquinas; b. probably in Ireland, c. 1200; d. probably at Naples, after 1260. As a professor in Naples, he taught thomas aquinas natural philosophy, and probably logic (c. 1239–44). Peter's commentaries on porphyry's Isagoge and on Aristotle's De interpretatione and De longitudine et brevitate vitae (De morte et vita ) survive in manuscript and still await full study. A determinatio magistralis (or master's judgment) of a scholastic disputation in natural philosophy given by Peter, probably at Naples in the presence of King Manfred (c. 1260), has been published (Baeumker). It shows that Peter was well versed in Aristotelian natural philosophy and was under the influence of Averroës. Peter's early career is still largely a matter of conjecture. He must have gone abroad for his studies, as Ireland had no university in the 13th century. His interest in Aristotelian natural philosophy might suggest Oxford; his logic and his methods of commentary have been thought to indicate Paris. His becoming a professor in the Norman kingdom of Naples strongly suggests that he was Anglo-Norman and not native Irish by race.

Bibliography: c. baeumker, "Petrus de Hibernia … und seine Disputation vor König Manfred," Sitzungsberichte der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu München (1920). m. grabmann, "Magister Petrus von Hibernia … seine Disputation vor König Manfred und seine Aristoteleskommentare," Mittelalterliches Geistesleben, 3 v. (Munich 1926–56) 1:249–265. a. pelzer, "Le Cours inédit d'Albert le Grand sur la Morale à Nicomaque …" Revue néo-scolastique de philosophie 24 (1922) 333–361. m. b. crowe, "Peter of Ireland, Teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas," Studies 45 (1956) 443–456; "Peter of Ireland's Approach to Metaphysics," Miscellanea mediaevalia, 2 (1963) 154–160. a. b. emden, A Biographical Register of the University of Oxford to A.D. 1500, 3 v. (Oxford 1957–59) 3:xxx. a. pelzer, Études d'histoire littéraire sur la scolastique médiévale (Paris 1964) 272–335.

[m. b. crowe]