THOMAS OF CANTIMPRè

also known as Thomas Brabantinus (Brabançon)

(b. Leeuw-Saint Pierre, Brabant, Belgium, ca. 1186–1210; d. Louvain, between 1276 and 1294)

theology, natural history, encyclopedism.

Thomas of Cabntimpré was descended from a noble family named De Monte or Du Mont, residing at Hellenghem (present -day Bellingen) near Leeuw–Saint Pierre, hence his further designation as Thomas van Hellenghem. He entered the abbey of Cantimprè near Cambrai as a novice and remained there for some fifteen years. In 1232 he entered the Dominican Order in Louvain. Thomas was educated in the schools of Liège, Cologne, and Paris (Collège St. Jacques). He presumably was a pupil of Albertus Magnus at Cologne and Paris between 1245 and 1248. The date of his death as of his birth, is uncertain. He was apparently alive in 1276 but was no longer living in 1294 (Thorndike, II, 374).

The content of Thomas’ writings fitted well into the dominant precepts exemplified in the encyclopedic works of his contemporaries, Bartholomaeus Anglicus, Thomas Aquinas, Vincent of Beauvais, and others who adhered to a belief in the essential unity of the natural and the supernatural worlds. Hence, while primarily a theologian who studiously composed biographies of ecclesiastics and saints, Tomas also wrote on natural and pseudo science with the avowed intention of furthering knowledge of theological rather than of scientific truths. His work on bees,Bonum universale de apibus, deals with the orders of bees as they compare with the orders or hierarchy of prelates; and his major work on natural phenomena, De naturis rerum, on which he toiled for some fourteen or fifteen years and completed between 1228 and 1244, was intended, he informs us, to provide illustrative materials for use in sermons and arguments to bolster the faith. (The title De naturis rerum has been utilized, instead of De natura rerum, since it has the authority of thirteenth-hyphen; century manuscripts of the work and most of the later manuscripts. See Thorndike, II, 397–398; and in Isis,54 [1963], 269–277, for lists of MSS with the title De naturis rerum.

Nevertheless, despite his avowed theological bent, Thomas of Cantimprè revealed in the De natunaturis rerum a lively interest in the real and natural world. The subjects treated in the twenty books into which the work is usually divided are largely those of the natural sciences. There are three books on man: one on the parts of the human body, containing a chapter on each part and its ills and their cures (with considerable information on gynecology and obstetrics); another book on the soul; and a third book on strange and monstrous races of men. Then there are seven books on animals: quadrupeds, birds, marine monsters, fish, serpents, and worms; and two books on the vegetable kingdom, including aromatic and medicinal trees and herbs. Finally, there are individual books on fountains and other bodies of water, precious metals, the seven regions of the air, the spheres and planets, meteorology, and the universe and the four elements, with an additional (or twentieth) book on the heavens and eclipses of the sun and moon added in some manuscripts.

Throughout the De naturis rerum, Thomas gives evidence of his adherence to the beliefs regarding natural phenomena current in his time, as well as of an undue reliance upon the credibility of his authorities. He also shared with many of his contemporaries a modified belief in astrology. In considering the effects of each of the planets when it was in the ascendant, he noted the moon’s influence on the rise and fall of humors and infirmities of the human body; Mercury’s purification of the mind of man; the effect of Venus in the generation of all earthly things; the numerous attributes of the sun relating particularly to natural phenomena, such as rain, snow, and the growth and decay of plants; the influence of Mars in causing anger to rise in men, heating the heart and liver, and undermining the health; Jupiter, through its hotness and dryness. causing all living things to spring forth; and Saturn, which causes seeds when planted in the earth to be mortified so that they will bring forth fruit. Throughout his account of the planets Thomas cited supporting passages from Scripture, and he concluded; that “except for human free will and special manifestations of divine will, all nature is placed by God under the rule of the stars. The influence of the Sun and Moon is manifest and ‘why should we not with entire reason believe the same of the other planets?” (Thorndike, II, 393–394).

Thomas also adhered to other beliefs in the occult. He indicated in the book on precious stones his belief in the marvelous powers and occult virtues of stones and gems and in the additional virtues imparted by sculptured gems. Thomas evinced an interest in alchemy; in the book on the seven metals, he alluded to the transmutation of metals (speaking of copper) and cited the Lumen luminum, a work on alchemy, which he attributed to Aristotle.

In addition to the instances related to the occult sciences, Thomas also provided interesting items regarding technological improvements. He thus gives, in the book on precious stones (in the discussion of adamant), a description of the mariner’s compass, already described by Thomas’ earlier contemporary Alexander Neckam (Thorndike, II. 387–388). In the book on the seven metals (in the discussion of tin). Thomas appears to have made one of the first mentions of modern plumbing in his account of the use of molten lead to fuse the pipes of aqueducts. According to Thomas, the pipes “used to be joined with tin, but in ‘modern times’ human art has thought out a method of uniting them with hot molten lead” (Thorndike, II, 392).

As a theologian and encyclopedist, Thomas of Cantimprè did not add to the sum of the scientific knowledge of his time, but he did, in De naturis rerum, make clear what the current notions were concerning natural phenomena. He also reported on significant technological developments known to his contemporaries, and thus performed the service of disseminating knowledge that he had culled from his authorities as well as from his own observation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. Original Works. Information regarding the biographies of churchmen and saints and also the Bonum universale de apibut (on prelates) is in W. E. van der Vet,Het Biënboec van Thomas Van Cantimprè en zijn exempelen (The Hague, 1902), 29 Book 1 of the Bonu universale de apibus in Middle High German was edited by Nils Otto Heinertz, Die mittelniederdeutsche Versien des Bienenbuches von Thomas von ChantimprÉ Das erste Buch (Lund, 1906).

The De naturis rerum is extant in some 151 MSS, of these 144 have been enumerated by G. J. J. Walstra, “Thomas de Cantimprè, De naturis rerum. État de la question”, in Vivarium, 5 , pt. 2 91967), 146–171; 6 pt. 2 (1968), 46–61, in preparation for a critical edition of the text. H. Boese, “Zur Textüberlieferung von Thomas Cantimpratensis’ Liber de natura rerum”, in Archivum F. F. Praed., 39 (1969), 53–68, lists 44 MSS, seven of which, dated in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, were not included in Walstra’s list. Boese has also published a first volume containing the text: Thomas Cantimpratensis, Liber de natura rerum. Editio princeps secundum codices manuscriptos, I, Text (Berlin, 1973). Unfortunately this volume contains no critical apparatus, which will apparently follow in a second volume. Earlier both the text and a considerable number of the manuscripts were described by Lynn Thorndike, History of Magic and Experimental science, II (New York, 1923), 396–398: “More Manuscripts of Thomas of Cantimprèp, De naturis rerum”, in Isis, 54 , pt. 2 (1963), 269–277. Both Thorndike and Walstra indicated that the work frequently appears in the manuscripts as anonymous or ascribed to authors other than Thomas of Cantimprè. Also the number of books varies from nineteen to twenty; and there is a difference in their sequence. For example, in some manuscripts, instead of beginning with the book on the parts of the human body (book I), the text begins with the book usually numbered XVI, on the seven regions of the air, and ends with the book on the seven metals (usually book XV), Translations of the work into Flemish are by Jacob van Maerlant, in J. H Bormans, Der naturen bloeme van Jacob van Maerlant, books I–IV (Brussels, 1857), and E. Verwijs, Jacob van Maerlant’s naturen bloeme (Groningen, 1878), into Dutch by Broeder Gheraert, in J. Clarisse, Sterte-en-natuur-kundig (Leiden, 1847); and into Middle High German by Konrad von Megenberg, in fr. Pfeiffer, Dar Buch der Natur (Stuttgart, 1867).

Portions of the text of Thomas of Cantimprè have also been published separately. Sections from book I have been edited by Christ. Ferckel, Die Gynäkologie des Thomas von Brabant. Ausgewählte Kapitel aus Buch I de naturis rerum beendet . . .1240, zum ersten Male herausgegeben (G. Klein, Alte Meister der Medizin, No. 5) (Munich, 1912), and Alfons Hilka, “Eine altfranzösische moralisierende Bearbeitung des Liber de Monstruosis Hominibus Orientis aus Thomas von Cantimprè, De naturis rerum nach der einzigen Handschrift (Paris. Bibl. Nat. fr. 15106),” in Abhandlungen der Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen Philologisch-Historische Klasse, 3rd ser., no. 7 (1933), 1–73.

II. Secondary Literature. Lynn Thorndike, op. cit., has reviewed the principal biographical details, together with previous biographical literature, and has given an analysis of the content of the De naturis rerum as contained in the manuscripts. G. J. J. Walstra, op. cit., has similarly analyzed the contents and brought together the listings of some 144 manuscripts so far identifies, compiling as well a bibliography of all the previous works treating both the author and De naturis rerum. See also a review of the text in H. Boese, “Sur Textüberlieferung . . .,” cited above.

Pearl Kibre