Principia: A study and edition of inception speeches delivered before the faculty of theology at the University of Paris, ca. 1180-1286

This dissertation is a study of inception speeches delivered ca. 1180-1286 by eleven students as part of the requirements for the master's degree in theology. These short works, called principia, are commendations of theology or Sacred Scripture that students delivered when they were inducted into the guild of the masters of theology.; This study begins with a description of the inception ceremonies of the four faculties of the medieval university, i.e., arts, medicine, civil and canon law, and theology, in their most highly developed fourteenth-century form, based on evidence from university statutes of the period. Chapter 3 describes the inception and inaugural ceremonies of the theology faculty of Paris in the thirteenth century, based on evidence drawn from early statutes and from the inceptions of certain masters. Chapter 4 establishes a list of eleven authors for whom inception principia have been identified, and gives brief descriptions of their careers and their principia. These authors are Stephen Langton, Odo of Chateauroux, John of La Rochelle, Albertus Magnus, Guy of Aumone, Thomas Aquinas, Galdaricus, Nicholas of Pressoir, Henry of Ghent, Matthew of Aquasparta, and Stephen of Besancon. Chapter 5 analyzes the common characteristics of these speeches and their stylistic development. Based on the views expressed in the principia, Chapters 6 and 7 discuss how the masters conceived of their profession. Three appendices contain editions of the previously unpublished principia of Odo of Chateauroux, Nicholas of Pressoir, and Stephen of Besancon.; This study is the first to establish the dates at which masters and bachelors in the faculty of theology at Paris began delivering principia. It also demonstrates that certain lectures previously thought to be by bachelors were actually delivered by masters at their inception ceremonies. The persistence of this genre shows that although concepts of theology change over time due to the influx of Aristotelian learning, the principium is flexible enough to be transformed to accommodate these new views. Finally, the detailed description of the characteristics of this genre will be a useful aid for scholars attempting to identify other principia.