Debating MeDieval natural law Debating Medieval natural law a Survey riccarDo Saccenti University of Notre Dame Press Notre Dame, Indiana University of Notre Dame Press Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 www.undpress.nd.edu Copyright © 2016 by the University of Notre Dame All Rights Reserved Published in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Saccenti, Riccardo, author. Title: Debating medieval natural law : a survey / Riccardo Saccenti. Description: Notre Dame : University of Notre Dame Press, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016028707 (print) | LCCN 2016032539 (ebook) | ISBN 9780268100407 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 0268100403 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780268100421 (pdf) | ISBN 9780268100438 (epub) Subjects: LCSH: Natural law. | Law, Medieval—Influence. Classification: LCC K460 .S23 2016 (print) | LCC K460 (ebook) | DDC 340/.112—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016028707 ISBN 9780268100421 ∞ This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper). This e-Book was converted from the original source file by a third-party vendor. Readers who notice any formatting, textual, or readability issues are encouraged to contact the publisher at [email protected]. To Donatella, for our love, and to Matilde Maria, for her future contentS acknowledgments ix Preface xi introduction: Questions and research 1 Chapter 1. objectivity versus Subjectivity 13 Chapter 2. the Foundation of Political and Moral order 22 Chapter 3. the long road to a common lexicon 35 Chapter 4. breaks, continuities, and Shifts 44 Chapter 5. Highlights and Shadows of a Portrait 57 conclusion 76 notes 81 bibliography 131 index 149 vii acKnowleDgMentS i am in debt to the many people who supported the research and writing of this book, although of course i alone am responsible for its contents. this book is the first product of a research project con- cerning the relation between the historical development of the idea of natural law and the magisterium of the church. the Fondazione per le Scienze religiose giovanni XXiii in bologna has supported this research since 2012. alberto Melloni, director of the Fonda- zione, took special interest in my research, offering invaluable sug- gestions and comments. i would like to express my deep gratitude for his support and his trust in my work. at the Fondazione my interest in natural law was shared by cinzia Sulas, who always of- fered keen observations during our discussions. i am grateful to her for this exchange of ideas and for her kindness. on several occasions, i presented and discussed the contents of this book with all my colleagues at the Fondazione in bologna. with some of them i had the opportunity to discuss my research on a daily basis, and i profited greatly from their friendly notes and comments. i would like to thank especially Patrizio Foresta, Dino buzzetti and Davide Dainese, as well as Pier cesare bori, who passed away before i completed my research project. Several friends and colleagues read the manuscript and offered wise suggestions. i am grateful to gianfranco Fioravanti, christian Moevs, timothy noone, constant Mews and Francesco borghesi. i also would like to thank Julia Schneider for her essential and pa- tient revision of the english text and Frederick lauritzen for his stylistic advice. the anonymous reviewers who read the text dur- ing the peer review process offered useful comments, for which i would like to thank them. i also offer my gratitude to the staff of the university of notre Dame Press for their care and assistance as i prepared the manuscript for publication. ix