Textual Editing: philosophical and theological texts throughout the Middle Ages

Five Day Course: 9-13 June 2025

This course introduces students to textual editing, especially of Latin writings belonging to the earlier and later medieval philosophical and theological tradition. First, students will learn about the fractious history and the theories of editing texts, both before and since print, as well as some approaches to issues that emerge when dealing with philosophical and theological writings: how to identify interlocutors, how to find (mis)quotations, how to determine which translations of earlier texts (if any) our authors may have been using. Students will also be introduced to textual databases and resources, and shown how they can serve editors. 

Subsequently, we will apply the theory by working on some manuscripts online and in situ: either on a text in Patristic theology with Dr Hadas, or on one in fourteenth-century scholasticism with Dr Toth. Students will acquire the skills of deciphering abbreviations, transcribing and collating mansucripts, and producing an edited text. By the end of the course, students will have built a sound theoretical and practical foundation for working with texts that have never been edited, or lack modern critical editions. This can, given the acute need for new editions in the relevant fields, open up a vast new territory for students’ research in medieval philosophy and theology. 

While the course does not assume any palaeography skills, students should have a working knowledge of Latin.