Author: Robert Grosseteste (b.c. 1170, d. 1253)Oxford c. 1225-1235


Dating: The early years of Robert's life are little known. According to Southern, he witnessed a charter of Hugh, bishop of Lincoln c. 1189-92 and received a testimonial letter from Gerald of Wales to the bishop of Hereford c. 1194/5. Robert witnessed several documents connected with the diocese of Hereford both in England and in France between 1196 and 1220. He taught in Oxford starting c. 1225 and lectured to the new Franciscan studium there 1230/1. In 1235 Robert became bishop of Lincoln. He died in 1253.

Works: S. H. Thomson, The Writings of Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincon, 1235-1253 (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1940) lists 120 authentic works by Grosseteste for which he gives either manuscript references or editions. This list has been updated to 1980 by James McEvoy, in Appendix A, "A catalogue of manuscript discoveries, editions and translations of Robert Grossetests's works for the years 1940-1980," The Philosophy of Robert Grosseteste (Clarendon Press: Oxford, 1982), pp. 455-501. Since 1980, the following editions have appeared:

Robert Grosseteste, Hexaëmeron edited by Richard Dales and Servus Gieben. Auctores Britannici medii aevi, vol. 6. The British Academy: London, 1982.

Templum Dei edited by G. Goering and F.A. Mantello, Toronto Medieval Latin Texts, vol.14. Toronto, 1984.

Meditationes. Edited by G. Goering and F.A. Mantello, "The 'Meditationes' of Robert Grosseteste," Journal of Theological Studies, n.s., vol. 36 (1985): 118-28.

Robert Grosseteste, De cessatione legalium edited by E. B. King and Richard Dales. Auctores Britannici medii aevi, vol.7. The British Academy: London, 1985.

Robert Grosseteste, De decem mandatis edited by Richard Dales and Edward King. Auctores Britannici medii aevi, vol.10. The British Academy: London, 1987.

James McEvoy, "Grosseteste on the Soul's Care for the Body: A New text and New Sources for the Idea," Aspectus et Affectus. Essays and Editions in Grosseteste and Medieval Intellectual Life in Honor of Richard C. Dales, edited by G. Freiburgs (New York, 1993), pp. 17-35.

Expositio ad Galatas edited by James McEvoy; Glossae in Epistolas Sancti Pauli, edited by Richard Dales; Tabulae edited by Philipp Rosemann in Roberti Grosseste Opera inedita, vol. 11. Corpus christianorum, Continuatio medievalis. Brepols: Turnhout, 1994.

Bibliography:

For works before 1969, see Servus Gieben, "Bibliographia universa Roberti Grosseteste ab an. 1473 ad an 1969," Collectane franciscana 39 (1969): 362-418 (504 entries).
For works from 1969 to 1988, see James McEvoy, "Robert Grosseteste, èvêque de Lincoln, Ý1253," DS 13 (1988): 722-34.
James McEvoy, The Philosophy of Robert Grosseteste. Clarendon Press: Oxford, 1982.
Stephen Marrone, William of Auvergne and Robert Grosseteste. New Ideas of Truth in the Early Thirteenth Century. Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1983.
Steven Marrone, "Grosseteste, Robert" DMA 6 (1985):1-2.
James McEvoy, "Grosseteste," TRE 14 (1985): 271-4
Richard Southern, Robert Grosseteste. The Growth of an English Mind in the Medeival Europe. Clarendon: Oxford, 1986.
James McEvoy, "Robert Grosseteste," LMA 7 (1994):905-7.
James McEvoy, (ed.) Robert Grosseteste, Exegete and Philosopher. Variorum: Brookfield, VT, 1994
Stegmüller, 5 (1955): 128-40
Schneyer, 5 (1973): 176-91