For most students of the thirteenth century, Hugh of Saint-Cher OP is mostly known simply as one of the early generation of Dominicans in Paris, overshadowed in brilliance by Albert the Great or Thomas Aquinas. Those who frequent catalogs of medieval manuscripts may well have come across his name as author of systematic commentaries (Postills) on scripture and the sentences of Peter Lombard or sermons on his writing, the vast majority of which have never been published. As often the case in medieval studies, the texts which were the most widely copied in any given century are sometimes the last to be accorded a critical edition, simply because of the daunting nature of such a project. Given that some four hundred and twenty manuscripts have been identified of Hugh's Postills on scripture, it will be a long time before they have all been thoroughly investigated. Nonetheless, this volume represents a remarkable synthesis of scholarly effort into a figure who is now starting to enjoy new respect within historiography of the early University and of the Dominican order in particular.
Hugh received the Dominican habit at Saint-Jacques in February 1226, but then quickly rose to become provincial of the order in France 1227-1230 and again 1236-1244, when he was made Cardinal by Pope Innocent IV. Hugh's importance lies not just in his own career, however, but in the encouragement he gave to a collective project at Saint-Jacques of producing commentaries on scripture that could serve the Order of Preachers as a whole, as indeed the broader Church. Hugh also supervised the production of the first concordances to the Bible. In recent decades there has been a flourishing of interest in what Martin Grabmann called, perhaps inadequately, "the biblical-moral" school of exegesis in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Building on the work of John Baldwin, the research of Riccardo Quinto and other scholars is bringing out the important pastoral role of such exegesis, and its contribution to reform of the Church. Hugh of St Cher played a major role in positioning the Dominican Order as a dominant (though not uncontested) voice of reform within the thirteenth-century Church, alongside the Franciscans.
This beautifully produced volume opens with a helpful synthesis by Jacques Verger of the important developments in which Hugh participated during his time in Paris. The essay of Robert Lerner, "The vocation of the Friars Preacher: Hugh of St. Cher between Peter the Chanter and Albert the Great" is also exemplary for its perspective on the reforming agenda of the early Dominicans. Taking issue with Beryl Smalley's judgment that Hugh was unwilling to challenge the older religious orders and the seculars, Lerner argues that the Postills developed by Hugh and his team reflect an evangelical vision of history, in which there is progress from secular to mendicant clergy in a movement akin to that of Joachite speculation. Their reforming vision was built, however, on the achievements of those influential clerical educators in the late twelfth century, Peter the Chanter and Stephen Langton.
Many of the papers in this volume are more specialized in nature, surveying the complex and extensive manuscript tradition of writings attributed to Hugh, such as those of Patricia Stirnemann on manuscripts of the Postills, of Carra de Vaux on the exegetical corpus, Martin Morard on the commentaries on Psalms, Sulavik on the Book of Baruch, Berceville on the Gospel commentaries. Gilbert Dahan provides an excellent introduction to Hugh's exegetical method, which builds on that of his twelfth-century predecessors. There are also a number of careful surveys of the sermons attributed to Hugh (Hodel, Beriou) and of his commentary on Peter Lombard (Faes de Mottoni), again cautiously drawing on the earliest generation of commentaries. Some of the most interesting thematic studies take a particular theme to situate Hugh of St Cher's response within a broader context of reflection. Thus Riccardo Quinto examines Hugh's understanding of types of fear of the Lord in relation to earlier discussion attributed to Stephen Langton and other authors, to show how Hugh had to rethink the issue through his exposure to the De fide orthodoxa of John of Damascus, one of many new texts becoming widely known in Paris in the 1230s. Christian Trottman reflects on the mystical element to Hugh's teaching on synderesis, the capacity of the mind to reflect on heavenly truths.
Hugh's contribution to issues of pastoral reform is well brought out in the essay by Charles de Miramon, on Hugh's involvement in the debate about whether or not it was legitimate to hold a number of benefices. Hugh's firm criticism of the practice was opposed by many secular clerics, who argued that pluralism was sometimes a practical necessity. De Miramon exposes the legal culture that shapes Hugh's thinking on these issues, and perhaps indirectly explains why he rose so quickly within the governance of the Dominican order, and within the Church as a whole. Maaike van der Lugt reflects on Hugh's conservative attitude towards an increasing tendency to distinguish natural from supernatural phenomena. Alain Boureau is similarly cautious about viewing Hugh's thinking about marriage, strongly influenced by legal thinking, as innovative.
Hugh was certainly important as an organizing spirit within the early Dominican movement, and in encouraging reform within a Church perceived by many as plagued with contemporary abuses. One widely copied treatise of his not studied in this volume is his Expositio on the mass, again illustrating Dominican attachment to liturgical renewal in the thirteenth century. By better understanding the vitality of the Dominican movement in the first half of the thirteenth century, we are better able to appreciate the originality of the contribution made by Albert the Great and then Thomas Aquinas in the next generation. The editors of this volume are to be congratulated for bringing together such scholarship relating to a figure of great influence in his own day.