Introduction to Robert Grosseteste and Aristotelianism

Abstract

Robert Grosseteste flourished in the key moment of a profound cultural transfor-mation that swept through the Latin world. This transformation witnessed the initial as-similation of Aristotle’s natural philosophy and metaphysics, accompanied by the funda-mental commentaries by al-Farabi, Avicenna, and Averroes, and the first Parisian con-demnations of Aristotelian theories. This crucial period spans roughly from 1200 to 1230,encompassing a long and rather obscure phase of Grosseteste’s life. His university career and activity as a commentator of Aristotle’s works were shaped during this period.Grosseteste wrote a full commentary on thePosterior Analytics and a series of notes andcomments on the Physics, which remained unfinished and was likely assembled posthu-mously. These writings by Grosseteste appear to be the first Latin commentaries pro-duced in the Latin Middle Ages on these Aristotelian works. Grosseteste also wrote a seriesof brief treatises (opuscula) on various scientific and philosophical topics. There, the influ-ence of Aristotle and the Arabic Aristotelian philosophers becomes gradually stronger,although references to specific names remain infrequent.