His knowledge was praised by poets, prized by kings, and acclaimed by his fellow scholars. Arguably the most learned man of his generation, Thomas Bradwardine (c. 1290–1349) was eventually granted a title that reflected his vast expertise in theology, mathematics, physics, and diplomacy: doctor profundus.
Bradwardine graduated from Oxford in 1321 and became a fellow at the university’s Merton College. He was a member of the Oxford Calculators, a group of intellectuals who studied the laws of motion and acceleration, making discoveries that anticipated Galileo by three centuries. Bradwardine wrote one of the major texts produced by the Merton group, Tractatus de proportionibus, in 1328.
In Bradwardine’s time, Aristotle (384–322 BC) was still the accepted authority on physics and motion. Bradwardine correctly pointed out some of the flaws in Aristotle’s writing on how objects behave in motion, reflecting a growing willingness in Europe to question ancient science. Although Bradwardine’s own theories would themselves be disproved, the new spirit of inquiry and skepticism that he exhibited would endure.
In 1337, Bradwardine was made the chancellor of Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London, and later he was named chaplain to King Edward III (1312–1377). As the king’s religious advisor, Bradwardine traveled with the English army in the 1340s, during the first part of the Hundred Years’ War with France, and he also served as a diplomat in negotiations with the French king, Philip VI (1293–1350).
After returning to London in 1349, Bradwardine was elevated to archbishop of Canterbury, the most senior clerical post in England. He died of the plague less than three months later.
ADDITIONAL FACTS
- While in the service of King Edward III, Bradwardine said the victory mass after the English triumph at the Battle of Crécy, a crucial 1346 clash in the Hundred Years’ War.
- Bradwardine’s immediate predecessor as archbishop of Canterbury, John de Ufford, also died of the plague. Historians estimate that the plague epidemic of 1348–1349 may have killed about half of the population of England.
- Bradwardine is praised by Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343–1400) in “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale,” one of the stories in The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer compares his scholarly knowledge to that of Saint Augustine (354–430) and Severinus Boethius (c. 480–c. 524).
