In international collaboration with researchers from the USA, Canada, and Austria, the project produces the critical edition of the sentence commentaries of the Dominican theologian Richard Fishacre (founded in Oxford in the 1240s) and the Franciscan theologian Robert Cowton (founded about 1309-1311 in Oxford). The edition of the Sentences Commentary of the Franciscan Wilhelm de la Mare (written about 1268-1270 in Paris) has already been completed.
The “Book of Sentences” by Peter Lombardus (died 1160) was the theological standard textbook of the Middle Ages. From the first third of the 13th century until the 16th century, every prospective master of theology had to comment on this book of sentences. The significance of these sentences for the study of medieval theology and philosophy can hardly be overestimated. The works edited by the project are not preserved in their original form and have never been printed before, but are only accessible in handwritten copies (which are more or less incorrect by nature). Research, however, depends on reliable texts. The project makes these commentaries available to experts in a critically validated form.