Franciscan Authors
Franciscan Authors

Adam Marsh (Adamus de Marisco, †1259)

Adam Marsh (Adamus de Marisco, †1259) OM. English friar and theologian. Born in the diocese of Bath, before 1200 (cousin of the bishop of Durham, Richard Marsh (d. 1226). Adam studied liberal arts at Oxford and was ordained priest. He subsequently obtained from his uncle a prebend in the parish of Wearmouth (eventually, the bishop also left Adam his library). Around the time of his uncle’s death, Adam decided to become Franciscan friar, partly at the instigation of Adam of Oxford. He took the habit at Worcester, and in the following years he embarked on a study of theology under the guidance of Robert Grosseteste (ca. 1232/33), the first teacher of the Franciscans at Oxford and later the bishop of Lincoln. Adam Marsh and Grosseteste became good friends (and eventually, Robert Grosseteste also would leave his library to Adam Marsh). In 1239, Adam accompanied his provincial minister Albert of Pisa to the general chapter of Assisi. There, and also at Perugia, Adam and several other friars attacked the politics of Elias of Cortona in the presence of pope Gregory IX. Between 1239 and 1244, Adam was a member of the committee of friars that came up with a commentary on the rule ( Commentary of the Four Masters ). In 1242/43, Adam incepted and possibly became the first Franciscan regent master of the Oxford studium (and not in 1247, as has been assumed until recently. see on this the new chronology of his life presented in the new edition of Adam's letters issued by C.H. Lawrence, vol. I, pp. xviff). In 1244/1245, Adam accompanied Robert Grosseteste to the Council of Lyon. During this sejourn in France, there seems to have been a possibility for Adam to become a regent master at Paris after the death of Alexander of Hales and John of La Rochele. At the instigation of Grosseteste, Adam Marsh did not embark on this path but returned to England. From 1250 onwards, Marsh became very active in English Church politics and engaged with matters of order administration, many elements of which shine through in his surviving correspondence.

Works

  • Epistolae , ed. J.S. Brewer, in: Monumenta Franciscana , Rolls Series, 4 (London, 1858), I, 77-489

    Not processed
    Not verified

  • The Letters of Adam Marsh , ed. & trans. C. Hugh Lawrence, Oxford Medieval Texts, 2 Vols. (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2006-2010).Cf. AFH 99 (2006), 638f. In all 247 letters. Many of these letter have a spiritual import, elaborating spiritualis amicitia , christian perfection, and comparable issues. Some letters address specific issues of spiritual instruction. Hence, letter 8 (p. 89 in the Brewer edition) deals with the pastoral life (much like the famous letter to Sewald of York). Letter 159 to the Countess of Leicester (p. 294ff in the Brewer edition), in turn, is in fact a short and rather stern treatise on the domestic virtues of a wife: ‘Ex illa Dei sententia qua dicitur: Faciamus ei adiutorium simile sibi (Gen. 1, 26) evidenter intruimur, quia uxor viro districtissime tentur, et per vigoris constantiam, et per discretionis prudentiam, et per benignitatis clementiam, iugem iuvaminis impendere sedulitatem ad omnia in quibus, aut Deus colitur aut iuste vivitur, aut recte iudicatur. Propter quod omnis anima coniugalis, quae modis omnibus hoc implere non satagit, individuum vitae consortium, in quod secundum legem matrimonii intemerate servandum coniuravit, damnabiliter violare convincitur…’ (after which follow the sins and virtues of the domestic life). Letter 180 to the Franciscan provincial minister William of Nottingham deals with natural perfection, the perfect life for friars , described as a spiritual itinerary, and the means to pursue it, namely the cultivation of charity and the cultivation of virtues. Most famous of all is letter 247 to Sewald of York, mentioned above.

    Not processed
    Not verified

  • Epistola ad Sewallum (ca. 1256): MSS British Library, Cotton Vitellius C.VIII (second half 13th cent.)

    Not processed
    Not verified

  • Oxford, Bodl., Digby 104 ff. 90r-101v. This letter was included in J.S. Brewer (ed.) Monumenta Franciscana , Rolls Series, 4 (London, 1858), I, 438-489 (=epist. 247: letter to Sewald of York, amounting to a treatise on the duties of a bishop. In the course of this letter, in which Adam lists the good qualities and obligations of a pastor, Adam also lists the qualities that the bishop should inquire about in his flock. In the course of this, Adam also deals with the importance of prayer, elaborating in six short chapters on efficacious prayer and its effects (cf. Cantini (1948), 467.

    Not processed
    Not verified

  • Pastorale Excerptum : Oesterreich. Nationalbibl. 4923 (15th cent.), ff. 40v-42v [maybe an excerpt of the Epistola ad Sewallum ]

    Not processed
    Not verified

  • Commentary on Pseudo Dionysius, also known as Hierarchia Caelestis : MSS Besançon, Bibl. Munic. 167 (13th cent.) ff. 52r-61

    Not processed
    Not verified

  • Dublin, Jesuits' Library MS s.n. (14th/15th cent.)

    Not processed
    Not verified

  • Bayerische Staatsbibl. Clm 7983 (14th cent., Kaisheim) ff. 4r-32 [used to be ascribed to Petrus Hispanus]

    Not processed
    Not verified

  • Oesterr. Nationalbibl. 574 (ff. 33r-39r) [ascribed to Joh. Scotus] It was included by Migne in Patrologia Latina CXXII 122, col. 267-284 [from MS Oesterr. Nationalbibl. 574]. The work was subsequently issued as: Pedro Hispano, Exposicião sobre os livros do beato Dionisio areopagita , ed. M. Alonso (Lissabon, 1957)1957 [On the basis of MSS Bayerisch. Staatsbibl. clm 7983 & Besançon, Bibl. Munic. 167. See also the article: F. Ruello, `Un commentaire dionysien en quête d'auteur', Archives d'Histoire Doctrinale et Littéraire du Moyen Âge 19 (1952), 141-181]

    Not processed
    Not verified

  • Sermo : MS Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 459 (13th cent., Peterborough, MS X.xi) ff. 133r-v

    Not processed
    Not verified

  • De Decem Preceptis . Probably a work of Grosseteste?

    Not processed
    Not verified

  • Lectura super Genesim . This work apparently did not survive. It is mentioned by Salimbene.

    Not processed
    Not verified

  • Commentarium super Epistolam ad Hebraeos Adami Anglici : MS Louvain, Augustijns Historisch Instituut/Augustinian historical institute? Check!

    Not processed
    Not verified

  • Summa de Poenitentia . Did not survive? Apparently, there existed a copy at Christ Church before 1331.

    Not processed
    Not verified

  • Tabula Patrum . Together with Robert Grosseteste

    Not processed
    Not verified

Literature