Le ciel des empyrées : une fonction harmonique ? Les débats dans les commentaires des Sentences (XIIIe-XIVe siècle)
Résumé
Was the empyream heaven, which became part of the cosmology from the end of the twelfth century onwards, thought to cause effects in the sublunary world? The article addresses the debates concerning a specific function attributed to this celestial sphere: the «harmonization» of the human body for the reception of the rational soul. Although several authors display the idea that the celestial light is a material part of the complexion of the human body, John of La Rochelle is the first one who refers to the light of the empyream heaven in this context. His opinion was criticized for different reasons. On the one hand, those who accepted the idea that the celestial light was a organizing principle in the human body in order to make it ready to the reception of the soul thought that looking for the concrete origin of this light was useless (e.g., Pseudo-Alexander of Hales). On the other hand, the doctrine was unacceptable according to the supporters of the theory of the immediate union between the soul and the body (e.g., Thomas Aquinas, John of Paris). Thanks to the development of the doctrine supporting the influence of the empyream heaven, this theory became admissible (e.g., Bonaventure), but it lose one of its main component, namely the corporeity of light. Such an interpretation allowed some authors to solve several problems at the same time: in the anthropological framework, they were able to explain the reconciliation between the different natures of the elements by this celestial influence, while keeping the idea of an immediate union between soul and body (e.g., Peter of Tarentaise); in the cosmological framework, they were able to ascribe the nobler function to the supreme sphere (e.g., Roger Marston) and even to justify its immobility (e.g., an anonymous commentary on Sentences, ms. Paris,BnF lat. 15903)