Title Background

The Passion of Seint Averoys [B. 13.91]: ‘Deuynyng’ and Divinity in the Banquet Scene.

The Passion of Seint Averoys [B. 13.91]: ‘Deuynyng’ and Divinity in the Banquet Scene.

Identifies Seint Averoys as Averroes (ordinarily spelled Aueroys in late medieval MSS.). Sees a reference to the philosopher’s teaching of the natural basis for knowledge of the supernatural, recalling the persistent charge against the friars of having supplanted moral reason with natural science. Their carnal understanding of moral apologetics – which abandons sacred history for a merely physical science and can turn any natural image into a prophetic sign -is considered an unconscious parody of prophetic illumination.