John Wenck, Marcellus Geist and other Masters from the University of Heidelberg

Opening an entirely new chapter in the history of medieval thought, these studies uncover the previously unknown existence of an Albertist tradition within the Faculty of Arts of the University of Heidelberg and establish Marcellus Geist as its key figure. Complemented by critical editions and pioneering analyses of the earliest university writings of John Wenck, composed during his theological education, this research redraws the intellectual map of fifteenth-century German Albertism.

Key publications:

  1. Universalis Natura: The Intellectual Journey of Marcellus Geist and Albertist Thought at Heidelberg, 1443–1452, Brepols, Turnhout, forthcoming (Intellectual Practice and Thought at Late Medieval and Early Modern Universities)
  2. La Quaestio disputata de Spiritu Sancto di Johannes Wenck, in “Rivista di Filosofia Neo-Scolastica” [Riv.Fil.NeoSc.], CXVII/3 (2025), 715–768 / ISSN 0035-6247
  3. John Wenck’s Principia on the Sentences (1431) at the University of Heidelberg, in M. Brînzei & W.O. Duba (ed.), Principia on the Sentences of Peter Lombard. Exploring an Uncharted Scholastic Philosophical Genre Across Europe Brepols, Turnhout 2024, (Studia Sententiarum 7), vol. II, 159–235 / ISBN 978-2-503-61208-9 / https://doi.org/10.1484/M.SSENT-EB.5.142791
  4. O quam bona est solitaria vita! Marcellus Geist’s Preaching between Petrarch and Nicholas of Cusa, “Freiburger Zeitschrift für Philosophie und Theologie” [FZPhTh], LXXII/1 (2025), 63–87 / ISSN 0016-0725
  5. What Is the Soul? “via Antiqua” and “Via Marsiliana” in the Heidelberg Faculty of Arts, c. 1450, forthcoming in “Documenti e studi sulla tradizione filosofica medievale”, XXXVII (2026)
  6. Doctrinal Aspects and Sources of John Wenck’s Early Works in Heidelberg, “Rivista di Storia della Filosofia” [Riv.St.Fil.], 79/3 (2024), 549–581 / ISSN 0393-2516
  7. Theology as Science, Future Contingents, and the Eternity of the World: A Heidelberg Debate (1431), forthcoming in O. Pavlíček, Communities of Debate, Rencontres de Philosophie Médiévale, Brepols 2027.
  8. Disputare contra antiquos. Erhardus Knab (†1480) and a commentary on Marsilius of Inghen’s Obligationes”, forthcoming in G. Ciola (ed.), “Mapping the Via Marsiliana”: Marsilius of Inghen and His Influence, Brill, Leiden 2026.