ABSTRACT
The number of works in the late medieval period that in part involve substantial treatments of Genesis is such that even an enumeration of them would be a considerable enterprise and amount to a who’s who of medieval theology. In Peter Lombard’s century alone, Eve’s role in the Fall was analysed by Anselm of Laon (d. c.1117), Rupert of Deutz (d. 1129), Hugh of St Victor (d. 1141), Peter Abelard (d. 1142), Bernard of Clairvaux, and Gilbert of Poitiers (d. 1154) as well as by lesser known authors such as William of Champeaux (d. 1122), Roland of Bologna (fl .1150), Honorius Augustodunensis (d. c.1151), and the English theologians Robert Pullen (fl . 1144) and Robert of Melun (fl .1160).1 This chapter focuses on works selected for their being both representative and infl uential. The fi rst two fi gures, the systematic theologians Peter Lombard (c.1096-1160) and Thomas Aquinas (c.1225-1274), retained their authority even in the Reformation. The biblical commentaries of Peter Comestor (c.1100-1178) and the anonymous author of The Mirror of Human Salvation (Speculum humanae salvationis, 1290-1324) were amongst the most circulated texts of their time (and they were partially translated into Middle English). Dante (c.1265-1321), the last author dealt with in the chapter, shows how biblical and theological material can be transformed in fi ction.
