ABSTRACT
This chapter tries to unpack the Caroline Bynum's claims through an examination of the works of three British historians–Gerald of Wales, Bede and Gervase of Tilbury—in the light of the metaphysical writings of Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas and Roger Bacon. It affirms that medieval thinkers saw wonder as a rational function. The chapter recognises the first steps of Neil Manson's work on epistemic restraint and presentations of curiosity as a vice. It shows through the case of miracle narratives that Polybius' problem of distinguishing legitimate claims to wonder on the basis of topoi persisted, but for medieval European writers judgement of difference could be achieved by God. The chapter shows that more can be said on the variations of views of wonder and curiosity within and across medieval historiography and philosophy. It highlights differences over whether the inclusion of a wide variety of phenomena in a history promotes rational engagement, and whether wonder always operates at the beginning of rational processes.
