ABSTRACT
The two centuries c.1050-c.1250 are widely accounted a defining period in the development of western theology, for good or ill, depending on the point of view adopted. The gradual distinction between biblical exegesis and speculative theology, the application of the tools of logical analysis to questions of biblical or doctrinal interpretation, and the challenge of newly translated Aristotelian texts on natural science and ethics, were prominent amongst the forces that shaped understanding of what it was to do theology. Medieval theological thinking grew from and through biblical exegesis. The need for the correct interpretation of the Bible as the grounds for right belief is found clearly expressed by Augustine of Hippo in the preface to his work De doctrina christiana ('On Christian Doctrine'), namely to provide 'certain rules for the interpretation of Scripture'. This chapter explores institutional change at the Universities of Paris and Oxford, an important context for the intellectual shifts that emerged in the thirteenth century.
