Mediavilla (Richardus de) Commentum super quarto libro Sententiarum Petri Lombardi, collation: aa⁸ bb¹⁰ cc¹⁰ a-z¹⁰ ?¹⁰ ?¹⁰ ψ¹⁰ A¹⁰ B-D⁸, double column, 320ff., 50 lines, gothic type, a single 27 line initial in blue and red on a1, as well as 2-5 line initials and paragraph marks in red and blue throughout, manuscript chapter numbering and pagination in black ink to upper margins, a few scattered leaves lightly browned, and a few scattered instances of faint marginal damp-stains or finger-soiling, but overall clean and bright, in contemporary vellum, spine with manuscript title lettering in ink and later paper label at foot, spine head chipped and bumped, while foot and upper joint with some signs of wear, ink lettering to top and bottom edge, folio (c.265 x 183mm.), Venice, Christophorus Arnoldus, [not after 1477].

⁂ First edition of a Franciscan commentary which addresses economic theory. Teaching at Paris university, Mediavilla was an active participant in the debate over 'poverty' which subsumed the Franciscan Order for much of the 13th century and eventually led to the breaking-away of the heretical Fraticelli sect in 1296. In his commentary on the fourth book of Lombard's Sentences, Mediavilla expounds some interesting comments on the ethics of contracts and annuities against those who viewed them as usurious, and draws out more elaborate arguments about wider economic systems.

Literature: BMC V 206; Goff M-423; HC(+Add) 10984*; GW M22509; BSB-Ink R-170; ISTC im00423000.