An Augustinian Revolution in the Lecture Hall? Michael Baius (1513-1589) as Regius Professor of Theology in Leuven

This research takes a 'grassroots' approach to knowledge innovation at the Faculty of Theology of the Old University of Leuven, by examining student notes from the lectures on Holy Scripture of Michael Baius (1513-1589) and Jacob Jansonius (1547-1625). These professors taught at a 'bulwark of Catholic orthodoxy' in the Low Countries, during a period in which confessional strife between Protestants and Catholics and methodological renewal in the form of humanism questioned the medieval scholarly practices of the university. As a result, they developed new views on the relationship between grace, free will and predestination, which constituted the core of theological debate both within the Catholic Church, and between Catholics and Protestants. The project will assess the dissemination of Baius and Jansonius’ innovative ideas and methodologies into their teaching practices, employing hitherto unexamined notebooks made by students during their lectures. In addition to this novel corpus of sources, the printed works of Baius and Jansonius will be employed as a touchstone to compare the handwritten notes with. A philological and theological juxtaposition of the two will tease out insights regarding the development of Baius’ and Jansonius’ doctrine, and the innovative character of their methods. The objective is not only to scrutinise how scholarly innovation was transmitted into teaching, but also why these changes were enacted: what was the goal of conveying this renewal of Biblical exegesis to students? How were they to apply it in their future careers, considering the context of confessional strife in the Low Countries?