University of Toronto, Loyola University New Orleans
Simon Whedbee received his BA in English Literature from Loyola University New Orleans, with minors in Classics and Medieval Studies. He studied Medieval Latin and Latin paleography at the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto, where he earned his MA and PhD. His doctoral dissertation, “Peter Comestor’s Lectures on the Gospel of Luke and its Glosses (c. 1163-8): A Partial Critical Edition and Study,” contextualizes the pedagogical writings of an important medieval exegete, whose teachings on the Bible were influential throughout France in the decades before the formation of the University of Paris.
Research related to commentary
My current research investigates the impact of reading strategies cultivated in the Greco-Roman practice of ars grammatica (formal grammar) on the medieval practice of sacra pagina (study of the Bible). Ongoing projects also include editing a twelfth-century commentary on Virgil’s Georgics attributed to Hilarius of Orléans, preparing a full edition of Comestor’s Luke lectures, and exploring the development of the Roman concept of ‘classical authors’ in medieval debates over the relative value of ancient versus modern sources of knowledge.
Publications related to commentary
Peter Comestor: Lectures on the Glossa ordinaria. Edited from Troyes, Médiathèque du Grand Troyes, MS 1024. Edited by David Foley and Simon Whedbee. Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies: Toronto Medieval Latin Texts, 2021.
“The Pedagogy of Twelfth Century Cathedral School Biblical Commentaries: Peter Comestor’s Lectures on the Gospel of Luke,” in Practices of Commentary. Edited by Christina Lechtermann and Markus Stock, 87-103. Frankfurt: Vittorio Klostermann, 2020
“The Study of the Bible in the Cathedral Schools of Twelfth-Century France: A Case Study of Robert Amiclas and Peter Comestor,” in Education Materialised: Reconstructing, Teaching and Learning Contexts through Manuscripts. Edited by Stefanie Brinkmann, Giovanni Ciotti, Stefano Valente, and Eva Maria Wilden. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2021.