God is the Rewarder not of Nouns but of Adverbs : Hunting Abelardian Ghosts

The paper presents the results of an enquiry into the phrase « Deus est remunerator non nominum sed adverbiorum ». Although it had widespread circulation in the late Middle Ages and in early Modernity, this saying has been hitherto almost entirely overlooked by intellectual historians. Its earliest appearance is attested in Bernard of Parma’s Ordinary Gloss to the Gregorian Decretals (second recension, c. 1243-1245), where the phrase is ascribed, intriguingly enough, to « Io. quidam sapiens fantasma ». After surveying some stages in the spread of this phrase, the paper addresses the question of its attribution. Eventually, the paper takes into closer consideration Bernard’s gloss and its textual components, and raises some questions concerning their connection with Abelard’s controversial ethical teaching.