Adam Rufus of Exeter, Master and Minor (d. 1234): A State of the Art

The paper presents an account of the life and works of the almost unknown Friar Minor and Master Adam of Exeter (de Exonia, de Oxonia or Rufus), who was one of Grosseteste’s pupils and a collaborator of Adam Marsh. Adam of Exeter taught the arts at Oxford and entered the Franciscan order about 1229, dying prematurely in 1233/34, while travelling to the Holy Land. Information about his life can be found in Thomas of Eccleston, Grosseteste’ letters, and Thomas of Pavia’s Dialogue on the Deeds of the Holy Friars Minor. Two short works are attributed to Adam in 13thcentury manuscripts: an Anglo-Norman exposition of the Our Father and the Questio de fluxu et refluxu maris; moreover, a summary of Adam’s theory of sound is reported by Master William of Clifford. The paper thus examines Adam’s ideas about tides and sound, which are grounded on his theories concerning the incorporation of light into aerial and watery particles, and their divergencies from Grosseteste’s genuine theories. This comparison also allows for ascribing to Adam the short treatise, De calore solis, commonly held to be by Grosseteste. In addition to these works, the paper considers a set of glosses on Boethius’ De institutione musica and a short work on the rainbow, known by the incipit Inter omnes impressiones, both of which present ideas consistent with Adam’s physics of light. The last section of the paper deals with the Exposition on the Our Father, which is the only theological text ascribed to Adam and was likely his last work.