In recent decades, the relationship between the medieval Franciscan intellectual tradition and the emergence of modernity has become a topical issue. Perhaps the most influential contribution on this subject has come from the Radical Orthodoxy movement, specifically the writings of the British scholars Catherine Pickstock and John Milbank. According to Radical Orthodoxy, there are to be found within the early Franciscan intellectual tradition – specifically the writings of John Duns Scotus (1266–308) and, to a lesser extent, Bonaventure of Bagnoregio (1217–74) – the seminal cracks which led to the fracturing, and eventual total collapse, of the Christian intellectual and social systems which predominated in Western culture prior to the modern era. Others, whilst not directly associated with the Radical Orthodoxy movement itself, have likewise claimed to see in early Franciscan theology the origins of the intellectual and cultural decline which Christianity has endured since the early modern period. These include Hans Boersma and Rik Van Nieuwenhove. Thus, according to Van Nieuwenhove, because of its thoroughly Christocentric reading of the relationship between faith and reason, the Bonaventurian synthesis begets a mixing of the natural and supernatural orders, one which necessitates the birthing of a purely secular, anti-theistic sphere of noetic. None the less, several scholars have sought to push back against this narrative, arguing that the claim that Bonaventure and Duns Scotus bear the blame for the collapse of Western Christian culture does not stand up to scrutiny. These have included the likes of Daniel Horan, Richard Cross and Garett Smith. To this list can now be added Simon J. G. Burton.

In this volume Burton adds a fresh contribution to the debate concerning the intellectual and spiritual legacy of the early Franciscan tradition, one which seeks to challenge some of the positions articulated by Milbank, Pickstock and the like. Burton’s study focuses on the thought of the much-neglected sixteenth-century French logician Peter Ramus (1515–72) and shows how, in stark contrast to the prevalent Aristotelian scholasticism and humanism of his day, the intellectual tradition which Ramus’ thinking created, both logical and theological, preserved some of the most valuable theological insights of the early Franciscan synthesis. Of particular importance in this respect, Burton asserts, is Ramism’s appropriation of the Bonaventurian systemisation of the earlier Platonic-Augustinian doctrine of exemplarism and the rich Trinitarian metaphysical system which it necessitates. In turn, Burton shows how Ramus’ engagement with early Franciscan thought, mediated in part to him by Raymond Lull’s (1232–1316) writings, allowed him to articulate an intellectual synthesis – logical, theological and metaphysical – which served to communicate some of its most valuable theological sensitivities, particularly its commitment to exemplarism, to the nascent Protestant and Counter Reformation Catholic traditions. Indeed, as Burton shows, particularly striking was Ramism’s role in communicating the Bonaventurian belief in the unity of human noetic, and the encyclopaedic approach to learning which it entails, to early Puritan scholars. Thus, once viewed through the lens of Ramus’ teachings, and that of Ramism in general, we see that the Franciscan influence on early modernity was not one of precipitating theistic decline and intellectual rupture, but rather creative continuity to the core pre-modern tradition. Critical here, as the title of Burton’s book indicates, is the Ramist ‘method’ and its realist – strongly Franciscan – approach towards logic, metaphysics and theology.

Following an informative introductory chapter which situates Ramus’ thought in relation to the thinking of Bonaventure, Scotus and Lull – and which also makes some very perceptive comments on both Scotus’ and Lull’s indebtedness to Bonaventurian thought – Burton considers in chapter ii the link between Ramus’ synthesis and the Fabrist tradition. Here he shows how Ramus’ thought is inseparable from the ‘evangelical and mystical milieu in which it had its genesis’. In chapter iii, Burton considers the origins and development of German Ramism during the sixteenth century and how Ramism attained an ‘impressive dominance’ in numerous German institutions thanks, in part, to its hybridisation with Phillip Melancthon’s (1497–1560) teachings. Particularly useful is this chapter’s discussion of some of the ambiguities at work within the German ‘Phillipo-Ramist’ movement and its illuminating account of how not all German Ramists of the early modern period, most notably Friedrich Beurhaus (1536–1609), subscribed to the appropriation of Phillipist logic. In chapter iv Burton turns to Ramism’s reception within England and the role which the Puritan logician Alexander Richardson (1565–1613) and theologian William Ames (1576–1633) played in promoting Ramism’s seeding at Cambridge. Through constructive dialogue with Perry Miller’s important research from the 1980s, Burton shows how the Cambridge Ramists contributed to an ‘integrative reform’ of the English Church and wider society according to ‘definite Neo-Platonic tenets’, a reform which drew heavily upon the ‘exemplaristic method’ of Augustinian and Franciscan thought yet was rooted firmly within Puritan ideals.

In chapter v Burton turns to consider how, through the thought of the Italian Ramist Julius Caesar Scaliger (1484–1558), late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century Reformed thinkers were introduced to Scotist realism and Trinitarian metaphysics. In this chapter, Burton also focuses on the important role which the medieval Franciscan tradition of ‘scriptural exemplarism’ played in shaping the Ramist thought of this period thanks, in part, to the contributions of the German Reformed theologian Amandus Polanus (1563–1610). Chapter vi introduces the reader to the thought of the German Reformed Bartholomäus Keckermann (1572–1609) and the critical role which he played in the spread of Ramism on the continent. Burton highlights deftly the importance of Keckermann’s ‘methodological Peripateticism and encyclopaedism’, and the latter’s indebtedness to Bonaventurianism. In chapter vii Burton turns his attention to the importance of Johann Heinrich Alsted’s (1588–1638) thought, as well as that of Lullism and Franciscan natural theology, within the early modern Ramist movement. Particularly notable is Burton’s attempt to show how, when placed against this backdrop, Scotist ontology – in sharp contrast to the claims of Radical Orthodoxy – can be seen to have an ‘important role’ to play in modern thought ‘in instituting a Christian and exemplaristic metaphysics of participation’. Finally, in chapters viii and ix, Burton’s attention turns to Ramist variations of the doctrine of universal analogy and the role of Jan Amos Comenius (1592–1670), the last bishop of the Unity of the Brethren, in pursuing the Ramist tradition’s desire to articulate a system of universal knowledge.

A truly impressive piece of scholarship which is clearly the product of much time, research and thought, Burton’s study is one which deserves to be celebrated, by scholars of both Ramism and the Franciscan intellectual tradition. Indeed, it will surely establish itself as a necessary point of engagement for those involved in the scholarly debate concerning the influence of medieval Franciscan thought in shaping the advent of modernity. Burton’s study not only casts much-needed light on an important – but thus far sorely neglected – part of the story of the Franciscan intellectual legacy, but it brings a fresh voice to the growing chorus of scholarship which argues that the role of the early Franciscan tradition in helping to birth modernity has been misrepresented by some strands of recent scholarship. Extremely well referenced, very detailed and executed confidently, Burton’s study is one which will appeal chiefly to established scholars and postgraduate students, though the undergraduate student will also benefit from engaging with this text. One point of constructive criticism which can be made of Burton’s study is that while Burton is correct to focus on Bonaventure as one of the chief advocates of an encyclopaedic approach towards human noetic, his framing of the Franciscan encyclopaedic tradition and its influence on later Ramism could have been enriched through a fuller engagement with other early Franciscan encyclopaedists, most notably Roger Bacon (1219–92). Engaging more thoroughly with Bacon would have allowed Burton to show that there are important nuances at work within the early Franciscan encyclopaedic tradition, with Bacon’s approach having a different flavour to it than Bonaventure’s. This, however, is only a minor lacuna and does little to take away from the quality of Burton’s study. A truly impressive piece of scholarship, Burton’s study is one from which specialists in Ramism and early Franciscan thought, as well as those interested in the narrative of how modernity emerged, will find much to learn.