CORRECTORIA BIBLICA (Correctoria biblica). — Critical works undertaken in the 13th–15th centuries to remove from the manuscripts of the Vulgate (v.) the errors that had accumulated in them. The text of the version or recension of St Jerome, widely diffused, was easily altered by copyists, both through negligence and because they mixed in readings from the Old Latin or introduced arbitrary corrections, so that the Vulgate already appeared interpolated in many places and textual corruptions multiplied rapidly. Already from the 9th century scholars attempted to stem this tendency by making corrections to the text of the Vulgate: thus Alcuin, Theodulf, Nicholas Maniacoria and others. When, however, in the 13th century the University of Paris became the centre of theological studies, the need for a uniform biblical text was felt even more keenly, and so a copy of the Latin Bible then in use was selected and declared the normative text under the name of the Parisian Exemplar. But since this text too was corrected and interpolated, attempts were made to remedy the situation by means of the correctoria. All the corrections were made on the Parisian text and two kinds of correctoria are distinguished: some contain the biblical text and in the margins indicate readings to be rejected or retained or corrected; others lack the biblical text and have only the said readings discussed more fully. These correctoria were produced by the Dominican friars and the Franciscan friars, who at that time were teaching at the University of Paris.
Fraternal correction of the Bible
Of the Dominican friars three correctoria are known: the Senonensian (Sens in France), which was rejected even by the Dominicans themselves, who substituted the Parisian text (1256). Another was produced by Hugh of St Cher (d. 1263), whose principal manuscript is the Vatican Ottobonianus 293. Since, however, Hugh in his corrections had given too much weight to the Hebrew and Greek texts instead of correcting according to the manuscripts of the Vulgate, his correctorium was not a correction of the text but rather a further corruption of II.
The correctoria of the Franciscans were: 1) the Sorbonicum, so called because the manuscript containing it belonged to the Sorbonne (now in the Bibliothèque Nationale, ms. 15554); it BRETAGNA (v.), and does not differ greatly from the correctoria of the Dominicans; 2) another correctorium, whose principal manuscript is ms. Vat. lat. 3466, MARIA (v.), whose name is found in ms. no. 28 of the abbey of Einsiedeln; 3) ms. Vatican Latin 4240 contains the correctorium of Gerard of Huy (v.). This, like William de Mara, follows, unlike the preceding, the principles indicated by Roger Bacon (v.), correcting not according to the original texts but according to the manuscripts of the Vulgate. Of special importance is the introduction of Gerard of Huy to his correctorium, in which he sets out his critical principles and treats precisely of the origin of the Vulgate and of the Greek versions. Two other correctoria of lesser importance are one by Gerard of Buxo (ms. 61 of the Bibliothèque Communale of Toulouse, 15th century) and another by John of Cologne, also in ms. 28, fol. 49 of the library of Einsiedeln. All these works, however, being of private initiative, could not effectively remedy the corruption of the biblical text. For this the authority of the Church was needed. The Council of Trent ordered an official revision of the Vulgate, which was carried out with the Sixto-Clementine edition (1592), and Pius X (1907) entrusted the Benedictine Order with the restoration of the text of the Vulgate, which was executed by the monks of the Abbey of St Jerome in Urbe.