Gerard of Huy (de Hojo)

GERARD OF HUY (de Hojo). - French Franciscan scholar of the 13th century, born at Huy (Hojum), it seems, in the diocese of Liège (Belgium). He was a disciple of Roger Bacon, whose principles he follows faithfully in his Correctorium Biblicum. He composed the Triglossos, that is, three metrical treatises on the Hebrew, Greek and Latin languages.

His masterpiece is the Correctorium Biblicum (contained in cod. Vat. lat. 4240 and in other codices), which is the best of all. In it he follows, in the reconstruction of the text, the sound principles already used by St. Jerome. Like the latter, G. also sought to find the genuine text; therefore he attributed the greatest value to the Latin manuscripts of the version of St. Jerome (Vulgate). Only if the codices were at variance with one another did he consult the Greek or Hebrew text. In this G. followed and also expressly asserted, in the 13th century, the principle still adopted today for the revision of the Vulgate. G. knew well the history of the biblical versions and the origin of errors in the sacred text. He corrected the Paris text and justified his corrections in the marginal notes, which show that he knew Greek better than Hebrew. The Latin codices which G. used belong to the recension of Alcuin, and are no older than the 9th or 10th century.

Arduino Kleinhaus