WILLIAM OF LA MARE. - Franciscan philosopher and theologian, d. 1298. He taught at Oxford; he is the author of a Commentary on the Sentences (though this work comprises only the first two books) and of Quaestiones disputatae: both works remain unpublished. He is best known for his Correctorium fratris Thomae, which collects, under 118 headings, Thomistic theses and follows each with a refutation conducted from the Bonaventurian point of view.
The Correctorium became almost an official text within the Franciscan Order after the General Chapter of Strasbourg in 1282 and, one might say, served as the almost official target of the Thomistic counterattacks. One such counterattack (which bore the title of Correctoria and attributed to William of La Mare’s work the name of Corruptorium) is the Correctorium corruptorii «Quare», which transcribes one by one the passages of William and follows each with the defence of St Thomas; thus in this Thomistic counterattack (of which we possess a critical edition) we can also find the text of William of La Mare.
William closely follows the doctrine of St Bonaventure; indeed, Longpré maintains that his commentary on the Sentences is in reality a commentary on the Commentary of St Bonaventure.