MANDONNET, PIERRE. - Historian of the Church and of medieval theology, b. at Beaumont (Puy-de-Dôme) on 26 Feb. 1858, d. at Saulchoir on 4 Jan. 1936. Having entered the Dominican Order (1882; priest in 1887), he taught (1891-1918) at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. He was dean of the Faculty of Theology (1893-94, 1906-1907) and rector of the University (1902-1903). In 1919 he settled near Paris, then (1927) at Saulchoir. In 1932 he was elected doctor honoris causa of the Sacred Heart University of Milan.
Works: 1) Studies on the history of doctrines: the principal one, Siger de Brabant et l'averroïsme latin au XIIIe siècle (2 vols., 2nd ed., Louvain 1908, 1911); Dante le théologien (2nd ed., Paris 1935); Le décret d'Innocent XI contre le probabilisme (ibid. 1903). 2) Thomistic studies: fundamental is Des écrits authentiques de st Thomas d'Aquin (2nd ed., Fribourg 1910). A biography of St. Thomas by him was published almost in full by the Revue des jeunes (1919-20) and by the Revue thomiste (1925), which he founded, together with Fr. Th. Coconnier, at Fribourg in 1893. His Bibliographie thomiste (in collaboration with J. Destrez, Paris 1921) is still continued by the Bulletin thomiste, which he founded at Saulchoir in 1924, together with the Bibliothèque, the Société (1922) and the Institut historique d'études thomistes. 3) Dominican history: Les Dominicains et la découverte de l'Amérique (Paris 1893) and numerous articles. In addition: St Dominique, l'idée, l'homme et l'oeuvre (with M. H. Vicaire and R. Ladner, 2nd ed., 2 vols., ibid. 1938).
Characteristic of M. as a historian is the breadth and balance of his vision. He approaches the subject from on high and goes straight to the central problem, grasping its essential perspectives, with a demanding erudition, never pedantic. A genuine heir of Denifle (v.) and of Ehrle (v.), he left a lasting mark on the history of Aristotelianism and of the theological currents of the 13th century and on the history of St. Dominic. Of his splendid course in historical methodology, only an outline was published, pro manuscripto: Nature de l'histoire (Fribourg 1913).
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