MARTIN, RAYMOND-JOSEPH. - Dominican, medievalist theologian, b. at Neerpelt (Belgium) on 27 Sept. 1878, d. at Louvain on 28 Aug. 1949.
He entered the order (1896) and studied philosophy at Louvain and sociology at Düsseldorf. Ordained priest at Cologne (1905), he obtained his doctorate in theology with the well-known thesis De necessitate credendi et credendorum (Louvain 1906).
From 1909 to 1940 he lectured on the Summa theologica of St. Thomas at the Dominican Studium of Louvain. In 1921 he founded, together with J. Lebon and J. de Ghellinck, the Spicilegium sacrum Lovaniense, universally appreciated for its rigorous scientific method. In 1922 he became master in theology. From 1940 to 1945, because of the war, he lived at Toulouse and directed the Dominican nuns of the ancient monastery of Prouille. Having returned to Louvain, he resumed his collaboration with the Spicilegium.
Enamoured of St. Thomas, he interpreted his thought with acumen and fidelity, seeking throughout his life to illustrate the historical and doctrinal antecedents and the influences exercised by the great Doctor. His scholarly output, scattered through the principal journals, places him among the best connoisseurs of scholasticism. The principal works are: La controverse sur le péché originel au début du XIVe siècle. Textes inédits, (Louvain 1930); Oeuvres de Robert de Melun (3 vols., ibid. 1932-47); Pierre Le Mangeur: De Sacramentis. Texte inédit (ibid. 1937). These precious volumes constitute nos. 10, 13, 17, 18, 21 of the Spicilegium sacrum Lovaniense.