RAYMOND-JOSEPH MARTIN. - Dominican, medievalist theologian, b. at Neerpelt (Belgium) 27 Sept. 1878, d. at Louvain 28 Aug. 1949.
A Dominican (1896), he studied philosophy at Louvain and sociology at Düsseldorf. Ordained priest at Cologne (1905), he took his doctorate in theology with the notable thesis *De necessitate credendi et credendorum* (Louvain 1906).
From 1909 to 1940 he lectured on St Thomas’s *Summa theologica* at the Dominican *Studium* in Louvain. In 1921 he founded, with J. Lebon and J. de Ghellinck, the *Spicilegium sacrum Lovaniense*, universally esteemed for its rigorous scientific method. In 1922 he became Master of Theology. From 1940 to 1945, because of the war, he lived at Toulouse and directed the Dominican nuns of the ancient monastery of Prouille. Returning to Louvain, he resumed his collaboration on the *Spicilegium*.
Devoted to St Thomas, he interpreted the Angelic Doctor’s thought with keen insight and fidelity, ever seeking to elucidate the historical and doctrinal antecedents and the influence exerted by the great Doctor. His scholarly output, scattered through the leading journals, places him among the foremost authorities on scholasticism. His principal works are: *La controverse sur le péché original 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 valuable volumes form nos. 10, 13, 17, 18, 21 of the *Spicilegium sacrum Lovaniense*.