“Knowing the Truth of Faith through the Science of Letters”: Peter of Trabibus’s Quodlibeta and the Making of Dante’s Formation in Florence

This text examines the significance of quodlibetal disputations conducted by the Franciscan theologian **Peter of Trabibus** at the Santa Croce *studium* in Florence (c. 1295) for understanding Dante Alighieri’s intellectual development. The investigation begins with Sylvain Piron’s influential hypothesis that the young Dante, a layman, attended these disputes and posed at least two key questions found in Peter’s *Quodlibet I. Quaestio 18 asks whether the science of human letters (*scientia litterarum humanarum*) or the 'goodness of the intellect' (*bonitas intellectus*) is beneficial to the sanctity of the soul. Peter generally concludes that this study is **useless for holiness**, except for a specific category of young, non-dull students, and he cautions against studying for vanity or arrogance. *Quaestio* 19 asks if the truth of faith can be known through this science. Peter denies this, asserting that natural reason is limited and knowledge of faith requires a **"supernatural light"** (*lumen supernaturale*). The analysis, however, raises doubts about Piron’s attribution to Dante, noting that these questions reflect **standard scholastic problems** concerning the liberal arts and the religious life—topics frequently debated among the convent’s internal students (*iuvenes*). Nonetheless, Peter of Trabibus's *Quodlibeta* (I and II), which cover a broad range of subjects including theology, cosmology, canon law, and economics, illustrate the **vibrant and complex intellectual milieu** of late thirteenth-century Florence. Studying these discussions, which touched on concepts such as the *Imago Dei* and the conditions of the afterlife, is essential for reconstructing the **"ideological prehistory"** of Dante’s *Commedia* and the transmission of philosophical and theological concepts into vernacular literature.