Minor ways to affective harmony

Abstract

The article examines how 13th-14th-century Franciscan reflection contributed to conceptions of harmony, particularly in its affective dimensions. The discussion begins with Roger Bacon’s synthesis, which grounds the moral philosopher’s preaching in the concept of musical harmony within the broader framework of his knowledge reform. Attention then turns to Bartholomaeus Anglico’s encyclopaedic treatise and to Matthaeus de Aquasparta’s sermons, which almost enact the rhetorical and musical criteria of harmony. The article concludes with two 14thcentury case studies, those of Angelo Clareno and Franciscus de Marchia, which focus on the topic of altissima paupertas.