Harmonising the Word: A Textual and Philological Study of Eriugena's Gospel Quotations in the Periphyseon

This thesis provides the first textual and philological study of Iohannes Scottus Eriugena’s direct gospel quotations in the Periphyseon (c. 866). I approach Eriugena’s gospel quotations by systematically examining each quoted verse from a two-fold perspective of its (i) textual affiliation and (ii) framing in the Eusebian Apparatus. My philological analysis of textual variants examines Eriugena’s gospel quotations compared with the Vulgate (Vg.), Vetus Latina (VL), patristic, and Insular textual traditions of the gospels. Identifying the textual affiliations provides insight into where Eriugena may have encountered particular gospel texts/verses that shaped his later quotations of them in the Periphyseon. The second part of my analysis is a consideration of the framing of each verse in the Eusebian Apparatus. The Eusebian Apparatus is a system of Gospel harmonisation between the four gospel texts which establishes concordance between different textual divisions. Through my analysis, I also point to broader patterns in Eriugena’s deployment of gospel verses within the overarching epsitemological framework of the Periphyseon. Identifying such patterns allows us to see how Eriugena integrates his gospel quotations within the broader enterprise of Eriugena's study of natura.