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298 IGNATIUS BRADY But to return to more established facts: though appointed to Paris in 1427, William was not enrolled among the Bachelors before September 1429. Evidently he went to Paris after his appointment by the Chapter, since the bishop of Beauvais, then at Paris, was to judge the dispute between the two friars 44 • It was not the most propitious time to have entered the University. Paris had been taken by the Burgundians in 1418 and was in the hands of the English since 1422. The University itself was rather in a state of disrepair, and dominated by a pro-English faction 45 • As he prepared to begin his commentary, he might well have been upset, with many others, by the prospect of battle. Jeanne la Pucelle had occupied St.-Denis on 26 August, 1429, and stormed the city at the Port St.-Honore on 7 and 8 September, though when she was wounded the assault was abandoned 46 , Conditions were such that for reasons unknown William was able to complete only the first three books of the Sentences, as is evident from his own testimony in the exordium to the fourth book. In expressing his thanks to the reverendi magistri huius sanctissimi collegii, the Studium of the Friars Minor, he states that he had completed the first three books under Master Luke of Assisi, and that now (in anticipation of his license, 29 January 1448 47 ) is continuing his lessons and has begun the fourth book under Master Gerard Fuleti"' 8 • We must suppose that William commented on Books I-III in the year and a half from September 1429 until January 1431 49 • On the other hand, the text of the last book (as we shall see) gives ample proof of the long interval separating it from the others. 11 See above, note 28. William also appears in the spring of 1430 among those who swore to observe a decree forbidding curtailment of the time required for a degree ( Chartul. Univ.Paris IV, n.2347, p.498). He is listed as G. de Valle Rullain. 45 See C.E. Du BOULAY, Historia Univ. Paris. V, Paris 1670, 385; and Charles JOURDAIN, L'Universite de Paris a l'epoque de la domination anglaise, in his Excursions historiques et phil. a travers le moyen age, Paris 1888, 311-335. '" Cf. contemporary text in Simeon LucE, Jeanne d'Arc a Domremy, Paris 1886, 257-258. •17 Chartul.Univ.Paris. IV, n.2625 (p.677). <B In IV Sent., f.316c: « Specialiter hinc regratior nostris reverendis magistris huius sanctissirni collegii quos meis in factis favorabiles inveni. Maxime nostro reverendo magi– stro Luce de Assisio sub cuius sedentis pedibus primum, secundum et tertium feci prin– cipium. Consequenter nostro reverendo rnagistro, Magistro Girardo Suleti [read: Fuleti]: nunc in scholis his regenti de Burgundie provincia oriundo: cuius sub pedibus nunc meas continua lectiones et quartum sententiarum incepi principium ». - Luke of Assisi, scnten– tiarius Sept. 1422; licensed 13 March 1425 (1426?); magister 20 Oct. 1427; mag. regens Sept. 1428; still in Paris 9 June 1433 (cf. Chartul., nn. 2194, 2264, 2315, 2331, 2347, 2432). He was custos of the Sacro Convento of Assisi 1439 (1440?) to 1442; cf. Bonav. BARTOL0MASI, O.F.M. Conv., Series chron.ologica historica 111in. prov. et comm.iss. generalium qui seraphicani S.P.N.F. Provinciam... gubernarunt, Rornae 1824, 26; and Arch.Franc.Hist. 7(1914) 75 and 338. 10 There are a few slight references to the current state of affairs in France in the first three books; e.g.: « Sint apud unum principem, utputa Ducem Burgundie, duo iuvenes per omnia aequales ... » (In I Sent., d.41, a.2, 68d). The text was left untouched later, as there is no mention of the Council of Basel and the Immaculate Conception.