The Medieval Church · 1267
The Greater Work
Opus Maius
Roger Bacon · c. 1219–c. 1292
What it is
A programme for reforming learning sent to the pope: study languages, correct the biblical text, take mathematics seriously, and test claims by experience rather than authority.
Why it lasted
The most forceful medieval argument for experimental method, from a friar who also proposed lenses, a corrected calendar, and better maps.
Where to read it
This work is in the public domain and can be read in full, free, at the archives below. The Library catalogues it; it does not host the text.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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