On the natural motion of heavy and light bodies (gravia et levia). Urbano of Bologna and Averroes’ solution

The present study focuses on the pre-modern philosophical debate on the motion of heavy and light bodies (gravia et levia), that is, on the theories aimed at defining the principles underlying the natural motion of inanimate bodies – simple or mixed – and the reasons why such beings tend to naturally move downwards or upwards, depending on their material composition and the medium in which they move. Within this research framework, the study takes certain considerations from Aristotle’s Physics as its starting point. Then, it seeks to provide an analysis of Averroes’ solution to the problem – as conveyed in the Latin translation of the long commentary on the Physics. After that, it focuses on the Latin reception of the problem, which at the beginning of the 14th century seems to have undergone a significant turn in terms of refinement and completeness in the handling of the philosophical problem. To give an account of this shift, the ‘Dominican solution’ proposed by Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas is briefly investigated. Finally, the reception of the Averroist reading by Urbano of Bologna – a master active in the first half of the 14th century at the University of Arts and Medicine in Bologna – is considered.