Henry of Ghent is mainly remembered for serving on the theological commission of the bishop of Paris, Stephen Tempier, in 1277. He also held the position of archdeacon at Bruges and at Tournai and was in attendance at the Council of Lyons in 1274 and at the Synods of Sens, Montpellier, Cologne, and Compiègne. A secular theologian in vociferous opposition to the mendicant orders, Henry of Ghent has been slow in gaining widespread scholarly attention. As regent master in theology in Paris he lived in the foremost intellectual center of the late thirteenth century, asserting himself among his colleagues and students in teaching and disputing. Henry was both theologically outspoken and philosophically innovative.

Henry was born either at Ghent or Tournai in present-day Belgium. After studying at the cathedral school of Tournai, where he was appointed canon in 1267, he entered the faculty of arts at the University of...