Recently I was sent a discussion about the national origins of Duns Scotus. It is here. There was a big controversy about this among the 17th century Scotists. Many of the Irish Scotists claimed him as their own. They did not, however, assign a town where he was born.
The author of the piece linked to above rejects the current scholarly view that Scotus was Scotish. The problem is, the Irish thesis is based purely on hearsay. There is no positive evidence in the form of a medieval document.
What about the Scottish claim? The author claims that "Scotus" could mean someone from Ireland or Scotland, that we don't know when it changed to mean only someone from Scotland. Think of the other "Scotus", Eriugena, who unquestionably was Irish. According to the author, people in the thirteenth century could be described as being either 'hibernicus' or 'scotus' depending on their racial origins as native Irish or Norman invaders.
But whether or not such a distinction is true or not, it isn't relevant to the question of Scotus' origins. For we have a contemporary document that contains enough evidence to show Scotus' Scottish ancestry. This is the adhesion list of 1303. In the dispute between the pope and the king of France, the king sent officials to the various religious houses at the university and had them affix their names to a list accepting the king's claims or denying them. Scotus is on the list denying. The most recent edition of this list is in Courtenay.
“Early Scotists at Paris: A Reconsideration,” Franciscan Studies 69 (2011), 175-229
This list describes people from England as 'de anglia,' those from Ireland as 'de hymbernia', leaving 'Scotus' to be Scottish. What is more, the list organizes people by regions: thus, on the page on which Scotus appears, we have scholars from the Iberian peninsula, followed by Scotus, the English, the Irish, and then the beginning of the Germans.
I quote the list from Courtenay , p. 226:
fr. Poncius de Catelonia
fr. Gondissalvus magister
fr. Martinus ejus socius
fr. Petrus de Villa franca
fr. Franciscus de Colimbria [Coimbra]
fr. Femandus
fr. Johannes scotus
fr. Thomas eius socius
fr. Johannes65. Johannes de Anglia
fr. Johannes Crombe
fr. Thomas anglicus
fr. Ricardus yberniensis
fr. Odo yberniensis 67. Odo de Ymbernia
fr. Dyonisius yberniensis 68. Dyonisius de Ymbernia
fr. Thomas Coloniensis
fr. Henricus saxoniensis
fr. Johannes saxoniensis
fr. Bemardus saxoniensis
fr. Eglosus almannus
fr. Henricus almannus
