 A special form of disputation, quodlibetal (quodlibet = any, whatever) questions, differed from ordinary disputations in that they were open to the broader public — other masters, students from other schools, other church and civil authorities — and took place only during Advent and Lent. The questions were not set by the master but could be posed by any member of the audience and without any prior notice to the master who would determine the question. These questions might reflect contemporary controversies or might be designed to pose a question that brought to the fore a difficulty for the particular master of whom it was asked because of his other stated views. The popularity of these public spectacles shows the importance and influence of scholastic disputation on the larger culture. (Novikoff 2012, 2013).