Gilbert de la Porrée facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gilbert de la Porrée
Gilbert de La Porrée holding an opened book, anonymous, XIIth century.
Born	1070
Died	4 September 1154  (aged 83–84)
Occupation	Writer

Gilbert de la Porrée (after 1085 – 4 September 1154), also known as Gilbert of Poitiers, Gilbertus Porretanus or Pictaviensis, was a scholastic logician and theologian and Bishop of Poitiers.

Life

He was born in Poitiers, and completed his first studies there. He was then educated under Bernard of Chartres at Chartres, where he was schooled in the differences between the teachings of Aristotle and Plato, and later under Anselm of Laon and Ralph of Laon at Laon, where he studied the Scriptures. After his education, he returned to Poitiers, where it is believed he taught. Subsequently he then returned to Chartres to teach logic and theology and succeeded Bernard of Chartres as Chancellor from 1126 to 1140. He is also known to have lectured in Paris. From a passage from the text, Dialogue with Ratius and Everard, by the Cistercian Everard, it would appear that Gilbert was more popular in Paris than in Chartres. Everard writes that he was the fourth to attend Gilbert's lectures in Chartres and the three hundredth to attend in Paris. One of those attending Gilbert's lectures in Paris, in 1141, was John of Salisbury, who was greatly influenced by them. John would later become chancellor of Chartres and also wrote about Gilbert saying: He taught grammar and theology, and would whip a student who made a grammatical error. If he believed a student was wasting time in class, he would suggest he take up bread making, and last when he lectured he used philosophers, orators and as well as poets to help interpret.

In the 1140s Gilbert published his Commentary on Boethius's, Opuscula Sacra. Although intended as an explanation of what Boethius meant, it interpreted the Holy Trinity in such a way as went against the teachings of the church. In 1142, Gilbert became Bishop of Poitiers, and within the same year two archdeacons, Arnaud and Calon, denounced him for his ideas on the Trinity. It was also in 1142 when Gilbert's teaching post in Chartres was taken over. By 1147, in Paris, Peter Lombard attacked Gilbert for his trinitarian doctrine. In 1148, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, known as the great detector of heresies, brought Gilbert to trial. Saint Bernard had previously had reasons to believe Gilbert was a heretic because when Abelard was tried and condemned, the school of Chartres, where Gilbert was chancellor at that moment, supported Abelard. Pope Eugene III presided over the trial, during which Gilbert and Bernard were asked to cite and explain specific biblical texts. Bernard, lacking Gilbert's experience of the technique of the schools, was not able to condemn him. It was nevertheless decided to require Gilbert to reformulate parts of his book.

Gilbert died in 1154. He was buried at the Église Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand in Poitiers.