Jocelin of Soissons facts for kids

Jocelin of Soissons (died October 24, 1152) was an important French thinker and church leader. He was known for his ideas and for being a bishop in the city of Soissons. He also composed some music, with two pieces found in a famous old book called the Codex Calixtinus. In the early 1110s, he taught at a big church school in Paris.

Becoming a Bishop

Jocelin became the bishop of Soissons in 1126. He started work on the Soissons Cathedral, a very large church building. However, the cathedral as we see it today really began to take its shape much later, in the 1190s.

Supporting the Pope

A powerful church leader named Abbot Suger wrote a history book about King Louis the Fat and dedicated it to Bishop Jocelin. In the 1120s and 1130s, there was a disagreement about who should be the true Pope. Suger saw Jocelin as a strong supporter of Pope Innocent II. Jocelin stood with Pope Innocent II against someone called an antipope (a person who claims to be Pope but is not officially recognized) named Anacletus II. Many other bishops in northern France also supported Pope Innocent II.

Founding Monasteries and Helping Knights

As bishop, Jocelin founded Longpont Abbey in 1131. This was a Cistercian monastery, which is a type of religious community for monks. A very famous monk named Bernard of Clairvaux supported this new abbey and even wrote letters to Jocelin.

Jocelin also supported the Knights Templars, a famous group of warrior monks. He was part of the Council of Troyes in 1129, which officially recognized the Knights Templars and gave them full standing. Later, in 1146, he was present at the Council of Arras. This meeting was likely where plans for the Second Crusade were discussed.

His Writings

A book called De generibus et speciebus was once thought to be written by Jocelin. However, today, experts believe it was written by someone else, perhaps one of his students. They now call the author "Pseudo-Joscelin" (which means "false Jocelin").

Another important writer, John of Salisbury, mentioned Jocelin in his book Metalogicus. John of Salisbury said that Jocelin believed that general ideas, like "humanity" or "beauty," only exist when you think about a group of things, not in each individual thing itself.