Peter Lombard | |
|---|---|
 Peter Lombard writing "Omnes sitientes venite ad me (all you that thirst, come to me)"[4] | |
| Born | c. 1096[5][6][7] Novara, Lombardy |
| Died | 21/22 August 1160 |
| Occupation | Bishop of Paris |
| Title | Master of the Sentences[8] |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | School of Reims University of Bologna[1] |
| Influences | |
| Academic work | |
| School or tradition | Scholasticism |
| Notable works | |
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Peter Lombard (alsoPeter the Lombard,[9][5]Pierre Lombard orPetrus Lombardus;[10]c. 1096 – 21/22 August 1160) was an Italianscholastic theologian,Bishop of Paris, and author of theSentences, which became the standard medievaltextbook of theology.
Peter Lombard was born inLumellogno[11] (then a rural commune, now aquartiere ofNovara,Piedmont), in northwesternItaly, to a poor family.[12] His date of birth was likely between 1095 and 1100.[5][6][7]
His education most likely began in Italy at thecathedral schools ofNovara andLucca and at theUniversity of Bologna.[8] The patronage ofOdo, bishop of Lucca, who recommended him toBernard of Clairvaux, allowed him to leave Italy and further his studies atReims andParis. Lombard studied first in thecathedral school at Reims, where Magister Alberich and Lutolph of Novara were teaching, and arrived in Paris about 1134,[13] where Bernard recommended him[14] to the canons of the church of St. Victor.
In Paris, where he spent the next decade teaching at the cathedral school ofNotre-Dame de Paris, he came into contact withPeter Abelard andHugh of St. Victor, who were among the leading theologians of the time. There are no proven facts relating to his whereabouts in Paris until 1142, when he became recognised as a teacher and writer. Around 1145, Peter became a "magister", or professor, at the cathedral school ofNotre Dame in Paris. Peter's means of earning a living before he began to derive income as a teacher and from hiscanon'sprebend is shrouded in uncertainty.
Lombard's style of teaching gained quick acknowledgement. It can be surmised that this attention is what prompted the canons of Notre Dame to ask him to join their ranks. He was considered acelebrated theologian by 1144. The Parisian school of canons had not included among their number a theologian of high regard for some years. The canons of Notre Dame, to a man, were members of theCapetian dynasty, relatives of families closely aligned to the Capetians by blood or marriage, scions of theÎle-de-France or easternLoire Valley nobility, or relatives of royal officials. In contrast, Peter had no relatives, ecclesiastical connections, or political patrons in France. It seems that he must have been invited by the canons of Notre Dame solely for his academic merit.
He became asubdeacon in 1147. Possibly, he was present at the consistory of Paris in 1147, and certainly he attended theCouncil of Rheims in 1148, held in the presence ofPope Eugenius III to examineGilbert de la Porrée andÉon de l'Étoile. Peter was among the signatories of the act condemning Gilbert's teachings.[15] At some time after 1150 Peter became adeacon, thenarchdeacon, maybe as early as 1152. He was ordained a priest sometime before 1156. On 28 July 1159, on theFeast of Saints Peter and Paul, he wasconsecratedbishop of Paris.Walter of St Victor accused Peter of obtaining the office bysimony.[16] The more usual story is that Philip, younger brother ofLouis VII and archdeacon of Notre-Dame, was elected by the canons but declined in favour of Peter Lombard, his teacher.
Lombard's time as bishop was brief.[17] Lombard died on either 21 or 22 August 1160 in Paris.[18][8] As to his administrative style or objectives, little can be ascertained, since he left behind so few episcopalacta. He was succeeded byMaurice de Sully, the builder of theCathedral of Notre Dame.[19]
Lombard's tomb in the church of Saint-Marcel in Paris was destroyed during theFrench Revolution, but a transcription of his epitaph survives.
Because of the wide influence of theSentences in medieval universities, Lombard was often identified by ascholastic accolade:Magister Sententiarum ('"master of theSentences').[20]
Peter Lombard wrote commentaries on the Psalms and the Pauline epistles; however, his most famous work by far wasLibri Quatuor Sententiarum, or theFour Books of Sentences, which became the standard textbook of theology at the medieval universities.[21] From the 1220s until the 16th century, no work of Christian literature, except for theBible itself, was commented upon more frequently. EvenThomas Aquinas'Summa Theologiae, written around 1270, would not eclipse theSentences in importance until around the 16th century. All the major medieval thinkers in western Europe, fromAlbert the Great and Thomas Aquinas toWilliam of Ockham andGabriel Biel, were influenced by it. Even the youngMartin Luther still wrote glosses on theSentences, andJohn Calvin quoted from it over 100 times in hisInstitutes.
TheFour Books of Sentences formed the framework upon which four centuries of scholastic interpretation of Western Christian dogma was based; however, rather than being a dialectical work itself, theFour Books of Sentences is a compilation of biblical texts, together with relevant passages from theChurch Fathers and many medieval thinkers. It covered virtually the entire field of Christian theology as it was understood at the time. Peter Lombard'smagnum opus stands squarely within the pre-scholasticexegesis of biblical passages, in the tradition ofAnselm of Laon, who taught through quotations from authorities.[22] It stands out as the first major effort to bring together commentaries on the full range of theological issues, arrange the material in a systematic order, and attempt to reconcile them where they appeared to defend different viewpoints. TheSentences starts with theTrinity in Book I, moves on tocreation in Book II, treatsChrist, the saviour of the fallen creation, in Book III, and deals with thesacraments, which mediate Christ's grace, in Book IV.
Peter Lombard's most famous and most controversial doctrine in theSentences was his identification ofcharity with theHoly Spirit in Book I, distinction 17. According to this doctrine, when the Christian loves God and his neighbour, this love literally is God; he becomes divine and is taken up into the life of the Trinity. This idea, in its inchoate form, can be extrapolated from certain remarks ofAugustine of Hippo (cf. De Trinitate 13.7.11). Although this was never explicitly declared unorthodox, few theologians have been prepared to follow Peter Lombard in this aspect of his teaching. The Council of Trent, however, may have condemned this view in an implicit manner, withThe Catholic Encyclopedia noting that:
According to the Council of Trent sanctifying grace is not merelya formal cause, but "the only formal cause" (unica causa formalis) of our justification. By this important decision the Council excluded the error of Butzer and some Catholic theologians (Gropper, Seripando, and Albert Pighius) who maintained that an additional "external favour of God" (favor Dei externus) belonged to the essence of justification. The same decree also effectually set aside the opinion of Peter Lombard, that the formal cause of justification (i.e. sanctifying grace) is nothing less than thePerson of the Holy Ghost, Who is the hypostatic holiness and charity, or the uncreated grace (gratia increata). Since justification consists in an interior sanctity and renovation of spirit, its formal cause evidently must be a created grace (gratia creata), a permanent quality, a supernatural modification or accident (accidens) of the soul.[23]
Also in theSentences was the doctrine thatmarriage was consensual and need not be consummated to be considered perfect, unlikeGratian's analysis (seesponsalia de futuro). Lombard's interpretation was later endorsed byPope Alexander III, and had a significant impact on Church interpretation of marriage.[24][25] He emphasized that reciprocal consent of the parties is sufficiently constitutive of an absolutely indissoluble marriage, and is its only cause independent of sexual intercourse.[26]
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