JOHN OP SALISBURY's BNTHETICÜS DB Dodviats
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JOHN OP SALISBURY'S BNTHETICÜS DB DOdvIATS PHILO SOPHO RIM ; THE LIGHT IT THROWS ON THE educational BACKGROUND OP THE T'WSLPTH CENTURY Ly C.R. Elrlngton Thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Arts of the University of London March, 1954 ProQuest Number: 10107172 All rights reserved INF0RMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed a note will indicate the deletion. uest. ProQuest 10107172 Published by ProQuest LLC(2016). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.Q. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 ABSTRACT John of Salisbury's Entheticus da donate philosophons; the light it throws on the educational background of the twelfth century John of Salisbury’s Entheticus de dogmata philosophorum is a poem of 1852 lines, written in elegiac couplets. It is in part didactic and in part a satire on the educational and moral standards of the time. Because in many respects it foreshadows the same author’s Policraticus and Metalogicon it has been neglected in favour of these two works. Dr. R.L. Poole has written; "The latter part of the Policraticus covers substantially the same ground, althou^ with far greater elaboration and completeness, as the elegiac poem, the Entheticus .... The latter is however by no means superseded by the prose work, and we can readily forgive the jejune rhythm of its imitation of Ovid for the pointed epigrammatic accuracy with which it depicts the learning and manners of the day. " (Illustrations of the History of Mediaeval ThougL-t and Learning, p.191.) On the vhole, the Entheticus can be allowed to speak for itself. The edition of the poem by C. Petersen (Hamburg, 1843) is based on only one of the two manuscripts, and Petersen’s interpretation of the poem is vitiated by his belief that John of Salisbury attended the schools at Oxford. Dr. J.A. Giles’s edition of the poem in Joannis Saresberiensis Opera Omnia (vol.v) is without introduction, notes or commentary; it is reprinted by Migne in Patrologla Latina, vol. 199. This thesis aims to put the Entheticus in perspective against the background of John of Salisbury’s life and the intellectual environment of the twelfth century, to examine some of the problems and points raised by the poem, and to provide a critical edition of the text together with an English prose translation. Ill t a b l e OF CONTENTS • List of abbreviated titles used in the footnotes .... p. iv I. Chapter 1. The author of the Bntheticus ...... 1 a. The author’s life to circa 1160 ............. 3 b. The author’s life, 1159-1180 ................. 18 c. John of Salisbury as a himanist ............. 24 Chapter 2. The Entheticus in its historical setting, 31 a. The Christian tradition of the seven liberal arts in the west, up to the twelfth century, 31 b. The twelfth-century renaissance; the rise and decline of the study of classical literature, 53 c. The development of new studies in the twelfth century ............................. 66 Chapter 3. The composition of the Entheticus ..... 79 a. The date of the composition of the Entheticus 79 b. The theme and purpose of the Entheticus ..... 84 c. The relationship of the Entheticus to the Policraticus and Metalogicon............... 9 5 d. The author's sources for the teaching of the philosophers............................ ICO e. Fictitious names in the Entheticus .......... 106 Chapter 4. Aspects of education in the twelfth century represented in the Entheticus ..... 113 a. Life and learning at Paris and Chartres 113 b. Life and learning at Canterbury...... 124 . c. Ethics and politics in the schools ..... 129 II. Note on the manuscripts of the Entheticus ... 137 Note on this edition of the text . 141 1. Critical text of the Entheticus ....... 143 2. English translation of the Entheticus......... 239 Index of the proper names in the Entheticus 328 Bibliography.......................... 336 [N.B. For the sake of brevity the Entheticus de dogmata philo sophorum is referred to as the Entheticus: the Entheticus in Policraticum is referred to as the short Entheticus or by its full title. The footnotes are numbered consecutively for each chapter. ] IV Abbreviated titles of books used in the footnotes. C.Med.H. G am bri d ge M e di ae val History, (Cambridge, 1929). D.F.E. Dictionary of National Biography, (London, 1908). E.H.R. English Historical Review. in th e. t Entheticus de dognate philosophorum. Enthet. in Pollerat. Entheticus in Policraticum. Haskins, Mediaeval Science. C.H. Haskins, Studies in the History of Mediaeval Science, 2nd ed. (Cambridge, Mass., 1927). Hist. Pont. Joannis Sare sberiensi s Historiae Pontifie alls quae super sunt, ed. R.L. Poole, (Oxford, 1927). Metalog. loannis Sare sberiensi s Metalogicon, ed. G.G.J. Webb, (Oxford, 1929). M.G-.H. Monumenta Geimaniae Historica, ( see bibliography). Materials. Materials for the History of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, 7 vols., ed. J.C. Robertson, (London, 187 5-85), Rolls Series. P.L. J.P. Migne* s Patrologiae Latinae Comp le tu s Cursus, (Pari s, 1844 et c. ) Policrat. Joannis Saresberiensis Policratici sive de Nugi s Curialium et Vestigiis Philosophorum libri viil, 2 vols., ed. C .C.J. %ebb, (Oxford, 1909). Poole, lllustrations. R.L. Poole, Illustrations of the History of Mediaeval Thought and Learning, 2nd ed., (London, 1920). Rolls Series. Rerum Britannicarum medii aevi scriptores, (London, 1858 etc.). Sarton. Introduction. C. Sarton, Introduction to the History of Science, vols, i and ii, (Baltimore, 1927). CHAPTER I . THE AUTHOR OF THE ENTHETICUS There is a particular connexion between the Entheticus and John of Salisbury’s personal experience and studies. In the Entheticus. John of Salisbury satirises the contemporary craze for logic and the neglect of other liberal studies, assesses the relationship between secular learning and the Christian faith, gives an account of the teaching of pagan philosophers, asserts the moral value of a good education, discusses the student’s way of life and particularly his lodgings, and introduces his readers to the good and bad characters, scholars and philistine a respectively, *io are to be met at Canterbury. The poem is, in fact, an introduction to liberal studies, and a vindication of their importance. The author’s judgements on philosophical doctrines are the mature fruit of long study, and his judgements on the character of his contemporaries are drawn from his experience in the schools and courts of Europe. It is therefore necessary to know as far as possible the details of John’s education, the amount of time which he devoted to his studies after his formal education had ended, and the direction in which his interests lay while he was actively engaged in the service of the Church. Without trying to impose on John of Salisbury’s life a pattern ?hlch is not there, it is nevertheless easy to see that his career divides roughly into two halves. Until about 1160 he was first and foremost a scholar, nhose mind was on his books and whose administrative work at court was made necessary by his financial hardship. In 1159 he confessed that he found this administrative work a nuisance and a bore: "To have been engaged in these trifles, for almost twelve years now, is wearisome and irksome to me, trained as I am in 1 a very different way." His friendship with Becket, however, and his loyalty to the Church’s cause swept him into the full stream of political affairs. From the very beginning of the conflict between Henry II and Becket, John of Salisbury was one of the chief opponents of Henry II’s apparent attempt to deny the rights of the Church. He shared Becket’s exile, and all the mhile his pen was busy, denouncing the actions of Becket’s enemies and trying to effect a reconciliation. Even after Becket’s death, John of Salisbury seems to have lived in the shadow of the great man. The gap between these two distinct phases in John of Salisbury’s life is bridged by his greatest work, the Policraticus (1159); written at a time ^ e n John him self was suffering the displeasure of king Henry’s 1. "lam enim annis fere duodecim nugatum esse tadet et penitet me longe aliter institutum." Policrat. i. prol., vol.i. 14. court, it was a coherent, academic treatise on political philosophy. The Entheticus was written in the earlier phase of John’s life, and in the present study it is therefore the period up to about 1160 which is of most importance. a. John of Salisbury’s life to c.1160. 2 John of Salisbury was b o m at Old Sarum between 1115 and 1120. The date of his birth is conjectured from his 3 description of himself as "a mere lad" in 1136; the place, from the usual form of his nane and from a passage in the 4 Policraticus. It is inferred from some lines in the 5 Entheticus. where he ridicules those courtiers litio try to pass themselves off as Normans, that he was of English descent. Of his early education only one incident is known: the priest from vhom he learnt his psalter practised magic and enlisted John as an assistant, but John could not or would not see 6 spectres, and was soon dismissed. 2.