Thierry of Chartres: The commentary on the De arithmetica of Boethius [Book Review]

Review(s) of: Thierry of Chartres: The commentary on the De arithmetica of Boethius, edited with an introduction by Irene Caiazzo (Toronto, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2015) hardcover, xii + 262 pages, RRP euro90.00; ISBN: 9780888441911.

Thierry of Chartres (fl. c.1130–50)

Thierry of Chartres, who taught at Paris and Chartres in the mid-twelfth century, was a polymath and a Platonist. The Heptateuchon, a large and ambitious collection of texts for teaching the liberal arts, testifies to the range of his interests from grammar, logic and rhetoric to mathematics and astronomy; they also stretched to theology. To Thierry is attributed an explanation of the account of creation in Genesis, after God’s initial action, in physical terms. He also used arithmetical analogies to illustrate the Trinity and, drawing on a variety of Platonic and Neoplatonic sources, analysed the relationship between God and his creation.

Chartres, School of

In the first half of the twelfth century, the most advanced work in teaching and discussion of logic, philosophy and theology took place in the schools attached to the great cathedrals. Chartres was undoubtedly one of the more important of these schools, and Gilbert of Poitiers and Thierry of Chartres were certainly connected with it. To some historians, Chartres was the great intellectual centre of the period, and the greatest achievement of early twelfth-century thought was a brand of Platonism distinctive of this school. However, this view has been challenged by scholars who stress the pre-eminence of Paris, where the schools emphasized logic.

Bernard of Tours (fl. 1147, d. before 1178)

Bernard of Tours, better known as Bernardus Silvestris, was closely acquainted with the major developments in science and theology which took place in the mid-twelfth century. His major work, the Cosmographia, an allegorical account of the creation of the universe and humankind, is dedicated to the philosopher-theologian Thierry of Chartres, who was probably also his teacher. However, Bernard himself was best known as a poet, and he seems to have made his living primarily as a teacher of grammar and rhetoric. His career perhaps reflects the fragmentation of the liberal arts curriculum in his day, including the segregation of literary studies from the increasingly specialized pursuit of the sciences.

Peter Dronke, Sacred and Profane Thought in the Early Middle Ages. Millennio Medievale: Strumenti e Studi, 109. Florence: SISMEL/Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2016, pp. XXXIV, 298, 4 ill.

With these seventeen retrospective essays (all dating from 1988–2015) peerless medieval Latinist Peter Dronke unearths certain links between sacred and profane notions and images, as well as Christian-Platonic motifs, particularly from the early Middle Ages. The first two parts of the book dwell on aspects (in the widest sense) of Christian Platonism, focusing on themes like sensuality, allegory, and the theme of silence, whether in the Latin tradition or in the vernacular (Old French or Middle High German, for example). The second (middle) segment touches on some of the greatest thinkers in the Latin world, from Boethius in the sixth century to John Scotus Eriugena, Hildegard of Bingen, William of Conches, and Thierry of Chartres in the twelfth. The emphasis throughout is on transformations and syncretisms far more than on disjunctions. The final group of essays is concerned with poetic texts, Latin and vernacular, in which non-sacred elements make their way into the sacred, the biblical and the saintly realms. A brief Epilogue glances at early medieval profane poetry outside (Japanese) as well as within Europe.