Medieval France
(ca. 1115–1180). John was born in Old Sarum, England, and entered a clerical career as a young man, studying in the schools of Paris from 1136 until the mid-1140s. There, he heard lectures by Peter Abélard, Robert of Melun, William of Conches, Thierry of Chartres, Gilbert of Poitiers, and other masters of the day. He then traveled to Rome, where he entered the service of the pope. In 1148, he attended the synod at Reims where Gilbert of Poitiers was tried for heresy, a trial that John recounts in his Historia pontificalis. In 1153–54, he returned to England, where he served as secretary to Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, and to his successor, Thomas Becket. John was part of one of the most striking public conflicts of royal and ecclesiastical power in the 12th century, that between Becket and King Henry II Plantagenêt of England. Becket’s exile to France took John of Salisbury there as well. John was present in Christ Church cathedral, Canterbury, when Becket was attacked, but he fled the scene before the actual murder. In 1176, John was consecrated bishop of Chartres and died there in 1180. He knew well the worlds of episcopal patronage, education in the schools of Paris, the papal and royal courts, and the web of personal and professional friendships woven by the exchange of letters. Each of these circles influenced his life and writings.
The Metalogicon, a spirited defense of the Trivium, with emphasis upon the discipline of logic, is a valuable resource for understanding the world of the 12th-century schools and lists the masters with whom John studied. His Policraticus combines political theory, a handbook for government, criticism of court life, and a program of education for courtiers. In the Historia pontificalis, John offers a history focused on the papal court from the Synod of Reims (1148) through the year 1152. Among his other writings are a vita of Anselm of Bec and a brief vita of Becket, probably meant to serve as preface to a collection of the murdered archbishop’s letters.
Some 325 of John’s letters survive.
Grover A.Zinn
[See also: ABÉLARD, PETER; CHARTRES; GILBERT OF POITIERS; LIBERAL ARTS; ROBERT OF MELUN; SCHOLASTICISM; SCHOOLS, CATHEDRAL; THIERRY OF CHARTRES; UNIVERSITIES; WILLIAM OF CONCHES]
John of Salisbury. Memoirs of the Papal Court, ed. and trans. Marjorie Chibnall. London: Nelson, 1956.
——. The Metalogicon of John of Salisbury: A Twelfth-Century Defense of the Verbal and Logical Arts of the Trivium, trans. D.D.McGarry. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1955.
——. The Letters of John of Salisbury, 1: The Early Letters (1153–1161), ed. W.J.Millor and H.E.Butler, rev. Christopher N.L.Brooke. London: Nelson, 1955.
——. The Letters of John of Salisbury, 2: The Later Letters (1163–1180),ed. W.J.Millor and Christopher N.L.Brooke. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979.
Smalley, Beryl. The Beckett Conflict and the Schools: A Study of Intellectuals in Politics. Oxford: Blackwell, 1973, pp. 87–108.
Webb, C.C.J.John of Salisbury. London: Methuen, 1932.
Wilkes, Michael, ed. The World of John of Salisbury. Oxford: Blackwell, 1984.
This is the complete article, containing 498 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).
View More Summaries on John of Salisbury
