Medieval France
(d. 1197). Born near Beauvais, Peter studied at Reims and by ca. 1173 was a master in theology in the schools of Paris. In 1183, he was named chanter of the cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris. Peter was judge delegate for the pope on a number of occasions, including the divorce trial of Philip II Augustus (1196). He was elected dean of the cathedral of Reims in 1196, but he became ill and was unable to take the position. He entered the Cistercian abbey of Longpont as a monk and died there.
As a teacher in the schools, Peter exerted a remarkable influence on both students and peers. He was at the center, with Peter Comestor and Stephen Langton, of what Beryl Smalley (following Grabmann) called the “biblical moral school,” a group of masters in the late 12th-century schools who followed the emphasis on biblical study developed at the abbey of Saint-Victor by Hugh, Richard, and Andrew of Saint-Victor.
While most masters of the day commented only on the Psalms and Gospels, Peter, like Stephen Langton, commented on all the books of the Old and New Testaments. Moreover, Peter was critical of those masters who devoted themselves to seeking out details of the text and its interpretation rather than focusing on the important matters of moral teaching and behavior.
In addition to his lectures on Scripture (which were taken down as reportationes by his students), the Chanter devoted much of his time to lecturing and disputing on moral questions; he found the 12th-century church desperately lacking when compared with gospel injunctions and Paul’s teaching. Dedicated to testing present practice against the straightforward teaching of Scripture, he was, however, a realist who saw that seriously embracing scripturally based reform could lead to criticism of accepted practices in the church of his day. He raised and resolved hundreds of moral “questions,” which were incorporated in his Summa de sacramentis et animae consiliis. The questions, with numerous exempla to illustrate situations and conclusions, were grouped according to the sacraments of the church (baptism, confirmation, extreme unction, consecration of churches, the eucharist, and penance). All systematization seems to have given way in the section on penance, for it is a vast collection of case after case for analysis and resolution. Peter’s Verbum abbreviatum is also directed toward moral concerns, this time with copious citations of passages from “authorities” (Scripture, Christian writers, classical authors) and exempla to discourage vice and promote virtue. Although Peter was recognized as a preacher, no sermons have survived. He was tireless in his devotion to ecclesiastical duties and to the work of a master in lecturing on Scripture, posing questions for resolution through disputation, and providing in his writings the outcome, in a text, of his labors in the classroom.
Grover A.Zinn
[See also: BIBLE, CHRISTIAN INTERPRETATION OF; PETER COMESTOR; SCHOLASTICISM; SCHOOLS, CATHEDRAL; STEPHEN LANGTON]
Peter the Chanter. Summa de sacramentis et animae consiliis, ed. Jean-Albert Dugauquier. 3 vols. in 5. Louvain: Nauwelaerts, 1954–67.
——. Verbum abbreviatum. PL 205.1–554. [Short version.]
Baldwin, John W. Masters, Princes, and Merchants: The Social Views of Peter the Chanter and His Circle. 2 vols. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1970.
Smalley, Beryl. The Gospels in the Schools c. 1100-c. 1280. London: Hambledon, 1985, pp. 101–18.
——. The Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages. 3rd ed. rev. Oxford: Blackwell, 1983, chap. 5.
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