John of Salisbury
English scholar
born 1115/20, Salisbury, Wiltshire, Eng.
died Oct. 25, 1180, probably at Chartres, France
Main
one of the best Latinists of his age, who was
secretary to Theobald and Thomas Becket,
archbishops of Canterbury, and who became bishop
of Chartres.
After 1135 he attended cathedral schools in
France for 12 years and studied under Peter
Abelard (1136). He was a clerk in Theobald’s
household in 1148 and during the next five years
was mainly employed by the archbishop on
missions to the Roman Curia. His Historia
pontificalis (c. 1163) gives a vivid description
of the papal court during this period, partly
through its character sketches. From 1153 John’s
main duty was to draft the archbishopric’s
official correspondence with the Curia,
especially in connection with appeals. In the
late summer of 1156 this activity angered King
Henry II, who regarded him as a champion of
ecclesiastical independence.
The
crisis passed, but to some extent it influenced
John’s two books, the Policraticus and the
Metalogicon (both 1159), in which his general
intention was to show his contemporaries that in
their thought and actions they were defecting
from the true task of humanity. His work
represented a protest against the professional
specialization slowly developing in royal and
papal administration and in the universities. He
unfavourably contrasted the way of life followed
by courtiers and administrators with an ideal
practice derived from Latin poets and from
classical and patristic writers.
Out of
favour with Henry, John was exiled to France
(1163) shortly before Becket was exiled. From
his refuge in the monastery of Saint-Rémi at
Reims, John wrote many letters assessing the
prospects of the Canterbury case. After the
reconciliation of Henry and Becket, he returned
to England (1170) and was in Canterbury
Cathedral when Becket was assassinated (Dec. 29,
1170). Thereafter, John was occupied with
collecting Becket’s correspondence and preparing
a biographical introduction. He became bishop of
Chartres in 1176 and took an active part in the
third Lateran Council (March 1179). He was
buried at Chartres.
