France: Notable Religious Figures, Theologians, Philosophers, and Lawyers

1000s - 1088 - Berengar of Tours (All Facts)

• French Catholic Theologian

• He famously argued that reason could justify the contravention of authority

• He denied the doctrine of transubstantiation, but was forced to recant his denial

1028 - 1111 - St. Robert of Molesme (All Facts)

• Leader of the monks who founded Citeaux Abbey

1050 - 1120 - Roscellinus (All Facts)

• French Philosopher and Theologian

• He is the founder of “Nominalism”

• He was forced to recant his denial of the Trinity in the Synod of Soissons

1050 - 1120 - Roscellinus: Nominalism (All Facts)

• Philosophical tenet which held that the qualities we ascribe to objects, like color, do not exist in reality but are just the product of thought or language

1079 - 1142 - Peter Abelard (All Facts)

• French Philosopher and Theologian

  • He was one of the most famous French philosophers and teachers

  • He advocated for reason as a source of truth

• He was condemned for heresy by the Council of Sens (Soissons)

  • He was condemned for more than just his theological differences and nominalist ideas

  • He appealed to the pope, but his decision was not overturned

• He was widely loved by his students for his brilliance and willingness to attack orthodox Christian leaders

• His personal life was controversial yet fascinating

  • He fell in love with Heloise, a female student of his 20 years younger than him and fathered her child

  • Heloise’s uncle, a canon of Notre Dame Cathedral, had the namesake castrated in revenge

  • In response, he went into the monastery of St. Denis, while Heloise became a nun, where she became the abbess of the convent of the Paraclete

  • Their love survived as a spiritual passion, where he wrote regular letters to Heloise who was “once his wife, now his sister in Christ”

1081 - 1151 - Suger (All Facts)

• He rebuilt the choir and westwork of the Basilica of St. Denis

1090 - 1153 - St. Bernard of Clairvaux (All Facts)

• Wrote up his namesake monastic “rule” (code) which guided both the Cistercian Order (which he founded) and Knights Templar (which he co-founded)

  • Founder of Clairvaux Abbey, the third daughter monastery of the Cistercian Order

    • He was abbot of Clairvaux Abbey until his death

  • He achieved recognition of the Order of the Knights Templar and drafted its rules

• He presided over the Council of Troyes, which had institutionalized the order of the “Knights Templar” via approval of Pope Honorius II

• He presided over the Council of Sens, which had condemned Peter Abelard as a heretic

  • He persuaded bishops to support the heresy charge

  • Peter Abelard had hoped to make a laughing stock out of him in theological debate

  • Abelard was accused of heresy like a criminal and refused to say anything as a result

  • He believed Abelard’s ideas were dangerous

• He strongly encouraged mysticism and contemplation in opposition to the scholasticism prevalent in Western Christendom

• His teaching put great emphasis on a severe life style, with the purpose of achieving spiritual marriage with God

• During the Anacletus Schism, he supported Pope Innocent II, who himself favored the monastic party

• He preached for the Second Crusade

• He was a Burgundian nobleman

  • When his mother, of whom he was very fond, died when he was only 17, he decided to become a monk

  • He then joined the Cistercian Order where he set up the Clairvaux Abbey

• He once wrote, “Believe one who has proved it, you will find among the woods something you never found in books. Stones and trees will teach you a lesson you never heard from masters in the school. Think you that honey cannot be drawn from the rock, and oil from the hardest stone? Do not the mountains drop sweetness, and the hills flow with milk and honey?”

• He died at Clairvaux Abbey

1101 - 1163 - Heloise (All Facts)

• French Philosopher and Abbess

• Her personal life was controversial yet fascinating

  • She fell in love with Peter Abelard, her teacher that was 20 years older than him and who had fathered her child

  • Her uncle, a canon of Notre Dame Cathedral, had Abelard castrated in revenge

  • In response, Abelard went into the monastery of St. Denis, while she became a nun, where she became the abbess of the convent of the Paraclete

  • Their love survived as a spiritual passion, where Abelard wrote regular letters to her who was “once his wife, now his sister in Christ”

1140 - 1205 - Peter Waldo / Pierre Valdes (All Facts)

• Moneylender from Lyons, France

• He converted to Christianity and began his namesake movement

  • This occurred due to his having been overcome with emotion on hearing a local storyteller talking about the death of St. Alexis

• He decided to take Jesus’s words “Go sell what thou hast and give to the poor” literally

  • He provided for his family and then used the rest of his wealth for bread and soup for the poor

  • His money ran out eventually

  • His example, however, attracted a constant flow of other rich converts, through which he continued his work

  • As a result, the poor were pleased but the Church feared for its authority

1184 - 1264 - Vincent de Beauvais (All Facts)

• French Dominican Cistercian Friar and Encyclopedist

1184 - 1264 - Vincent de Beauvais: Speculum Maius / Great Mirror (All Facts)

• Summary of the scientific and philosophical views of the major scholastic writers unequaled in length until the 1700s

1201 - 1274 - Robert de Sorbon (All Facts)

• French Theologian

• He served as the chaplain of King Louis IX of France

• He founded his namesake college for students of theology within the University of Paris

1250 - 1297 - Bertrand de Got (All Facts)

• French Archbishop of Bordeaux who became Pope Clement V

1292 - 1312 - Jacques de Molay (All Facts)

• Final Grand Master of the Order of the Knights Templar

• At one moment, he was the pallbearer at the funeral of the wife of King Philip IV’s brother

• When he decided to have a meeting with Pope Clement V to discuss a new crusade, Philip IV acted immediately

• At the next moment, he was tortured in prison by King Philip IV’s officers

1250 - 1313 - Jean Lemoine (All Facts)

• French Lawyer and papal legate

• He was a representative of King Philip IV of France

• He is best known for having introduced the concept of the “Presumption of Innocence” to the world

1275 - 1334 - Durandus of Saint-Pourçain (All Facts)

• French Dominican Philosopher, Theologian, and Bishop

• He preached the value of discarding unnecessary intellectual baggage

  • In other words, “Occam’s Razor” should be attributed to the namesake instead of Ockham

1301 - 1359 - Jean Buridan (All Facts)

• French Philosopher (of Science)

• He developed the concept of impetus, the first step toward the modern concept of inertia and an important development in the history of medieval science

1325 - 1382 - Nicolas Oresme (All Facts)

• French Cleric and Preacher

• He studied theology at the University of Paris

• He became chaplain to King Charles V of France after various appointments in the Church

1412 - 1431 - St. Joan of Arc (All Facts)

• Patron Saint of France

• Voices had told her that it was the will of heaven that the English should be thrown out of France and that she was in some way to be instrumental in their eviction

• She insisted that Charles VII be appointed King of France to the point where she told the dauphin that he must be anointed with holy oil at Rheims and that after that the English would not be able to stand against him

  • She succeeded in reaching the dauphin near Tours and convinced him of her devoutness and sincerity

• In a full suit of armor, this young peasant girl prayed as her victorious army celebrated their defeat of the besieging English in the Siege of Orleans during the Hundred Years’ War

• She was proclaimed the heroine of Orleans and many saw her as an inspired leader, a saint, and/or a mascot of the French people at the time

• When confronted by Bishop Cauchon and the English-allied Burgundian Party, she conducted her own defense and stressed her purity and devotion to France, but to no avail

  • The English-allied Burgundian bishops sentenced her to life imprisonment

  • When she continued to wear men’s clothes (possibly because that was all she was given while in prison), this was taken as evidence of her relapse and she was condemned to the stake

  • She was tried and convicted as a witch, due to her having cross-dressed

  • She spent over a year of suffering from inquisition, torture, and imprisonment

  • When taken to the stake in the market square of Rouen in France she was once again condemned and executed by being burnt to death

    • She asked for a cross to be held before her to see through the flames

    • Her last word was “Jesus”

  • Even in her own time, most did not doubt that this was a politically motivated trial and execution by the English-allied Burgundians fighting off the French-allied Armagnacs during the Armagnac-Burgundian Civil War

1420 - 1432 - Pierre Cauchon (All Facts)

• French Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Beauvais

• He was a partisan of Burgundian and English interests in France during the latter years of the Hundred Years' War

• He served as judge in the trial of Joan of Arc, which he conducted in secret according to the rites of the Inquisition

  • In this trial, he found her guilty of heresy, and played a key role in her execution

• The Roman Catholic Church officially reversed his decision after his death

1472 - 1534 - Guillaume Briconnet (All Facts)

• Bishop of Meaux

• He established a (humanist) school of reforming churchmen

1527 - 1549 - Margaret of Navarre (All Facts)

• Queen of the namesake kingdom and sister of King Francis of France

• She was an advocate of religious liberty, who gave shelter to clerics who questioned their church at the Chateau de Nerac

1531 - Margaret of Navarre: Mirror of the Sinful Soul (All Facts)

• Poem published as a spiritual handbook

• Poem which was considered heretical by the French Church

1509 - 1564 - John Calvin (All Facts)

• Father of his namesake Protestant ideology and movement

  • His name lends itself to the founding of his namesake Church movement

• French Protestant Reformer, Theologian, and Pastor

  • He was a convert to Protestantism, inspired by Martin Luther and his ideas

  • He published his works and spread his ideas in Geneva in Switzerland, given

    • the ardent Catholicism of his native France

    • Geneva’s being a citadel of the Reformed Church at the time

    • Geneva’s opportunities for him to preach there, emphasizing his own zeal for reform

  • He was initially expelled from Geneva, though, prior to their accepting the full force of the Protestant Reformation

  • He joined William Farel in demanding that every citizen swear to the Confession of Faith, on pain of banishment

    • However, the council rejected this reform and he and Farel were banished once again

• He became Geneva’s religious leader after initially being banned a religious extremist

  • He was recalled to Geneva in Switzerland after his being expelled there

  • When recalled to Geneva, he implemented his original scheme for the creation of a godly government (with him at its head)

  • He recreated the city in the rigid image of his own Protestant orthodoxy

  • He was a lawyer (and son of a lawyer) and relished the practical details of government

• He reached an agreement about the Eucharist with the followers of Ulrich Zwingli

• He taught and influenced John Knox (founder of Scottish Presbyterianism)

• He ordered the execution via burning at the stake of Michael Servetus

  • His decision was allegedly taken on religious grounds, however Servetus was considered the namesake’s rival and the namesake said he would deal with him harshly if (and when) he came to Geneva

1536 - John Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion (All Facts)

• Work in which the namesake author lays out a full statement of his beliefs, including his doctrine of predestination

  • It lays out the doctrine of predestination, that

    • God has already chosen the elect (those who will be saved and go to heaven)

    • nobody, however devout, can alter such a divine decree

    • what determines whether one is chosen or damned cannot be explained

    • only the immoral would dare question who is and is not predestined for salvation

  • It lays out the namesake author’s view of sin in which he argued that

    • man is an insignificant creature dominated by the taint of original sin which followed the expulsion from Eden

    • man, when left alone, is incapable of good and is no more than a prey for every temptation unless he devotes himself to the abject adoration of God

    • man can only live a proper life if he submits himself to divine omnipotence

  • Its essential dogma consisted of the omnipotence and omniscience of God

    • Unlike Martin Luther, who concentrated on man and his sins; this work turns its attention to God and His awesome power, in which God must be worshipped and shown fear

• Work in which the namesake author argues that such devotion to God may not lead him to salvation (heaven), but should satisfy his need to adore a greater being than his lowly self

• Work whose namesake author wrote with the aim of putting an end to the various strands of Protestantism

• Work which the namesake author dedicated to King Francis of France

• Work published during the namesake author’s stay in Strasbourg in Basel in Switzerland

1541 - John Calvin: Ecclesiastical Ordinances (All Facts)

• Work in which the namesake author lays out the basis of Geneva’s government of both church and state

• Work in which the namesake author, a religious zealot, recognizes that he cannot conceive of a government that is anything but subject to the religion of its citizens

• Work in which the namesake author

  • denies that people have free will

  • believes in individual piety, thus every vestige of one’s life must be controlled

• Work whose namesake subject

  • firmly states and clearly lays down what is right and what is wrong, demanding a strict moral order and unswerving religious conformism (in Geneva)

  • deals with the regulation of funerals and marriages

  • states that clergy are authorized to visit all parishes annually, to ensure that they are living properly Christian lives

  • created an improved city code

  • forbids

    • dancing

    • the wearing of slashed breeches

    • the use of folk remedies

    • many everyday pastimes

  • are to be administered by several groups of officials

    • who

      • are all appointed rather than elected

      • meet at the weekly consistory and examine the state of morals (in Geneva)

      • may summon and punish any alleged sinner

    • that include

      • pastors, who deal with religious orthodoxy

      • elders, who deal with public morals

      • doctors, who deal with secular and spiritual education

        • they are appointed, in turn, by the pastors

• Work which stated that only the spiritual health of Geneva’s citizens ultimately mattered, as opposed to their physical health

• Work which lays out that, within the Genevan Republic, the laws of church and state are virtually inseparable, in that

  • Citizenship depends on orthodoxy; whereas perfect orthodoxy includes absolute respect for the state

1489 - 1565 - William Farel (All Facts)

• (French) Founder of Calvinism / the Calvinist Movement in Switzerland

• French Protestant Reformer and Evangelist

  • He made up for his lack of learning with a fiery eloquence

• He founded the Reformed Church (Calvinism) in (French) in Geneva in Switzerland

  • Until the Protestant Reformation was adopted in Geneva, he was compelled to leave the city for preaching his (Calvinist) views twice

  • After overcoming initial opposition from the Catholic hierarchy in Switzerland, he set about establishing Protestantism

  • The more the bishops attacked his preaching, the more the people flocked to hear it

  • His life’s work eventually contributed to and made possible the convention of the Grand Council of Geneva, which solemnly swore to live according to the word of God