Rethinking the School of Chartres

In this brief essay, esteemed medieval historian Edouard Jeauneau examines a much-debated question in medieval intellectual history: did the famous School of Chartres actually exist? Gracefully acknowledging the suggestion by Sir Richard Southern in 1965 that the School was actually a myth, Jeauneau argues that the School did in fact exist but perhaps was not as important as previously thought.Jeauneau provides a fascinating portrait of the School of Chartres during its heyday in the first half of the twelfth century, bringing to light the accomplishments of Fulbert of Chartres, Bernard of Chartres, Thierry of Chartres, Gilbert of Poitiers and William of Conches.Deftly translated by Claude Paul Desmarais, Rethinking the School of Chartres provides a narrative that is critical, passionate, and witty. Sixteen black-and-white images are included.

douard Jeauneau is Directeur de recherches honoraire at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris and Senior Fellow of the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies in Toronto. He is the editor of Johannes Scottus (Eriugena): Periphyseon: Books 1-5. (Brepols, 1996-2003) and Guillelmus de Conchis, Glosae super Platonem (Brepols 2006), and author of Lectio philosophorum. Recherches sur l' cole de Chartres (Adolf M. Hakkert, 1973), tudes rigniennes (tudes augustiniennes, 1987), and Tendenda Vela: Excursions littraires et digressions philosophiques travers le moyen ge (Brepols, 2006). Claude Desimarais is the Reichwald Professor in Germanic Studies at the University British Columbia Okanagan in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.