Abelard, Bernard of Clairvaux and the Council of Sens of 1141

Vladimir Vladimirovich Andersen, PhD-student, Faculty of Philology Saint-Petersburg State University (Universitetskaya nabereghnaya, dom 11, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 199034).
vlad.andersen@gmail.com

Andersen V. V. Abelard, Bernard of Clairvaux and the Council of Sens of 1141, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2012, vol. 1, pp. 133–150.

DOI: 10.24411/2308-0698-2012-00009

Language: Russian

The reasons for the conflict of Bernard and Abelard have not been found yet. They communicated in a rather moderate way until a certain moment. In 1130s, Abelard turned back to his lectures at the university in Paris. Arnold of Brescia came there soon, he was expelled from Italy after his scandalous appeal to the church for abandonment of its property. That was ultimately untimely for Innocent II obliged to Bernard for being recognized as the legitimate Pope by almost every European monarchs. 19 articles were sent to Bernard as heretical opinions of Abelard’s freethinking students. Abelard wanted a church council to be held so that he could have an opportunity to defend his teachings, but his own conduct at the Council of Sens became unaccountable. He appealed to the Holy See that seemed to him to be the very Divine justice. Thereby Abelard challenged the judges in proceedings brought to trial by himself in Sens. Rome considered the charge to be proven.

The author attempts to present Abelard’s own actions as the chief reason for the conflict escalation, for the philosopher was depressed by his ill-fated experience at the Council of Soissons (1121). As is evident from Abelard’s Historia calamitatum mearum, he became a kind of a martyr in his own eyes. In the conclusion, the author discusses the date of the Council of Sens and demonstrates that the resources give evidence of a later year than it was generally accepted.

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Key words: Peter Abelard, Bernard of Clairvaux, Pope Innocent II, Arnold of Brescia, the Council of Sens, the Council of Soissons, the Cistercian Order

Permanent link: http://rcs-almanac.ru/ru/andersen-v-v-2012-en/

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