Bernard of Chartres
Bernard of Chartres
a celebrated philosopher and theologian of the 12th century. Little is known of his life except that he was the head of the school of Chartres at the same time that Guillaume de Chartres was the head of the school of St. Victor. His writings and his philosophical views were likewise unknown until Mr. Cousin discovered in the Imperial Library one of his manuscripts, a kind of poem, followed by verse and prose, and divided into two parts, the one called Megacosmus (great world), and the other Microcosmus (little world; a treatise on man). The system of Bernard was a Platonism, sometimes interpreted according to the genius of the Alexandrines. Hoefer, Biog. Generale, 5, 572; Cousin, Introduction aux fragments inedits d’Abailard.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Bernard of Chartres
(died c. 1130) Has been called the “most perfect Platonist of his century'” by John of Salisbury (Metalogicus, IV, 35, PL 199, 938) but he is known only at second-hand now. He taught in the school of Chartres from 1114-1119 and was Chancellor of Chartres from 1119-1124. According to John of Salisbury, Bernard was an extreme realist in his theory of universals, but he taught that the forms of things (formae nativae) are distinct from the exemplary Ideas in the Divine Mind. A treatise, De expositione Porphyrii has been attributed to him. He is not to be confused with Bernard Silvestris of Chartres, nor with Bernard of Tours. E. Gilson. “Le platonisme de Bernard de C.”, Revue Neoscolastique, XXV (1923) 5-19. — V.J.B.