Peter Lombard

Peter Lombard (also Peter the Lombard, Pierre Lombard or Petrus Lombardus; c. 1096 – 21/22 August 1160) was an Italian scholastic theologian, Bishop of Paris, and author of the Sentences, which became the standard medieval textbook of theology.

Peter Lombard was born in Lumellogno (then a rural commune, now a quartiere of Novara, Piedmont), in northwestern Italy, to a poor family. His date of birth was likely between 1095 and 1100.

His education most likely began in Italy at the cathedral schools of Novara and Lucca and at the University of Bologna. The patronage of Odo, bishop of Lucca, who recommended him to Bernard of Clairvaux, allowed him to leave Italy and further his studies at Reims and Paris. Lombard studied first in the cathedral school at Reims, where Magister Alberich and Lutolph of Novara were teaching, and arrived in Paris about 1134, where Bernard recommended him to the canons of the church of St. Victor.

In Paris, where he spent the next decade teaching at the cathedral school of Notre-Dame de Paris, he came into contact with Peter Abelard and Hugh of St. Victor, who were among the leading theologians of the time. There are no proven facts relating to his whereabouts in Paris until 1142, when he became recognised as a teacher and writer. Around 1145, Peter became a "magister", or professor, at the cathedral school of Notre Dame in Paris. Peter's means of earning a living before he began to derive income as a teacher and from his canon's prebend is shrouded in uncertainty.

Lombard's style of teaching gained quick acknowledgement. It can be surmised that this attention is what prompted the canons of Notre Dame to ask him to join their ranks. He was considered a celebrated theologian by 1144. The Parisian school of canons had not included among their number a theologian of high regard for some years. The canons of Notre Dame, to a man, were members of the Capetian dynasty, relatives of families closely aligned to the Capetians by blood or marriage, scions of the Île-de-France or eastern Loire Valley nobility, or relatives of royal officials. In contrast, Peter had no relatives, ecclesiastical connections, or political patrons in France. It seems that he must have been invited by the canons of Notre Dame solely for his academic merit.

He became a subdeacon in 1147. Possibly, he was present at the consistory of Paris in 1147, and certainly he attended the Council of Rheims in 1148, held in the presence of Pope Eugenius III to examine Gilbert de la Porrée and Éon de l'Étoile. Peter was among the signatories of the act condemning Gilbert's teachings. At some time after 1150 Peter became a deacon, then archdeacon, maybe as early as 1152. He was ordained a priest sometime before 1156. On 28 July 1159, on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, he was consecrated bishop of Paris. Walter of St Victor accused Peter of obtaining the office by simony. The more usual story is that Philip, younger brother of Louis VII and archdeacon of Notre-Dame, was elected by the canons but declined in favour of Peter Lombard, his teacher.

Lombard's time as bishop was brief. Lombard died on either 21 or 22 August 1160 in Paris. As to his administrative style or objectives, little can be ascertained, since he left behind so few episcopal acta. He was succeeded by Maurice de Sully, the builder of the Cathedral of Notre Dame.

Lombard's tomb in the church of Saint-Marcel in Paris was destroyed during the French Revolution, but a transcription of his epitaph survives.