ETYMOLOGYFor modern readers the Periphyseon, or De divi-
sione naturae(On the Division of Nature) is by far
Eriugena’s most important work, one that indisputably
established John’s reputation as one of the most out-
standing thinkers of the Middle Ages. This long work,
arranged as a dialogue between master and pupil, was
the product of several revisions; indeed, John’s
rethinking of his composition can be seen in the pages
of Reims, Bibliothèque municipale 875, which contain
numerous corrections and additions in his own hand.
The work shows the influence of John’s dialectical
training and a Neoplatonic cast of thought mediated
by Augustine, Plato’s Timaeus, and especially the writ-
ings of Pseudo-Dionysius. John divides “nature” into
four categories: nature that creates and is not created,
nature that is created and creates, nature that is created
and does not create, and nature that does not create
and is not created. Categories 1 and 4 refer to God as
the origin of all things and their end, respectively.
Category 2 embraces the forms, or divine ideas, that
are coeternal with God, yet dependent upon him.
These, in turn, create the intelligible world (Category 3).
In the end, all nature will return to God. This “return”
will not be an annihilation of individuality but a
reunion in a spiritual state in the ultimate source of all
things. As matter will no longer exist, the elect and the
damned will not be dispatched to a physical heaven or
hell but will subsist in God, with each group saved or
damned according to their respective consciences.
While such radical notions, rooted as they were in the
theology of the Christian Orient, must have been
abhorrent to John’s contemporaries (indeed, his writ-
ings were often labeled heretical), they do not cease
to command the admiration of modern readers for their
intelligence and originality.
MICHAEL HERREN
References and Further Reading
Beierwaltes, Werner, ed. Eriugena Redivivus: Zur Wirkungsge-
schichte seines Denkens im Mittelalter und im Übergang zur
Neuzeit. Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Carl Winter, 1987.
Brennan, Mary. A Guide to Eriugenian Studies: A Survey of
Publications 1930−1987.Fribourg: Éditions Universitaires,
1989.
. “Materials for the Biography of Johannes Scottus Eri-
ugena.” Studi Medievaliser. 3a, 27.1 (1986): 413−460.
Cappuyns, Maïeul.Jean Scot Érigène, sa vie, son oeuvre, sa
pensée.Louvain: Abbaye du Mont César, 1933.
Contreni, John, and Padraig P. Ó Néill. Glossae divinae histo-
riae: The Biblical Glosses of John Scottus Eriugena. Flo-
rence: SISMEL Edizioni del Galluzzo, 1997.
Ganz, David. “The Debate on Predestination.” In Charles the
Bald: Court and Kingdom, edited by Margaret Gibson and
Janet Nelson. Oxford: B.A.R. International Series 101, 1981.
Herren, Michael W. Iohannis Scotti Eriugenae Carmina. Scrip-
tores Latini Hiberniae 12. Dublin: Institute for Advanced
Studies, 1993. [text and English translation]
Jeauneau, Édouard. Études Érigéniennes. Paris: Études Augus-
tiniennes, 1987.
.Maximi Confessoris Ambigua ad Iohannem iuxta
Iohannis Scotti Eriugenae interpretationem. Corpus Chris-
tianorum Series Graeca 18. Turnholt: Brepols, 1988.
.Iohannis Scotti Eriugenae Periphyseon. Corpus Chris-
tianorum Continuatio Medievalis 161, 163, 164. Turnhout:
Brepols, 1996. [Latin text with additions removed]
Jeauneau, Édouard, and Paul Dutton. The Autograph of Eriu-
gena. Turnhout: Brepols, 1996.
Lapidge, Michael, and Richard Sharpe. A Bibliography of
Celtic-Latin Literature 400− 1200. Dublin: Royal Irish Acad-
emy, 1985.
Marenbon, John. From the Circle of Alcuin to the School of
Auxerre: Logic, Philosophy and Theology in the Early Mid-
dle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981.
Moran, Dermot. The Philosophy of John Scottus Eriugena: A
Study of Idealism in the Middle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1989.
Sheldon-Williams, I. P., Ludwig Bieler, Édouard Jeauneau, and
John O’Meara. Johannes Scottus, Periphyseon. 4 vols. Scrip-
tores Latini Hiberniae 7, 9, 11, 13. Dublin: Institute for
Advanced Studies, 1968−1995.
See alsoBiblical and Church Fathers Scholarship;
Classical Influence; Education; Glosses; Poetry,
Hiberno-LatinETYMOLOGY
In contrast to modern linguistic etymology, which
studies the origin of words (combining expression and
meaning), their interrelationship, and their historical
changes, medieval etymology is ontological insofar as
it assumes that the relationship between the signifier
(word, name) and the signified (thing, person) is not
arbitrary but that the investigation of the former will
throw light on the nature of the latter. (“Etymology”
<etymologia, is from Greek etymon“the true, original
thing”+ -logia =“the science of origin”). In modern
times, medieval etymology has been much ridiculed
because of its “unscientific” approach, especially its
way of using or adapting morphologically similar and
semantically suitable words, its method of dividing
words into (sometimes dual language) components
(Early Irish bélra n-etarscartha “the science, literally
language, of separation”), and the absence of the pos-
tulate of uniqueness. Medieval etymology is theoreti-
cally well founded.
It has been claimed that the Bible with its numer-
ousetymologies and etymological origin tales––see,
for instance, the double explanation of the names of
the sons of Jacob or the origin tale of Passover––was
the model for the medieval Irish scholars. However, the
stimulus for systematic etymological research and
application by Irish scholars from the seventh century
onward came from Isidore (Bishop of Seville, † 636).
HisEtymologiae(also called Origines), an encyclope-
dic collection of heterogeneous materials arranged