ROBERT OF MELUN
(d. 1167). Born in England, Robert studied in the schools of Paris. He succeeded Peter
Abélard in the school at Mont-Sainte-Geneviève in Paris, where he taught John of
Salisbury, who mentions him in the Metalogicon. Sometime ca. 1142, Robert moved to
Melun, where he taught theology. He returned to England ca. 1160 and was elected
bishop of Hereford in 1163.
Robert’s main theological writings were three: an unfinished Sententiae, Quaestiones
de divina pagina, and Quaestiones de epistolis Pauli. In each of these works, Robert
draws upon two of the great theologians of the immediate past, Abélard and Hugh of
Saint-Victor, and in so doing represents the tendency of later 12th-century authors to
draw together viewpoints that would have been more clearly opposed in the early to mid-
12th century. One can see the influence of Hugh’s thought in the structure of Robert’s
Sententiae. At the same time, Robert mounted a spirited defense, in opposition to Bernard
of Clairvaux, of Abélard’s description of the Trinity in terms of predicating power of the
Father, wisdom of the Son, and love of the Holy Spirit.
Grover A.Zinn
[See also: ABÉLARD, PETER; HUGH OF SAINT-VICTOR; SCHOLASTICISM;
SCHOOLS, CATHEDRAL; SENTENCE COLLECTIONS]
Horst, Ulrich. Die Trinitäts- und Gotteslehre des Robert von Melun. Mainz: Matthias-Grünewald,
1964.
Luscombe, David. The School of Peter Abelard: The Influence of Abelard’s Thought in the Early
Scholastic Period. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970, pp. 281–98.
Martin, Raymond-Marie, and R.-M.Gallet, eds. Œuvres de Robert de Melun. 3 vols. in 4. Louvain:
Spicilegium Sacrum Lovaniense, 1932–52.
ROBERT OF MOLESME
(ca. 1027–1111). The founder of the monasteries of both Molesme and Cîteaux, Robert
had spent much of his life trying to find or to establish a house where he thought the
Benedictine Rule was being practiced with sufficient rigor. He spent time in the abbey of
Moutier-la-Celle, in the diocese of Troyes; was briefly abbot of Saint-Michel of Langres,
then prior of Saint-Ayoul of Provins; and for a period lived as a hermit. In 1075, deciding
to try an entirely new Benedictine house, he and a small group of monks founded
Molesme, of which he became first abbot (r. 1075–1111). In 1098, believing that even
this house was not sufficiently rigorous, he left with a few brothers to found the New
Monastery of Cîteaux. Although the monks at Molesme, feeling destitute, had the pope
order Robert back to their house in the following year, Cîteaux flourished even without
him and became in the 12th century the head of a large and influential order. Molesme,
meanwhile, although overshadowed by Cîteaux, also acquired numerous gifts of
property, including many priories and cells.
Constance B.Bouchard
Medieval france: an encyclopedia 1522