Torraca, Francesco. “Il notaro Giacomo da Lentino.” In Studi
su la lirica italiana del Duecento, pp. 1–88. Bologna: Za-
nichelli, 1902.
Zenatti, Albino. Arrigo Testa e i primordi della lirica italiana.
Florence: Sansoni, 1896.
Frede Jensen
GILBERT OF POITIERS
(Gilbertus, Gislebertus, or Gillibertus
Porreta or Porretanus; also, less correctly,
de la Porrée, 1075/80–1154)
Gilbert was born in Poitiers and returned there as bishop
in 1141 or 1142. After studying the liberal arts and phi-
losophy with Hilary in Poitiers and Bernard in Chartres,
he immersed himself in the study of the Bible in Laon.
As Anselm of Laon’s disciple, Gilbert participated in
the great exegetical undertaking that was to culminate
in the formation of the Glossa ordinaria in Paris during
the middle decades of the century. Gilbert’s commentar-
ies on the Psalms (before 1117) and on the Epistles of
Paul (perhaps a decade later) owed much to Anselm’s
glosses and to his use of quaestiones and sententiae
to explore theological and pastoral topics. In addition,
Gilbert introduced to scriptural exegesis pedagogical
techniques, such as the accessus ad auctores, used
by grammarians to teach works of profane literature.
These methods infl uenced subsequent exegetes: Peter
Lombard’s biblical commentaries, for example, rely
heavily on Gilbert’s work.
Gilbert returned to Chartres as a canon and by 1126
was chancellor of the cathedral. (There is no evidence
to support the claim that he taught in Poitiers.) Though
he certainly taught in Chartres, most contemporary
testimony associates Gilbert with Paris, where he is
reported teaching grammar, logic, and theology and
where he helped promote the biblical glosses that were
developing into the Glossa ordinaria.
In his commentaries (ca. 1140) on the Opuscula sacra
of Boethius, Gilbert distinguishes between different
aspects of a being: that which a thing is (id, quod est)
and that by which a thing is what it is (id, quo est). The
resulting attempt to differentiate among persons, na-
tures, attributes, and essences, when applied to Trinitar-
ian issues, led Gilbert to the brink of disaster. In March
1148, after the Council of Reims, Gilbert’s orthodoxy
was examined on four counts: that God is not “divinity”
or divine nature; that the Persons of the Trinity are not
“divinity”; that God’s properties are not God and are
not eternal; that the divine nature is not incarnate. The
theologians present at the consistory never got a chance
to debate these propositions fully: when it became clear
that the curia sided with Gilbert, Bernard of Clairvaux
(appointed to the prosecution) drew up a “confession of
faith” of sound spiritual instinct (but loose terminology)
that he presented to Eugenius III, in effect pressuring
the pope to declare either Gilbert or Bernard a heretic.
Eugenius sidestepped the maneuver and made some
token pronouncements regarding theological language;
Gilbert, acquitted of heresy, declared that he “believed
whatever Eugenius believed” and promised to correct
any offending passages in his writings. No such, “cor-
rections” were ever made, to Bernard’s chagrin.
See also Anselm of Laon; Bernard of Chartres;
Bernard of ClairvauxFurther Reading
Gilbert of Poitiers. The Commentaries on Boethius, ed. Nikolaus
M. Häring. Toronto: Pontifi cal Institute of Mediaeval Stud-
ies, 1966.
Colish, Marcia L. “Early Porretan Theology.” Recherches de
théologie ancienne et médiévale 56 (1989): 59–79.
Gross-Diaz, Theresa. The Psalms Commentary of Gilbert of
Poitiers: From lectio divina to the Lecture Room. Leiden:
Brill.
Häring, Nikolaus M. “Handschriftliches zu den Werken Gilberts,
Bishof von Poitiers.” Revue d’histoire des textes 8 (1978):
133–94.
Maioli, Bruno. Gilberto Porretano: dalla grammatics speculative
alla metafi sica del concreto. Rome: Bulzoni, 1979.
Nielsen, Lauge Olaf. Theology and Philosophy in the Twelfth
Century: A Study of Gilbert of Porreta’s Thinking and the
Theological Expositions of the Doctrine of the Incarnation
During the Period 1130– 1180. Leiden: Brill, 1982.
van Elswijk, H.C. Gilbert Poneta: sa vie, son œuvre, sa pensée.
Louvain: Spicilegium Sacrum Lovaniense, 1966.
Theresa Gross-DiazGILES OF ROME
(Aegidius Colonna; ca. 1243–1316)
One of the most outstanding students of Thomas Aqui-
nas, Giles was born at Rome, perhaps of the Colonna
family. Contrary to his family’s wishes, Giles embraced
the religious life ca. 1258 at the convent of Santa Maria
del Populo of the Hermits of St. Augustine. Arriving at
Paris ca. 1260, he studied and taught there until 1278. He
heard the lectures of Thomas during the latter’s second
period of teaching at Paris (1269–71) and strenuously
defended Thomistic teachings against Bishop Étienne
Tempier’s condemnation in 1277. This dispute with
the bishop occasioned Giles’s departure from Paris; the
bishop’s death helped smooth the way for Giles’s return
in 1285 as master of theology and the fi rst Augustinian
friar to hold a chair in theology at Paris (1285–91).
King Philip III of France had charged Giles with the
education of his son, the future Philip IV the Fair, for
whom Giles composed perhaps his best-known work,
De regimine principum (1280). By 1282, the work had
been translated into French and in the 14th century was
translated into Castilian, Portuguese, Catalan, English,GIACOMO DA LENTINI