Giotto di Bondone
(d. 1130). He later studied Scripture and its glossing
under ANSELMof Laon. He was made a canon at Poitiers,
then by 1124, at CHARTRES, where he soon became chan-
cellor of the cathedral school. In about 1140, he moved
to teach logic and theology at the cathedral school at
Paris. In 1142 he was made bishop of Poitiers and so was
unable to continue teaching. In 1147/8, at a council at
RHEIMS, he was accused by BERNARD of Clairvaux of
propagating heretical doctrines on the Trinity but was not
condemned by the council or the pope. Famous by then
for his knowledge of the liberal arts and the writings of
the FATHERS OF THE CHURCH, he went on to comment on
the biblical texts of the Psalms, the Epistles of Paul, the
Apocalypse, and on a text then attributed to BOETHIUS.
Among his ideas and doctrines were that the “forms”
of matter were nothing but reflections of ideas. He was
additionally attacked for having distinguished GODfrom
the concept of divinity. He was accused of making a dis-
tinction between the persons (the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit) of the Trinity and the one divine essence. Believing
to the end that faith superseded reason and that theology
must have rules of its own, he died on September 4,
1154.
Further reading:Gilbert of Poitiers, The Commen-
taries on Boethius,ed. Nikolaus M. Häring (Toronto: Pon-
tifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1966); Theresa
Gross-Diaz, The Psalms Commentary of Gilbert of Poitiers:
From Lectio Divina to the Lecture Room(Leiden: E. J. Brill,
1996).
Gildas, Saint (ca. 516–570)historian
Nothing is known of Gildas save what can be gleaned
from his On the Laying Waste of Britainitself. The dates
of his life can only be estimated. Traditionally, he was
a monk expelled from WALES. The quality of his prose
indicated that he was widely read and had received a
good training in LATINgrammar and RHETORIC.
Although Gilda’s principal goal was didactic and
rhetorical rather than historical description or analysis,
he can provide information about Romano-British reli-
gious life and the ANGLO-SAXONinvasion of Britain. He
included an account of a great British victory, under the
generalship of Ambrosius Aurelianus (perhaps ARTHUR),
over the invaders at an unidentified site called Mons
Badonicus. Gildas’s popular narrative was used by BEDE
for his account of the Anglo-Saxon conquest and by
ALCUIN for a description of the consequences of sin.
Gildas was also the author of a work on penitential prac-
tice. He died in 570, perhaps in BRITTANY.
Further reading:J. A. Giles, trans., The Works of
Gildas and Nennius(London: J. Bohn, 1841); Robert W.
Hanning, The Vision of History in Early Britain: From
Gildas to Geoffrey of Monmouth (New York: Columbia
University Press, 1966); N. J. Higham, The English Con-
quest: Gildas and Britain in the Fifth Century(Manchester:
Manchester University Press, 1994); Michael Lapidge and
David Dumville, eds., Gildas: New Approaches (Wood-
bridge: Boydell Press, 1984).Giotto di Bondone(Ambrogiotto di Bordone) (1267/
75–1337)artist
Giotto di Bondone was born between 1267 and 1275 in
Vespignano in the region of the Mugello near FLORENCE,
and he worked throughout ITA LYand in AVIGNON.He
introduced innovations that characterized the later
RENAISSANCEstyle.TESTIMONIES AND REPUTATION
IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY
Giotto’s reputation for innovation and genius was noted
in many contemporary references. BOCCACCIOsaid that
Giotto brought back to light the art of the past, which
had been buried in darkness since antiquity. PETRARCH
respected him for the naturalism in his painting. Such
anecdotes about Giotto suggest that his style was consid-
ered a revolutionary departure from rigid, formulaic
medieval styles. He was considered an artist who depicted
three-dimensional space, employed narrative, and por-
trayed figures modeled in terms of light and dark.Giotto di Bondone, engraving(Courtesy Library of Congress)