France ca. 1130 and may have embraced the Cistercian life shortly after 1140, perhaps at
Pontigny. Isaac was a strong supporter of Thomas Becket in the latter’s conflict with the
English king Henry II.
Isaac’s writings include two widely read letters: Letter on the Office of the Mass, an
allegorical interpretation of the liturgy, and Letter on the Soul, an important contribution
to 12th-century theological anthropology. Fifty-five of his sermons survive. Like other
Cistercian sermon collections, this one contains not only actual sermons but also literary
works that were never given as sermons, despite the fictions of sermonic style. Several
series of sermons suggest that Isaac intended them to be seen as a unit on a specific topic.
Sermons 1–5 are a commentary on the beatitudes that presents the stages of the spiritual
life. Sermons 7–12, 14, and 15, address the fall and redemption of humans in a systematic
way. Sermons 18–26 (on the Gospel parable of the sower) form a theological treatise on
the divine nature. All of Isaac’s sermons address topics of significance for the monastic
life, but they do it from a perspective and with theological language shaped by his
formation in the schools, for Isaac is a speculative theologian as well as a monastic
embarked on a course of asceticism and prayer. Metaphysical and theological questions
concerning the cosmos, creation, and redemption, Trinitarian theology, Neoplatonic
influences (via Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite and Johannes Scottus Eriugena), the
Incarnation, and the ultimate return to God (source of all) through Christ’s work of
redemption—these and other issues are handled with theological insight directed to the
final purpose of guiding individuals on the spiritual path of contemplation.
Isaac left Stella ca. 1167 to establish a small monastic house on the desolate island of
Ré, off the Atlantic coast near La Rochelle, that was later taken into the Cistercian order.
Isaac died there, perhaps as early as 1169 or as late as 1178.
Grover A.Zinn
[See also: CISTERCIAN ORDER; ERIUGENA, JOHANNES SCOTTUS; PSEUDO-
DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE; THEOLOGY]
Isaac of Stella. Sermons on the Christian Year, trans. Hugh McCaffery. Kalamazoo: Cistercian,
- [Only one volume published.]
McGinn, Bernard, ed. Three Treatises on Man: A Cistercian Anthropology. Kalamazoo: Cistercian,
——. The Golden Chain: A Study in the Theological Anthropology of Isaac of Stella. Washington,
D.C.: Cistercian, 1972.
ISABEAU OF BAVARIA
(ca. 1370–1435). Queen of France. Born to Stephen, duke of Bavaria, and Taddea
Visconti, Isabeau married Charles VI of France on July 17, 1385. Charles VI had fallen in
love with her at their first meeting on July 14 and married her without a marriage contract
or dowry. Their relationship was troubled by his schizophrenia, which caused him to
have an ambivalent attitude toward her. Isabeau was adept at politics, and on July 1,1402,
Charles empowered her to deal with government business in his absence, aided by the
dukes and whichever counselors she wished, but her prerogative was tempered in April
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