complicated when the king’s son Louis, a hostage for his father’s ransom, broke parole
and fled. John returned to captivity in England and died there in the spring of 1364.
John Bell Henneman, Jr.
[See also: ESTATES (GENERAL); HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR; MARCEL,
ÉTIENNE; POITIERS; ROYAL ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE]
Bordonove, Georges. Jean le Bon et son temps. Paris: Ramsay, 1980.
Cazelles, Raymond. “Jean II le Bon: quel homme? quel roi?” Revue historique 509(1974):5–26.
——. Société politique, noblesse et couronne sous Jean le Bon et Charles V. Geneva: Droz, 1982.
Deviosse, Jean. Jean le Bon. Paris: Fayard, 1985.
Henneman, John Bell. Royal Taxation in Fourteenth Century France: The Captivity and Ransom of
John II, 1356–70. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1976.
JOHN OF SALISBURY
(ca. 1115–1180). John was born in Old Sarum, England, and entered a clerical career as a
young man, studying in the schools of Paris from 1136 until the mid-1140s. There, he
heard lectures by Peter Abélard, Robert of Melun, William of Conches, Thierry of
Chartres, Gilbert of Poitiers, and other masters of the day. He then traveled to Rome,
where he entered the service of the pope. In 1148, he attended the synod at Reims where
Gilbert of Poitiers was tried for heresy, a trial that John recounts in his Historia
pontificalis. In 1153–54, he returned to England, where he served as secretary to
Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, and to his successor, Thomas Becket. John was part
of one of the most striking public conflicts of royal and ecclesiastical power in the 12th
century, that between Becket and King Henry II Plantagenêt of England. Becket’s exile
to France took John of Salisbury there as well. John was present in Christ Church
cathedral, Canterbury, when Becket was attacked, but he fled the scene before the actual
murder. In 1176, John was consecrated bishop of Chartres and died there in 1180. He
knew well the worlds of episcopal patronage, education in the schools of Paris, the papal
and royal courts, and the web of personal and professional friendships woven by the
exchange of letters. Each of these circles influenced his life and writings.
The Metalogicon, a spirited defense of the Trivium, with emphasis upon the discipline
of logic, is a valuable resource for understanding the world of the 12th-century schools
and lists the masters with whom John studied. His Policraticus combines political theory,
a handbook for government, criticism of court life, and a program of education for
courtiers. In the Historia pontificalis, John offers a history focused on the papal court
from the Synod of Reims (1148) through the year 1152. Among his other writings are a
vita of Anselm of Bec and a brief vita of Becket, probably meant to serve as preface to a
collection of the murdered archbishop’s letters. Some 325 of John’s letters survive.
Grover A.Zinn
[See also: ABÉLARD, PETER; CHARTRES; GILBERT OF POITIERS; LIBERAL
ARTS; ROBERT OF MELUN; SCHOLASTICISM; SCHOOLS, CATHEDRAL;
THIERRY OF CHARTRES; UNIVERSITIES; WILLIAM OF CONCHES]
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