THEOLOGIAN. Little is known of his life except that c. 1115 he entered St. Victor, an Augustinian house of canons in Paris . He wrote on grammar, geometry, and philosophy; the Didascalion, which is a guide to the study of the artes and of theology; Biblical commentaries; a commentary on Pseudo-Dionysius’ Celestial Hierarchy; a treatise on the Sacraments; and works on spirituality. In all these fields he made a distinctive contribution, with no parade of learning or claims to originality.

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Hugh of St-Victor (d. 1142), Victorine theologian. Little is known about his life. About 1115 he entered St-Victor, the house of Augustinian Canons recently founded in Paris by William of Champeaux. According to one account he was born in the region of Ypres, according to another he came from Saxony. His uncle is said to have been archdeacon of the church of Halberstadt, and Hugh dedicated his De arrha animae (‘The Soul’s Betrothal-gift’) to the Augustinian Canons of Hamersleben near Halberstadt. The tradition that makes him a member of the family of the Counts of Blankenberg in Saxony is post-medieval. From the time of his arrival in Paris he does not seem to have left it except for a visit to the court of Pope Innocent II.

Hugh’s works cover a very wide field. He wrote on grammar and geometry, an Epitome in philosophiam, a chronicle, the Didascalion, which is a guide to the study of the artes and of theology, commentaries on the Octateuch and Lamentations, homilies on Ecclesiastes, a commentary on Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite’s Celestial Hierarchy, a large-scale De sacramentis Christianae fidei, and works of spirituality such as De archa Noe (morali and mystica), De vanitate mundi, De laude caritatis, and a number of shorter pieces. In all these fields Hugh made a distinctive contribution with no parade of learning or claims to originality. In his biblical commentaries he gave new emphasis to the historical study of Scripture and to the importance of studying the literal sense. The De sacramentis is one of the first medieval summae of theology, beginning with the work of Creation and tracing the historical unfolding of the work of Restoration. History was the foundation for all. Theology and the liberal arts prepared the student for literal and allegorical Biblical interpretation. Virtue and knowledge were paired in the restoration of the goodness of human nature lost in the Fall. Hugh is notable for including the mechanical arts along with the liberal arts in his scheme of the divisions of knowledge. Overarching all was the pursuit of the transforming contemplative experience of the Divine, attained through loving and knowing. Hugh was Augustinian in inspiration, but his works show engagement with the discussions and controversies of his day, esp. with the views of Peter Abelard, William of Conches, and St Bernard.