Alain of Lille
1114–1203 · French theologian and poet of the twelfth century, a key figure in the mystical reaction against scholasticism
Alain de Lille, known in Latin as Alanus ab Insulis, was a theologian and poet born in Lille, in northern France. Sources do not agree on his birth year, which falls somewhere between 1114 and 1128. He belonged to the mystical reaction of the second half of the twelfth century against the emerging scholastic philosophy.
Little is known about his life. He studied in Paris and Chartres, probably under masters such as Peter Abelard or Thierry of Chartres. He taught in Paris, attended the Lateran Council of 1179 and, after a period in Montpellier, retired to Cîteaux, where he died in 1202 or 1203. His contemporaries called him Doctor universalis because of the breadth of his learning.
His thought rests on a simple idea: reason, guided by prudence, can uncover much of the truth about the natural world, but religious truths demand faith. In his Rules of Theology he tried to apply to theology the model of sciences governed by their own rules, and each rule is followed by a demonstration in the manner of Euclid. He did not believe that the articles of faith could be fully proven, however. He sought probable reasons that might persuade heretics.
His poems are the works that have lasted best. The De planctu Naturae, written around 1168 to 1172, satirizes human vices through the lament of Nature and left its mark on the Romance of the Rose. The Anticlaudianus, from around 1181 to 1184, is an allegorical moral treatise in which Nature seeks a soul for the perfect man.
His influence reached preaching, through his Art of Preaching, and polemic against Cathars, Waldensians and Jews in Against the Heretics. His axiom-like vocabulary was taken up much later by Spinoza.
Key ideas
- Reason and faith: reason can know many truths about the natural order, but religious truths require faith.
- Theology as a science: each discipline has its own rules, and those of theology stem from the unchanging nature of its object.
- Negative theology: drawing on Dionysius, he held that God is unknowable and ineffable.
- Moral allegory: his poems use allegorical figures to criticize vice and teach virtue.
Curiosities
Three levels of reading
He warned that his work could be read on three levels: the literal one for the immature reader, the moral one for those seeking benefit, and the allegorical one for the sharpest minds.
Confused with other Alains
He has often been mistaken for other men named Alan, such as the bishop of Auxerre or the abbot of Tewkesbury, and some works were wrongly credited to him.
A poem translated and reworked
The Anticlaudianus was translated into French and German in the century after its composition, and around 1280 Adam de la Bassée reworked it into a musical anthology.
Teachers and influences
Teachers
- Peter Abelard 1079–1142
- Gilbert de La Porrée 1070–1154
Influenced by
- Proclus 412–485
Original Filopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.