William of Auvergne Biography

French Guillaume d'Auvergne

(1180 - 1249)

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(born after 1180, Aurillac, France—died 1249, Paris) French philosopher and theologian. Named bishop of Paris in 1228, William was a reformer who defended the rising mendicant orders against attacks by the secular clergy. After the church condemned the works of Aristotle, he became one of the first Western scholars to attempt to incorporate into Christianity whatever in Aristotle's thought was compatible with it. He was influenced by Avicenna and by the Neoplatonism of St. Augustine. His principal work, written in 1223–40, is Magisterium divinale (“The Divine Teaching”).


Copyright © 1994-2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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