Gilbert de la Porree

Gilbert de la Porrée , 1076-1154, French scholastic philosopher, b. Poitiers. He taught for 20 years at Chartres, where he was for some time chancellor. He later lectured at Paris. In 1142 he was made bishop of Poitiers. He was twice accused of heresy. Gilbert's works— De sex principiis, an elucidation of Aristotle's last six categories, and his commentary on the De trinitate ascribed to Boethius—reveal his somewhat obscure position in scholastic realism, to which he adhered in a moderated form.

Bibliography: See his Commentaries on Boethius ed. by N. M. Häring (1966); study by M. E. Williams (1951).

Gilbert de la Porrée (d. 1154), biblical commentator and theologian. Born c.1080 or slightly later, he taught at Paris before becoming Bp. of Poitiers in 1142. He wrote commentaries on the Psalter and Pauline Epistles, but he is chiefly remembered for that on the theological opuscula of Boethius. The language used in this work on how to reconcile the statements ‘God is one’ and ‘God is three’ aroused opposition, and Gilbert was summoned to appear before the Council of Reims in 1148. Despite pressure from St Bernard, there was no formal condemnation. His followers were known as the Porretani.