tical art Alberic and master Robert of Melun (that I may
designate him by the surname which he hath deserved in the
governing of schools ; howbeit by nation he is of England) :
whereof the one was in questions subtil and large, the other in
responses lucid, short, and agreeable. They were in some
sort counterparts of one another ; if the analytical faculty
of Alberic had been combined in one person with Robert’s
clear decision our age could not have shewn an equal in
debate. For they were both men of sharp intellect, and in
study unconquerable . . . Thus much, John adds, for the time
that I was conversant with them : for afterwards the one went
to Bologna and unlearned that which he had taught ; yea,
and returned and untaught the same ; whether for the better
or no, let them judge who heard him before and since. More
over the other went on to the study of divine letters, and
aspired to the glory of a nobler philosophy and a more illustrious name. Whatever may be the exact meaning of
the reference to Alberic’s defection there is no reason to
suppose that there was any lasting estrangement between
him and John. In after-years we gather from h the latter’s
correspondence that the master and scholar were good
friends, when Alberic was archdeacon of Kheims and
John a companion of Becket in exile. In his Metalogicus
too our author includes his old master in a list of the
most highly reputed teachers in France. Of Robert of Melun he could not now foretell the future, when as bishop of Hereford, twenty-five years later, he proved a prelate after Henry the Second s own heart and a sturdy combatant against the archbishop s party. At present John knows only his achievements as a theologian, in which quality he was greatly esteemed as a systematic and most orthodox writer.[1] He appears to have set himself
as a moderating influence against the reckless application of dialectical theories which was popular in his time. Like Gilbert of La Porree he placed the idea of God
- ↑ He is mentioned for instance by John of Cornwall, Ad Alex. III., as one of those quos in theologia nihil haereticum docuisse certissimum est : Martens et Durand Thes. nov. Anecd. 5. 1669 B.
