Achard of Saint-Victor
ACHARD OF SAINT-VICTOR
Theologian, bishop; b. England, early 12th century; d. Avranches, France, 1171 or 1172. A canon regular of Saint-Victor, Paris, he was its abbot in 1155, succeeding the abbey's first abbot, Gilduin. In 1162 he was consecrated bishop of Avranches. His major treatise, De Trinitate, was known for a long time only through two citations in the Eulogium ad Alexandrum III [N. Häring, ed. Mediaeval Studies 13 (1951) 267 by John of Cornwall (c. 1125 to c. 1199)]. It is preserved in a Padua manuscript [cf. M. T. D'Alverny, Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale 21 (1954) 299–306]. Jean Chatilloln has maintained Achard's authorship of the treatise on spiritual psychology entitled De discretione animae, spiritus et mentis, even though Häring, who edited the work, attributes it to Gilbert de la Porrée [Mediaeval Studies 22 (1960) 148–191]. Also extant are 15 of Achard's sermons, now edited by Jean Chatilloon, some of which are really treatises, remarkable for their rich philosophical and theological content, especially Achard's christology and theological anthropology. Two of his letters are published in Patrologia Latina 196, 1381–82.
Bibliography: j. chÂtillon, "Achard de Saint-Victor et les controverses Christologiques du 12e siècle," Mélanges F. Cavallera (Toulouse 1948) 317–337; "Les Régions de la dissemblance selon A. de S-V.," Recherches Augustiniennes 2 (1962) 237–250; "A. de S-V. et le De discretione animae, spiritus et mentis, Archives d'histoire doctrinale et littéraire du moyen-âge 31 (1965). f. bonnard, Histoire de l'Abbaye royale et de l'ordre des chanoines réguliers de Saint-Victor, 2 v. (Paris 1904–08) 1:120, 144, 203–209. p. delhaye, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (Freiburg 1957–65) 1:107. achard of saint-victor, Sermons inédits, ed. j. chÂtillon (Paris 1970). L'unité de Dieu et la pluralité des créatures (De unitate Dei et pluralitate creaturarum), ed. and tr. e. martineau, Saint-Lambert des Bois: Franc-Dire, 1987. j. chÂtillon, Théologie, spiritualité et métaphysique dans l'œuvre oratoire d'Achard de Saint-Victor: études d'historie doctrinale précédées d'un essai sur la vie et l'œuvre d'Achard (Paris 1969). "Les régions de la dissemblance et de la ressemblance selon Achard de Saint-Victor," Recherches augustiniennes, 2 (1962) 237–250.
[j. chÂtillon/
g. zinn]