HUGH OF AMIENS

Archbishop of Rouen; b. c. 1080; d. Rouen, Nov. 11, 1164. He was educated in the famous Cathedral School of Laon, and entered the monastic life at cluny. His administrative qualities marked him for rapid promotion and he was appointed prior of lewes in 1123, then, at the instigation of Henry I of England, abbot of the new foundation at reading in 1125. He is said to have been a champion of the formal celebration of the Feast of the im maculate conception. He gave active support to the claims of Pope innocent ii against those of Anacletus II. He welcomed (May 9, 1131) Anacletus as his guest at Rouen, to which see he had been elevated Sept. 11, 1130. As a strict disciplinarian, Hugh came into conflict with certain abbots, notably Alan of Saint-Wandrille, who disputed his authority over them. He was much sought after as an arbitrator in both ecclesiastical and secular matters and enjoyed the support of Henry I, Stephen, and Henry II.

Hugh was the author of several exegetic and polemical writings. Notable are the seven books of Dialogi, dealing with God and His attributes, the creation, the fall of Satan and of man, free will, the Sacraments, and life eternal. He also wrote three books Contra haereticos. His views on the nonvalidity of the Sacraments administered by excommunicated priests caused some scandal, but he is one of the most redoubtable 12th-century champions of Church tradition. He was influenced by St. augustine in the matter of grace and free will.

Bibliography: Works. Patrologia Latina, ed. j. p. migne, 217v., indexes 4 v. (Paris 1878–90) 192:1131–1352; Epistolae, Patrologia Latina 179: 665–666; 180:1617; 186:1399. e. vacandard, Dictionnaire de théologie catholique, ed. a. vacant et al., 15 v. (Paris 1903–50; Tables Générales 1951– ) 7.1:205–215. p. hÉbert, "Hugues III d'Amiens," Revue des questions historiques 64 (1898) 325–371. j. b. hurry, In Honour of Hugh de Boves (Reading, Eng. 1911). d. van den eynde, "Nouvelles précisions chronologiques sur quelques oeuvres théologiques du XII^e siècle," Franciscan Studies 13 (1953) 71–118. f. lecomte, "Un Commentaire scripturaire du XII^e s.: Le Tractatus in Hexaemeron de Hugues d'Amiens," Archives d'histoire doctrinale et littéraire du moyen-âge 33 (1958) 227–294. j. c. didier, Catholicisme 5:1038–39.

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