# William of Champeaux

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French theologian and philosopher

William of Champeaux Guillaume de Champeaux Born c. 1070 Champeaux, Seine-et-Marne, Kingdom of France Died 18 January 1121 Châlons-en-Champagne, Kingdom of France Philosophical work Era Medieval philosophy Region Western philosophy School Scholasticism

**Guillaume de Champeaux** (c. 1070 – 18 January 1121 in [Châlons-en-Champagne](/source/Ch%C3%A2lons-en-Champagne)),[1] known in English as **William of Champeaux** and [Latinised](/source/List_of_Latinised_names) to **Gulielmus de Campellis**, was a French [philosopher](/source/Philosopher) and [theologian](/source/Theology).

## Biography

William was born at [Champeaux](/source/Champeaux%2C_Seine-et-Marne) near [Melun](/source/Melun). After studying under [Anselm of Laon](/source/Anselm_of_Laon) and [Roscellinus](/source/Roscellinus), he taught in the school of the cathedral of [Notre-Dame](/source/Notre-Dame_de_Paris), of which he was made [canon](/source/Canon_(title)) in 1103.[2] Among his pupils was [Peter Abelard](/source/Pierre_Ab%C3%A9lard), whom he had a disagreement with because Abelard challenged some of his ideas, and because William thought Abelard was too arrogant.[3] Abelard calls him the "supreme master" of dialectic after he replaced his master as the new teacher.[4] In 1108 he resigned his positions as [archdeacon](/source/Archdeacon) of Paris and master of Notre Dame, and retreated to the shrine of St Victor, outside the city walls of Paris, where, under his influence, there formed what would become the [abbey of St Victor](/source/St._Victor's_Abbey%2C_Paris).[5]

He was a friend of [Bernard of Clairvaux](/source/Bernard_of_Clairvaux), having helped Bernard recuperate from ill-health; later he motivated Bernard to write some of his important works including the *Apologia*, which was dedicated to William.[3]

William left St Victor in 1113 when he became [bishop of Châlons-en-Champagne](/source/Bishop_of_Ch%C3%A2lons-en-Champagne), at which time he took part in the dispute concerning [investitures](/source/Investiture_Controversy) as a supporter of [Pope Callixtus II](/source/Pope_Callixtus_II), whom he represented at the [conference of Mousson](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Conference_of_Mousson&action=edit&redlink=1).[2] In 1114, he issued the *[Grande charte champenoise](https://charte-champenoise.com/)* (Great Champagne Chart) which defined the agricultural and viticultural possessions of the Abbey of [Saint-Pierre-aux-Monts](https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbaye_Saint-Pierre-aux-Monts), thus giving rise to the modern-day [Champagne wine region](/source/Champagne_(wine_region)) as well as the [Grande Charte House of Champagne](https://www.grandecharte.com) named in French after the [Grande Charte Champenoise](https://charte-champenoise.com/) and his sponsor Guillaume de Champeaux. After relinquishing his Benedictine Abbacy, he moved to a [Cistercian](/source/Cistercian) monastery in [Rheims](/source/Rheims), where he also composed a number of spiritual books, such as his *Vita Prima*, which were widely read in monastic circles.[3]

His surviving works are a fragment on the [Eucharist](/source/Eucharist), inserted by [Jean Mabillon](/source/Jean_Mabillon) in his edition of the works of [St Bernard](/source/Bernard_of_Clairvaux), and the *Moralia A brevi ala* and *De Origine Animae*.[6] In the last of these he maintains that children who die unbaptized must be lost, the pure soul being defiled by the grossness of the body, and declares that God's will is not to be questioned. He upholds the theory of [Creationism](/source/Creationism_(soul)) (i.e., that a soul is specially created for each human being). [Ravaisson-Mollien](/source/F%C3%A9lix_Ravaisson) has discovered a number of fragments by him, among which the most important is the *De Essentia Dei et de Substantia Dei*; a *Liber Sententiarum*, consisting of discussions on ethics and scriptural interpretation, is also ascribed to Champeaux.[2]

He is considered the founder of an early version of moderate realism, a philosophy which held that [universals](/source/Universal_(metaphysics)) exist in particular things as common substances individuated by accidents and in the mind as concepts.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** *Des Châlonnais célébres illustres et mémorables* by Jean-Paul Barbier 2000

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-EB1911_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-EB1911_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-EB1911_2-2) One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the [public domain](/source/Public_domain): [Chisholm, Hugh](/source/Hugh_Chisholm), ed. (1911). "[Champeaux, William of](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Champeaux,_William_of)". *[Encyclopædia Britannica](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition)*. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 829.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Sellner2008_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Sellner2008_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Sellner2008_3-2) Edward Cletus Sellner (2008). [*Finding the Monk Within: Great Monastic Values for Today*](https://books.google.com/books?id=xR7cxJ6mnboC&pg=PA238). Paulist Press. pp. 238–. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-58768-048-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-58768-048-9).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Jaeger2011_4-0)** C. Stephen Jaeger (1 January 2011). [*The Envy of Angels: Cathedral Schools and Social Ideals in Medieval Europe, 950-1200*](https://books.google.com/books?id=7w_umTX1oDAC&pg=PA244). University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 244–. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8122-0030-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8122-0030-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-University2000_5-0)** G. R. Evans University Lecturer in History Cambridge University (7 January 2000). [*Bernard of Clairvaux*](https://books.google.com/books?id=vrxeieCqeLwC&pg=PA11). Oxford University Press. pp. 11–. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-802899-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-802899-4).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** in E. Martnes Thesaurus novus Anecdotorum, 1717, vol. 5

## Bibliography

- [Cameron, Margaret](/source/Margaret_Cameron_(philosopher)). *What's in a Name? Students of William of Champeaux on the Vox Significativa*, Bochumer Philosophisches Jahrbuch fur Antike und Mittelalter 9, 2004, pp. 93–114.

- Iwakuma, Yuko. *William of Champeaux, On Aristotle's Categories*, in Joël Biard, Irène Rosier-Catach (eds.), *La tradition médiévale des Catégories (XII - XV siècle)*, Louvain-Paris: Peeters, 2003, pp. 313–328.

- Mews, Constant. *Logica in the Service of Philosophy: William of Champeaux and his Influence*, Rener Berndt (ed.), *Schrift, Schreiber, Schenker. Studien zur Abtei Sankt Viktor in Paris und de Viktorinen*, Berlin, Aksademie Verlag, 2005, pp. 77–117.

## External links

- Guilfoy, Kevin. ["William of Champeaux"](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/william-champeaux/). In [Zalta, Edward N.](/source/Edward_N._Zalta) (ed.). *[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy](/source/Stanford_Encyclopedia_of_Philosophy)*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1095-5054](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1095-5054). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [429049174](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/429049174).

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