Peter Lombard

Theologian, born near Novara, N Italy. He studied in Bologna, at Reims, and in Paris, and, after holding a chair of theology there, became Bishop of Paris (1159). He was generally styled ‘Master of Sentences’, because of his collection of sentences from Augustine and others on points of Christian doctrine, with objections and replies. The theological doctors of Paris in 1300 denounced some of his teachings as heretical, but his work became the standard textbook of Catholic theology until the Reformation.

1100 – July 20, 1160 in Paris) was a scholastic theologian and bishop of the 12th century.

Peter Lombard was born in Lumellogno, near Novara, Italy, to a poor family. The first thirty years of Peter's life continue to be a blank in terms of history.

His education most likely began in Italy at the cathedral schools of Novara and Lucca. The patronage of Otto, bishop of Lucca, and of St. Bernard allowed him to leave Italy and further his studies at Reims and Paris. Lombard arrived in Paris in 1136. In Paris, he came into contact with Peter Abelard and Hugh of St. Victor, who were among the leading theologians of the time. Around 1145, Peter became a "magister," or professor, at the cathedral school of Notre Dame in Paris. Peter's means of earning a living before he began to derive income as a teacher and from his canon's prebend is shrouded in uncertainty.

Lombard's teaching gained quick acknowledegment. The Parisian school of canons had not included among their number a theologian of high regard for some years. In contrast, Peter had no relatives, ecclesiastical connections, and no political patrons in France.

The date of Lombard's ordination to the priesthood is uncertain. At the council of Rheims, and possibly at the consistory of Paris the year before, he took part as a theological expert. Peter was consecrated at the approximate time of the feast of SS. Peter and Paul, July 28, 1159.

His reign as bishop was brief.

Peter Lombard's most famous work was "Libri quatuor sententiarum, the Book of Sentences. This served as the standard textbook of theology at the medieval universities, from the 1220s until the 16th century.

The Four Books of Sentences is a compilation of biblical texts, together with relevant passages from the Church Fathers and many medieval thinkers, on the entire field of Christian theology. Peter Lombard's genius consisted in the selection of passages, his attempt to reconcile them where they appeared to defend different viewpoints, and his arrangement of the material in a systematic order. Thus, the "Four Books of Sentences" starts with the Trinity in Book I, then moves on to creation in Book II, treats Christ, the savior of the fallen creation, in Book III, and deals with the sacraments, which mediate Christ's grace, in Book IV.

Peter Lombard's most famous and most controversial doctrine in the Sentences was his identification of charity with the Holy Spirit in Book I, distinction 17. This idea was never declared unorthodox, but few theologians have been prepared to follow Peter Lombard in his audacious teaching.

Also in the Sentences was the doctrine that marriage was consentual (and need not be consummated to be considered perfect, unlike Gratian's analysis). Lombard's interpretation was later endorsed by pope Alexander III, and had a significant impact on Church interpretation of marriage.