John Scotus Eriugena

John Scotus Eriugena
Born	c. 815 Ireland
Died	c. 877 (age c. 62) probably West Francia or Kingdom of Wessex
Other names	Johannes Scottus Eriugena, Johannes Scotus Erigena, Johannes Scottigena
Era	Medieval philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Neoplatonism
Main interests	Free will, logic, metaphysics
Influences Plato, Augustine of Hippo, Cappadocian Fathers, Pseudo-Dionysius, Maximus the Confessor, Boethius
Influenced Berengar of Tours, School of Chartres, Honorius of Autun, Hildegard of Bingen, Israel the Grammarian, Amaury of Bene, Alain de Lille, Peter Damian, Thomas Aquinas, Nicholas of Cusa, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

John Scotus Eriugena, or Johannes Scotus Erigena (/dʒoʊˈhæniːz, -ˈhænɪs/ /ˈskoʊtəsˌ ˈskɒtəs/ /ɪˈrɪdʒənə/; c. 815 – c. 877) was an Irish theologian, neoplatonist philosopher, and poet. He wrote a number of works, but is best known today for having written The Division of Nature, which has been called the final achievement of ancient philosophy, a work which "synthesizes the philosophical accomplishments of fifteen centuries."

Eriugena argued on behalf of something like a pantheistic definition of nature. He translated and made commentaries upon the work of Pseudo-Dionysius, and was one of the few European philosophers of his day that knew Greek, having studied in Athens. Famously, he is said to have been stabbed to death by his students at Malmesbury with their pens.