Peter Comestor

Petrus Comestor, also known as Pierre le Mangeur – both names, respectively, the Latin and French for "Peter the Devourer" (of knowledge) – was a twelfth-century French theological writer and university administrator who died around 1178.

Petrus Comestor was born in Troyes and was a member of the Church of Notre-Dame, referring to himself as "Presbyter Trecensis". In approximately 1148 A.D., he became Dean of the Chapter and received a benefice. In 1160, he formed one of the Chapters of Notre-Dame at Paris. He then replaced Eudes (Odon) as ecclesiastical chancellor and took charge of the theological school.

While in Paris, Petrus Comestor composed and finished his Historia Scholastica dedicated to the Bishop of Sens, Guillaume aux Blanches Mains (1169–76). Pope Alexander III ordered the Cardinal Peter of St. Chrysogonus to allow Chancellor Peter to charge a small fee on conferring the license to teach. This authorization was personal. In conversation with Alexander III shortly thereafter, Cardinal Peter of St. Chrysogonus described Petrus as one of the three most cultured men in France.

Petrus’s nickname "Comestor" ("Devourer") demonstrated the esteem in which his learning was held. He was a bibliophile and prolific author, although much of his work was not published. Some of his unpublished work included commentaries on the Gospels, allegories on Holy Scripture, and a moral commentary on St. Paul.

His Historia Scholastica is a kind of sacred history composed for students. The author begins the sacred narrative at the Creation, and continues it to the end of the incidents related in the Acts of the Apostles. All the books of the Bible are contained therein, except those whose nature is purely didactic – the Book of Wisdom, the Psalms, the Prophets, the Epistles, etc. The discourses are abbreviated.

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