33 mm

BCCT 84 B R I L L’ S C O M PA N I O N S T O T H E C H R I S T I A N T R A DI T I O N

A C O M P A N I ON T O
A Companion to William of Saint-Thierry provides eight new studies on this

A COMPANION TO W ILLI A M OF SAINT-THIER RY

F. T Y LER SERGENT (Ed.)
noted twelfth-century Cistercian writer by some of the most prolific English-
language William scholars from North America and Europe and is structured

WILLIAM OF
around William’s life, thought, and influence.
A Benedictine abbot who became a Cistercian monk, William of Saint-Thierry
(c. 1085−1148) lived through the first half of the twelfth century, a time of
significant reform within western Christian monasticism. Although William
was directly involved in these reforming efforts while at the Benedictine abbey
of Saint-Thierry, his lasting legacy in Christian tradition comes through his
written works, many as a Cistercian monk, that showcase his keen intellect,
SAINT-THIERRY
creative thinking, and at times profound insight for spiritual life and its
fulfilment.

Contributors include: David N. Bell, Thomas X. Davis, E. Rozanne Elder,

Brian Patrick McGuire, Glenn E. Myers, Nathaniel Peters, Aage Rydstrøm-
Poulsen, and F. Tyler Sergent

F. Tyler Sergent, Ph.D. (2009), Roskilde Universitet, is Assistant Professor

of History and General Studies at Berea College, USA. He has published
articles and edited works on William of Saint-Thierry, including Unity of Spirit:
Studies on William of Saint-Thierry (Cistercian, 2015), and is currently working
on an English translation of William’s De sacramento altaris for Cistercian
Publications.

Edited by
F. T Y LER SERGENT

ISSN: 1871-6377
9 789004 313552 brill.com/bcct
 A Companion to William of Saint-Thierry

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 Brill’s Companions to the
Christian Tradition
A series of handbooks and reference works on the
intellectual and religious life of Europe, 500–1800

Edited by

Christopher M. Bellitto (Kean University)

volume 84

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/bcct

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 A Companion to William
of Saint-Thierry

Edited by

F. Tyler Sergent

leiden | boston

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 Cover illustration: A Cistercian monk at Sorø Abbey, a 12th-century monastery in Sorø, Denmark (southwest
of Copenhagen and Roskilde). Founded as a Benedictine house in the 1140s, it became Cistercian in 1162,
after which the abbey church was built in brick romanesque modeled after Fontenay. The image itself,
original to the Cistercian abbey church, is located on the north aisle side of the northwestern pier in the
transept. The abbey church and the medieval artwork are in excellent condition and still in use (although
no longer Catholic). Photograph ©Tyler Sergent.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Sergent, F. Tyler, editor.

Title: A companion to William of St. Thierry / edited by F. Tyler Sergent.
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2019. | Series: Brill's companions to
the Christian tradition, ISSN 1871-6377 ; volume 84 | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018059677 (print) | LCCN 2019004905 (ebook) | ISBN
9789004392502 (ebook) | ISBN 9789004313552 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: William, of Saint-Thierry, Abbot of Saint-Thierry,
approximately 1085-1148?
Classification: LCC BX4705.G7464 (ebook) | LCC BX4705.G7464 C66 2019 (print)
| DDC 230/.2092--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018059677

Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill.” See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.

ISSN 1871-6377
ISBN 978-90-04-31355-2 (hardback)
ISBN 978-90-04-39250-2 (e-book)

Copyright 2019 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi,
Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system,
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This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.

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 Contents

Acknowledgements  vii
List of Abbreviations  viii
Notes on Contributors  x

Introduction  1
F. Tyler Sergent

1 A Chronology and Biography of William of Saint-Thierry  11

Brian Patrick McGuire

2 William of Saint-Thierry’s Sources and Influences: Ratio Fidei and

Fruitio  35
F. Tyler Sergent

3 The Mystical Theology and Theological Mysticism of William of

Saint-Thierry  67
David N. Bell

4 William of Saint-Thierry on the Soul  93

Aage Rydstrøm-Poulsen

5 William of Saint-Thierry and the Renewal of the Whole ‘Man’  109

E. Rozanne Elder

6 The Trinity’s Glorifying Embrace: Concientia in William of

Saint-Thierry  131
Thomas X. Davis, ocso

7 The Eucharistic Theology of William of Saint-Thierry  160

Nathaniel Peters

8 William of Saint-Thierry’s Legacy: Progress toward Trinitarian

Participation in the Unio Mystica in Johannes Tauler’s Sermons  196
Glenn E. Myers

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 vi Contents

Bibliography  229
Works of William of Saint-Thierry: Latin Editions and Recent
Translations
Works Cited: Ancient, Medieval, Modern
General Index  247

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 Acknowledgements

I wish to express my deepest gratitude to each of the authors who contributed

to this volume with careful and thorough work. In addition, special thanks to
Julian Diehl, editor at Brill and creator of this series, for discussing and accept-
ing the initial project proposal, and very special thanks to Christopher Bellitto,
series editor at Brill, who patiently and painstakingly, with wisdom and sup-
port, guided me and the project through to completion. My colleagues and
dear friends, Marsha L. Dutton and Dwayne A. Mack, provided essential men-
toring and scholarly advice without which this volume may not have come
to fruition—thank you both sincerely. To my Berea College Writing Group
friends and colleagues, thank you for helping keep me focused and on task.
Thank you to David York, my teaching and research assistant, who diligently
helped with the bibliography, and Tyshaun Johnson, my teaching and research
assistant, who helped with the tedious task of enumerating the index. Person-
ally, I wish to dedicate my work on this volume to the memory of Frederick W.
Norris (1941–2016), patristics scholar, global church historian, MA advisor, and
remarkable human being, and of Katherine C. Christensen (1956–2018), medi-
evalist, colleague, and dear friend. On behalf of myself and all the contribut-
ing authors, let me convey our gratitude to the living community of Cistercian
monks and nuns who not only carry on the monastic traditions of the past but
who exemplify that which William of Saint-Thierry theorized and experienced
in his life and writings.

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 Abbreviations

c. circa, around
cf. Compare
diss. Dissertation
(ed.) Editor(s)
edn. Edition
esp. Especially
ET English translation
Fol(s). Folio(s)
ln. Line, lines
mhd Mittelhochdeutsch, Middle High German
n. Note, notes
nr. Number
Pr(a)ef. Prefatio, preface
Prol. Prologus, prologue
rpt. Reprint
§ Section, sections
tract. Tractatus, tractate
trans. Translator
vol(s). Volume(s)
Vlg. Vulgate
Vita Ant Vita antiqua, Life of William of Saint-Thierry

The Works of William of Saint-Thierry

Adv Abl Disputatio adversus Petrum Abælardum

Aenig Aenigma fidei
Brev com Brevis commentatio
Cant Expositio super Cantica Canticorum
Cant Amb Super cantica canticorum ex operibus sancti Ambrosii
Cant Greg Excerpta ex libris sancti Gregorii super Cantica Canticorum
Contemp De contemplando Deo
De err De erroribus Guillelmi de Conchis
Ep frat Epistola [aurea] ad fratres de Monte Dei
Ep Geof et Bern Epistola ad Gaufridum Carnotensem episcopum et Bernardum abba-
tem Clarae-vallensem (Preface to Adv Abl)

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 Abbreviations ix

Ep Rup Epistola ad domnum Rupertum

Exp Rom Expositio in epistolam Pauli ad Romanos
Med Meditativæ orationes
Nat am De natura et dignitate amoris
Orat Oratio domni Willelmi
Phys an Physica animae/De natura animae
Phys corp Physica corporis/De natura corporis
Resp Responsio abbatum auctore Willelmo abbate Sancti Theodorici
Sac alt De sacramento altaris liber
Spec fid Speculum fidei
Vita Bern Sancti Bernardi vita prima

Serials

CC Corpus Christianorum series. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 1953–

cccm Corpus Christianorum, Continuatio Mediaevalis
ccsl Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina
CF Cistercian Fathers series. Spencer, MA; Washington, DC; Kalama-
zoo, MI; Collegeville, MN, 1970–
CS Cistercian Studies series. Spencer, MA; Washington, DC; Kalama-
zoo, MI; Collegeville, MN, 1968–
csel Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum latinorum, Vienna, 1866–
npnf Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers. New York: Christian Literature
Publishing Company, 1886–1900; rpt., Peabody, MA: Hendrickson,
1994.
PG J.-P. Migne, Patrologiae cursus completus, series graeca, 162 vols.
Paris, 1857–1866.
PL J.-P. Migne, Patrologiae cursus completus, series latina. 221 vols.
Paris, 1844–1864.
SBOp Sancti Bernardi Opera. 8 volumes. Ed. J. Leclercq, H.M. Rochais, C.
H. Talbot. Rome: Editiones Cistercienses, 1957–1977.
SCh Sources chrétiennes series. Paris: du Cerf, 1941–

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 Notes on Contributors

David N. Bell
is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies and Dean of Theology in the Faculty
of Theology at Memorial University (Newfoundland). He is also a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Canada. His research encompasses Europe, Asia, and Egypt
and range in time from the early years of Christianity to the 21st century. He
has published more than two dozen books, over a hundred articles, and a great
number of book reviews. His main areas of interest are the history of medieval
libraries, medieval intellectual history, and Coptic Christianity.

Thomas X. Davis, OCSO

is the abbot emeritus of the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of New Clairvaux,
Vina, CA. He has translated for Cistercian Publications William of Saint-­
Thierry’s The Mirror of Faith (1979) and The Nature and Dignity of Love (1981).
Presently he is preparing a new translation of the Meditations. Relating to Cis-
tercian architecture, he facilitated the reconstruction of the Cistercian Chapter
House of Santa Maria de Ovila (Trillo, Spain 1190–1220) at New Clairvaux.

E. Rozanne Elder
was for many year Editorial Director of Cistercian Publications and Director of
the Institute of Cistercian Studies at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo.
Now Professor Emerita of History, she is working on a translation of and com-
mentary on the documents relating to Peter Abelard’s second condemnation.

Brian Patrick McGuire

taught at Copenhagen and Roskilde Universities, Denmark, 1972–2012. His
books include The Cistercians in Denmark (Cistercian Publications, 1982),
Friendship and Community 350–1250 (Cornell University Press, 1988), The Diffi-
cult Saint: Bernard of Clairvaux (Cistercian Publications, 1991), Jean Gerson and
the Last Medieval Reformation (Penn State University Press, 2005) and several
historical studies in Danish. Presently he is working on Bernard of Clairvaux:
An Intimate Biography.

Glenn E. Myers
is Professor of Church History and Theological Studies at Crown College, Min-
nesota, and the author of Seeking Spiritual Intimacy: Journeying Deeper with
Medieval Women of Faith (InterVarsity, 2011). He has published articles on the
history of Christian spirituality in Studies in Spirituality, Cistercian Studies

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 Notes on Contributors xi

Quarterly, and Zondervan’s Dictionary of Christian Spirituality (2011), as well as

presented various papers at the International Congress on Medieval Studies.

Nathaniel Peters
earned his PhD at Boston College and is a Lecturer at Columbia University and
the Executive Director of the Morningside Institute, New York City. Currently
with F. Tyler Sergent he is translating William’s Letter to Rupert of Deutz, On the
Sacrament of the Altar, and On the Errors of William of Conches for Cistercian
Publications.

Aage Rydstrøm-Poulsen
is Dean of the Institute of Culture, Language, and History, and Chair of the
Department of Theology at the University of Greenland and former president
of the same university. He is author of The Gracious God: Gratia in Augustine
and the Twelfth Century (Akademisk, 2002) and has published on William of
Saint-Thierry and Richard of Saint-Victor. He is presently preparing a new
translation of Richard of Saint-Victor’s De Trinitate for Dallas Medieval Texts
and Translations.

F. Tyler Sergent
is Assistant Professor of History and General Studies at Berea College, Ken-
tucky. Recently, he has co-edited with Aage Rydstrøm-Poulsen and Marsha L.
Dutton, Unity of Spirit: Studies on William of Saint-Thierry (Cistercian Publica-
tions, 2015) and co-authored with Marsha L. Dutton, “The Cistercian Order”
in the Oxford Bibliographies Online (Oxford University Press, 2018). Currently
with Nathaniel Peters he is translating William’s Letter to Rupert of Deutz, On
the Sacrament of the Altar, and On the Errors of William of Conches for Cister-
cian Publications.

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