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Roscelin of Compiègne (), better known by his Latinized name Roscellinus Compendiensis or Rucelinus, was a French
philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
and
theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...
, often regarded as the founder of
nominalism In metaphysics, nominalism is the view that universals and abstract objects do not actually exist other than being merely names or labels. There are two main versions of nominalism. One denies the existence of universals—that which can be inst ...
.


Biography

Roscellinus was born in
Compiègne Compiègne (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, department of northern France. It is located on the river Oise (river), Oise, and its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois'' (). Administration Compiègne is t ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. Little is known of his life, and knowledge of his doctrines is mainly derived from Anselm and Abelard. He studied at Soissons and
Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...
, was afterwards attached to the cathedral of Chartres and became canon of
Compiègne Compiègne (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, department of northern France. It is located on the river Oise (river), Oise, and its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois'' (). Administration Compiègne is t ...
. As a monk of Compiègne, he was teaching as early as 1087. He had contact with Lanfranc, Anselm, and St. Ivo of Chartres. Roscellinus's exposition of
Nominalist In metaphysics, nominalism is the view that universals and abstract objects do not actually exist other than being merely names or labels. There are two main versions of nominalism. One denies the existence of universals—that which can be inst ...
doctrines, and especially his application to the dogma of the
Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...
, attracted broad attention. He maintained that the three persons of the Trinity were not referred to as three substances or Gods only by convention, arguing that if they were really one substance then
God the Father God the Father is a title given to God in Christianity. In mainstream trinitarian Christianity, God the Father is regarded as the first Person of the Trinity, followed by the second person, Jesus Christ the Son, and the third person, God th ...
and the
Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...
would have become incarnate along with God the Son. Roscellinus cited Lanfranc and Anselm in support of this doctrine. In 1092/1093, however, a council convoked at Soissons by the
archbishop of Reims The Archdiocese of Reims or Rheims (; French language, French: ''Archidiocèse de Reims'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastic territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. Erected as a diocese around 250 by Sixtus of Reims, the diocese w ...
condemned his interpretation and accused Roscellinus of tritheism. Roscellinus, out of fear of
excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in Koinonia, communion with other members o ...
and even stoning to death by the orthodox populace, recanted his beliefs, but later returned to professing them. Roscellinus left for England, but having made himself unpopular by an attack on the doctrines of Anselm, he left the country and repaired to Rome, where he was well received and became reconciled to the Catholic Church. He then returned to France, taught at
Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...
and Loc-menach (where he had Abelard as a pupil), and finally became canon of
Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...
. He is heard of as late as 1121, when he came forward to oppose Abelard's views on the Trinity. He was also sent a letter by Theobald of Étampes in response to his criticisms of the sons of priests. Of his writings there exists only a letter addressed to Abelard on the Trinity, in which Roscellinus "belittles Abélard and makes merry over his
castration Castration is any action, surgery, surgical, chemical substance, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical cas ...
." Hauréau brings forward his name in connection with a text, "Sententia de universalibus secundum magistrum R.", but this is a conjecture. His doctrines are attested by Anselm, Abelard, John of Salisbury, and an anonymous epigram.


Nominalism

According to Otto of Freisingen, Roscellinus "was the first in our times to institute the theory of words", but the chronicler of the "Historia Francia" mentions before him a "magister Johannes", whose personality is much discussed and who has not yet been definitively identified. The "sententia vocum" was one of the anti-realist solutions of the problem of universals accepted in the early Middle Ages. In accordance with a dichotomy set out by Porphyry, the first medieval philosophers regarded
genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...
and
species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
either as things or as having no existence. The philosophers described this using terminology drawn from
Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known simply as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480–524 AD), was a Roman Roman Senate, senator, Roman consul, consul, ''magister officiorum'', polymath, historian, and philosopher of the Early Middl ...
, referring to such abstract concepts as either (things) or (words). Nominalists held that: # only the individual exists (is ); # universals are merely words (). In Roscellinus's theory, the universal is merely an emission of sound (), in conformity with Boethius' definition. Because Roscellinus did not discuss the philosophical concepts of genus and species, he is sometimes considered a pseudo-nominalist, or a moderate realist. However, because of his position as the first medieval philosopher to challenge medieval Realism, he has also been invoked as a forefather of modernity. Roscellinus was also taken to task by Anselm and Abelard for the less clear idea which he gave of the whole and of composite substance. According to Anselm, he maintained that colour does not exist independently of the horse which serves as its support and that the wisdom of the soul is not outside of the soul which is wise. Anselm argues that Roscellinus denies to the whole, such as house, man, real existence of its parts, treating the word alone as having parts. Roscellinus was not without his supporters; among them was his contemporary Raimbert of Lille, and what the monk Hériman relates of his doctrine agrees with the statements of the master of Compiègne. Universal substances, says Hériman, are but a breath. He merely comments on the saying of Anselm characterized by the same jesting tone, and says that to understand the windy loquacity of Raimbert of Lille one has but to breathe into his hand.(''manuque ori admota exsufflans'' "''Mon. Germ. Hist.''", XIV, 275)


Tritheism of Roscelin

Roscelin considered the three Divine Persons as three independent beings, like three angels; if usage permitted, he added, it might truly be said that there are three Gods. Otherwise, he continued, God the Father and God the Holy Ghost would have become incarnate with God the Son. To retain the appearance of dogma he admitted that the three Divine Persons had but one will and power [''Audio ... quod Roscelinus clericus dicit in tres personas esse tres res ab invicem separatas, sicut sunt tres angeli, ita tamen ut una sit voluntas et potestas aut Patrem et Spiritum sanctum esse incarnatum; et tres deos vere posse dici si usus admitteret'' (letter of Anselm to Foulques)]. This characteristic tritheism, which Anselm and Abelard agreed in refuting even after its author's conversion, seems an indisputable application of Roscelin's anti-Realism. He even argues that if the three Divine Persons form but one God, all three have become incarnate. There are therefore three Divine substances, three Gods, as there are three angels, because each substance constitutes an individual, which is the fundamental assertion of anti-Realism. The ideas of the theologian are closely linked with those of the philosopher.


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* * * .  & {{Authority control French philosophers of language 1050s births 1120s deaths People from Compiègne French male writers Nominalists 11th-century French philosophers 11th-century French writers 11th-century writers in Latin 12th-century French philosophers