Alcher of Clairvaux was a twelfth-century

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

monk of

Clairvaux Abbey Clairvaux Abbey (, ; la, Clara Vallis) was a Cistercian monastery in Ville-sous-la-Ferté, from Bar-sur-Aube. The original building, founded in 1115 by St. Bernard, is now in ruins; the present structure dates from 1708. Clairvaux Abbey was a ...

. He was once thought to be the author of two works, now attributed by many scholars to an anonymous pseudo-Augustine of the same period.

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wi ...

made the traditional attribution of the ''De spiritu et anima'' to Alcher. It is now reckoned to be a compilation of c. 1170, taken from Alcuin, Anselm,

Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order through ...

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...

Cassiodorus Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (c. 485 – c. 585), commonly known as Cassiodorus (), was a Roman statesman, renowned scholar of antiquity, and writer serving in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. ''Senator'' w ...

Hugh of St Victor Hugh of Saint Victor ( 1096 – 11 February 1141), was a Saxon canon regular and a leading theologian and writer on mystical theology. Life As with many medieval figures, little is known about Hugh's early life. He was probably born in the 1090s. ...

Isaac of Stella Isaac of Stella, also referred to as Isaac de l'Étoile, (c. 1100, in England – c. 1170s, Étoile, Archigny, France) was a Cistercian and later a Carthusian monk, theologian and philosopher. Life Born in England, after studies in Paris, he e ...

, and

Isidore of Seville Isidore of Seville ( la, Isidorus Hispalensis; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish scholar, theologian, and archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of ...

; also

Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480 – 524 AD), was a Roman senator, consul, ''magister officiorum'', historian, and philosopher of the Early Middle Ages. He was a central figure in the tr ...

. It is a source for medieval views on

self-control Self-control, an aspect of inhibitory control, is the ability to regulate one's emotions, thoughts, and behavior in the face of temptations and impulses. As an executive function, it is a cognitive process that is necessary for regulating one's b ...

, and the doctrine that ''the soul rules the body''. ''De diligendo Deo'' is a devotional work, also traditionally attributed to Alcher. At one point in the '' Summa Theologica'', Aquinas writes about ''De Spiritu et Anima'', "that book is not of great authority."

References

* J. M. Canivez: ''Alcher'', in: Dictionnaire de Spiritualité v. 1 (1937), 294f * Leo Norpoth, ''Der Pseudo-Augustinische Traktat: De spiritu et anima'' (Dissertation, Munich, 1924; Cologne, 1971) * G. Raciti, ''L'autore del De spiritu et anima'', Rivista di filosofia neoscolastica 53 (1961) 385-401

Notes

External links

Jacques Maritain Center page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alcher of Clairvaux 12th-century French people French Cistercians French Christian monks Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown