John Halgren of Abbeville ( – 28 September 1237) was a French

scholastic theologian Scholasticism was a medieval school of philosophy that employed a Organon, critical organic method of philosophical analysis predicated upon the Aristotelianism, Aristotelian categories (Aristotle), 10 Categories. Christian scholasticism eme ...

and cleric. He served successively as a university professor, priest, prior, archbishop,

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

apostolic legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title ''legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...

and diplomat. John was born around 1180 in

Abbeville Abbeville (, vls, Abbekerke, pcd, Advile) is a commune in the Somme department and in Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is the chef-lieu of one of the arrondissements of Somme. Located on the river Somme, it was the capital of ...

, the son of Gui d'Abbeville and Ide de Boubers. His father's name is sometimes given as Girard or Guillaume. He may have entered the

Abbey of Cluny Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saint Peter. The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style, with three churches ...

. He studied at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

alongside the future

Pope Gregory IX Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...

. He earned a

master of theology Master of Theology ( la, Theologiae Magister, abbreviated MTh, ThM, or MTheol) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a PhD program or as a stand ...

degree. He was teaching theology there in 1217.. He was a follower of

Peter the Chanter Peter Cantor (died 1197), also known as Peter the Chanter or by his Latin name Petrus Cantor, was a French Roman Catholic theologian.Stephen Langton Stephen Langton (c. 1150 – 9 July 1228) was an English Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Archbishop of Canterbury between 1207 and his death in 1228. The dispute between King John of England and Pope Innocent III over his ...

. He was a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

and

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of the chapter of

Amiens Cathedral , image = 0 Amiens - Cathédrale Notre-Dame (1).JPG , imagesize = 200px , img capt = Amiens Cathedral , pushpin map = France , pushpin label position = below , coordinates = , country ...

from 27 October 1218 until April 1225. Continuing his engagement with the cathedral beyond 1225, he ounded the cathedral's first chapel in 1233 and dedicated to the Conversion of Saint Paul. He had also served as the

prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...

of and the

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

of Saint-Vulfran d'Abbeville before 1217. John became

archbishop of Besançon In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

in March 1225. He was consecrated by the cardinal legate

Romano Bonaventura Romano Bonaventura (before 1216–20 February 1243) was a Catholic Christian prelate, Cardinal deacon of Sant'Angelo in Pescheria, his '' titulus'' (1216–1234), bishop of Porto-Santa Rufina (1231–1243), a cardinal-legate to the court of France ...

on 19 October 1225 in

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

. On 23 December 1226, he was offered the

Latin patriarchate of Constantinople The Latin Patriarchate of Constantinople was an office established as a result of the Fourth Crusade and its conquest of Constantinople in 1204. It was a Roman Catholic replacement for the Eastern Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ...

, but refused it on grounds of health. In the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistory ...

of 18 September 1227, he was created cardinal by Gregory IX with the '' titulus'' of the

diocese of Sabina In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

. John subscribed his first papal bull on 23 September 1227. He visited the kingdoms of the Iberian peninsula, including

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, as papal legate between 22 February 1228 and 3 January 1230. There he preached the

crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

, held a synod in

Lleida Lleida (, ; Spanish: Lérida ) is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It is also the capital city of the Segrià comarca, as ...

in 1229 and determined the boundary between the dioceses of

Sigüenza Sigüenza () is a city in the Serranía de Guadalajara comarca, Province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. History The site of the ancient ''Segontia'' ('dominating over the valley') of the Celtiberian Arevaci, now called ('old town ...

and

Osma Burgo de Osma-Ciudad de Osma is the third-largest municipality in the province of Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It has a population of about 5,250. It is made up of two parts: *the smaller Ciudad de Osma (city ...

. In Iberia, he met

Raymond of Penyafort Raymond of Penyafort ( ca, Sant Ramon de Penyafort, ; es, San Raimundo de Peñafort; 1175 – 6 January 1275) was a Catalan Dominican friar in the 13th century, who compiled the Decretals of Gregory IX, a collection of canonical laws tha ...

. John may have become

dean of the Sacred College The dean of the College of Cardinals ( la, Decanus Collegii Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalium) presides over the College of Cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church, serving as ''primus inter pares'' (first among equals). The position was establi ...

in January 1230, as the most senior cardinal-bishop after the death of Pelayo Gaitán. John is sometimes said to have been one of the papal negotiators, alongside

Thomas of Capua Thomas of Capua ( it, Tommaso da Capua, la, Thomas Capuanus), also called Tommaso di Eboli (before 1185 – August 1239), was an Italian prelate and diplomat. He served as the archbishop-elect of Naples from 1215 until 1216 and then as a cardina ...

, in the talks with Emperor Frederick II that resulted in the

Treaty of San Germano The Treaty of San Germano was signed on 23 July 1230 at San Germano, present-day Cassino, ending the War of the Keys that had begun in 1228. The parties were Pope Gregory IX and Frederick II, king of Sicily and Holy Roman emperor. On 28 August ...

(1230) and ended the

War of the Keys The War of the Keys (1228–1230) was the first military conflict between Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, and the Papacy. Fighting took place in central and southern Italy. The Papacy made strong gains at first, securing the Papal States and in ...

. Between 1230 and 1233, John was with the Roman Curia. In 1234, he and Cardinal Peter of Capua were sent on a diplomatic mission to Frederick II. John subscribed his last papal bull on 25 August 1237l. He died in Rome on 28 September 1237 after a long illness.See Miranda, ''op. cit.'' Various necrologies place his date of death on September 23, 26, 28 or October 4. Some sources give the year as 1233, 1238 or 1240. He left behind four books containing 196 expository sermons on the

Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

and

Epistles An epistle (; el, ἐπιστολή, ''epistolē,'' "letter") is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people, usually an elegant and formal didactic letter. The epistle genre of letter-writing was common in ancient Egypt as part ...

and the ''Expositio in Cantica canticorum'', a commentary on the '' Song of Songs'' written during his time in Paris.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halgren, John People from Abbeville University of Paris alumni 1237 deaths Scholastic philosophers 13th-century French cardinals Cardinal-bishops of Sabina Diplomats of the Holy See Deans of the College of Cardinals Year of birth unknown