CHAPTER VI.
THE TRIAL OF GILBERT OF LA PORRÉE.
The manifold directions in which the intellectual movement of the twelfth century exerted itself may be judged from the issues to which it led in the case of the Platonists of Chartres and of the Peripatetic of Palais. The same free spirit of enquiry animated both alike, only by Abailard it was not repressed within the proper domain of philosophy; it was applied without fear of the results to the most mysterious, the most jealously guarded, problems of theology. His doctrine was accepted unreservedly by the realist William of Conches ; and the fruits of nominalist thought were enjoyed by those whose strict principles should have taught them to suspect the perilous gift. It is evident that the old distinction of the dialectical sects is fading away; and the present chapter will shew us a realist whose mind was permeated by theological meta physics, and yet whose opinions were not secure from the charge of heresy. Nominalism was indeed the immediate product of the intellectual awakening which signalised the eleventh century; but it quickly reacted upon its rival, and both parties engaged with equal vigour in the advocacy of the claims of human reason. It would of course be absurd to imagine that any of these philosophical theorists had the least idea of supplanting the authority of the Scriptures and fathers of the church ; it was simply a matter of interpretation. Few critics will pretend that if, for example, Abailard’s views threatened directly or indirectly the doctrine of the Trinity as understood by Latin Christendom, they necessarily involved a denial of the doctrine of the Bible : for men had already discovered that the Bible, like the fathers, like Augustin especially,
146
