William of Champeaux

Who was William of Champeaux?

Guillaume de Champeaux, known in English as William of Champeaux and Latinised to Gulielmus de Campellis, was a French philosopher and theologian.

He was born at Champeaux near Melun. After studying under Anselm of Laon and Roscellinus, he taught in the school of the cathedral of Notre-Dame, of which he was made canon in 1103. Among his pupils was Peter Abelard, of which he had a disagreement with because Abelard challenged some of his ideas, and William thought Abelard was to arrogant. Abelard calls him the "supreme master" of dialectic after he replaced his master as the new teacher. In 1108 he resigned his positions as archdeacon of Paris and master of Notre Dame, and retreated to the shrine of St Victor, outside the city walls of Paris, where, under his influence, there formed what would become the abbey of St Victor.

He was a friend of Bernard of Clairvaux, having helped Bernard recuperate from ill-health, later he motivated Bernard to write some of his important works including the Apologia, which was dedicated to William.

William left St Victor in 1113 when he became bishop of Châlons-en-Champagne, in which time he took part in the dispute concerning investitures as a supporter of Pope Callixtus II, whom he represented at the conference of Mousson. In 1114, he issued the Grande charte champenoise which defined the agricultural and viticultural possessions of the Abbey of Saint-Pierre-aux-Monts, thus giving rise to the modern-day Champagne wine region. After relinquishing his Benedictine Abbacy, he moved to a Cistercian monastery in Rheims, where he also composed a number of spiritual books, such as his Vita Prima, which were widely read in monastic circles.