Candidus

Who is Candidus?

Candidus was the name given to the Anglo-Saxon Wizo or Witto by Alcuin, whose scholar he was and with whom he went in 782 to Gaul. He is author of several philosophical texts wrongly attributed by earlier scholars to the benedictinian monk Brun Candidus of Fulda, the author of the vita of Abott Eigil of Fulda. But recent research into the manuscript tradition furnishing clear evidence attested the autorship of Candidus Wizo, the learned disciple of Alcuin. Based on his deep knowledge of the works of Saint Augustine of Hippo he tried to give proof of god’s existence, to demonstrate that the incorporeal nature of god is conceivable only by means of the spiritual eye and excludes any possibility of viewing him by means of the corporeal eyes, and to elucidate the problem of the incarnation explaining it’s need by the weakness of the human cognition. At the palace school he was tutor to Gisla, the sister, and Rodtruda, the daughter of Charlemagne. When Alcuin went to Tours, Candidus was his successor as master of the palace school. Alcuin's esteem for Candidus is shown by his dedicating his commentary on Ecclesiastes to his friends Onias, Fredegisus, and Candidus.