John of Salisbury (sôlz`bərē), c.1110–1180, English scholastic philosopher, b. Salisbury. He studied in France at Paris and Chartres under Abelard and other famous teachers. He was secretary to Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, and friend and secretary to St. Thomas à Becket, of whom he wrote a biography. From 1176 to 1180, John was bishop of Chartres. His two main works are the Polycraticus, a treatise on the principles of government, and the Metalogicus, which presents a picture of the intellectual life and the scholastic controversies of the age. He was well acquainted with the Latin classics, and the influence of Platonism on his writing is considerable. He was one of the originators of moderate realism realism, in philosophy.

1 In medieval philosophy realism represented a position taken on the problem of universals . There were two schools of realism.
..... Click the link for more information. as a solution to the controversy with nominalism.

Bibliography

See two selections from the Polycraticus—The Statesman's Book of John of Salisbury (tr. by J. Dickinson, 1927, repr. 1963) and Frivolities of Courtiers (tr. by J. P. Pike, 1938, repr. 1972); M. J. Wilks, ed., The World of John of Salisbury (1985).

John of Salisbury

(born 1115/20, Salisbury, Wiltshire, Eng.—died Oct. 25, 1180, Chartres, France) English prelate and scholar. A noted Latinist who studied with Peter Abelard and other important theologians in Paris, John was a leading figure in the renaissance of the 12th century. He served as secretary to Theobald and St. Thomas Becket, archbishops of Canterbury. He wrote Historia pontificalis (c. 1163) and the Policraticus and the Metalogicon (both 1159) His defense of Becket and of ecclesiastical liberties led Henry II to exile him to France (1163). He returned to England after the reconciliation of Henry and Becket and was in Canterbury Cathedral when Becket was assassinated. He later wrote a hagiography of Becket and promoted the cult of the murdered archbishop. As bishop of Chartres (from 1176), he was active in the third Lateran Council.

John of Salisbury

died 1180, English ecclesiastic and scholar; bishop of Chartres (1176--80). He supported Thomas ? Becket against Henry II